Psalm 146:2 "I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Think About This....Heaven!

Hi Everyone,

At my church I have managed to make it to a few of our adult Sunday school classes this Summer. The one that I have been attending has to do with Heaven-there couldn't be a topic more exciting or more comforting for me, especially at this chapter of life that I am in!

You know what is really crazy? Whenever I used to hear about heaven, I was scared that I would be bored up there strumming a harp for eternity, but I guess the thought of boredom for all eternity in heaven was a better thought for me than the alternative.

Well, as you can imagine, I DON'T see it that way anymore! One of our pastors of my home church is teaching the class. The few times that I have been able to attend have left me with a sense of awe and excitement that words would not be able to describe! It is almost like a dream, but I KNOW it is real that THAT will be the eternal home of those of us that have trusted in Jesus alone for our salvation!

Take this past Sunday for instance! Obviously none of us has ever seen Heaven so there is some careful speculation and thinking as we read the Bible, and try to understand all of the things that it says about this glorious place! The MOST GLORIOUS FACT BEING THAT WE WILL BE IN PERFECT RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS FOREVER WITH NO SIN IN THE WAY AND WE WILL BE IN HIS VERY PRESENCE!

But look at the description of it! And don't just read about it, but think about it and marvel!

Revelation 21:1-7

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, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live 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 him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Revelation 21:9 on to chapter 22:6

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."

My thoughts:

Think about the architecture of the place alone! We could NEVER build anything quite like that! It is interesting also that Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us in John 14:1-4 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 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. 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." But think about when God created the world--he simply spoke and what he said was in full existence. But with Heaven, it is a PLACE BEING PREPARED!!! How much more beautiful it must be!!!!

I could say SO MUCH MORE in this post-maybe I will do a "part 2" sometime!

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