Best Day Ever … what will I see?

Since I made the claim that the ‘best day ever’ is the day we see the Lord’s face -- the day we draw our last breath on earth and our first in Heaven… perhaps we need to take a closer look.  After all, there is no greater hope than the hope of Heaven, God’s promised destination for those who love him. 

So what is Heaven like? 

 In Heaven, there is no sickness or pain or suffering.

  There is no cancer, no diseases, no hospitals—

    There will be no separation from loved ones . . . ever.

      No loneliness, anger, or fear

        No death or worry or hard feelings

         We will finally be as God meant us to be

          And at last, we will know what it’s like to be “Home”

My interest in Heaven has grown exponentially for several reasons—one reason is that I know it is where my mother makes her home.  I miss her so much since she left my side in 2006, so I like to try and visualize what she is doing . . . another reason is that I read a fascinating book a few years’ back that was quite provocative.  The book: 90 Minutes in Heaven.  Truthfully, I was totally skeptical, and picked the book up a number of times before I finally bought it.  Here’s the story—a minister was leaving a conference in the Midwest, in a driving wind and rainstorm, when he was in a horrific car accident.  Pronounced dead at the scene by four different sets of paramedics, the professionals moved on to others who had a chance to live.

Another pastor, also leaving the conference, happened onto the tragic scene, and felt compelled by God to stop.  Further, he felt compelled to pray for the man in the mangled car.  So, he somehow climbed into the back of the small car, behind the driver’s seat of the ‘deceased’ and alternately prayed for the man, and sang to him.  (this guy was a Baptist pastor, and this is not standard Baptist fare, you must understand that)  He did what he felt driven to do though—he obeyed the voice that he heard urging him on to pray and sing.  How shocked he was when the dead man started singing along with him!  I heard Don Piper talk about the 90 minutes between the collision and this man’s answered prayers for him, when he tells of his time in Heaven.  While he confesses that words fall dreadfully short of describing what he experienced . . . I must confess—it captured me.  Since then, Heaven is for Real … good, solid, hopeful, sweet.

Since encountering his story, I’ve done a lot of study on what may be known about Heaven, from this side.  Revelation chapter 21 gives us some great information, with some interesting specific details—such as the fact that there are 12 gates—each one, an individual pearl.  Heaven is laid out as a square – 12,000 furlongs is what the Bible says, which in today’s language means it is a cube 1500 miles square.  This is as large as the area from Canada to Mexico and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rockies.  It can easily accommodate 20 billion residents, each having his or her 75-acre plot.  Heaven is a great big place, and it is real.

The walls of Heaven have 12 foundations, which are adorned with precious stones, including sapphires, onyx, emeralds, amethysts, and more!  Okay, so marry the opulent color with the glorious light—because there is no night in Heaven—indeed, it is always light, and you can see that it is a beautiful, magnificent place.

Scripture says, ‘Believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ,

    and you will be saved---you will live with him eternally . . . in Heaven.’ Then you will definitely know the ‘best day ever’, and… now you have some idea of what to expect of your new surroundings!

Christine