Heaven

Letters to My Father

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

After my Dad passed away one of the most difficult and yet most rewarding things I had to do was going through his things. Though he was now gone it was as if I came to know my father better than I ever could on earth. Old postcards mixed with photos of family and friends I had never met. But among all the books and papers the most startling find was a stack of letters. The handwriting on the envelopes seemed familiar and as I looked closer it suddenly struck me that they were mine. Every thank you note, every Christmas and Fathers Day card were there. One by one I read through words I had forgotten about but Dad had kept them as a special treasure.

I believe it will be the same way in heaven. There God has prepared a place for each of us and lying open on a table will be our letters to God. Each and every word of every prayer God keeps as His special treasure. He has never forgotten a single time we praised or prayed. Then we will begin to uncover the astonishing love of our heavenly Father and begin to know Him so much better than we ever could on earth!

Treasures

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Psalms 27:13

I dreamed I stood at heaven’s door

And heard its hinges creak

Around its frame a light shone out

As it opened for the King

“What have you brought?” He began to ask

“From your time on earth now through”

I wasn’t sure what I could say

I knew it had to be the truth

So I talked about my mission’s trips

And how each day I prayed

And how I often read His word

And all the tithes I gave

When I finally stopped to take a breath

He smiled and gently said

“Those were not really from your heart

They were just rituals instead”

“But the forgiveness you gave your parents

When their divorce left you alone

And the love you shared with strangers

When you opened up your home

And sorrowful repentant tears

And confessions in the night

Those are the things I treasure most

And are precious in my sight!”

gold beaded necklaces on gold jewelry box

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Preparing a Home for Jesus

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Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him; and he with Me. Revelation 3:20 ESV

When we Christians think of heaven we generally focus on how Jesus has a place prepared for us there. But heaven is not just some geographical place we go to live; it is God coming to live with us. So how can we prepare a place for Him? The good news is that we can’t; but Jesus can!

Now it isn’t exactly like what happened when we had some remodeling done in our kitchen but it does share some certain points. First; we needed to realize that the repairs needed were more than we could handle. That is what Jesus meant when He said, “If any man hears my voice and opens the door.”

KIMG1580Our job was to open the door when our contractors showed up. Imagine if instead of letting the kitchen installers in, we just started hammering away ourselves. That is what we do when we leave Jesus outside our door. He has everything necessary to remodel our hearts but first we have to let Him in.

 

On the other hand; unlike our project; Jesus doesn’t just plan on showing up, doing his work and going home. Jesus said that He wanted to come in, sit down and stay. His plan begins by demolishing our old life along with our sins on the cross. Then He follows up with all the changes and new materials needed being installed through His resurrection. When He has finished His job we will discover that Heaven is simply where He sits down at our kitchen table and enjoys a meal with us forever in that place inside of us which only He can prepare!