Morning Devotion with Pastor Dan
(John 14:1-3)…..“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Lately, I have been asked a lot of questions about heaven. Questions like, “What is Heaven like?” Or, “Will we know people in Heaven?” I have even been asked, “Will we be married in Heaven?” And many other questions like this. It is amazing that those types of questions are arising with all of what we see going on in the world today. Certainly, Heaven is the hope of most people, but sadly it will not be occupied by many (Matthew 7:13-14).
The reality is we are limited in our knowledge of Heaven; the Bible tells us more about what will not be in Heaven than it does about what will be there. God has purposely held back from us some information regarding Heaven. Some things are sacred secrets. We can see this in such verses as (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). But what the Bible does say about Heaven leaves us in breathless wonder.
1. HEAVEN IS A REAL PLACE
Heaven is not a condition or state of mind; it is a real place on God’s map. The Scripture in (2 Corinthians 12:2-4) shows us that Heaven is a real place that is located upward: (Isaiah 14:13-14) (Leviticus 1:11) (Psalm 75:6-7). We can see in the Scriptures that there are three Heavens: The atmospheric Heaven (Jeremiah 15:3), the stellar Heaven (Isaiah 13:10), and the abode of God (2 Corinthians 12:2).
2. HEAVEN IS A PLACE OF ABSOLUTE PERFECTION
We have a look into heaven through Paul in (Philippians 1:21- 23). In verse (23) when Paul says “far better,” the Greek language says, “It is far, very much far, much more better.” Here, Paul is adding superlative upon superlative when talking about going to Heaven. Heaven is the presence of all that is good and the absence of all that is bad. Heaven is all that the loving heart of God would desire, all that the incredible mind of God can conceive, and all the almighty hand of God can create, for those whom He loves (1 John 4:10). Heaven is the consummate work of God’s creative genius that He has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9) (John 14:2).
3. JESUS IS THE CROWNING GLORY OF HEAVEN. (John 14:2-3)
The purpose and focus of Heaven is Jesus. If we are not looking forward to seeing Jesus, but instead think only of Heaven as a sort of eternal vacation, then we need to rethink what Heaven is about. Heaven is a place of worship and praise of the God Who loves us and Who has redeemed us from our sin, and the wrath that it incurred (John 17:24).
4. ONLY THE REDEEMED ARE GOING TO HEAVEN
We must be Heaven-born to be Heaven-bound. We have each had an earthly birth; we now need a Heavenly birth which can only be found through Jesus Christ (John 3:3). When the Bible says we must be “born again,” the literal language means “to be born from above.” Have you been born from above? Are you a new creation in Christ? Those in Heaven are those who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb. This means that we have received Christ and His blood sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. And it is this person who has their name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27).
To be Heaven-born means that we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; that we believe His gospel, that we surrender to His Lordship. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? If not, then today won’t you all upon Jesus Christ in prayer, repent (turn) from your sins, and turn to Jesus. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins, and acknowledge Him as Lord of your life (Romans 10:9-10) (Romans 10:13).