A Goody From Woody

I’ve given a lot of thought lately to the subject of heaven. (A few weeks back I wrote on hell.) Heaven on your mind and in your heart changes and challenges a person. It has refocused me on that which is eternal. I’ve searched the scriptures about heaven and, oh my, my heart has been thrilled – like looking at your child just being born, or seeing your grandchild. It is beyond words, but let me try to put it on paper.

In the world of biblical counseling and discipleship we always deal with problems: lots of messes in life. Our joy and privilege is to point people to the Savior and the scriptures. We tell people to look for the Savior in the problem. When you find Him there, you’ll also find in Him the solution. They go together. To be with the Savior is to be in Heaven, both now and in eternity.

That was the premise of Augustine’s book The City of God, written 413 AD. Augustine compared the city of the world with the city of God. What great nuggets of truth taken right out of the Bible. Augustine’s challenge to his generation was to choose which city they would live in. Life in Christ—Heaven on earth and in eternity, or life in this world (and in the end, hell) are the only two choices that are given.

We all grow weary and tired with the physical, emotional, financial problems of this life. When I think of these things I am reminded of a story from 1952. A young woman, Florence Chadwick, stepped into the water of the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island, determined to swim to the shore of mainland California. She’d already been the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways. The weather was foggy and chilly; she could hardly see the boats accompanying her. Still, she swam for fifteen hours. When she begged to be taken out of the water along the way, her mother, in a boat along side, told her she was close and that she could make it. Finally, physically and emotionally exhausted, she stopped swimming and was pulled out. It wasn’t until she was on the boat that she discovered that she was less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day she said, “All I could see was the fog…I think if I could have seen the shore, I could have made it.”

“If I could have seen the shore I could have made it.” How do we do that if Heaven is our goal? The author of Hebrews tells us how. (Heb 12:1-2 NASB) “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Did you see that shore? “Fixing our eyes on Jesus.” The answer is so clear. We daily choose to read God’s word, pray all the time, fellowship with our loving God, enjoy intimate moments with our Savior, and worship—not just once a week at church, but daily as we journey through this city (the world) to the city of God (Heaven).

To use Brother Lawrence’s expression, “We practice the presence of Jesus in all that we do, all that we think, all that we attempt.”

I know the enemy loves to distract us from real joy and peace. It is a mental and spiritual battle. Don’t lose heart; I have seen the shore today. Have you?

God Bless,

Woody

P.S. John Owen, the Puritan Pastor, said “What you think about Heaven is a test of character; pursuing only the things of this world means we failed the test.”

John 14:2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.”

John 13:36 “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.’”

Hebrews 11:16 ^“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

Hebrews 13:14 ^“For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

Rev. 21:1-3 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.”

Psalm 27:4 “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple.”

Rev. 22:4 “‘They will see His face’—the greatest blessing in the heavenly city.”

—Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

Questions to Ponder:

· Is there a longing in your life for heaven (literally according to Rev. 21-22, a new heaven and a new earth)?

· What practical good would be produced in you if you spent more time thinking about Heaven?