Do you ever think about Heaven?

This past weekend being Easter I did quite a bit of thinking on this subject.

Sunday morning, I awoke early to have some quiet Jesus time on the screen porch with my coffee. Hearing nature, smelling nature. Just sitting with my Jesus.

I wanted to sit with my Risen Savior and have Him share with me some “important stuff”. I brought up the idea of heaven again with Him during our conversation.

He led me to Colossians 3:1-4 where it talks about how we are to think on things of heaven. I was so glad when He led me to this scripture. It began to answer some of the questions I had been throwing around all week.

Let me first say, I am not afraid of going to Heaven. I have been close to visiting! Twice! My ticket was bought – but God cancelled the flight and asked me to step off the plane (just for visual sake) – he had some more stuff for me to do on Earth. So I look forward to the day that we can worship God in all His Majesty!

Let me tell you now the strangest occurrence that happened after I began writing this post on Sunday morning. I couldn’t wait to share with you about it!

I began to journal all these thoughts to share with you my blog friends and then realized I needed to go get ready for church. I got to church that day and our pastor preached on the same scripture….now isn’t that all GOD! It was like someone was reading my mail.

Let’s dive into what God showed me.

Colossians 3:1-4
1 “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” (NLT)

Now, I don’t need to make this teaching complicated so I am gonna bare bones it. (I know my Southern friends got this! )

Verse 1 – When we are raised in new life with Christ, and when we have asked Jesus to be our Lord and Savior then we are a new creation. We have been forgiven of our sins. Therefore, we are to “set our sights on the realities of Heaven”! There is my proof that I am not so morbid in thinking on heaven so much lately. *smile*

Setting our sights on the realities of heaven. Do we live our lives today with the notion that one day we will be praising our Savior all day long? Basking in His Presence and worshipping Him with every breath? The reality of Heaven could happen at any moment!

Verse 2 – Think about the things of heaven, not the things of this earth. This means to focus your thoughts and attentions on the things that are important to God. Wow! Could that rearrange your focus during your day or what?! What do you read, watch on TV, listen to. Does it have to do with focusing on God?

Verse 3 and 4 took me right into the meat of what I felt God was trying to show me.

“For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory”

The message states it this way…

“Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life-even though invisible to spectators-is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too-the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.”

Our new life is in Christ – the real life is one that is protected, led by Christ if we CHOOSE to follow Him. But the cool part is – it is through our decisions of how we live that others will come to know Jesus. This is how Jesus is revealed to the whole world. When this happens we will see His Glory.

Do you want to see His glory? I DO! Then I believe we need to start sharing with others the AMAING RELATIONSHIP that we have with Jesus. By doing this we see His Glory!

Psalm 105:4 “Let the whole world know what he has done.”

I have to get personal with you for just a minute.

I haven’t been writing this week because I have been busy preparing our family to travel to Nicaragua in one month for a mission trip we are all taking for 5 days.

Preparing for this journey has been stressful but also comical! It always seems to be with our family. *smile* That is my one big clue that this is all God because Satan is trying to mess with me in this process.

I am SO EXCITED about this journey with my husband and girls! I know that God is preparing us for something BIG! I can just feel it! You know those deeper things that you feel God teaching you and you know that around the next corner – things might surprise you and that is ok too!

Casting Crowns has a song out that I wanted to share – it is perfect for this teaching on Heaven and seeing God’s glory which is what I SO DESIRE, but I know He has more work for us to share with the world…

The words ring loud in my heart this week…
“ready yourselves…
May the Powers of Darkness tremble as our Praises Rise – until the Whole World Hears what we are crying out”

until the Whole World Hears.. You won’t be disappointed for watching and listening to the words!

So until the WHOLE WORLD HEARS….

Blessings,