Month: April 2016

We of all people have reason to look forward to the future. That’s not to say we wish to hurry life along to it’s culmination. And looking forward to heaven doesn’t mean we want, to quote an elderly gentleman I heard once, to “get on the bus today.”

But we have a hope. Paul struggled through much of his life and during one lengthy imprisonment, wrote to some friends who had been sending him support to feed and clothe him while incarcerated. In that letter he was very confessional, and said “I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far….”

Those were not the words of a despondent, hopeless suicide. It was not the words of a man who had given up on this life or who had lost reason for living. It was not a statement by a man with a death wish.

In fact, just before these verses Paul had said, “For to me to LIVE IS CHRIST, but to DIE IS GAIN….” (Philippians 1:21) He said, “I am torn (in a straight) between the two….”

When hope is secured, one may speak like that with assurance and confidence. Paul knew where he was going. He knew how the story ended. In fact, he had already been taken to the “third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12: 2) and seen things that should not be shared or spoken about while there.

He knew he was going to that place when the trials of this life were over. You know, it’s amazing how our hope in eternity affects life today. C.S. Lewis put it this way, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”

Paul thought much of “the next world.” His plan was to go and I’m sure there were days that he wished the bus would hurry! But he stayed and served and wrote and taught and loved and even followed Jesus to a martyr’s death.

And precisely because he couldn’t wait for heaven, he changed his world.

So can we.

FOR MEMORIZATION: “For me to live is Christ, but to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

FOR REFLECTION: Can thinking about eternity for five minutes a day change how you live your life? If it did, would five minutes be worth it?

“The praises of Israel are your throne.” (Psalm 22:3, New Century Version)

Where does God live? That’s a question that, if you’re a parent, you have had to tackle at least once if not more often. And our answers vary. “Well, God lives in our hearts.” “God lives at church.” “God lives in Heaven.” On a sliding scale of “right” to “got no clue” we offer our thoughts to our curious little seeker.

But there is a correct response. The Bible answers it for us. God told David and his successor Solomon that He is too vast… to be contained in a building made by hands. He is also NOT physical, which means it is impossible to measure Him (at least by our metric).

While the Bible, especially the Old Testament, reveals where God does NOT live, it also reveals where He does. God inhabits… lives… makes His home in… the praises of His people. Perhaps the following verses will unpack this for us:

King James Bible:
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

International Standard Version
You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

Where does God dwell? Where is God most “at home?” Where is God enthroned? Answer: “On the praises of Israel (His people).” While many other things are speculative, one thing we know for certain about heaven is that GOD WILL BE CONTINUALLY PRAISED THERE. We will join in a song that has been sung in eternity since long before our birth and will continue through the ages of timelessness.

One unknown writer describes it this way:

“Praise is where God lives. It is His permanent address. Praise is His home element. He is at home in praise.”

This settles one of the vast mysteries which accompanies praise. Why is it that when we praise the Lord things change so rapidly? Why does healing come on wings of praise? Why do human emotions undergo such transition when praise is the choice? How are we to account for those things that accompany praise? The simple answer is: while God is everywhere present, He is not everywhere manifested. He is at home in praise and being at home, He manifests Himself best as God… God has an affinity for praise. He is enthroned and liberated to act mightily in praise. ” (quoted in David Jeremiah My Heart’s Desire)

God is at home not because of location in heaven. There is no such “location.” He is at home not just because angels are present because they are present everywhere.

God is at home in our praise and Heaven is the place where praise is best and continuously given by the angels, the elders and the surrounding countless throng of people from every “tribe, language and race and tongue.”

And the place where God is truly and ultimately…
… home.

FOR MEMORIZATION: “You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” Ps 22:3

FOR REFLECTION: How can we bring Heaven down to earth today? What circumstances in your life need to be face right now with praise?

“And He has set eternity in their hearts.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

We have always, deep in our bones and our soul, suspected it. We are not made for this world. There is something more, something enduring, something eternal awaiting us. There are longings never fulfilled that point beyond us to “something more.” There are beautiful experiences, places to visit, stirrings in our spirit that point beyond themselves into eternity.

But He has put eternity in their hearts. God did that. When we were originally dreamed, created, birthed, formed in our mother’s womb… before our eyes ever opened in the stark light of a delivery room in a hospital or in the warmth of a bed surrounded by midwife, family, and even friends… before the first breath of life filled our lungs, and before the first time we heard our mother’s voice… God put eternity in our hearts.

We are not human beings who occasionally are having a spiritual experience. That would be what the world would have us believe. That would be the story line of the earthbound, locked in a worldview that cannot explain and therefore, cannot allow for the possibility that a “beyond” exist.

We are spiritual beings… eternally existing. And we are for now, having a “human experience.” But as we are walking through this stark world, we are aware of something that the earliest Christians knew who were “looking for a city” whose builder and Maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10)

And so we have always suspected it. There is something beyond. When I got to dive the beautiful waters between Maui and Molokai, I was absolutely captivated by the beauty of the ocean water, the fish and sea turtles swimming, and the reefs around me.

But I knew I didn’t belong there. My oxygen was running out. I had to go home. A place beyond the water.

And one day, so shall we all.

Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.   Hebrews 11:16

FOR REFLECTION: How does remembering that you were made for eternity affect the way you will live your life today?