Heaven on Earth

When we have asked Jesus to come into our hearts and are saved we get to experience Heaven on Earth. Now we know that we will see heaven the minute we die, but we also get the privilege of experiencing heaven right now. The Bible talks about God's Kingdom coming on Earth, God's Kingdom is when it is on Earth as it is in Heaven.

As long as we live in this world we will always be surrounded by war, murder, hate, abuse and all kinds of evil, but on the inside we can still have peace and joy when we are saved. From the moment we believe in Jesus we are filled with the Holy Spirit and the spirit gives us access to peace and joy every day, no matter what the world around us looks like.

In Heaven there will be no more evil, there will only be love and light, but until then we can have peace and joy on the inside even when the world around us is chaotic. We can experience joy and peace daily in the midst of a dark world when we spend time in God's presence, in God there is no darkness, there is only light.

We become saved when we are finally ready to surrender our lives to Jesus, the one true God. The Bible teaches us that we become saved the moment we believe in Jesus in our hearts and are willing to profess our faith with our mouths. We can profess our faith in God by praying a prayer like this out loud:

Heavenly Father, I trust you with my life.
Save me from my sins, forgive me, and make me new.
Fill me with your spirit, so I can follow you, run my race, living for you.
My life is not my own, Jesus I give it to you.
Thank you for new life, now you have mine.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen.

When we are saved we become "citizens of Heaven". Sheila Walsh and Sherri Gragg talk about what it means to have citizenship in God's Kingdom of Heaven in their book "A Fresh Infusion of Joy":

"One of the things I learned along the way is that there are both certain rights and responsibilities that go along with becoming an American citizen. The same is true for our citizenship in the kingdom of God.
Did you know, for instance, that joy is one of the rights inherent to citizens of God's kingdom? Listen to this description of the kingdom of God from Romans 14: "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (v. 17).
That is amazing news! Think about it for a moment. It doesn't matter how many mistakes you have made. . . or how much you have lost.
It doesn't matter how much you have (or don't have) in your bank account. . . or what others have to say about you.
As a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, nothing-nothing-can take away your right to joy.
So open your heart wide today, friend. Don't wait until you think you deserve it, or until your circumstances take a turn for the better. 
Receive Christ's joy."

Heaven

Heaven and hell are some of the least popular parts of the gospel among nonbelievers. Nobody likes the idea of consequences for our actions and judgement for our sins. If I would ask a young child if she would rather live in a world free of any consequences or in a world with consequences what do you think she would pick? What would you pick? We like being able to do whatever we want without any negative consequences. On the other hand, if I would ask a young child if she would rather have consequences for others or live in a world where others can do whatever they want without any consequences I’m sure she would pick a world with consequences. We don’t like when others do evil acts and get away with it. We long for justice and when someone does something evil in our society we want to see the person pay the consequences for the evil act, we don’t want the person to get away with it.

Many people who do not believe in God still believe in heaven, but most people who don’t believe in God don’t believe in hell. Nobody wants hell to exist, not even Christians, but at the same time a universe without hell would mean a universe without justice. God is merciful, but he is also a God of justice. If God let everyone do whatever they want and enter heaven he wouldn’t be a loving God. Not every criminal in this world will be captured and held accountable in a court, but no criminal will escape God’s judgement at the end of life. I once heard a pastor preach on the topic of hell and he said that anyone who has come face to face with pure evil in this world can fully understand why there is a need for hell. If there was no hell, what would hold us back from taking revenge on each other? When you have seen and experienced pure evil hell becomes a comforting thing, because you know that nobody will ever escape justice in the end.

We have all sinned and nobody will enter heaven without having first surrendered their life to Christ. We are not all murderers or rapists, but we have all sinned. I consider myself to be a good person, but I have sinned and deserve judgement just like anyone else. I don’t deserve heaven, heaven is God’s free gift to me when I surrender my life to Christ. I have never cheated on my spouse, I have no criminal record, I have never killed anyone, but I’m still a sinner.

