Packing a Suitcase For Heaven

Cast your burden on the Lord , and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalms 55:22 ESV

Some burdens feel like an overweight suitcase dragging behind us as we run through the airport of life.  But God promises us that if we ask Him, He will carry it for us. In God’s calendar He has marked a day for our departure from our planet and like every other trip we must pack our suitcases. We have a close friend who has traveled so often that he joked that he could pack for overseas in 15 minutes. The reason for his boast was that he had learned the secret not only of what to bring, but also what to leave behind. When we pack for heaven that is doubly true. First be sure to include lots of mercy. Mercy takes up almost no space at all and considering how often we mess up here on earth I need plenty! 

Second be sure to include the portion of faith that God has given you. Remember that in heaven we will still walk by faith because even after we see His face we still need to trust in His goodness. And don’t forget to stuff in so much love, joy and praise that you may need to sit on your suitcase to get it closed. The way to have enough room for all these is learning what to leave behind. The first thing to take out is bitterness because it will make our luggage way too heavy. And as you are tossing that out you can put complaining back on the shelf as well. God won’t be interested to hear from us about our brother or sisters faults. He will instead show us how much it cost Him to forgive ours. God is so good and any day one of us will stand before Him. What we choose to pack or not pack for our most important journey will stay with us forever. Be sure to travel light!

 

 

A Holy Land Tour

Though my wife and I have been blessed to travel a bit when we were younger, we have always wanted to see the Holy Land. These days most of our traveling outside of going to church revolves around the doctor, the gym and the grocery store and I am wondering if we will ever see more than just photographs. No boo-hooing going on here because I know that going to Jerusalem is inevitably on our Lord’s travel destination for us whether in this life or the next. With that thought in mind here is a little poem I wrote a couple of years back which I revised a bit and I pray it may bless your day:

 

The Places Where I’ve been

I have not been to Israel

Or seen its Holy sites

Nor to the Sea of Galilee

Where You taught us wrong from right

But Your voice that calmed the storm

Has spoken in my mind

And Your hands that healed the sick

Have gently taken mine

Then You called me to Yourself

And You Said You were The Way

Forgave my sin

Renewed my Hope

And walked with me today!

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The days of Noah

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. Luke 17:26

Last week we traveled down to Williamstown Kentucky to celebrate our 45th anniversary and to see the Ark Encounter. It was a pretty amazing experience and I wish we had planned an extra day because there was so much to see.

Thinking back O think I came away with a new a greater sense pf the starkness of Noah’s faith. He believed and as a result persisted in building the ark. To put the enormity of the task in perspective consider that this replica built by Answers in Genesis ministries is the largest wood framed structure in the world. Noah built this without power equipment, without modern engineering or any outside support. He simply moved by faith in the face of rejection and with his sons became the pioneers of a new world!
Just as in Noah’s day the hard part is not just believing God’s message but in the demand for radical change that faith requires.