Heaven should be the goal, the focus of every child of God. The hope and glory this holds for the human heart should never be underestimated. This hope will carry the child of God through all the trials of life which crosses his/her pathway. The greater the challenge the more focused we must be upon the goal of Heaven if we are not to lose hope which results in despair and discouragement. Dear child of God, Satan is out to destroy your hope and to drown you in despair as the waves of life threaten to sink you to the depths of self pity and turn your vision inward. The more threatening the storms of life you are faced with or the higher the mountain you are asked to climb the greater your focus must be on your final destination, heaven and the presence of God our father.

There was a song we sang while I was growing up which reminded us, "This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through." Dear child of God we are not home yet; the journey is not over. God has not completed His molding of our lives; He is still shaping our lives in the image of His Dear Son.

Come with me and take a brief journey as we consider what God has prepared for us. Jesus on the eve of His death comforts His apostles with these words found in John 14:13, "Let not your heart be troubled, ye 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 unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." This is not just for leading at the graveside service in the cemetery only but for us the living that we may have hope. Just think what beauty God has created in this world in only six days. He has had over 2,000 years since this promise was given to create for those who love Him the mansions of glory.

Paul wrote with confidence in II Corinthians 5:9, "To be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." At death, "We have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (II Corinthians 5:1). Myself, I am looking for the upper take, not the undertaker of which Paul wrote to Titus in 2:13, "Looking for that blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ." This event, of course, is recorded in I Thessalonians 4:16-18, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."

This will by no means be a complete study of Heaven, but I hope and pray enough will be written to lead you into a personal study resulting in hope and courage as we face the up's and down's of every day living.

Heaven in the general sense refers to the place where God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are. This will also be the home of the holy angels and those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The Bible identifies three distinct heavens. The atmospheric heavens about the earth in which the birds fly and the clouds ride about as chariots. The second Heaven is the stellar sphere of space as we know it, and the angels move about and make it their home. The third is the celestial realm where the glory of God reigns beyond our comprehension. It might be well to state at this point heaven finds as its source the Word of God. Since a belief in Heaven is almost universal in scope, it points out the influence the Bible has had throughout our world and its impact on the history of mankind.

There is a binding thread of principle which runs throughout the Bible that truth is established by the witness of two or three person. The Holy Spirit brings three witnesses forward as trustworthy people in regard to heaven: Jesus Christ, Apostle Paul, Apostle John. The Lord Jesus Christ, who resides in Heaven and being very God could not mislead us or be a source of error on this subject. Remember, "Unto us a Son is given" (Isaiah 53). Christ in His deity could never be born but was given. Christ said He was going to prepare a place, not a state of existence. To the Son of God, heaven is as real as a place could be. The apostle Paul in I Corinthians 12:1-9 relates an experience in which he was caught up into heaven and did not speak of what he saw for fourteen years. This probably refers to his stoning at Lystra where he died a martyr's death, went to heaven and then was returned to his body and the ministry God had called him to. This all had to be a miracle of healing for the account says in Acts 14:20, "He rose up and came into the city; and the next day He departed with Barnabas to Derbe." No wonder Paul could write, "I say and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (II Corinthians 5:6-8). Also Paul states in Philippians 1:23, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better." The Apostle John lends his testimony in the Revelation of Jesus Christ as God the Holy Spirit reveals all that is going to happen to the Church and goes into great detail concerning the judgments of God and the unfolding of the events leading up to eternity. One could hardly read the works of John and say God has left us without witness to the glories of heaven.

The wonders and beauties of Heaven go beyond our wildest dreams or expectations. The Bible teaches us in Isaiah 64:4 and I Corinthians 2:9, "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the hearts of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." The Revelation of Jesus Christ records for us in Chapter 21:1 through chapters 22:7 many of the glorious facts of Heaven, and every child of God should take time to learn something about his/her heavenly home. In our resurrection bodies from I Corinthians 15 we learn that we will put on immortality and have a new heart that cannot know sin. Every child of God will be perfect, and we will live in a perfect environment. There will be no sorrow, no death, no separation from God or those we love forever,. no imperfect bodies, no pain, no disease, and no mental anguish. All that is imperfect will be done away with forever. Our heavenly abode will be lighted by the presence of God Himself There will never be any darkness, for the light of eternity will be our God. Our surroundings are likened to all manner of precious stones, and we will walk on streets of gold. It is interesting that again and again it is stated there will be no night in Heaven. God will not be running any sleep clinics and fat farms for people who do not like how they look. There will be a river and the tree of Life which will bear twelve kinds of fruit. Yes, there will be food in Heaven, and the great news is we can eat and not worry about the consequences. Remember in His glorified body Christ ate with His disciples and we shall have a body like unto His glorious body. I have had asthma over 68 years, and my main trigger is horses. Just think, in Heaven I will be able to ride a white horse and for the first time not have a breathing problem. Thank the Lord for Revelation 19:14. Some times it is fun to just peak into the window of Heaven. Yes there will be horses and you can play mental gymnastics as to what else will be there as well. For those who are tired, there will be rest, for Revelation 14:13 states, "And I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." We will stay busy serving the Lord, Revelation 22:3 states, "And there will be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and His servants shall serve Him." The great thing is we will never get tired and will be able to finish and accomplish all challenges He places before us. Worship will be one of our functions as recorded in Revelation 19:1, "And after the things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God." And this will all be done with perfect holiness based on perfect knowledge. How beautiful will be the singing in heaven as we all will sing on key a new song taught to us by our Redeemer. Revelation 5:9 declares, "And they sang a new song, saying,

"Thou art worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." The family of God will be praising Him who is the object of our love and devotion throughout eternity. There will be perfect unity perfect harmony. As the family of God, with one accord we will forever enjoy the eternity that God has prepared for those who are objects of His love.

Just think, so wondrous is that which is ahead we have not even caused a ripple on the sea of eternity as to what God has in store for us.