Once I kissed a guy who was interested in me although I knew he was engaged to someone else, not a nice thing to do. I was also a part of groups who bullied other kids both in elementary school and in high school, not a loving thing to do. I used to steal a lot of stuff from different stores when I was in high school, that’s not good. I’m not going to list all the sins I’ve committed in my life so far but my point is that we are all sinners although we like to view ourselves as “good people”. I’m not a good person, I’m an imperfect human-being and I’m a sinner. My final destination after this life is hell, unless I surrender to Christ and accept Jesus into my heart. When I surrender to Christ I’m forgiven for all my sins. I have access to this forgiveness because Jesus chose to take the punishment that I deserved, he was willing to go to hell for me, so that I would never have to experience that. Imagine that you were sentenced to life in prison and someone shows up to take that prison sentence for you, so that you are free to go. Jesus did that for each one of us, we are all “sentenced to hell” for what we have done during this life, but Jesus took our sentence upon himself and was sentenced to death in our place.

I have no fear of death at all, if I die tomorrow I’m ready. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that I will get to live for many more years but I’m not afraid of death. What I’m afraid of is that not everyone that I love will be in heaven with me one day. I’m fully aware of the fact that only those who have surrendered their lives to Christ will enter heaven. When my Grand Mother died five years ago I was sad, but at the same time I had peace, because I knew that I would get to see her again one day. I knew that my Grand Mother had faith in God and was a believer. I don’t know where all my friends and family members stand with God, if they have surrendered their lives to Christ or not. We all have to make that choice for ourselves, nobody else’s faith can save our souls. Each one of us have one life to decide if we will surrender our lives to Christ or if we will choose to rather reject God. You can have all the knowledge in the world about God but it isn’t before we surrender to God that our soul is saved. The reason it takes any effort at all to surrender to God is that our spiritual enemy is pulling hard in the other direction, keeping us away from God and away from our purpose. One of our spiritual enemy’s most common tactics is fear, he can use fear to keep us away from a lot of good things that God has for us in life. Fear of what others will think of us, fear of the future, fear of pain etc.

One interesting thing that I learned about heaven and hell as a new believer a few years ago is that hell means complete separation from God and heaven means to be with God forever. We often imagine heaven to look like something we have seen in the movies. Our idea of hell can also be based on what we have seen in a movie. The Biblical description of heaven is simply a place free of evil, a place where we are with God forever. Hell is a place where we will be completely separated from God, which means we will also be separated from anything that is good, anything that is love. Whether we are Christians or not, none of us knows what it’s like to be completely separated from God. In this present world, not all of us are interested in God but he still loves every single one of us. God is constantly present in our lives whether we notice him or not. None of us are completely separated from God in this world.

This present world is a mix of good and evil. There is no place on Earth where there is only evil, there is always a little bit of good in the midst of all the darkness. There is also no place on Earth where there is only good, evil is always present. We can have a wonderful day at the beach with our family, until we end up in an argument with each other. We can also be going through something very difficult in life but in the midst of all the darkness we have a hope that things will get better. Our present world is always a mix of evil and good. God is with us, but our spiritual enemy is also present. The hope of heaven is that it’s coming around the corner. When our souls are saved and secure in Christ we have a peace and hope that nothing can take away from us. Once we are saved we can not loose our salvation. The storms will keep coming in this life but we can face every difficulty with confidence, hope and peace because God is with us. If God is with us, then who can be against us?

Life after death

There are many different testimonies out there from people from different countries all over the world who have had near death experiences. What's really cool today is that we all have a chance to hear them thanks to the internet. Some of these people share stories about being surrounded by complete peace, love and light during the minutes they were dead, a place that they believe was heaven. Other people share stories that are much more scary. They talk about ending up in a place that was completely dark, cold and where they felt a strong presence of evil. Some people talk about hearing voices and loud screams in this place. They believe that this place must have been hell.

