Tag: Heaven

lovingAWE

Jesus tells us that “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24 NIV). Now this isn’t a suggestion that Jesus makes, but more of a non-negotiable declaration. If we are to be worshipping in the presence of God, we must be filled with His Spirit and Truth. I’ve often heard this statement, “The only way to approach a holy God is to do it His way” which is true. Now if the Father desires true worshippers, who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23), who are we to deny the Creator and Giver of life by worshipping Him in our own way. Do you think that He will accept our worship? Probably not. I mean that’s why there are so many religions in the world because people are deciding for themselves who, how and why they worship. But, Jesus is adamant about Him being the only way to the Father (John 14:6). It’s interesting that Jesus says “the Father” and not God. Because Jesus isn’t inviting us into some objectively impersonal notion here, but rather a subjectively intimate familial relationship.

What I find interesting in today’s churches (without getting too ecclesial) are the two extremes of friendship with God and reverence for God. On the one hand, there are churches that solely emphasize that through Jesus people are now friends with God, while on the other hand, there are churches that only emphasize having reverence for God. Both are true, but what my heart longs to see a great blending of the two. To see the people of God in a vibrantly deep and intimate familial relationship with the Father while they stand in awe of His majestic glory. After talking this over with some friends over lunch yesterday, we concluded that it’s through our friendship with God that should draw us into a deeper and more vibrant worship of God in which we experience a greater depth and magnitude of His majesty, beauty and glory. But, something is getting lost in the translation.

I can only imagine what it would be like to be in the throne room of God. What comes to mind is Ezekiel 1 where the heavens open and Ezekiel sees visions of God. Without going into the details of the vision (I recommend reading through the chapter yourself), what seems to stand out is the sheer magnificence of God and the glory that radiates from Him which moves Ezekiel uncontrollably facedown (Ezekiel 1:28). All this is pretty amazing, but it’s the next verses that have drawn my attention: the Lord says to Ezekiel, “‘Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.’ As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me” (Ezekiel 2:1, 2 NIV). The only way that Ezekiel was able to stand in the presence of God was by His Word (command) and Spirit.

Through Jesus, believers today do have the Spirit of God living within them (1 Corinthians 6:19) and are hopefully filling themselves with the Word of God. So, we are able to stand in the presence of God. And as the writer of Hebrews tells us because Jesus is our High Priest, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NIV). Maybe what needs to happen is more of God’s people need to be meditating on the the throne of grace where Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, sits (Revelation 5). I believe the more we envision this, the greater we will see Jesus not only as our beloved Savior and Friend, but also as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings (Revelation 19:16).


raised with Christ

The way that we live our lives reflects in a lot of ways the type of person we are. It reveals who we are and what’s important to us. It reveals our core values, both the good and selfish and sinful ways. What does your ideal day look like? If your human, than you’re a creature of comfort like me who likes your day to go smoothly, without any surprises. Take a minute to really think about your day to day routine. Do you shy away from confrontation? Do you purposely schedule your day so that you’ll meet the least amount of resistance? Do you try to avoid conflict at all costs? If you had to compare your ideal day with a type of music, what would it be? If I had to describe my ideal day with a type of music, it would have to be “Muzak” you know the music that you hear on elevators. The calming and comforting music that fills up the uncomfortable silence with nice, soothing and relaxing melodies. Kind of boring I know, but it’s safe.

Our natural tendency is to only think of the temporal side of life, what will make us the most comfortable, our immediate security. Most of the time this won’t include the spiritual aspects of life: what God may want to do on the inside of us, in our character by pulling us from the idols of comfort or materialism or money or selfishness or fear or whatever is getting in the way of having Christ formed in us. We ask God to transform us, but then we do everything we can to stop God from actually doing that. If we trust that salvation is found in Jesus then we also must trust that God’s grace will always be about us and that by His grace we will be transformed so that we are then able to set our hearts and minds on the purposes of heaven as Colossians 3:1-2 says: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Maybe the reason that we just coast through life is that we don’t see the urgency of our situation, in who we are and what we do, because we don’t recognize the spiritual component or realize the eternal ramifications of the things happening in our lives. We don’t take into consideration the reality that who we are, what we’re all about and our actions do impact eternity in some way because we’re so stuck on the temporal side of life. Earthly things have become more important then heavenly things. If we realize it or not, what we do in the visible has some affect on the invisible because the physical and spiritual components of life are intricately connected.

God know this. He can see the whole painting when all we can see are a few brush stokes and when we set our hearts and minds on things above we are more apt to be able to sense and see life from God’s perspective. We will be able to see life with an eternal perspective. But, our earthly desires are in direct conflict with the purposes of heaven. So, the more focused we are on the temporal side of life, the less able we will be able to set our hearts and minds on the things above. The kind of people we are in Christ and the kinds of actions we take as his disciples must always reflect what and in whom we believe. We must also remember that God’s work of grace is inside out, meaning the private matters of the heart are always fleshed out in public. The reality of heart transformation is revealed in changed lifestyle.

That’s why God brings change into our lives, so that He can break up the routines of safety and comfort that we covet so desperately. I believe a child of God can get to a place where the rocky path of sanctification will be more desirable than the smooth road of comfort. I believe that a child of God can get to a place where they are so engaged with Jesus that when God does bring change into their lives, they will almost be expecting it because it will feel so absolutely and completely right. But, this means intentionally setting our minds on things above, more so than on earthly things. I believe the more we do this, the less worry and more joy we will have in our lives.


Songs of Heaven

Music plays a big part in how my heart sings to the Lord in worship. I love to sing and dance for the Lord. I am always so amazed at the diversity of cultures and peoples in the world. Of course, all cultures and peoples need to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. But, I imagine heaven to be one huge celebration around the throne of God where the Lamb sits. God loves celebration. When I read Revelation 7:9, 10: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'” What comes to mind is celebration. Celebration from every culture and language in reverence and worship to the Lamb of God.

I long to be fully united with all my brothers and sisters. When everything that separates and divides us will be forever removed and we will all worship God together as one. So, when I heard Richard Twiss say: “no one language could ever capture the fullness of who God is or no one music style could ever echo the sounds of heaven.” This stirred something inside of me. His words made the Holy Spirit leap within me with joy. I long to sing and dance before the throne of God where people from every nation and tribe will lead us in worship to God, our Creator, Savior and Redeemer. This song “Hina Na Ho” by Susan Aglukark I believe reflects a glimmer of this.  It also makes me happy to see all the children singing, dancing and celebrating their Native American and Inuit heritages. I believe in heaven people will know and love all cultures and languages as much as their own, where celebration becomes not about style, but solely about Jesus. The joy it must bring the Father when His redeemed children come together as one to sing, dance and celebrate in their many diversities around His throne as they praise Him for all of eternity. I can’t wait. Come Lord Jesus Come!

  hina-na-ho-lyrics