how far heaven is away…

we have been looking in the LORD’s prayer at the first question that comes to mind which is who do we prayer to?  and the answer is our FATHER.  then another question comes up, where is HE?  and the answer is in heaven.  matthew 6.9 (niv), …our FATHER in heaven…

let me ask you a question.  how far away is heaven?  is it farther than the moon?   how many miles from here is heaven?   farther than new york city?  about the same distance?

we have this problem that we tend to think of heaven as someplace way out there in outer space. and as a result of this kind of thinking, GOD becomes remote, distant, and hard to access. therefore we feel as if we’re alone much of the time, and we’ll express that in odd ways.

people will sometimes say at the beginning of a worship service, “GOD, today as we come into your presence…”  and i imagine GOD saying, “where do you think you’ve been?”  lo, i am with you always, JESUS said, to the ends of the earth. and there’s no limits to that.

there was this lady who had a flying phobia.  she’d had a trauma when she was younger so she came to talk to john ortberg about it one time, and he referred her to somebody that could help with phobic disorders because there’s a lot that can be done with that emotionally.

but because she was a CHRISTian, he also said, “from a spiritual point of view, JESUS did say, ‘I am with you always.’”  this actually happened. she said, “no, JESUS said, ‘lo, I am with you always.’” she thought that meant l-o-w.  but it was “lo l-o I am with you always”  it has no limits.

i want to take just a moment to tell you about the grammar in this part of the prayer where it says, our FATHER in heaven. the greek word for heaven is “uranos.”  we get the word for our planet uranus from that word.  but here in the LORD’s prayer, it’s actually in the plural form. literally the prayer goes, “our FATHER, the ONE in the heavens.”

now the word heavens in the new testament is used in a variety of ways.  it’s used for the atmosphere.  it’s used for the sky that you look at.  it’s also used for the air – the stuff that we breathe, for what’s right around us.  it’s that close.  sometimes we talk about something that appears out of thin air.  it’s right at hand.

just a thought from the front porch…

how to store up treasures in heaven…

in dealing with your wealth, you’ve heard many people say, “you can’t take it with you.”  that’s very true, but you can send it on ahead.  matthew 6.20-21 (niv), store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…where your treasure is your heart will be also.

heard about a guy who died and got to heaven and he saw all these mansions and then one little shack and he said, “is that where i’m suppose to live?  why?”  the answer was, that’s all the building material you sent ahead.

how do you send it on ahead?  how do you store up treasures in heaven?  the only way you can store up treasure in heaven is by investing it in people who are going there.  there are only two things that are going to last forever: the word of GOD and people.  everything else is going to burn up in the judgment.  invest your time and money in the word of GOD and people.  when you invest in these two things then you will store up treasures in heaven.

JESUS told us that when you use money and invest it in people who come to know HIM, you’re making friends for eternity.  when you get to heaven, they’ll say they are there because of you.  many of you give to your church and many people will be in heaven because of your church.  there will be people up there who will say to you, because you gave i am here in heaven.  JESUS says use your affluence for good influence.  then people will welcome you into eternity.

who is going to be the welcoming committee for you?  who’s going to say, “i'm here because of you.”  we should use the right application and give money generously.  everything we give on this side of eternity is being accredited to our account on the other side of eternity.

just a thought from the front porch…

GOD has not promised…

2 corinthians 1.9-10 (niv), but this happened so we might not rely on ourselves but on GOD who raises the dead!  HE has delivered us...HE will deliver us ... (and) we have set our hope that HE will continue to deliver us.

so how does GOD deliver us?

HE uses circumstantial deliverance, personal deliverance and the ultimate deliverance, heaven. 

GOD has not promised to remove all of your pain in this world.  GOD has not promised to solve every one of your problems in the way you want them to be solved.  GOD has not promised to keep all of your loved ones alive for the rest of your life.  they will die.  there is pain in the world.  there is sorrow. 

GOD has not promised that everything is going to work out the way you want it to.  this is not heaven; it’s earth.  because we are on earth, there is pain and sorrow and suffering. 

the ultimate deliverance will be one day in heaven where there will be no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, no heartache anymore.  the world hopes for the best but JESUS is your best hope. 

when you think “it’s not happening” you need to realize there is a word for deliverance in the bible.  that word is salvation.  salvation means deliverance.  JESUS is your SAVIOR, your DELIVERER.  if you are saved it means you are delivered.  the ultimate deliverance is heaven.

there is only one way to get to heaven.  JESUS said, i am the way, the truth and the life.  no one comes to the FATHER but by me.  when you’re at a dead-end, JESUS can take that hopeless end and turn it into an endless hope. 

are you at a dead-end?  i invite you to take that problem, that situation, and your own life and give them to JESUS CHRIST.  HE may not deliver you in the way you think, but HE will deliver you if you will trust HIM.  let him to it today.

just a thought from the front porch…

are you heavenly or earthly minded?...