Ian McCormack is an Australian who was a surfer and an atheist back in 1982 when he had his near death experience. He was stung by five Box jellyfish while diving and was dead for many minutes before he came back to life. Ian's story is quite interesting because while he was dead he ended up in a place that he believes was hell, then he was pulled into heaven, and later he came back to life again.

Ian McCormack was an atheist back in 1982 when he had his near death experience but his mother was a Christian. As Ian was laying in the ambulance dying he remembered the Lord's prayer that his mother had taught him and started praying the prayer and crying out to God. You can hear Ian share his story in this video.

Heaven & Earth

This short video gives a quick explanation of what the Bible teaches about heaven and earth. We all know that heaven is the place where the people who love God will go after they die but sometimes we forget that the focus of the Bible is all about heaven and earth overlapping. We pray about heaven and earth overlapping in the prayer Our Father: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...", but what does it all mean?

Let's take a road trip to Miami

I once heard a pastor describe the difference between heaven and this life as a road trip. Imagine you and I decided to take a road trip from Toronto, Canada to Miami, Florida. We take this road trip in the middle of winter and after driving for a few hours we stop at a gas station in Erie, Pennsylvania. We eat a snack at the gas station and then it’s time to head back to the car and continue the trip. The pastor explained that the gas station represents this life and our final destination Miami represents Heaven.

As we are walking to the car I get really cold and decide I don’t want to continue the trip to Miami. You tell me: “it’s fine, you will warm up in a while, once the heat comes on in the car.” All I can think about at this point is that it was really warm and nice inside the gas station and that I want to head back inside. I tell you that I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want to go on this trip any longer because it’s cold outside and the roads are slippery. I want to stay here in Erie,PA. You look at me and tell me: “Are you kidding me? We are heading to MIAMI! You want to rather stay here than head for Miami?” I tell you that I’ve never been to Miami before and although many people tell me it’s a nice place I doubt it’s really that nice, besides I like the gas station in Erie so I’m going to stay here. They have donuts at the gas station so I want to go back inside and buy myself another hot chocolate and a donut, there’s no way I’m getting in that cold car with you.

After you have tried convincing me to come for the trip for a while you finally give up, you get in the car and head for Miami without me. I wave goodbye to you, then I head back inside the gas station and buy another donut. I’m happy that I don’t have to be out in the cold any longer, I’m happy right here, who needs Miami anyways?

This story is a parable but it explains how we often view heaven versus this life. Why think about going somewhere else when this life is awesome? I once took a walk around the marina by the lake and I saw a yacht with the name “Heaven can wait”. I understand this yacht owner’s way of thinking, he thinks like me in the parable of the road trip. Why in the world would I like to think about heaven when I can get donuts and hot chocolate right here in this place?

I have met a lot of people who are doing incredible things with their lives. One thing I have noticed they all have in common; they don’t live like this life is all there is. The same is true for historical heroes like William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela. They love sacrificially, they live like this life is just temporary and like there is a big reward at the end of all the hard work that comes with this life. It seems like the courage, the passion and the drive they have comes from a deep knowing that this is what they are put on Earth to do, and that there is good things coming for them when this life is over. They have joy and peace in their lives and they have a drive and fearlessness that I envy sometimes.

No matter what we believe about life and God none of us can escape the fact that the clock is ticking in our lives. No matter how healthy we eat or how much we exercise this life will still be short. We know that we can’t keep this life, it is temporary. What separates us the most is that some of us believe that this life is all we get, so we better enjoy it while we can, while others believe that this life is just the beginning.

I’ve been that person who loves hanging out at the gas station in Erie, PA for many years, but a few years ago I started wondering if there is more out there after all. I started thinking that maybe while I’m busy trying to enjoy all the different flavors of donuts at the gas station I might be missing out of experiencing Miami.

