What is it Like in Heaven?

To the Preacher,

I want to send my morning thoughts, before I ‘get-up’ and maybe lose them.

This is about our Wed. Night topic, about what it will be like in Heaven. It is hard to describe these things, by waving my hand in class, in our study. So, here it is here, now while fresh in my head.
This includes also in having to do with what is probably one of the hardest subjects to preach about, to the congregation, for a preacher to deliver. That is, the sermon about ‘Giving.’

We all know the feeling we get, when we are able to love, to give to someone or entity in need. Thank God that we do not stand alone. How lonely that would be. None to care for, none to love. In a nutshell, ( I am the nut) you could say that this is about the Joy of Giving!

A comedian, or cartoonist, or writer, or musician, or whatever, experiences the ecstasy of being able to make someone else, or others laugh, to be entertained, to be helped, or provided for, to feel loved, to be happy, whatever. An evangelist experiences the thrill of having led a soul to baptism, to Jesus Christ. To be able to have a good and eternal effect on others. To be influential in saving another person’s life! Therein is heavenly joy. Now, you get the idea…

Yes. We will be doing things in Heaven, but I don’t think that it will be work. It will be doing what gives us this same kind of joy and pleasure, and that is being one in the Lord. The things we love to do, if we didn’t have to worry about making a living, saving or maintaining the flesh, etc. To be free of all that, not only of sin, but also of things like time and gravity. To be forever and personally, without effort or resistance, any more testing , --but then to be further along, to the mysteries abound. The thrill of graduation! The race is won! What joy can top that? Where will God take us ? The things he has in store! The treasures that we have stored up in Heaven! How much more and greater things will we be able to do? (Remember, that we are told that there is much more out there, but this is as much as we can handle for now; although at this time He has given us everything that we need to know for life and godliness.) And time and providence will never run out of God’s goodness and love.

The joy comes not inside the sacrifice itself, but in the love act of the giver, out of our blessings in God. The joy to Jesus was not in His having to take the cup, (he prayed that it might be taken from him,) but the joy through his ultimate expression of His love for us from His giving, and obeying the Father, in our behalf. He did freely drink. He gave. He gave up his entire body. He taught us. He suffered for us. He led the way, and sealed us for eternity in His love., in the New Testament, given to us. He sent, delivered, gave us his Spirit. That was/is God’s pleasure and joy. God’s promises, between He and man. Think of the joy of being able to save someone’s life, to share eternal good and happiness, everlasting, to be a vital and unique part of God himself, the source of love and everything good. In the body; the bride of Christ. Two become one = three. Completeness. It is done. It was/is sealed at the cross.

There is a time, at night, when it is comfortable to rest and to sleep. Then our bodies wake up to a new morning, and it is no longer comfortable to just lie there in bed. Now it is more comfortable to rise and move about doing the things we need to do to sustain our lives. To those who are in the Lord, no matter what our circumstances are in this life; it is exciting to see what this new day has in store. What new things will we contend with, and what will we learn new from this day? He is molding us and using us, and counting on us for things we are aware, and also for things farther along we know not yet. Where will the Lord lead us today? Or tomorrow? He takes our hand. He enlarges our territory. He protects us from harm and pain. It is an exciting journey. A great adventure! Better than the best of movies, video games, I-pods, and HD TV.

Love is what survives in Heaven. Jesus said, to store our treasures there.

Don Cole

Christian Expectations

Christian Expectations

What should/do saved Christians, in this world, expect from God?

A bed of roses? Great health? Financial riches? Special treatment? More miracles?

What did/does Jesus say?


The Cost of Following Jesus (Luke 9:58 & Mat.8:20):

"...a man said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, " Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Mat.6:19:21)

(Also, read Do Not Worry: verses 25-34.)

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you..." (Mat.14:1-2).

Christians are in this world, but Christians are not of this world. Christians have life everlasting. Eternal joy, not dependent on the things of this world all of which are temporal.

Those persons not of Jesus Christ, will be eternally separated in their sins. Every soul exists forever; and the outcome of each of our lives is about how and where we will spend eternity.

Where are we headed? Are we lost in the dark, or are we walking in the light?

What is the light?

The light is love, love for one another. The light is truth. The light is Jesus who is the way. The light is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The light is God, the one true God; yesterday, today and forever, the kingdom, and the power for ever and ever. He is all that is, just and good...He is the current of life. We are the fruit of the vine.

Dead branches that bear no fruit are broken off --from the tree of life-- without nourishment from the Source; like fish out of water or earth out of air. they gasp, and wither and die.

We are either lost in our sins, which must be justly punished; or we become one with Jesus, son of man, son of God, who was/is perfect, who took/takes the sins of His followers to the cross and bore the punishment dictated by justice on our behalf, and set Christians free, --His chosen people! --Jew and gentile alike-- from the law of sin and separation.

That, is the grace of God, which is freely given to those who follow, choosing to love God, and one another. Let there be peace on earth, as it is in heaven. Go and take the gospel to all the nations, baptizing them....and let us all of this earth gather at the Lord's table together, and worship Him, the creator of all things, by and through Jesus Christ, God, the Word, the beginning and the end.

Amen.


Don Cole