Tag Archives: no more tears

Looking into your future

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Would you like to see what your future holds? Are you eager to know the answers to your prayers and the course your life will take? The fact that we have dreams and ambitions and make plans for the future indicates we’re very invested in our future. It’s why we work to accomplish goals, save money for a future need or desire, raise children, invest in friends, care for the earth, and help strangers in need. If our future and that of our loved ones on earth is so dear to us, how much more should we long for our life in heaven when all things are made new?

We live in this present age but are closer than we think to the next era of our life, heaven. As we’ve been unpacking what the bible actually has to say about heaven we’ve learned the answers to many of our questions about our future. When believers in Jesus die, our bodies go to the ground but our souls and spirits are immediately with God in heaven. Heaven is described as an amazing place where we will interact with those who’ve gone before us and with Jesus himself. Can you imagine? But at the same time, our loved ones remain on earth until they die or until they are “raptured”  to heaven by Jesus. Work for peace, but understand there will be great sorrow on earth as plagues, cataclysmic disasters, and wars abound. The good news is that God wins and we win with him. Christ himself will reign on earth for 1000 years and those who trusted him during the end times will enjoy his favor. At the end of this time Satan will be allowed once again to have influence for a short while on earth and some will choose to follow him. Can you believe it? God will pass judgment on everyone according to what he has chosen to believe and follow. And then, the city of Jerusalem, the new heaven, will descend upon the new earth. That is when God will “wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4

Hasn’t this been God’s plan from the very beginning? To redeem his people and restore them to perfect fellowship with him, and to restore his created earth to its original design? God’s plan is to make all things new in your life now and forever.  He offers complete and everlasting redemption for all who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, those “adopted” children who will gain the full inheritance of his blessings, the same ones he wants you to enjoy forever. And some of those blessings are for now. They’re “hidden” in plain sight for all who look for them. They’re found by being still before God, by listening for his voice which speaks through his Word, the bible. They’re found in making time for others and attending to their needs. They’re found by a heart that increasing learns to be thankful and content. And sometimes, the most profound blessings are hidden in the deepest sorrows of our lives, for it’s there we’re most open to seeing God’s sustaining grace at work in us. For this reason, we shouldn’t be too quick to pray away sorrow without first finding what God has for us in it. What blessings are hidden by your busy schedule today? I hope you find them.

If you trust fully in Jesus, your eternal future is one of redemption and restoration, all things made new and good. But don’t miss out on the redemptive power of Jesus to work miracles in your life right now. Today is the day to allow him to make you one who is not overcome by trouble but is instead an overcomer, through the power of his Spirit in you.

 

Live fully. Live well, my friends.

 

 

Where do you call home? Part 2

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Whether you love your life on earth or long for something better. And yet, maye you can’t imagine leaving it. It’s all you know. It’s how God designed us. We long to return to our perfect home in Eden. The good news is, that time is coming when the old earth will pass away and the “new earth” will come down from heaven. It will be in fact heaven on (a perfect) earth. We can’t know everything about heaven but God’s Word has a lot to tell us about it. And it seems scripture indicates the new earth will bear a strong resemblance to the one we love, except without the reign of evil and corruption over our lives.

 

We’re told it’s a city which implies to me a place of gathering and great celebrations of all kinds. There will be walls and gates of great splendor, but the gates will remain open. Heaven is described as a country which implies borders, rulers, at least one river and trees. Heaven’s inhabitants will have perfect bodies that don’t age or get sick. As Randy Alcorn says in his book, Heaven, “The problem is not that the bible does not tell us much about heaven. It’s that we don’t pay attention to what it tells us.” He adds, “We can only desire what we can imagine.” I wonder, have you been imagining heaven lately?

 

Some people conjecture that heaven is not a real place. But Jesus says:

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:2-4

 

Though we measure our lives by years and decades, we’re really here only for a moment compared to our eternal lives that will never end. For believers this is a stopping point on the way to something so much better! It’s hard to grasp how we fit into such an eteranl scheme, but Alcorn suggests it may be helpful to view history in three stages:

“The Past” – when God first created this earth and everything in it, including man and woman. There was a perfect garden where everyone and everything lived in perfect harmony. No curse of sin, no shame or guilt. No death. God walked with his creation and they personally knew his goodness and power and love. There was no famine or scarcity of resources, only abundance wherever you looked. It was paradise on earth. And God revealed his plan for man to rule the earth and fellowship with him. The new heaven will be a lot like that.

 

“The Present” age starts with man’s decision to trade God’s truth for a lie, a problem that persists in our own lives today. We know the truth God speaks to us and how his ways are so much better than ours, but we believe the lie that we could do better. What was once perfect and incorruptible now became subject to disorder and decay. While life was easy in Eden, life became hard and work became toilsome. We experience shame and guilt and everyone and every living thing dies at some point. Sickness and disease and famine and wars replace peace and enjoyment. Mankind was cut off from the close fellowship once experienced with God. Once satisfied, now we are never fully satisfied.  We enjoy the forgiveness of sin if we accept that gift from Jesus but we continue to wrestle with temptation all our days.

