Heaven is For Real

Recently, I have been doing a lot of reminiscing.  Over half of my squad met in Georgia a few weeks ago for the wedding of two of our own, Justin and Ada, who are both very dear to all of us.  It was wonderful to see the Lord unite the two of them, and just as wonderful to see some of our squadmates that I haven’t seen since we came home from the Race over a year ago.  It was both so strange, and so familiar to be surrounded by those that have been with me through so much; so much like family.   The 48 hours we were together was way too short of course, and had me thinking a lot about what the Lord has done, how He is so deliberate and intentional about everything, and how are built to raise each other up. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is really hard to move forward sometimes.  I once heard a sermon where it was mentioned that when people are struggling, broken and in desperate need to be reminded that God is still here, that they usually try to go back to a place (often a physical place) where God spoke to them or moved in them in a big way.  I have definitely done this.  It is difficult for me to not associate the place with the event, in an almost superstitious way, hoping that if I go back, that the same thing will happen again.  Usually for me it is a desperate move, and I don’t really expect anything to happen, but I think it demonstrates my need to mix the spiritual with the tangible.  There’s a desperate need in all people for that connection with God; I want to feel Him in the here and now, want to come face to face with Him, want to hear His voice, because I’ve discovered that faith is so hard.

Faith.  What a word.  A few days ago I was reading reviews on the movie Heaven is For Real.  For those of you who don’t know, it is the story of a 4 year old boy who has a near death experience and sees a vision of/gets taken up to heaven.  I am familiar with the book (although I have not read it), and wanted to see if the movie seemed to follow the book pretty accurately.  The review seemed fair and unbiased, but one thing the author said struck me.  He said that while he believed in heaven indisputably, as it’s all over Scripture, that he was skeptical of this boy’s story.  I have been skeptical of such things in the past, so I understood, however, what struck me was our natural proclivity for skepticism.  Yes, we are told to beware of false prophets, and absolutely need to be, but in our haste to do so, we have made doubt and disbelief our default instead of testing the spirits (1 John 4:1).  This resonates so deeply in my spirit, because like Paul, in this area I feel I have been the chief of sinners. Where has faith gone?  Is our church culture really so ingrained in us that if we weren’t taught it, or we haven’t experienced it ourselves, that we automatically discount it as un-Biblical?  Have we forgotten the Jesus we serve? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week has been a week of passions.  The passion week of Christ, celebrating passover, His death and burial, all leading up to the greatest event in history, His resurrection.  We have come face to face with how magnificent our Savior and His sacrifice really are; how truly mind-blowing, humbling and unspeakably, beautifully triumphant.  So after focusing on all of that, who is our Savior?  His name is Jesus. He is love, wisdom, mercy and grace personified.  Soft spoken, gentle, sweet, etc… Is that all our Savior is?  NO!!!  He is FIRE, He is LIFE, He is FIERCE, He is GLORIOUS.  “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the LIFE of Jesus might also be revealed in our body,” 2 Cor. 4:10.  We have been celebrating all week that He is ALIVE.  Alive.  This is not just someone that we read about and try to get to know and understand through the Scripture, but someone who is with us and has given us of His Spirit.  “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that He will receive what He will make known to you,“ John 16:13-14. 

My father said to me this week that if all Jesus ever did for us was the cross (and subsequently, the resurrection), that it was still unimaginable and should make us fall on our faces prostrate.  That is absolutely true, in every way, yet He did not stop there.  He is with us.  He is WITH us.  Not just with the disciples all those years ago, but with US.  Are we going to doubt everything He does?  Because Jesus did exactly the opposite of what the people had been taught He would do.  Misunderstanding and false teaching was so ingrained in them, that His own disciples, who spent years with Him, did not get it until afterwards… is that us?  Are we closed to what the Lord is doing because it doesn’t fit into the lens we see through?  Because it’s unimaginable?  I encourage you: go back and check the Scriptures, read them again.  Does what you believe actually line up with what it says?  Because for years mine did not, yet I always used the test of “is it Biblical?” to evaluate everything.  Well, it turns out that my definition of Biblical did not actually line up with Scripture at all, and I was beyond shocked to discover it.  My lens was colored according to my own preconceptions and dogmatic ideas.

 

Faith.  What is it?  I often get told by people how great it is what I am doing, and that they don’t think they could ever do something like that.  Can that be true?  Not everyone is called to by any means, but that belies everything that we believe!  If you are not willing to go where He says and do what He calls of you, then are you really a follower of Christ?  I am not trying to offend anyone, but Jesus said, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of Me.  And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of Me.  Whoever finds his live will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 10:37-39).   Do we think He’s kidding?  I sure acted like it for years.  Do you think that I want to leave my family to go to a foreign country, possibly for the rest of my life on this earth?  My flesh says, NO.  Yes, I love to travel, love to share the Gospel, but I am also still afraid of it.  I would rather I didn’t have to.  I crave the love and closeness of my family, and being somewhere that people understand my language.  I would love to be comfortable, to get married and settle down close to my family, where my parents and siblings can get to know my children. That does not go away just because I am called. 

No missionary goes out because they have been built to crave it in their heart more than others.  Look at the story of Jonah for example: he was less than enthusiastic and, as far as we know, never fell in love with the Ninevites in the slightest.  I may not fall in love with the people of Italy above all others, but I am in love with my Savior.  “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ,” Philippians 3:7.  I can live without my family, no matter how desperately I will miss them and want them with me.  I can live without my comforts, no matter how much I will crave Dt. Dr. Pepper, movie nachos and air conditioning at times.  And I can live without a home while on this earth, no matter how much I long for one.  What I cannot live without, is Jesus.

Can you?

 

 

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”  2 Cor. 13:5.

 

 

(Squad pics – The amazing Pat, Peggy and Caitlin; the stunning bride and groom (and yes, Ada is holding a kangaroo); and the 21 from our squad that were there plus our two squad Mamas.  Love you guys!)