2 corinthians 4.17-18 (ncv), we have small troubles for a while now, small compared with eternity.  but they’re helping us to gain an eternal glory that’s much greater than the troubles.  so [and here’s our decision.  so…] we set our eyes not on what we can see but on what we cannot see. 

colossians 3.2 (tlb) says this, let heaven fill your thoughts.  don’t spend your time worrying about things down here.  that idea of letting heaven fill your thoughts, i know some people are a little scared of that.  there’s this phrase out there “people who are so heavenly minded they’re no earthly good.”  i haven’t met very many people like that.  i really haven’t.  i’ve met a few, people who were so spiritually minded they didn’t care about anybody on this earth.  but the vast majority of people i’ve met who are heavenly minded have the deep care and compassion for people on this earth and the desire to make a difference.  in fact being heavenly minded helps them get rid of the selfishness we so easily live with, get their eyes of the worries of their own life a little bit so they can care about somebody else. 

i’ve also met a lot of people who were so enmeshed in the worries of this world they don’t have time for anybody else.  they’re so earthly minded they’re no good for heaven or earth either.  being heavenly minded shouldn’t make you ignore the needs around you.  it should make you aware of the needs around you and able to meet those needs that are around you.  you make the future your foundation.

how do you do that?  especially for those of you who are feeling hopeless right now, how do you do that?  you do it every hour.  every hour.  you make hope your alarm clock.  every hour you set the watch or the clock and every hour you remind yourself “this world is not all there is.  i’ve got something to hope in.”   

those of you who are feeling particularly hopeless right now, let me just be frank with you.  you’re not going to want to do this.  there’s something about hopelessness that ensnares us.  and we stay caught.  it’s going to feel not quite right to you the first few times you do it.  but i want to encourage you by faith just to do this every hour.  just to take those fifteen seconds to “this world is not all there is.  i'm going to build on the future not on now.” 

i promise you this.  if you’ll do that, every hour, just remind yourself of that during the day – you need an every hour reminder if you’re particularly hopeless.  slowly but surely GOD’s going to lift your eyes off of what you’re going through right now.  HE may not change the circumstances but you will be able to lift your eyes up and when you do that regardless of the circumstances you begin to feel a new hope. 

just a thought from the front porch…

a perspective of heaven…

let me give you a picture of heaven. it’s not to deny the pain you go through in this life. you may go through 72 years on this planet in chronic pain everyday of your life. but in heaven after 552,282,323 days of perfect bliss in the presence of GOD almighty and an eternity more awaiting you if someone came up to you and said, “how has your existence been?” you would say, “it’s been unbelievable. it’s been great. heaven is wonderful. to be in the presence of GOD is just unbelievable.” and they say, “but wait a second. didn’t you have a tough time before you got here?” and you think back and say, “you’re right. i don't want to minimize that. i did suffer a lot. but when i put that in context, in light of GOD’s incredible outpouring of goodness and love and joy that HE has infused into my life, those bad days of my worldly existence are not even worth comparing with the eternity of joy that i have and will experience with GOD!”

there’s a radical statement made by a CHRISTian woman who had lived a life of depravation and suffering and at the end of her life she said this, “in light of heaven the worst suffering on earth – a life of the most atrocious tortures on the planet, in the light of heaven, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.” that is the perspective of heaven.

it’s like the story a british pastor named galvin reed tells about meeting a young man. when this young man was just one year old, he fell down a flight of wooden stairs and shattered his back so he’s been in pain his whole life. but the young man made the audacious statement that he thinks GOD is fair. the pastor said to him, “how old are you?” and the kid says, “i'm 17 years old.” how many years have you spent in the hospital? thirteen years. the pastor was incredulous and said, “in light of that, you think GOD is fair?” and the kid’s response, “GOD has all eternity to make it up to me.”

and the truth of scripture is HE will. HE promises a time when there will be no more crying, no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering when we’ll be united with GOD in perfect harmony forever. i love the words of 1 corinthians 2.9 (niv), no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what GOD has prepared for those who love HIM. it will put everything into context.

just a thought from the front porch…

what is going to matter in heaven?...

let me give you a couple practical ideas of how to stay focused on the life that GOD has for you to live.

one, i encourage you to get a SPIRITual partner. somebody you can trust that can say to you, “you’re getting a little off track here. why don’t you focus on the life that you need to live?” get a SPIRITual partner.

two, memorize some bible verses. GOD can bring those verses that you’ve memorized to mind at just the right time to say, “get back on track!” james 3.16a (cev), whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble. that’s an honest verse, isn’t it?

JESUS concludes this story with a shocking statement. matthew 20.16&26 (nlt/cev) says, and so it is that many who are first now will be last then. HE’s talking about in heaven. and those who are last now will be first then. if you want to be great you must become the servant of all the others. this is the great reversal.

GOD says when we get to heaven, the tables are going to be turned upside down. all those celebrities, all those people of talent, famous people that you envy – all the people that you envy – HE said, they’re going to be at the back of the line because the line in heaven is not about wealth and fame and possessions and all those things.

the point HE’s making there is this: none of the things we envy on earth are going to matter in heaven. not one of them! not success, not wealth, not talent, not beauty, not fame, not accomplishments, none of the things we envy most on this side of eternity are going to matter one bit those billions and billions of years in eternity. what GOD is going to evaluate in your life and what GOD’s going to reward in your life is not how much money or accomplishments or talents or beauty or whatever you have here on earth.

what GOD is going to evaluate and reward in your life is your service to other people. HE says if you want to be great, you must learn to be the servant of others. HE’ll ask how much did you serve the people around you in love. HE’s not going to ask, “how many businesses did you build? how big did your bank account and your ira and your retirement fund get?” HE’s not going to ask, “how well known did you become in your neighborhood?” HE’s going to say, “how much did you serve?” listen, love is something you do, and the bible tells us serve one another in love. service is love in action.

just a thought from the front porch…