I was thinking about heaven yesterday. Actually, I think about heaven every day.
What do you think about heaven? What do you most look forward to in heaven?
I look forward to singing. I look forward to being so full of joy that all I can do is sing. I hear thousands and thousands of voices singing tirelessly. I hear voices working so beautifully together, so perfectly simply praising God, that we are one voice.
Are you sure you are going to heaven?
I don't know if you even believe that heaven is real. If you believe that everyone goes or that no one goes...
Most people don't talk openly about heaven, or God, because it is so uncomfortable to disagree. But it is time. It is time to risk feeling uncomfortable because the risk is worth it. You are worth it. Jesus for sure knows you are worth it.
I want to know for sure that you will be in heaven with me. I want to know, just as surely as I know heaven is real, that when the time comes, that you will be there too.
I heard it explained like this: If you are on a plane and someone offers you a parachute because the plane is going to crash, you'd take it right? It may be uncomfortable sitting in your seat with it on. You may be pretty scared sitting there waiting for the plane to crash, but you would take comfort knowing that you were going to be saved. You may feel a bit ridiculous wearing the huge contraption. People look at you, maybe make fun of you, but you know that the parachute will make a difference. When things get really bad, you will be protected. You would feel, even amidst chaos, peace because someone cared enough for you to provide a way to safety. That someone is Jesus. He cared and cares enough to protect you, to provide a way for you to be saved. Not just from plane wreck peril, but for eternity. Believing in HIm is the way to make sure you go to heaven.
I had a friend say to me once, " i want to believe, I just don't." That is a great starting point. Call on the name of Jesus. Tell him you want to believe. Or even that you don't want to die and spend the rest of eternity in hell, Open your heart, and He will let you in. As you begin to talk to HIm more, He will bring you in closer, reveal truths to you, help you to understand things. You will be at the beginning of the most important relationship of your life. But he is patient.
Here's the scary alternative: hell. Do you believe that hell is real? Screaming, crying, gnashing of teeth, an eternity of pain and suffering and no mercy. Think of the scariest movie you have ever seen. The worst crime you've ever heard of, the most awful thing that could happen to a person. Multiply it by forever. No chance of ever changing it. How sure are you that this pit of despair is not where you are going?
You may not believe that heaven and hell are real, or dismiss what I am saying as silly. What if you are wrong? What if all of us who call on the name of Jesus are right and have been right all along. We don't invite you to call on the name of Jesus to be right. We invite you because we do not want the alternative for you.
I don't want to argue with anyone about this. It is too important. I want you to come. Before you no longer have the option. Come to Jesus; He is coming soon.
Revelation 21: 4-8 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for thoese words are trustworthy and true." He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly,the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."