Fostering an Eternal Perspective

It seems like God tells us many times in Scipture to set our hearts and minds on things above.

But if our view of heaven is small and our view of God is small, then why in the world would setting our hearts and minds on what's to come give us perseverance? The most common view of heaven is a place where we float on clouds and sing all day long and are isolated except for seeing that one loved one.

Is that really what it's going to be like? Does God want us to know about heaven?

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him..." What about this verse? I've heard, "Nobody knows what heaven is going to be like, so we don't need to think about it."   But check out the rest of the verse..."but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

Awesome! There are so many places in Scripture where God tells us to think about heaven. And there are a lot of verses that describe what it will be like. It's just so easy to glaze over them without thinking. Like this one...
   
"When [the Lamb] opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?' Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed." Revelation 6:9-11  
It shows us:
About the people in heaven...
* They are fully conscious, able to think and rationalize
* Have voices
* Remember their life on earth
* Don't know everything. I LOVE this one!!! We are going to get to learn in heaven! YES!!!
Did you know that there is protien in our body that glows blue?! And did you know there is an actual worm that catches flying insects by dropping glowing goo?! Wow! We'll get to discover God's Creation. To learn, to see His character more through it. Beautifully awesome!

* They relocated to heaven
* They had emotions and maintained thier personal idenity
* They anticipated what was to come.
* There is an element of time since they were told to wait.
* They had a very real and personal relationship with God
* They had bodies
* They wear clothes and some clothes mean more than others or have more value.
* They are passionate and emotional and able to communicate.
* They care about what is happening on earth and are watching

Randy Alcorn the leading theologian on heaven says,
“Scripture gives us many images that are full of implications about heaven. Put them together, and these jigsaw pieces for a beautiful picture. For example, we’re told that heaven is a city (Heb. 11:10, 13:14). When we hear the word city, we shouldn’t scratch our heads and think, I wonder what that means? We understand cities. Cities have people, buildings activities, gatherings ,art, music, athletics, events of all kinds, and goods and services.

We will have real life bodies, just like Jesus after he rose from the dead. He ate, so will we. “When God speaks of having ‘new bodies,’ do we shrug our shoulders and say, ‘I can’t imagine what a new body would be like?’ Of course not. We know what a body is... In our resurrected bodies, we will be as physical as we are now… we will be forever physical but no longer subject to sin, death, suffering, and the curse.”

Heaven is going to be awesome. Everything we love here but a thousand times better. No fear, no worry, no depression, no anxiety, no panicking, no anger, no jealousy, no comparison, no arguments or broken relationships. Awesome, just awesome! Fulfillment of every longing we have, every hope.

Therefore...

Press on dear friend. Don't give up when it's hard. Fix your eyes on the Author and Perfector of our Faith and set your heart and mind on what's to come. Be intentional to store up treasure in heaven (Matt. 6:20), knowing that it will last forever.

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