Best Day Ever … Heaven?

Since I made the claim that the ‘best day ever’ is the day we see the Lord’s face -- the day we draw our last breath on earth and our first in Heaven… perhaps we need to take a closer look.  After all, there is no greater hope than the hope of Heaven, God’s promised destination for those who love him. 

So what is Heaven like? 

 In Heaven, there is no sickness, pain or suffering –

   There is no cancer, no diseases, no hospitals—

    There will be no separation from loved ones . . . ever.

      No loneliness, anger, or fear

        No death or worry or sorrow . . .

         and on a lighter note—no humidity.

         We will finally be as God meant us to be

          And at last, we will know what it’s like to be “Home”

My interest in Heaven has grown exponentially for several reasons—one reason is that I know it is where my mother makes her home.  She went to be with Jesus in 2006, several months after her ninetieth birthday, and I like to try and visualize what she is doing.  Another reason my interest in Heaven is so keen is that I want to speak intelligently about it when conducting a funeral or memorial service.  I read a fascinating book a few years’ back that was quite provocative: 90 Minutes in Heaven¹.  Truthfully, I picked the book up a number of times before I finally bought it.  Here’s the story—a minister was leaving a conference in the Midwest in a driving wind and rainstorm, when he was in a horrific car accident.  Pronounced dead at the scene by four different sets of paramedics, the professionals moved on to others who had a chance to live.

Another pastor, also leaving the conference, happened onto the tragic scene, and felt compelled by God to stop--further, to pray for the man in the mangled car.  So, he managed to climb into the back of the small car, behind the driver’s seat of the ‘deceased’ and alternately prayed for the man, and sang to him.  (This guy was a Baptist pastor, and this is not standard Baptist fare, you must understand that)  He did what he felt driven to do—he obeyed the voice that urged him to pray and sing, and was shocked when the ‘dead’ man started singing along with him!  I heard Don Piper talk about the 90 minutes between the collision and this man’s answered prayers for him, when he tells of his time in Heaven.  While he confesses that words fall short of describing what he experienced, his story certainly captured me. The clue to Piper’s credibility or another’s:  is the individual making the claims of heaven trying to bring glory or attention to himself or does he give it to God?  Any claims should be stacked up against Scripture.  Since then, Heaven is for Real² … good, solid, sound, hopeful, and sweet. 

I’ve done a lot of study on what may be known about Heaven, from this side; I’ve been with folks passing from this side to Heaven—when they see light, when they breathe a sigh of relief.  Revelation chapter 21 gives us great information, with interesting specific details—such as the fact that there are 12 gates—each one, an individual pearl.  Heaven is laid out as a square – 12,000 furlongs is what the Bible says, which in today’s language means it is a cube 1500 miles square.  This is as large as the area from Canada to Mexico and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rockies.  It can easily accommodate 20 billion residents, each having his or her 75-acre plot.  Heaven is a great big place, and it is real.

The walls of Heaven have 12 foundations, which are adorned with precious stones, including sapphires, onyx, emeralds, amethysts, and more!  Okay, so marry the opulent color with the glorious light—because there is no night in Heaven—indeed, it is always light, plus streets of gold, and you can see that it is a beautiful, magnificent place.

Scripture says, ‘Believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ,

    and you will be saved---you will live with him eternally . . . in Heaven.’³ Then you will definitely know the ‘best day ever’, you will see my friend Joe of Making sense of life … when it is all said and done⁴ . . . and now you have some idea of what to expect of your forever!

Christine

PastorWoman.com

^{1 – 90 Minutes in Heaven, Don Piper}

^{2 – Heaven is for Real, Todd Burpo}

^{3 - Acts 16.31; Romans 10.9; Acts 14.3}

^{4 - http://pastorwoman.com/ReadArchive.aspx?id=1361}