Friday, February 28, 2014

Jesus and His Kingdom

 
 
I have been recently reading through Revelations, and dwelling on the beauty of Heaven. The end times especially shows the power of Jesus Christ and the awesomeness of being with Him.
 
"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."
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four
living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne
and worshiped God, saying:
"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
 
Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they,
and where did they come from?"
I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation;
they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore,
"they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His
temple;
and He who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
                                             ~Revelation 7:9-17
 
Doesn't that paint the most beautiful picture of Christ and Heaven? It makes me desire to be with Jesus all the more, falling on my face, and worshiping Him.
 
 
So, I decide to google videos of people who had gone to Heaven and returned to tell their story.
The amazing thing that I discovered in each different story, was how they described it as a place filled with love, peace, and beauty. They kept talking about how you could feel Jesus' love for you in heaven. How there was just an amazing sense of peace with no fear at all. And especially how beautiful and brilliant the colors are: in the landscape, in the streets of pure gold, and shining like a rainbow from behind a 'great dome of sorts'.
Friends, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, this is what we have to look forward to! This is the life that God had originally planned for us before the fall of man when sin entered the world, in Genesis chapter 3. This is our true home.
We need to follow the Lords plan in our lives, and patiently wait for Him to complete the good work He started in us, so that when our time comes to be with Jesus. . .there will be no regrets.
 
 
On thing I was not expecting to find on that website, was the very vivid reality of hell. There was one man describing his experience. He had grown up in a Christian home, gone to church, and believed there were angels watching out for him. But, he went off into the Military, and got married. Neither one of those lasting very long. This man had become so depressed and angry, that he hitchhiked his way back home to some friends. For two weeks, he became addicted to drugs and smoking. Finally, one night he decided to take a pill after having smoked cocaine. Immediately, he started shaking and had this sensation that someone was pulling him. He heard someone saying, "I got you. I've got you." As this man descended into a pit, he saw flames at the bottom and smelt a horrible stench. He correlated the smell to 'worse than rotten eggs.' He could see these people in the fire with no way to get out. They were crying, and trying, but nothing was working. Finally, overcome with everything, he cried out, "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!" At that moment, he felt someone carrying him out of the pit and he returned to his body. When he awoke, his friends were around him crying. They said he had been dead for 35 minutes.
 
 
With tears, this man realized how much Jesus really did love him. He loved him so much, that he actually saved him from hell. The next day, he went back to face his commander in the military after having been gone for 2 weeks. He was put in detention for a month, and during that time, completely surrendered his life to the Lord!
 
But the reality is still there: no matter how much you don't want to believe it, there is a heaven and a hell. This is what Christ longs to save you from. . .if only you put your complete faith and trust in Him. Hell is a place of torment, a place of "wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:50). It is a place that we all deserve to go. . .but by God's abundant grace and mercy, full of love and compassion, He has saved me from that. And He desires to save you. Do you believe?
 
In the song by Plumb it says,
"I don't deserve Your love,
but you give it to me anyway.
Can't get enough:
You're everything I need.
And when I walk away
You take off running a come right after me.
It what You do.
And I don't deserve You."
 
 
 
We don't deserve the fabulous love of God, with all the sins we have committed and done against Him. But He still loves us anyways! How much more should we love Him in return? How can we repay what Christ has done for us: dying the worst death you could imagine, with our sins placed on His back; the pain, criticism, and suffering He endured in our place. What can you and I do, in return?
Well, we will never in our lifetime be able to fully repay what Christ did for us. But the best we can do, after putting our trust in Him and letting Him come into our lives, is to serve Him in whatever way possible. . .one way, by serving those here on earth.
"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me." ~Matthew 25:40
We can also love Him unconditionally with the love that He has graciously placed in our hearts.
Serve your Father, love Him, and follow in His footsteps until He brings you home into His Heavenly Kingdom. May you be blessed as you follow your King!
 
He is worthy and greatly to be praised

 Olivia