Heaven

“Jesus said to his Disciples, ‘Don’t be worried. Have faith in God and have faith in me. There are many rooms in my father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. You know the way to where I am going.” John 14: 1-4

We know the way – Jesus is the way – Jesus is the way to heaven – Jesus is the way to the Father. We know, but we’re not yet in heaven. Jesus will have to come back and take us with him. Our knowledge prepares us for heaven – makes us study and learn and live the ways of heaven here on earth until Jesus comes back and takes us. Regularly, we remember in church that Jesus is coming again – in the Holy Communion of Saints.

Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t even know where you are going, how can we know the way?” The answer is that if we know the way, then we know where we are going. If we believe that Jesus is the way, and follow the way, then we know we’re going to heaven – to occupy the rooms being prepared for us. Knowing illuminates our destination. Knowing shows us a path – points us the direction. So we walk the way – Jesus – to heaven, and we are held on our way while we keep ‘joined’ with Jesus.

Why do we stray then if we already know the way? Christians call this backsliding – literally going back, but not unintentionally; sliding back to a previous way – that is. This happens because we take heaven for granted.  At least at the moment, we think that heaven is still an abstract concept (up there), and we like to refer to it as “sa kabilang buhay,” without actually believing in a life beyond. This is simply an expression for many.  Most of us can’t grasp the truth that all of us have eternal destiny – heaven or hell – or we don’t value eternity. At least at the moment, life is all there is to us, life that we can touch and see and feel and hear and smell. Heaven is a reality beyond, difficult to grasp, like air itself. We don’t crave for heaven, or we think we don’t. Our flesh craves for the enjoyment this world offers. But the things we most wish for are stuff that only heaven can give – deep joy, lasting peace, true love, and concrete happiness. Yet we insist on living at the moment, mistaking the world’s panaceas as heaven itself. We think we have joy but it doesn’t last. Peace is not at all attainable. True love is mostly the stuff of fiction. Happiness runs out of motivation.

When Jesus comes back and takes us, would he find us where we should be? Would we have moved on closer towards our destination? Or would he arrive and for a moment strain his neck looking for us, since we got lost somehow and would not be found? How far would we have strayed that there wouldn’t be enough time to go back?

Jesus is the way – the ONLY WAY wants us to keep walking THIS WAY – because he will come back and take us. When he comes, we should be where we should be, or we will miss heaven. The alternative destination should never be an option.

Portrait of the Damned

“God’s spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.” Galatians 5:22-23

Portrait of the Damned

The face is glum as always

Drawn lonely drooping lines

On sides of lips convey besottedness

To things unhappy such as pain.

Each day a blot of black on blue

And bluer still it goes,

“Hello to hatred unresolved.”

The perfect host

Hugging fears the moment they approach.

Why! complaining is a truer friend,

Praise, the unwelcome stranger.

Sleek patronage in honesty’s proud name

Dances with all liars

And woe to happy, loving, good…

They can’t be real.

(JCB, October 1, 2009)

By prayer we mean

God always does what he says, and is gracious in everything he does. Psalm 145:13

Prayer is coming to God fully aware that God already knows what is in our hearts and minds. We come to Him in prayer because His presence compels us to beseech Him. We call on Him because He’s there and He is involved in our lives whether we like it or not.

We come because all that He wants to give us is already there for the taking. We come because as His children, we belong to Him and are comfortable in telling Him everything. To Him we laugh, we cry, we murmur, we shout, we ponder, we act, we despair, we hope.

We make Him happy when we seek Him. We give Him gladness when we obey and follow Him. We allow His love to flow even more when we run to Him for help.

When we come to God in prayer, we experience the mystery of our being – in Him – and we realize even more that without Him, we are nothing. But as we come, we affirm our meaning. Jophen Baui

If God is not Sovereign

“The ocean is roaring LORD! The sea is pounding hard. It’s mighty waves are majestic, but you are more majestic and you rule over all.” Psalm 93:3-4 CEV

If God is not sovereign a house will be full of chaos. Tempers flare at the slightest provocation. Sometimes, reason is waylaid and all past hurts and bitterness surface, that the anger of the moment turns out only to be just “the tip of the iceberg.” If God is not sovereign, it will be harder to forgive.

But old hurts and feelings may dominate and rule the day yet in the end, we can run to God and tell all – including the reasons, however illogical, for our own lapses in judgment.

If God is not sovereign, the war in Israel right now would not have a framework. All events going on in the World would be chance events, wrought by chance, propagated by chance, would probably have their day by chance.

But God’s sovereignty makes us understand that there’s an end to all of this, since He has been in control from the beginning of time. He holds the universe in His hands. While we think about the probability of war and Armageddon, God has long ago thought about delivering man from all that the evil of this world can possibly do. He even conquered death. God has given His Son so that those who believe in Him may live even if they die, and so, their lives are not a matter of chance, and are not in vain.

If God is not sovereign, we have a reason to grumble about disorder, the lack of beauty, a dearth of quiet and peace, a shortage of space. We will see every circumstance as unsatisfactory, and each season will only usher in more misfortune.

But God’s sovereignty makes us see beauty in disorder, and our heart is at peace even if the daily news bombard us with endless tales of suffering. In our limited space we can find profound connection with the One who created the world and the universe. We will appreciate the blessings of both sun and rain, and we know that every storm and hurricane is a reminder of God’s mighty power over all that man can ever do or accomplish.

God’s sovereignty teaches us to be still – enables us to hope – makes us pray unceasingly. God is mighty and even those who think this isn’t true aren’t exempted from His grace.

Animated

“Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsion of selfishness.” Galatians 5:16, The Message

Three words grab my attention in Eugene Peterson’s version of Galatians 5:16. Freely, Spirit, Compulsion.

Freedom defined is disentanglement from any bondage – and in the modern sense, this also means “unaffected” by forces other than “God’s Spirit.” To be animated and motivated by God’s Spirit is to consciously move, and live, and have our being in Him. We can only be “slaves” to God’s Spirit if we gain complete freedom from anything in this world – love of money, friends, desires, influence, power, prestige, lovers, food, body, wants and even charity and good works. These are in fact our source of “compulsions” because we are naturally selfish and want to satisfy every whim and will to either prove or affirm our existence.

To be free is to be “born again” literally, so that our “natural” selves can be changed. Only God’s Spirit can accomplish such change. God’s grace is that we realize how much we need God in the process and His unconditional forgiveness frees us even from the pangs of our own conscience. We are “normally” unrighteous, but as we move, and live, and have our being in God, this normalcy changes and we begin on a journey to reformation.