DO WE WAIT TO GO TO HEAVEN AFTER WE PASS AWAY OR DO WE GO THERE RIGHT AWAY?

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Permalink Reply by Jane Smith on October 4, 2011 at 5:12am

Blessed are you Nancy because you seek the Lord and hear His voice. Understanding the things of God is not complex- it just takes sitting at the Master's feet and quieting our spirits to listen. From the out of body experience I had, I can tell others that the moment one puts ones little toe in Heaven there will be peace that is like ones best day in this life multiplied by a zillion. We will not even be able to remember a single bad thing that ever happened to us, or this life at all, for that matter- it is like our minds are erased and we begin again. Heaven is full of life and beauty unspeakable. We will not communicate as we do now. Our words will float from our spirit to the spirit of the one we are speaking to. We will see colors we have never seen before in our lives and wonder what is that color? There will be only peace in Heaven- the peace is so great that  ones well being seems a zillion decibels greater than any peace ever experienced before. When I had the OB tunnel experience, as much as I love my children, I could not even remember them. If we will not remember our children whom we loved, we  certainly will not remember any hurt, pain or unhappy memories. This is not a bad thing, it just simply means that we will truly be taken to a new life where we will live in a supernatural way that is so much higher then the way we lived here in this life. We will be productive all the time. There is no darkness, only light 24/7. So,  there will be no need to rest or sleep. We will walk and talk with our Lord. There is more I saw, and as I said, we will arrive there like superman flying through the air in a fraction of a second. We can all have this blessed hope so that all we face in this life and will continue to face until we arrive there will just be momentary suffering. How utterly tragic it is for those who do not have this hope. They will be removed from this life like a giant vacuum cleaner that will suck them right out of this world to arrive at a heinous destination. That is why we must witness, witness, witness until the end comes.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Smith on October 4, 2011 at 12:09pm

Precious Sister Nancy,

Thank you for the gift of the anointing on your words. You are a great gift to this group and you have great wisdom and discernment for one who has only known the Lord for 3 1/2 yrs. If everyone could only see that knowing the Lord does not require a PHD, but simply a willing heart, they would know what it is to have His peace. The way you summed up the question of this thread is revelation from the Spirit. Yes, He will never leave us nor forsake us and as long as we know that, we can keep fighting the good fight of faith until we reach our final destination of Heaven.

 

I well remember when I sat on a church bench for the first time in my life. It meant so much to me not having been raised in church to become a member of a church and to have a new church family. As a new believer,  I remember reading the part in the Word about the wolves in sheep's clothing. I thought surely that must mean those in our lives outside the Church who reject Christ and are continuously doing evil deeds. Little did I know back then that it also meant those within the Church such as the person sitting next to me on the church bench, some of the church leaders or the pastor at the pulpit. I didn't want to believe it, but found that the Holy Spirt could be trusted to tell me the truth. I learned early on therefor, like you, to always listen to the Spirit above any other voice.

 

The moment I met Jesus, it was like love at first sight multiplied by a zillion! There is no man on this earth that could ever make me feel like that. Though many other voices had clamored for my loyalty at that time, I knew instantly that He alone was Truth and I would follow only Him.

 

I used to be a voracious reader reading one godly book after another to study the Word, but there came a day when the HS told me I could read all the books in this world including His Word (although of course that is our guide- just mean we can't understand it all in this life) and I would be no closer to the knowlege I will possess when I reach Heaven where we will for the first time see as He sees. The Spirit also then showed me not to struggle for knowledge and to know it is fruitless to debate  anyone.

 

So at that point I let that go, because what He was saying was the time is short - those who are His will so very soon be brought to His Kingdom to be with Him forever. Now is the time to witness to the lost and bring as many in as we can.

 

From time to time, God leads me to read a book here and there. Recently i was in a GoodWill store.  As much as I love books, I have passed them up each time I am there. But this time the Spirit lead me to a book He wanted me to read. It was a Christian humor book yet with serious points.

 

In the past I have never read a humorous book. I always went for serious ones in order to grow in spiritual knowledge. But I saw exactly the book that the Spirit was pointing me to and purchased it. Funny too that it was !/2 price day and it only cost me $.50.

 

The book is written by a pastor who has a gift of humor and is sharing his wealth of experience in preaching and dealing with ppl over the yrs. The very first story I came to made such a powerful point with me. Has anyone noticed how the enemy kicks our butt each day? You won't notice this if you are not doing anything for the Lord, but if you are, you will notice how many wrenches he throws into your day. We will be wiped out from stress when all we wanted to do is live a holy day for the Lord. And we will be filled with discouragement like the end of the world is coming. But if we look back at all the Lord has delivered us from and all the miracles and blessings He has provided, we can stop and remember that He is faithful and no matter how gloomy a situation looks, in a day or two or more, we will see the deliverance of our God, He will take us higher.and He is never a second late.

 

The cute little story the pastor told was how as a young boy it was Christmas and living in a very poor part of the country his family was penniless so there would be no food for the Christmas supper let alone any presents. Yet at the last second their fellow believers came to their door to make sure they had Christmas. Well I don't celebrate the birth of the Lord the way most do, but I loved the story as it said to me expect to get slammed by the enemy each and every day, but hold on to Jesus and fight back with everything you've got and you will see the deliverance of the Lord every time.

 

You have spoken truth Nancy - we can trust Him epxlicitly for every kind of struggle in our lives and soon and very soon we are going to see the King!

