Enjoy this fun and fanciful story about Heaven.
When Fred arrived at the Pearly Gates, there was hardly any line and he didn’t have to wait more than a minute before his interview. Naturally, he was joyful but also a little nervous about getting through the gates and into the heavenly city. Very quickly he found himself standing before St. Peter who started writing his entry data down on a clipboard. After name, address, and a few other particulars, St. Peter said, “Fred, it would help me if you could share some experiences from your life on earth when you did a good deed, a purely unselfish, kindly deed.”
Fred thought about it for a minute and replied, “Oh, yes. I was walking along and I came upon a little old lady who was being mercilessly beaten up by a huge motorcycle gang type of fellow. He was smacking her back and forth. Well, I just stepped right up and first I pushed over his motorcycle – just to distract his attention. And then I kicked him real hard in the shins and told the old lady to run for help. Then I hauled off and gave the guy a huge punch to the gut with my fist.”
St. Peter looked at Fred with a great deal of interest and said, “Wow, that’s quite a story, Fred. I’m very impressed. Could you tell me when this happened?”
Fred looked at his watch and said, “Oh, about 5 minutes ago.”
Jesus declared (John 14:1-3), “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 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. 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.” The Greek has the idea of “residences; for example, the NIV translates it as “rooms”. I remember a dear brother at the first church I pastored who remarked to me, “You can have your rooms, but I will keep my mansion!” Amen! I want a mansion too!
By the way, it has been pointed out that the Lord created everything in 6 days, but He has been preparing a place for us for the past 2,000 years, so it will be fantastic no matter what it looks like!
Beyond the accommodations, which will definitely be “out of this world”, the glory of Heaven will be that we can finally see Jesus face to face. Now we “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), but in Heaven our faith will become sight! That was a precious insight that was shared with me when my mother passed away: “Her faith has become sight!” What a glorious day that will be when my Jesus I shall see. It will be worth it all!
John the beloved disciple declared (1 John 3:1-2), “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” When we see Jesus, we will be just like Him! The process (sometime painful) for becoming more like Jesus here on earth will be complete. We will be like Him! What motivation it is to be faithful and keep on “keeping on”. John continues in v3, “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
This Sunday, November 6, we will continue our fall teaching series, “We Believe!” with the marvelous truth of “Heaven!” Jesus Christ not only saved you from sin, He has prepared a glorious home for you for all eternity. Please invite someone to join you at 10:35am in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream every Sunday to both locations.
Coming Up: Ladies and girls, the next “Made with Aloha” lunch gathering to make gifts to bless others is this Saturday, November 5, at 11:30am in the Fellowship Hall. The Drive-Thru Prayer outreach is 1pm that day.
Note: Shirley and I want to give a Big Mahalo to all of you for your kindness and generosity at the recent Pastor Appreciation Day. We thank you so much for your love and support. We are co-laborers in the Kingdom of God.
Aloha ke Akua!
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