 

“The Future” is as glorious as The Past for those who love God. Mankind is restored along with the heavenly bodies we are given. Everything is new, refreshed, restored, redeemed! We get to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, reunite with loved ones who’ve gone before us, meet the saints of old, and fellowship directly with Jesus! There will be no more crying, sorrow, or pain, no more death either. No sin. No temptation. No fears, worry, or trouble. We will experience the fullness of God’s greatness as we are restored to perfection. The earth itself and all creation will be restored to fullest beauty and harmony. Evil will be cast away and God’s plan will be accomplished.

 

Heaven! Can you imagine it?

 

 

Heaven!

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CS Lewis wrote, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” Randy Alcorn echoes this in his book, Heaven:

“You are made for a person and a place. Jesus is the person, and Heaven is the place.”

 

For the believer in Christ, heaven is “the best to come!”

 

Heaven is a place of hope fulfilled. There will be no disappointment, no tears or sorrows, no pain. No more anger or fear. No abuse and no neglect. No brokenness. No cancer or Alzheimer’s Disease or sickness of any kind! And no more dying!

 

Whatever bugs you today or makes you sad, you won’t experience that in heaven. No more bitterness, anger, resentment, or grudges. No political gridlock and NO MORE WARS! Sarcasm and divisive attacks will be exchanged for encouraging words and actions. (We should learn to do that now!) We’ll trade weakness for strength, sorrow for joy. Relationships will be restored. Broken bodies and minds will be glorified and made whole and perfect. We will be humbled but never humiliated or belittled. Your fight against selfishness and pride will be forever vanquished. You will be FREED from everything that keeps you from being who you were meant to be,  your internal struggles and everything that imprisons you.

 

Think of a place where everything is in perfect harmony filled with the most amazing music you have never heard on earth. Imagine the most beautiful places you’ve ever seen or visited. Heaven will be even more beautiful than that.

 

There will be a great reunion with the champions of faith, the ones we loved, and new friends we never met on earth. I think people will come up and thank you for being faithful, for giving, for encouraging, for promoting unity – not division – and for not being afraid to tell the truth about Jesus. What rejoicing there will be! If you think heaven might be boring, you’re in for a surprise. God describes it as a celebration!

 

And what words could describe meeting Almighty God? Some tell me they’re going to give God a piece of their mind when they meet Him. I think I will be compelled to fall on my face before Him. Whatever doubts and questions you have will be answered completely. Maybe your understanding will be made complete in an instant; maybe it will take an eternity to grasp how deep and wide and high is God’s love! Heaven is filled with God’s glory. It is our singular purpose on earth and will be for all eternity in heaven to proclaim His glory. (How easily we get distracted from our true calling!) And speaking of purpose, I believe the full meaning of God’s purpose in working all things together for good will be revealed. (Romans 8:28)

 

Are you going to heaven? You can know. (Read 1 John 5:10-15.) Doesn’t it make sense to live today with heaven in mind? I hope you find reasons to give thanks today and every day. I hope thinking about heaven deepens your desire to honor God in everything you do. I hope it compels you not to waste your life in frivolity. I hope you learn to rest from always striving to get better and instead, rest in the peace of what He has already accomplished in you when He said, “It is finished!” I hope you decide that being satisfied in God exceeds every other quest you might pursue. We were made for heaven, so I hope you determine to…

Live for heaven’s sake!

 

 

Imagine…heaven!

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I can only imagine!

 

Rolling Stones once wrote that John Lennon’s “Imagine” was the third greatest song ever written. To my ears, it is one of the most beautiful melodies of pop history. But as for me, I just can’t “imagine there’s no heaven.” Lennon hoped for utopia but I don’t think he knew how to find it. There will be such a world one day. Consider the vision of another man named John:

 

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.” (Revelation 21:1-7)

 

It is as Isaiah prophesied:

“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. 
The former things will not be remembered, 
nor will they come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)

 

Imagine, a new heaven and a new earth, untouched by human corruption. Even the memories of past evils will pass away and be forgotten. Tears will be wiped away; no more sorrow, no more grief, or pain. The One who always was, always is, and always will be will personally quench our thirst forever and we will finally experience the fullness of what it means to be children of a holy and merciful God.

 

I hope you will take some time today to imagine “there IS a heaven” and what it might be like to be constantly and fully at peace in the presence of God. Let ‘the old order of things’ pass away from your life and enjoy the process of God making ‘all things new’ in your life.

 

Imagine living this day with heaven in mind! (It’s easy if you try.)