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Permalink Reply by andrew on October 3, 2011 at 9:53pm

hi all.....i thought of putting some of my thoughts here...correct me if necessary...First we have to understand clearly "terminology used" like paradise, heaven, hell, hades.  Perhaps some like the new heaven, new earth...

paradise / heaven = are they the same ? are they physical or dimensional ? or spiritual ? perhaps r there any diffrence with Kingdom of God ?   My answer is to be simple....paradise / heaven / kingdom of God ...these (this) is the place where God dwells n the heavenly creatures ( eg angels ) and after we die here ( first death - physical ) as believers...we go straight into the presence of GOD..

As someone here mentioned about the glorified body n Second Coming - will provide some insight later...

 

rgds...andrew

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on October 4, 2011 at 3:23am

My biblical understanding of this topic beloved.

 

To be away from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord. The Lord is in the heavens, so that is where we will be. Luke 16 describes a place call Hades which had two sections, one section is called Abrahams bosom and the other hell. Abrahams bosom is paradise and hell as we know from scripture is a place of torment, which after the great white throne judgment will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 21).

 

Soul or Spirit sleep is not biblical. We move from conscious existence unto conscious existence beyond the grave. Our bodies do wait upon resurrection (1 Cor. 15), but our spirit man is alive and well in paradise/heaven/Abraham's bosom, all synonymous to each other.

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on October 4, 2011 at 4:28am

I think that the old Testament term *slept with his fathers*  represents where a person went after physical death...whether tormented or in Abraham's bosom.

After the resurrection, "absent from the body, present with the Lord." I don't think that *Abraham's Bosom* applies to those who die physically after the resurrection. I think those with the spirit of Christ go to be with Him. Therefore, they can't be the same thing.

Based on Paul's post resurrection teachings, they can't be the same thing.

For those who may wonder about Jesus' statement regarding going to "prepare a place for you".....everything was done, completed, finished on the 7th day of creation when God said "It is finished". When He said, "I go to prepare a place for you" He referred to the fact that He was going to enable us to go to heaven. As Stephen lay dying, he looked and saw Heaven opened and Christ standing...." I am sure that this was to welcome Stephen home.

So....Abraham's Bosom can't be the same as Heaven because Christ had not yet died for us when Jesus related the story of Lazarus and the rich man.

 

Blessings. 

 

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on October 4, 2011 at 4:59am

 

Rita,

 

Though I truly enjoy looking at everything the bible speaks about in detail and seeking the correct interpretation of it, there are certain topics that do not hold much interest for me. One being the present topic, I am very happy that we go to be with God, whether that is Abraham's bosom or not it does not make much difference to me. I know we will be with our Father and that is a beautiful thought, the location or name of the place holds no concern for me.

 

A deep study of a verse you quoted, will lead us to understand something more glorious than one of the popular interpretations of it.

 

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

 

The verse is a partial quote from:

 

Psalm 68:18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious--that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.

 

A popular understanding of the verse is that Christ led those in Abraham's bosom to heaven. I do not think that is what the verse is referring to, but I do not wish to dive deeper into this particular subject.

 

Blessings beloved in Christ.

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on October 4, 2011 at 5:13am

Regarding David's comment regarding *led captivity captive* I have one more comment to make.

The Bible is full of prophesies and Psalms 68:18 is one of them. A prophesy is called that because it is something that will happen.

I think it was fulfilled after the resurrection of Christ. I think it will also be happen at the Lord's second coming.

Blessings.

 

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Permalink Reply by Richard L. Broch, Sr. on October 4, 2011 at 9:57pm

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

 

Thank you Nancy for introducing this interesting, deep topic, which is on so many people's minds, believers and non.

 

I agree with my Bible buddy - David V., that I'm not real keen on this difficult subject that some get quite vehement about with their explanations. I'm also comfortable that God's arrangements are beyond our wildest expectations when we cross over to the other side. 

 

But, let me throw in some Biblical points for you guys to consider:

Yes, David, Luke 16 describes Paradise- not Heaven. I also think that's where Jesus took the criminal because Jesus did not go to Heaven at that time. Consider John 20:17, "Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father........" (Remember, this was Sunday morning).

I think Jesus took the criminal with Him and preached to the righteous people who had died before His redeeming work on the cross (1 Peter 4:6). They had been "captive" waiting for the sin-debt to be paid before they could be"led on high" -

(Ephesians4:8).

 

Also, I think Abraham's Bosom (Paradise) was down under the earth at that time ( 1 Samuel 28:14-15 - Samuel "coming

 up".

Jesus led those redeemed souls up to the high heaven, below God's abode. I agree with what Bible Talk mentioned earlier in this discussion - Jesus said, " In My Fathers house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to Myself, that WHERE I AM, THERE YOU WILL BE ALSO."(John 14:2-3). My feeling is this is where the "new" Paradise is - part of many mansions.

1 Thessalonians 4:17,"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.".

 

Finally, Paul talked about having the desire to depart (die) AND BE WITH CHRIST," for that would be very much better". (Philippians 1:23). Seems to me, that when we die, we are alert and with our Lord and Savior.

There will be those who disagree with my thoughts, and that's O.K., because nobody knows for sure.

Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly............

 

Grace and Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

1 Thess

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on October 4, 2011 at 11:07pm

Beloved it is good and a worthy pursuit to engage in, whenever we seek to know Him and to know about His work.

Press on beautiful woman of God, press on...

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