Heaven

"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.” - Revelation 21:4
________________________________________________________________________________________

How often do we take time to meditate on the wonder and glory of Heaven?  Not often enough, I'm sure.  If we did, we would always be seeking that which is spiritual, rather than the fleeting pleasures this life has to offer.  Perhaps, we would even long for our life here to be over so that we could be closer to eternal paradise.

The psalmist David thought about Heaven a great deal.  We would do well to imitate his example.  Here are just a few verses from the psalms where he focuses on heaven:

• "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork." - Psalm 19:1
• "Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds." - Psalm 36:5
• "For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds." - Psalm 57:10
• "Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them." - Psalm 69:34
• "For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;" - Psalm 103:11

________________________________________________________________________________________

 
There are also many verses in the New Testament that teach us how to live our lives here on earth while maintaining a focus on heaven.  Here are a few I would like to share with you and encourage you to mediate on: 

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)

• In this passage Jesus warns us against becoming attached to the things of this world.  Those who have set their heart on the worldly possessions have no room for Jesus, or God the Father.  We should check ourselves to see that our heart is truly focused on Heaven and not on attaining worldly goods.  I do not believe it is wrong to have possessions, or to enjoy the fruits of our labors, but we must be careful that we do not love the things of this world.  (1 Timothy 6:9-11)

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

• We must be busy doing the will of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ if we want to enter Heaven.  In order to know what His will is, we must spend time reading, studying, meditating and applying His Word in our daily lives.

"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself." (Philippians 2:20, 21)

• Even though we have an earthly citizenship, we must not lose focus on our heavenly citizenship.  We must live as God commands in order to maintain this citizenship.  One sin is capable of stripping us of this wonderful blessing.  We need to have a mindset such that we will not allow ourselves to do anything that might cost us our heavenly citizenship.

________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Where are you laying up treasures?
Whose will are you doing throughout your daily walk?
Where is your citizenship?