Arrival in Heaven

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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.                   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks put the circumstances of our lives, both good and bad into God’s hands and help us see them through His eyes. Last night our beloved daughter-in-law Melinda slipped from this world into the presence of Jesus. And while we are overwhelmed with grief and shock, these words are promises to which we cling. Melinda has finished her race. Her battle with cancer is finished. And while that pernicious disease claimed her physical life, it could not touch her soul. That remained fully and exclusively in the hands of Jesus with whom she now lives. Nancy and I didn’t know how to process the news that came in three words. “She is gone.” Yet as sadness rolls over my heart I sense the message echo back from Heaven, ” She has arrived!”

Jesus Came Down the Mountain

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And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them. Mark 9:2 ESV

When Jesus took His three closest friends up a mountain, He began to show them who He really was in a way they had never seen before. Yet in spite of the beauty and holiness of that moment, Jesus did not tarry on the mountain. No! He came down the mountain to heal one young boy. And He left the highest mountain of all, that place in Heaven when He came down to the manger, He came for you and me. But before His mission was finished, He had one more mountain to climb, the mountain that had a cross waiting at the top where He suffered and died for our sins. He paid the terrible price so that one day when this life is over, if we have put our faith in Him, we will be able to join Him forever on that mountain in Heaven!

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form.
Philippians 2:6-7 NLT

The Hope of Sabbath Rest

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And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. Luke 23:54 KJV

Though few of us who call ourselves Christians keep a strict Sabbath these days, we probably still think of Sunday morning as the beginning of a special day set aside for heading to church. What we forget is that in the Bibe, the drawing near of Sabbath, did not mean that it was almost dawn, but that it would soon be night. In today’s passage, as Joseph and Nicodemus carried the lifeless body of Jesus they hurried, because by law they must be done before sunset when Sabbath began. Yet the darkness at the beginning of Sabbath, was not intended by God to be a curse, but rather a sign of hope. Because as sunset drew near, it signaled the beginning of rest after the hard labor of the week. Then all twenty-four of the hours ahead belonged to God for a Sabbath rest as God’s special day and a time to be enjoyed.

In the same way, for those of us who are older, as our lives are beginning their final chapters, we need not fear the closing in of shadows and the darkening of horizons. These are all signs that the chapter that lies ahead completely belongs to God. Just as Jesus lay in the tomb on the day of rest in hope of the resurrection, we also share that same hope. There is no defeat in that darkness but rather a joyful quiet hope that believes that we will rest in our Father’s arms and rise again to walk with our Lord on the first day of a new and eternal week!

“Above all things and in all things, O my soul, rest always in God, for He is the everlasting rest of the saints.    Grant, most sweet and loving Jesus, that I may seek my repose in You…   For my heart cannot rest or be fully content until, rising above all gifts and every created thing, it rests in You. Thomas à Kempis

After the Sabbath Passed

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Mother duck slept in one day
Still and quiet without sound
Trusting God to guard her ducklings
Bedded down beside the pond

The early mists swirled on the lake
Wisps stirred up by sun’s first ray
And birds begin to seek again
Their provision for the day

Now my heart waits on my Lord
Who bedded down behind the stone
Till after Sabbath passed at dawn
He rose to fly Father’s throne


Peter Caligiuri
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