When it comes down to it, what I believe about life and afterlife will strongly influence how I live my life, no matter what I believe. I have come to the conclusion that I will continue to enjoy a hot chocolate and a donut at the gas station every now and then but I’m ready to head out into the unknown now. I’m not afraid of the cold and the icy roads any longer. I’m ready to head for Miami! I know I will love Miami the day when I arrive, but until then I will commit to make the best of this road trip, although it will include many icy roads and potentially getting lost along the way.

There is a scripture in the Bible that says: “Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.” (John 12:25 NLT) As long as I love this life a little too much, this life that I can’t keep, it will always hold me back from doing bigger things for God. If I love this life too much I will spend most of my efforts building myself the perfect life in the here and now, and I will do very little to build a better world for the coming generations.

When I love this life and live only for this life I will give to charity mostly because it calms my bad conscience. When I give to others it makes me feel better, which makes my life better. There’s nothing wrong with giving to others so we ourselves can feel joy, but what I have noticed for me is that it tends to end there.

If I think that this life is all I get I will spend all of my efforts on making me the most happy. I will spend most of my efforts on building my perfect life. I want to have the happy marriage, the beautiful and nicely decorated home and I want to take trips to beautiful places every year. I want to wear beautiful clothes and eat the best foods. Making my life better will always be goal number one.

I will only give to others when there’s something in it for me, when giving can add more joy and happiness to my own life. I will not give in ways that require real sacrifice. If I keep my eyes focused on this life, and live as if this life is all I get, I will remain stuck in my self-centered approach to life. The only way I can make a bigger impact during this life is if I lift my eyes and focus on the things to come, the things I can’t see yet.

Whether I get 60 more years on this planet or 6 more years, the end result remains the same, this life will soon be over. I want to be sure that I spent my years on this earth well. I will definitely continue to take trips to beautiful places every now and then and eat tasty foods, but I want to make sure that I don’t make my pleasure the number one goal in this short life. My clock is ticking and there is a world around me that is aching for help. It’s time to continue the road trip.

If there is one thing I want to accomplish during this short life it is making sure that the things I took part in during life on Earth made the world a little better than it was before I entered it. The day I arrive in Miami (heaven) I want to leave a better world behind for the next generations. I will probably never meet my great grandchildren, but their lives will be strongly impacted by how I choose to live today.

Our good deeds can't save us

One of the most common misconceptions about the Bible and God is that it is the “good people” who make it to heaven and those who have broken the rules in the Bible will end up in hell. I think the reason we assume this is the way Christianity works is that we are so used to this way of thinking ourselves. We marry “the one” and as long as our husband lives up to all our expectations on him and keeps all our “rules” we will love him, if he breaks a lot of the rules we will eventually divorce him. When a person in our society follows the law everything is fine, but if a person starts to break many laws he or she will eventually be thrown into prison. Us humans like the idea of karma; “you get what you deserve”, but God has a totally different way of relating to us.

When God sent Jesus to Earth it changed everything, rather than “you will get what you deserve” it became “When we do something wrong, Jesus gets what we deserve.” When Jesus died on the cross he willingly paid the price for all the sins committed of everyone in the whole world and died for us, for our mistakes. The reason someone had to pay for all our mistakes was that God is a God of justice, he won’t let any wrongdoing go unpunished. When someone murders another person God doesn’t think: “Oh that’s okay, I will just look in the other direction”.

When Jesus died he took all the sins of humanity on himself, the sins from the past, the present and the future. Jesus paid for all our mistakes once and for all, so that the day each one of us will meet God we will be faultless in front of an all-powerful perfect God. Jesus dying on the cross is as if you were being sentenced to the death penalty and Jesus shows up in court and says: “Take me instead, let this person go, I’m willing to die instead of this person.” Why would anyone do such a thing? The answer is love.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that anyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 NLT

Jesus died so that every single sin of mankind could become forgiven, but each one of us are free to choose if we want this to apply to our own lives or not. During our short lives on earth our main task here will be to either accept God and invite him into our lives or to reject God. This will be the most important decision we make in our lives, the moment we decide to accept God and invite him into our lives it changes everything, we become forgiven and washed clean of all our past mistakes. We become a brand new person (spiritually speaking that is, don’t expect your wrinkles to be gone).

