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Hi Kathy,
It would be irresponsible of me to discuss Heaven without considering the way there. So, I'm sorry if this is too long.
First, we're not of this world. God is our origin and Heaven our home. We can't hold all that Heaven is in our earthly brains, so God placed Heaven in our hearts. The yearning we all have deep down when we are honest with ourselves is being homesick. Heaven is the fulfillment of our desire for things that are greater than this measly world. Our closest connection is prayer and visitation with God.
We're all here on our specific missions while we also all have common God-given goals. We're God's ambassadors with a purpose. Our passport is Jesus without which there's no going home.
God often reminds us of Heaven. We see it in flashes like home-movies of sunsets, twinkling stars, the miracle of birth, the manifestation of ambitions or dreams, the awesome creativity of people, the giant redwood forests, the touch of love in our lives, charity, the ocean's waves, lightening storms, changing seasons, birds singing, and the list goes on and on because God is SO good.
God's goodness is just one element of His glory. We owe God recognition, honor, declaration, praise, reflection, and our very lives for that glory. Satan's downfall was his failure to glorify God, just as our sin keeps us from it. But we can glorify God when we fulfill our purposes by worship, love, Christ-like character, service and sharing the truth with others.
There will always be those who love the fleeting things of this world too much and choose to defect from their home at the cost of becoming traitors to their creation and their true selves. They will get exactly what they ask for, to be left alone, devoid of love.
If we forget where we came from, we lose everything. If we don't keep God in our hearts and hold onto to our desire to go home, then we are hopeless, and there's no real point to our existence at all.
We are here to love one another, and to learn the lessons God has to teach us. Each of us has been equipped by Jesus with everything we need to live our lives to the fullest for God.
Everyday we must live as though it were our last fixing our thoughts not on things of this world but on what we cannot see with our eyes but what we know in our hearts waits ahead eternally.
(BTW, the Bible says we all are invited to Heaven, not just 144,000 of us.)
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
So, who all will RSVP?
Hope to see you when we get home,
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