All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others

What will your permanent address be? your forever one

Listen here: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/ce00406e/what-will-your...

I know it is March Madness and basketball brackets are on people's minds--'so we're clear, I've got Duke to go all the way.

But first, for just a moment, I want to direct your thoughts to baseball. Two buddies, Bob and Earl, were among the biggest baseball fans in America. Their entire adult lives, Bob and Earl discussed baseball history in the winter, and pored over every box score during the season. They went to sixty games a year. They even agreed that whoever died first would try to come back and tell the other if there was baseball in heaven.

One summer night, Bob passed away in his sleep after watching the Yankee victory earlier in the evening. He died happy. A few nights later, his buddy Earl awoke to the sound of Bob's voice from beyond. "Bob is that you?" Earl asked. "Of course it's me," Bob replied. "This is unbelievable!" Earl exclaimed. "So tell me, is there baseball in heaven?" "Well I have some good news and some bad news for you. Which do you want to hear first?" "Tell me the good news first." "Well, the good news is that yes, there is baseball in heaven, Earl." "Oh, that is wonderful! So what could possibly be the bad news?" "You're pitching tomorrow night."1

If you were Earl, would that pitching date be good news or bad news? Hmmm.

This next story of Jesus in Luke chapter 16 is a little tough - well at least at first glance. Jesus described two men whose lives were a study of great contrasts:

there was a sick, poor man (named Lazarus)

who begged at the gate of a rich man who lived for his pleasures.

Both men died and Jesus gave a purview of their eternal homes--chosen by their lives.

link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke 16.19-31&vers...

Let's be clear: the scenario Jesus described was before the cross and the resurrection ... but the point is this: our souls live eternally either in a place of love and beauty with God, or separated from him forever in a place of torment. Heaven and hell are both real, literal places, and we choose which one we will inhabit forever. Have you thought much about this? I have.

My quest to know about Heaven in earnest began in 2006 when my mother went to Heaven at 91 years of age. ‘What is she doing now?’ I would be driving soccer carpool and suddenly think, 'What is Mom doing now?' I just had to know what might be known - that which is of course true. Daily, I would have one foot on terra firma and the other in the heavenlies, wondering about her.

Before then, I certainly took the Word of God as truth - that God loved humanity so much that he gave us his only Son, Jesus, to be the perfect covering for our sin - so that we who choose him will live forever - with him.² Understanding the choice is ours.

Turning in my Bible to Revelation 21 and 22, I began studying in earnest the specific insight Jesus gave to John about Heaven - a place of light, love, color, dimension and depth - a real place with real dimensions. I read what Jesus had to say in John chapter 14 about preparing a place for us. And then science happened.

In the last two decades, more Near Death Experiences have been recorded than ever before. STOP. Scoffers and skeptics are want to say that science is incompatible with the Bible - nothing could be further from the truth--science confirms the truths of the Bible, the supernaturally inspired Word of God. Think of it - as medical technology has improved (science), more people have been revived, after having already ‘coded’ or ‘flat-lined’, producing a brief span of time where they have experienced the afterlife, the what-comes-next.

Jesus said I am going to prepare a place for you that where I am you may be also.³

Revelation 21 and 22 describe details of that place--a river, a gold street, foundations of precious stones--sapphire, onyx, topaz . . . 12 gates, each a single giant pearl. Such beauty with melodious praise surrounding the throne of the Lamb of God.

Want a glimpse of the other side now? In his tremendous book, John Burke⁴ tells the stories of more than 100 people who have experienced something of the other side - while syncing their stories/claims in the solid truths of the Bible. [Yes, the beautiful words of God hold the answers to how we got here, our purpose and our eternal destiny, even giving us pictures of life everlasting with Him]

Truth: Paul says it clearly, "For the wages of sin is death, but [thank you, Father, for the but] the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."⁵ What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived--the things God has prepared for those who love him.⁶ Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then

I will know everything completely,

just as God now knows me completely.⁷

Let us understand this together: There is no reason to fear death when we walk with the Author of Life, the One who gives and takes away⁸, who gifted us with life eternal In. His. Presence. God will wipe away every tear we have cried and we will be reunited with loved ones in a place of unparalleled beauty and adventure. (if you have some picture of floating on clouds playing harps - strike that! That notion probably originated in a silly cartoon). Yes, Heaven is a place of beauty and adventure which ought give us hope, joy and the strength for today.

We must live fully this gift of life -

invested in growing our relationship with God and his word,

taking care of the bodies he gave us,

growing and challenging our minds,

serving God by serving others …

and yet, we sure ought have one eye cast toward the finish line

with a smile on our face,

knowing it will be beyond what we can think or imagine.

And I'm guessing we will meet this guy Lazarus, but he won't be sick or poor no' more.

I can imagine what Heaven will be like! listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNDEyxEMNp0

May I have your permanent address please?

Christine - PstorWoman.net