Yes, we CAN go home again!

Second Corinthians 5:1 “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

You are probably familiar with an old saying that goes something like this: 'You can never 

go home again,' which apparently was taken from a Thomas Wolfe novel. I remember

a time when I had to move back in with my parents while in college at Ohio State University;

it wasn't easy for any of us! You get established, for better or worse, on your own, with

your own set of rules and schedules, only to return to the parents' set of norms!

The problem, it seems to me, with that saying and the reality of returning to a previous
earthly home, is simply that it isn't 'really' our home.  Our real and true home is one that
we will be moving back into when the days of this life run their course; the beauty is
that there will be no problematic transition this time,  just a smooth transition back to what
truly is our normal and wondrous place of residence: heaven! 

What a homecoming that will be!!! We will see Jesus in His glory, Almighty Father God,
saints abounding and many, yes many, or those that were friends and family members
while we were on this earth. Some of those relationships will be different, there are
questions and uncertainties about how, exactly, things will work there, but oh how
wonderful it will all be! 

I am most excited to see my grandparents, friends that have passed and maybe even
some folks that I didn't meet fully, here, yet who passed briefly into and out of my life.
I am most anxious to see what sort of 'job' is in store for me, what type of food we
may eat and how we will recall our days here on earth.

So what about the interim...what should we be doing as we wait with patience for
this return? Well we have tasks that we are called upon in scripture to work at.
We need to be doing that which glorifies our Lord, worshiping Him with all our
energies and spreading ,in whatever way we are led, the saving gracious
gospel of Jesus Christ. That's plenty to keep us occupied!

Can't wait! I'm really quite ready. Come, Jesus, we await your glorious return!

Praise God!

okay...so...WHERE IS HEAVEN?

There's a question for you! When one considers the following: aborted babies, maimed and

killed soldiers, poverty, hatred, bigotry, crime, depression, suicide, mental illness, physical

illness and death...seems like we can say with a great deal of confidence that heaven is not

here on earth!

English Standard Version 

² In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?^{[a] John 14: 2}

If one took a survey asking people to point towards heaven, I am guessing that the vast
majority would point upward. Now this is quite subjective, for someone in Santiago, Chile
would surely be pointing in a different direction than someone in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I once camped out in the Black Hills of South Dakota and saw, for the first time, a true
starry night! Phenomenal! But I didn't see heaven. I am certain that no one in the International Space Station, nor anyone using a high-powered telescope nor an electron
microscope has seen heaven.

So, does this mean that there is not heaven? ABSOLUTELY NOT! We are limited by
the dimensions of space, time, etc. as human beings. Jesus appeared suddenly among
his followers after the Resurrection, but I wouldn't suggest trying to walk through the
nearest wall. We, simply, are limited in many ways. GOD is not! Heaven can be anywhere
that a sovereign God chooses it to be. Because God is truth, we can believe, without
reservation, that He is in heaven.

Heaven is the place where God resides. He is the absolute Lord and King of this place,
joined at His right side by Jesus who intercedes in our behalf. There are angels, there,
and saints who have come before us, praising and glorifying God. 

Heaven is the place where we long to be!  The very essence of our existence, from conception
to the final breath we take, yearns and longs to be with God and to live in His presence.
It is what we were made to do, the place where we were meant to be. It is our HOME!
When I consider that there are people who live their lives rejecting God, rejecting Jesus
as the only possible pathway to salvation and choosing to live their lives out pointed in
the direction of eternity outside the presence of God, I literally shudder. Those are
lost people that we need to be praying for. Pray that it isn't far too late! Praise our gracious
God!

Home Sweetest Home

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you John 14:2

"Home" has a connotation of comfort and welcome. It's usually a place we think of
in a very positive sense; it'a a place where we feel we have roots. I can remember,
vividly, sitting on the back screened-in porch at my parents' home, crying, because
they were about to move out. I didn't even live there, any more; yet, there were
so many memories associated with the place that a great sense of loss came over me.
It's also disconcerting to re-visit an old neighborhood only to find that your old "home"
is either in disrepair or possibly even torn down.

A House Is Made Of Walls And Beams..A Home Is Built With Love And Dreams

So it is important not to confuse house and home, even though they may be one
and the same. "Home" may very well be whatever location one finds himself in,
as long as it is occupied by those he loves.

The one problem with our earthly homes is that they are temporary, not
permanent. The people who make up our earthly homes are temporary, as well.
That old home where parents and family resided will eventually become the
place where a different set of people reside. Our loved ones and family members,
our friends and close associates all will pass away. We are temporary; mortality
will end us all. 

So the Bible verse above is super important and super comforting to those who
are solidly in Jesus. The home He speaks of is not temporary. It is eternal. Even
though we know more about what will not be in heaven than what will, we have
been assured by one who is Truth that we are bound for a place where God is
present, and we are bound for a home where there will be no transition. Until we
get there, we do not know what the floor-plan is like, don't know what the
accommodations and furnishings will be like. We do know that this final, glorious
home will be in the presence of the Holy God that we praise and honor. I have
the feeling that this home and its inhabitants will be more glorious than we can
even imagine. Aren't you a bit anxious? I certainly am! Praise God!