Heaven is a believer’s better country
It's far better than life, home, friends, health, food, music, love, better than ANYTHING! Heaven is better than 1st kiss, a great steak, sex, pampered at spa, wealth, power, sports car, or even the love of grand kids! (Heb 11:13-16 & Phil 1:23)
The problem is, most people don't really believe that it's 'far better' and worth waiting for! There's a really good reason: Satan attacks by speaking LIES: Heaven is an unreal place (where spirits sit on clouds and play harps), it's a place for God (and won't feel like home), and so monotonous (forever is a long time to be anywhere!). I must admit that I wanted Heaven to wait for me to get my drivers license, then for my honeymoon, then for my son to be born... I was convinced that what I was excited about was better than Heaven would be ... it wasn't real to me!
This life is a Yugo, Heaven is a Cadillac. Experiences in this life compared to the next is like comparing the baby in a womb to what it experiences after birth. This is just a shadow - Heaven is the real thing! Life on earth is the dress rehearsal, the practice lap, the warm-up, the preface … the real thing is yet to come!
Put yourself there: make it personal
Col 3:1-2 challenges believers to seek & set heavenly “things” (details / parts). MEDITATE on it: let Heaven occupy your thoughts. CRAVE it: be passionate about Heaven. You only have 1 heart & 1 mind, where will you invest it? Can’t be here & there both.
According to 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, God has revealed certain truths about Heaven- but not all details. So we look through a foggy telescope into our destiny. It's like visiting the Grand Canyon and coming back with a postcard. There's no way to really capture all of the majestic beauty in something 3" by 5" - it's impossible. It takes a little imagination.
Marco Polo returned to Italy at the conclusion of his adventures to China. He attempted to tell them about what he had seen and heard. It was like nothing they had ever experienced... the colors, the costumes, the architecture, the dragons, etc. He found himself describing a real place with imaginary terms.
Take a walk with me... as the huge iridescent white gates open, you immediately are struck by the people of heaven. Every color, every nationality, every language... talking, listening, laughing. No one is alone, no one is afraid, nobody is angry, everyone can be trusted with your deepest secret. No one is scolding their children, no one is discouraged or depressed. Nobody is selfish. Nobody is sick. No one struggles with
temptation. ... Everyone is smiling.
At the center of the crowd is a tree, a huge tree. You walk up and pick a piece of fruit - and immediately a new one grows back in its place. You take a bite and feel the rush all over your body. The juices drip off your chin and run down your hand and drip off your elbow. The taste of the fruit tingles as you chew and you can feel it from your nose to your toes, and you can't help but dive in for another huge bite!
You hear a familiar voice and see a face that you recognize, yet you've never seen before... it's Jesus. You immediately drop to your knees on your face. He smiles and gets down on his knees and lifts you up to his eye level. You thank Him and He thanks you back. You both stand up and although He has approached another newcomer, you still feel as if He is standing right next to you. You still feel His warmth and His smile is
still burned into your eyes. I’m now aware that in each of my hands in a tiny little hand, Amos & Avery, that I've never met but who know me & are veterans of the wonderful place.
One thing is for certain, we are sure that no one will be disappointed. God intends on lavishing on you His beauty and love -- like a godly lover for their spouse, for all eternity (Eph 2:6-7).
Heaven is a destination, but not an end
When you arrive you will be perfect, but not FINISHED. You won't know it all, you'll just be getting started! Like Jesus as a boy was perfect, yet had some growing to do (Luke 2:52). You were MADE for more! Some say they 'have a soul' - but they're wrong.
You are a soul, you have a body.
Like Nemo was taken out of the wild coral reef waters and placed in a tank - everything seems the same, but something’s wrong. This might look a lot like home, it might feel like what you were made for, but that's only the illusion of a greater reality awaiting.
Do you like questions? Because questions will be a key part of our Heavenly experience as we grow and learn. Some falsely assume they will know everything or that all they will have to do is rush up to God and ask Him, but God usually answers questions with questions! And just like God is the only answer to the question mark in the beginning, don't be afraid to ask yourself: "What then?" and let Him be the answer to your question-mark at the end.
Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people
Jesus said in John 14:1-6 that He was leaving to prepare us a place. He also said that He wants to find us prepared and waiting. Are you ready and prepared? Have you given others that assurance? I'll never forget the lady who told me one hot Saturday afternoon that she didn't know where she would end up. I asked her if she wanted to know and she replied: 'My grand-daddy was a Baptist preacher. He always said he didn't know where he was going. If he didn't know, nobody can know for sure.'
CS Lewis once said: "Aim at heaven and get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and get neither." What are you aiming at?
