One on One

Revelation 7:17, 21:4 - ...for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes... there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Heaven is God's dwelling place. Only the righteous are allowed. Why? Because God cannot be in the presence of sin and evil. The world view of sin and evil are a bit lax compared to His. I talked briefly with a friend yesterday about heaven and hell. We both agree they exist according to the Bible and one day we will be entering one or the other.

My spirit clouded over for a short time. My eyes misted over until I composed myself. 

First let me say that our relationship with God is an important factor in determining where we will go when we die. This a one on One determination. It takes place when one person chooses the One Person as the center of their life. It's the difference between knowing who Jesus is and knowing Him personally...a one on One relationship...between an individual and Jesus Christ. My experience took place when I sat in a pew nearly 12 years ago and knew from the depths of my soul I needed Jesus. I felt His urging, perhaps spiritually heard His voice through the tugging at my heart and experienced the power of His Holy Spirit as it coursed through my body.

One on one. My heart ached as the thoughts ran through my head faster than I could speak. 

"I know it won't matter," I said, "how we feel today when we are in heaven. It will be so different when we get there. We will recognize our family and friends if they are fortunate enough to have found there way there but not in the sense we recognize them on earth.  Relationships will be different. We will be one group of spiritual beings. We will be in our glorified bodies. There will be no pain or sorrow...so we will not mourn those who are not there. What a concept to wrap our minds around."

Well, maybe most of those words were internalized rather than spoken...nonetheless they are here in my heart to ponder occasionally. To sometimes weep over or rejoice in. And sometimes to push aside when the earthly feeling of pain is more than I can bear or the idea is realized once again as one of God's mysteries. 

My thoughts continued whether the words came out or not: "It's just like how we can arrive there...a personal matter. One on one. God chooses, we accept...or not. We are given opportunities to receive throughout our lives. It is our responsibility to know the truth of God's Word if it has been shown to us, to find out for ourselves what is expected of us in this life, and set out to live it. 

"At the same time, while we are here on earth we have been given feelings. Perhaps these feelings, whether happy or sad, have been given to us to share. They're here that we might express them to others so they might take notice how we are feeling. All I know is those human emotions can become heavy or joyful.

"We can't fully understand the depth of the pain of hell, nor the gloriousness of heaven. It grieves my heart, here on earth, in a way I can't express when I think certain family or friends may not enter heaven. But it's only a human response we are given now. I know it won't matter how we feel when we are in heaven because there will be no grief when we finally arrive. I don't believe the absence or presence of people will be understood as we know it now. Feelings or emotions won't be the same because of the spiritual change that will take place. We won't feel sadness, that's a fact. I think our elation and the focus of our joy of being in heaven will be mainly cast upon our worship of Jesus...the reason we are there."

Heaven does not quite exist yet. It will be a place for all those who have received Christ after He has returned for His people. Then we will be given our new bodies and enter into heaven with our Lord. For the time being, the dead sleep. We will be raised up with Christ to enter our eternal resting place, whether heaven or hell. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (Daniel 12:2, 2Thessalonians 1:9)

We need to be serious about our standing with God. We need to realize there is a real heaven and hell. It would not be pointed out numerous times in the Bible if it were not so. We need to know what God says is truth about salvation issues and what He says about salvation, that it is through no other than Jesus Christ. He is the only Mediator between God and man. No idol, no statue, no man, no woman...one on One...you and the Lord. Let His words reach your heart and let Jesus be your Savior. 

Luke 15:10 - Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.