A Word from THE WORD
Good Morning Happy Church,
Today is Monday, May 9th, 2016. Today is the 130th Day of 2016.
There are only 236 days left in this year; and, there are only 41 days left until Father’s Day!
Heaven – God’s Eternal Home, and Ours
Revelation 21:1-4
1 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
From time to time, every Christian and likely every thinking person thinks about life after death and wonders if there really is a place called Heaven.
Of course, Christians believe exactly what the Bible says about Heaven because we believe EVERYTHING the Bible says about anything.
Since I have completed my devotional thoughts from the Book of Job, I want to focus these devotions on the subject of Heaven for a week or so.
For today, I want us to think about the question, “Where is Heaven?”
While we usually think about Heaven being the place where God and the Holy Angels and those believers who have died live, the Bible actually reveals three specific places that are called “Heaven…”
The 1st Heaven is the atmosphere of the earth.
It is that part of earth where the birds (and now humans) fly. It is what the Bible often calls the “firmament” or “the sky.”
Genesis 1:20
“And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.”
The 2nd Heaven is what we commonly call “Outer Space” or “The Universe.”
Psalm 8:3-4
3 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
The 3rd Heaven is the Celestial Heaven where God dwells with the Holy Angels and all of HIS Saints who have already died.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
2 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.
3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—
4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.”
Revelation 7:9-17
9 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”
14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Beloved Ones, all of us who have repented of our sins and are trusting Jesus as our Savior and LORD will one day be with him in HEAVEN and we will be there with HIM, the Holy Angels, and the Saints of all the ages.
For now, our work in this life is to be used of the LORD to bring as many others with us as we can possible reach.
Do not miss the opportunity for Mid-Week Bible Study… Wednesdays at 6:30 – 8:00pm, we are studying the Second Coming of Jesus and the events that follow into the Eternal State.
Each evening features a stand-alone lesson, so if you can’t make them all; catch as many as you can.
Carpe Diem!
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