Reaching Heaven

There is no greater hope for any Christian than the anticipation of entering God's presence one day. The Word promises an unimaginable reunion when we are joined with other believers, experiencing the greatest of sensation. Controversial within the faith is the understanding of when exactly Christ followers enter heaven. For this topic, there are 2 schools of thought. One suggesting that heaven is available immediately after death. The other contending that the second coming must take place first, as there is only one judgement.

As with all things, to obtain an accurate understanding of such matters, Christians, must go to their one primary source, the holy bible. That being said, there are many unanswered questions for those who take the position of immediate access into heaven's gates, chiefly what would be the need for a second coming of Christ if judgement was achieved after each person's death? Many loved ones of the deceased find great comfort in the idea of a heavenly resting place. It aides in the releasing process. Regardless, it is not in line with the reality of what actually takes place.

Once we resolve the question of entering heaven after death, we are faced with an even greater one looming ahead: Where does the spirit go after death, especially for the believer? I hope to explorer that further through scripture, in the next post. For now, I will just say that we rest until the appointed time.

Jesus stated, "No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man." (John 3:13 NIV). This is clear, and comes from God himself. It is fair to say that as the author of time, we need no other confirmation of this point.

Practicing Love

When you think about love, what images come to mind? For the average person, it's the thought of the ones whom they cherish most, often times, family. Yet we wouldn't stop to consider the less than curteous man at the service counter, or that "perpetual thorn" in our work place. No, we would rather avoid them altogether.

Jesus's directive to His followers was to love their neighbors as themselves. This commandment was apparently so important that He stated it right after reminding them to love God with all of their hearts, strength and mind. He never gave us a "pass" or and "opt-out" clause for difficult personalities.

Brothers and sisters, bare in mind that God often places in front of us that which we need to perfect. That which we do not master, we are doomed to face repeatedly. Even with perceived mastery, it is not beyond the Architect of Righteousness to gift us with a refresher course.

"The Answer Is YES!

As I thought about the question of completely trusting God, one thing was clear. I was not completely honoring my relationship with Him. I was limiting the extent to which I was willing to make myself available to the Almighty. From my end, I was not expecting God to skimp out on ANY and ALL blessings I had coming to me. I soon became aware of the fact that any relationship operating with limitations could never reach its full potential. For example, you wouldn't claim to be a christian on certain days and times. That would be the very contradiction of a believer. Limited faith too is no faith at all. "Okay God, you've got it. All of my past decisions in the driver's seat of my life have moved me away from realizing my fullest potential. I'm crossing over to the passenger seat. You take over from here."

Negotiating Faith

Today, I was confronted with a rather simple question, which proved to be more complicated than at first glance. Being inspired to enter into a contract with God, as a sign of my renewed faith, I considered making trust a condition of the agreement. Before long, I began contemplating my willingness to go through with such a commitment. A check list whipped through my mind. One after another, I scrolled through the areas of my life that I could surrender to God. The one pause came at my lack of willingness to allow God to direct me in my professional life. All bets were off in my mind. All of my friends know how crazy I have been about making a change, and finally leaving my job. What choice was there? What if God should decide that the best thing would be for me to remain in a job that I bore too long? So here I am. God is listening and waiting.