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Heaven is My Home

This past week I went to visit my mom back on Vancouver Island. While there, I did the good son thing. This meant changing out light fixtures and the smoke detector and washing walls…smoker’s walls. While I was there, it rained about 90% of the time. In going “home” I realized that it isn’t home anymore… and I think that is a good thing!

I’ve shared a lot in the past about how important it is to have focus in life. Paul speaks often of “running the race” and keeping your “eye on prize”.  Although we don’t talk of heaven much, it is our eventual destination and our ultimate goal.

We sometimes get caught up in the imagery of heaven and forget the reality of it. I was reading about Joni Erickson Tada’s diving accident and how her perspective on heaven changed; she began to see it as her heart’s home. Her broken body was now a temporary vessel.

While back in my hometown, I went up to the cemetery to pay respects to those who had gone on before me. As many of you are aware, my first son is also buried there. As difficult as it was to let go of him, in a sense losing him, helped me to see heaven in a new way. In essence, heaven became closer.

We have so many misconceptions about heaven. One big misconception is heaven is not just “out there”. We also get glimpses of heaven on earth as well.

The most obvious place to see it is in the lives of children, especially to see them at play, enjoying one another. Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” As one writer put it, “Joy has in it the essence of eternity, which mere happiness does not.”

We can also see glimpses of heaven in the lives of those who are suffering. Now that may seem strange to say, but let me explain. When we go through hardships, it makes us long for heaven.

Suffering gives us perspective because we know more is coming in the next life. When we suffer we are confident in one day sharing in Christ’s glory.

I can remember years ago meeting people from a ministry in East Vancouver called Jacob’s Well. It is a community of people from all walks of life (drug addicts and other socially marginalized in society) who are going through hardships many of us only have nightmares about, yet God is still giving them joy. How? Through living in community, they are able to encourage and share with one another the love and grace of God.

It isn’t just in North America where we can see glimpses of heaven. In Africa and other 3rd World nations we find millions of people who live in poverty and struggle for the basic necessities of life. Yet in the midst of the struggle, they experience God’s goodness and joy.

Even in our own lives, we can experience heaven. Think of the times you felt that you were close to God. Was it the good times or the struggles? Hardships always drive us deeper into the heart of God. If heaven is something we look forward to, how is it beneficial to us today? I believe that heaven is meant to be a source of encouragement and hope for us today. And for those who suffer now have the greatest hope of one day “entering Zion with singing.”

In 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, Paul writes, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal“.

The world and even many Christians focus on the here and now. We’ve fallen into the capitalist trap to pursue the dream of money, toys, success and status. Unfortunately, many of us don’t achieve all the world has to offer and maybe that is a good thing. But if that is all we focus on we will find ourselves discouraged and empty..

But what looking forward to heaven does is it helps us see what really matters. Instead of being discouraged about what we don’t have, we focus on what is ours and what is yet to come.

So be encouraged; fix your eyes on that which is eternal. You see, what heaven does for us is it gives us perspective as to what really matters and hope for what is to come.

As I’ve gotten older, my body doesn’t seem to want to do the things it used to. When I get up in the morning and look in the mirror I see that parts of my body are succumbing to gravity.

Smooth is wrinkled. Lush hair is becoming so sparse a razor may be it’s next appointment. Joints that worked smoothly now creak and snap. Muscles that seemed to have endless strength tire in mere moments. It is easy to be discouraged when things start “breaking down.”

But that doesn’t have to be the case for us. You see, what having a right perspective does is it helps us to see that all our problems and pain are only momentary. What God gives us in these experiences is a foretaste of divine glory when we handle hardship gracefully. God’s joy, in its fullness, is too big for our present humanness. Because it is so big, we often can’t understand what heaven will be like.

One of the questions people have about heaven is, “Won’t we get bored in heaven?” The truth is, how can we spend an eternity praising God? Won’t it get boring?  John records in Revelation 4:8: “Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.” The seraphim never tired of singing the same verse because they were experiencing God continually. I believe that will be our experience as well.

A few years ago, there was a series of movies called “Final Destination.” In the movie, characters would have premonitions about possible futures. For us as Christians, heaven is the final destination that we can securely look forward to. Heaven’s joy will have substance; there is nothing abstract in what Scripture says we will do in heaven.

The joy of arriving in heaven will be surpassed by the joy of experiencing heaven. 1 Corinthians 13 says we will “see through a glass dimly”. When we find ourselves in God’s presence, we will see Him as He is! All the unknowns will become known.

In conclusion, heaven is so much more than gold streets and jeweled structures. It will be an existence where there is pure joy. For us, keeping heaven in our sights helps us to put things in perspective. We must redeem our earthly sufferings as opportunities to be caught up in the gladness of God.

There was a senior in one of my previous churches who when she woke up in the morning would be upset because she was still here. You see, like Paul, she longed to be with Jesus because she knew what being in God’s presence meant.

In Revelation 21, John shares his vision of what this new heaven and earth would be like. He mentions there would be no tears, no death, no crying, no sorrow, no pain, and that all things would be made new.

Maybe you are going through some challenging times today. Maybe we feel overwhelmed with what is going on in our lives. Don’t let the circumstances discourage you from seeing the bigger picture. I want to encourage each of us today, not to miss your chance to begin investing in eternity.

One of the most important things Jesus came to the earth to do was give us hope.

Heaven is the fulfillment of that hope – Eternity with God.

May His heaven be our hope and may we experience more of God’s presence daily as we seek to honour and glorify Him in and through our lives.

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