We often tend to think that God wants peace on Earth today but the Bible makes it clear that Jesus didn’t come to Earth to bring peace, he came to bring division. God is interested in seeing who is with him, and who is against him. One of the places this is mentioned in The Bible is in Matthew 25:

“All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.”

Matthew 25:32-34 NLT 

This world that we live in today will never see peace, it will always see different forms of chaos, but when we become followers of Christ we can have peace on the inside despite the chaos that surrounds us. The good news is that this chaotic world is only temporary. The Bible makes it clear that there will be a day in the future when everything of this old world will pass away and there will be a new world where there is no more death, no more mourning and no more suffering. God will be in the world with us and we will see him face to face. The Bible talks about this in Revelation 21:

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Revelation 21:4 NLT

The Bible also makes it clear that Jesus will come back to Earth one day and nobody will know what day that will be, we now live in what is called the end times. One day, maybe sooner than we think, we will stand in front of the God of the universe and have to answer for all our choices in life. Our days in this life are numbered, from the day we are born our clock starts ticking, we move closer and closer to death every day and we never know what day will be our last. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, we only have today. The days we are given on this Earth are our chance to decide, are we going to choose to accept God or reject God, the rest is details.

I used to work as a nursing assistant in a nursing home when I was younger and sometimes I noticed that it seemed almost like all the good people would die quicker while the really mean people would live longer. I wondered why God would let some really mean people live for so long, while others who were so loving would die at a younger age. It makes more sense to me today. Life is short for all of us, we only have a few years on this Earth to decide how we feel about God, to pick a side. Some people seem to need more time than others to make the right choice.

Once we choose to accept God and invite him into our hearts God starts to change each one of us from the inside out through the Holy Spirit. When you see someone going from being a non-believer to a Christian you might see them start doing a lot of good things, but it is important to remember that it is never a person’s good works that saves them. The Bible makes it clear that anyone who believes in Jesus, repents and asks for forgiveness for his or her sins will become saved.

Most of us understand that for example a woman who loves God and loves people will go to heaven the day she dies. We are also aware that a man who for example was a rapist and murderer and who continued to do evil up until the moment he died will go to hell. What many of us have missed on the other hand is that even the criminal who has committed many crimes but at the end of his life becomes a believer in Jesus, repents and asks for forgiveness for all of his sins will go to heaven when he dies. We also tend to miss the fact that even the woman who thinks of herself as a good person but who doesn’t accept Jesus into her heart during her life will not go to heaven the day she dies. This is radical and couldn’t be further away from how humans see things.

Humans see love as something you earn, while God loves everyone on this earth and is willing to forgive any sin as long as the person is truly regretful and wants to turn away from his or her former way of living and start following Jesus. It is not our long lists of good things we did during our lives on earth that will get us into heaven, it is our faith in Jesus that saves us. It is so simple, yet so radical. God’s love for humanity is unlike anything else you will ever discover on this earth.

A Slow Saturday

After spending most of my summer in the city I have enjoyed being able to spend this Saturday at the cottage. It has been a very relaxing slow day. Today was the first time this summer that I spent a full day outdoors. I enjoyed walking around our large garden at the cottage, laying in the hammock and going swimming.

I spent the evening sitting on the docks reading a new book by Judah Smith called "Life is ____ ." The weather was wondeful today and spending so much time in nature got me very relaxed. The combination of the sun, the sea and the garden makes me feel so free and joyful. I can feel both my body and soul getting charged up with new energy on a day like this. Slow days are exactly what I need to get ready for an exciting but intense fall.

 

Reading the book "Life is ____ ." was so exciting, the book motivates me to live life in a new way. Each chapter is so uplifting and funny.

The day ended with a beautiful sunset at the cottage. I can´t believe that I get to live like this, on days like these it´s easy to be thankful. I´m thinking that heaven must look something like this.