adminI think one of the most uplifting topics to dwell upon is the topic of Heaven! So as we prepare our hearts for the most delightful holiday of Thanksgiving, I thought we would take a few moments and think about Heaven. My mother wrote a wonderful poem called ‘Heaven’ that I am going to share. All of her precious questions have long been answered as she has been enjoying the wonders of that marvelous place now for almost 15 years.
HEAVEN
By Dora Grier
I’ve just been a wondering what Heaven will be like,
When we have washed and cooked all day and nothing went just right.
We are so very tired and we ache in every joint –
Will it be the same as this, or have we missed a point?
Will we remember all the things that irritate us so?
Or will it be all peace and joy – our faces all aglow
With all the love and thankfulness which wells up in our hearts,
To know we’ll be with Him in Heaven and never more depart?
The Good Book tells us of the things we really need to know
By putting all our trust in Him, it will truly help us grow
In grace and in the love of God, so generously given
By Him who gave His life for us and builds our home in Heaven.
The tears will all be washed away, with ne’er a trace to find.
The aches and pains will all be gone and health will be sublime.
Our mortal bodies will then know the Resurrection power
Of Him who lived and died for us ‘mid Heaven’s darkest hour.
So, if you do not understand nor fully comprehend,
The riches of the grace of God – a taste which Heaven sends –
Just trust Him with the future and rest in Him complete,
For up in Heaven we’ll all rejoice and worship at His feet!
My brothers along with my sister and I spent many hours contemplating what Heaven was going to be like. These are some of my most precious memories. There are several conclusions we came to back there, shared with my parents who confirmed their truth. I know for certain that our parents started us on the topic and encouraged us in it. But nevertheless, it was a glorious exploration.
We discovered the verse in Phil 3:20-21 where we learn that we will have bodies like Christ’s glorious body. Ooh, how exciting! We really became excited as we started to delve into what the Bible said about what Jesus could do in His Glorified Body after He rose from the dead.
We discovered that He could walk through walls, yet His body was a physical body that you could touch and handle. You read about when He did this in John 20:19-27. In this situation, Jesus walked through the wall and challenged Thomas to touch Him and to believe the Truth! Therefore, we were excited! We will be able to do things that the movies do plus more.
We will be able to stroll leisurely down the road or through the park yet travel at the speed of thought. Jesus, when He saw Mary Magdalene after He had risen from the dead told her not to touch Him because He had not yet ascended to the Father. Notice, He made this instant trip to Heaven and back to walk with the disciples in short order. He has a glorious resurrected body! Ours will be like His. Do not mistake me – we will not ever be God, but we will have a wonderful body like His one day.
We will be able to actually eat food in Heaven. Jesus ate food following His resurrection when He prepared fish and bread for His disciples by the sea. He also told them at the last supper that He would not be eating and drinking again with them until they were together in the Kingdom of God. Also, we will not have allergies nor get fat when we get to Heaven. I think that’s pretty cool too!
He has a plan for our future that is more glorious than anything we can dream up. He says that in His Word. He says that eye has not seen nor ear heard neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things that the Lord has in store for us. That is pretty inclusive. Not even our great writers of movies or fiction stories can dream up the wonderful things that are in store for His children.
Does that mean we shouldn’t think about it because we can’t understand it all? Not at all for the Bible tells us to think about these things when we are seeing problems everywhere. Luke 21:28 talks about things going on around us and we are to look up because Jesus is coming soon. Plus 1 Thess. 4:18 says that we should think about and comfort one another with the things that God has revealed that are coming to pass. We kids reveled in these scriptures and let our imaginations run wild. It was fun!
I like what H.K. Downie has to say about Heaven.
“In heaven above, Marys and Marthas will weep no more because a brother dies. There will be no Rachels weeping for their children because they are not. Broken ties will be reknit; lost links will be found again; all hearts will be bound together and no heart will break, for we shall be where there is fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore.”
Uncle Ben’s Quotebook (Harvest House Publishers c1976) .p.186
In this dark world of sin and pain
We only meet to part again;
But when we reach the heavenly shore,
We there shall meet to part no more;
The joy that we shall see that day
Shall chase our present griefs away
Ibid 187