‘Ready for a new home? A break in the action

Today is the day that I will conduct my friend’s funeral—my beautiful friend, who life got the better of. I have conducted quite a few
memorial-type services, including my own dear mother’s, but this is the
first one of my friends to depart. So near my age, living
only four houses away, this feels so very wrong. Nonetheless,
it is mine to honor, and mine to give hope—especially to her three
teen-aged children and her husband left behind. 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 or pain or suffering.

There are no addictions, no broken bones, no hospitals—

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

No loneliness, anger, or fear

No death or worry or hard feelings

We will finally be as God meant us to be

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

I must admit that my interest in Heaven has grown exponentially for several reasons—one reason is that I know my mother is there, and though I miss
her so much, I like to try and visualize what she is doing . . . another
reason is that I read a fascinating book a few years’ back that was
quite provocative. The book: 90
Minutes in Heaven. Truthfully, I was totally
skeptical, and 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, he felt compelled to pray for the man in
the mangled car. So, he somehow climbed 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
though—he obeyed the voice that he heard urging him on to pray and sing. How
shocked he was 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 dreadfully short of describing what he
experienced . . . I must confess—it captured me.

Since encountering his story, I’ve done a lot of study on what may be known about Heaven, from this side. Revelation chapter 21 gives
us some great information, with some 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, 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.’

Yeah--I'm ready for a new home.

Christine