Tag: Heaven

The True Reality

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

Look Up (YouVersion Daily Refresh, 9-10-25)

It’s normal—and even understandable—to spend our time, energy, and attention focusing on the here and now. We’re busy, after all. We’re preoccupied. And when we stop to really think about it, it’s difficult to perceive something that’s beyond our five senses.

But in his letter to the Colossians, Paul encourages his fellow believers to look up:

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So, as you think about Paul’s words and the realities of heaven, here are four things to consider:

– First, heaven isn’t some vague, dream-like state. It’s a real place, with real people, where God is the true King.

– Second, there will come a day when we will all meet God face to face. We will no longer need faith or hope, because that which we’ve hoped for will finally be revealed.

– Third, our troubles and our heartbreaks (and even death itself) are temporary! Scripture tells us that, eventually, God will do away with pain and death and sickness and suffering—forever.

– Lastly (and most importantly), God is still on His throne, with Jesus beside Him in the place of honor. No matter how crazy, senseless, or heartbreaking the world can seem, we can have confidence knowing that nothing is outside of God’s sovereign plan.

So when you’re tempted to look around at others or look inward at yourself, look up instead. Heaven is wherever God is, and that’s the truest reality of all.

My Thoughts

It’s hard to keep our focus on heaven and God, and sometimes are harder than others. I have found, however, that the more I focus on the things of God, the less the reality of earth and all of its problems bother me. Yes, I may have a broken foot. I will find out next week when I go to the specialist. Yes, it hurts, but when my focus is on God, I think instead of all of the others in the world who are hurting so much more than I am. I don’t have all that I want in life, but I do have all that I need. And for that I am thankful. I am counting my blessings even when it’s somewhat easier and more apparent to count my troubles. God is the King of heaven and one day I will be with Him forever. All of these health issues and financial strain will no longer matter. They are all temporary, but life with God is forever. So, as I struggle with challenges in my daily life, I choose to look up and know that this is not my real home. It’s my temporary abode until God calls me home. Won’t you look up with me today?

Going Home

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture7 Comments

I am very excited about going home today. I can’t wait to be in my warm house again, with my familiar things and my cat. I always enjoy visiting family, especially grandchildren, but with health issues, this visit has been a rough one. And yesterday, the day of the birthday party that we came for, two of the three grandchildren started with fevers and a stomach bug. Poor babies! I prayed for them and their mommy and daddy took care of them, just as it should be. But it’s another sign that this is not my home.

When I return to Virginia, that is not really my home either. My true home is in heaven and nothing makes that more real than a stay in the hospital where the doctors and nurses are calling your case urgent and rushing you around for testing. I know in my heart that I am ready for heaven whenever God calls me there and my excitement about being with the Lord Jesus and all who have gone before me overwhelms me sometimes. We have to always keep in mind that the home we have on earth is temporary, just a tent dwelling while we wait for the real home Jesus has prepared for us in heaven. Glorious thoughts!

Not the End of the Story

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

Anyone who knows me knows that I really enjoy reading. I read for pleasure and for knowledge. I read because it takes me away to places I will never be able to go and visit with people I would like to get to know in real life. Sometimes, the books I read have an ending that leave me surprised with a revelation that I didn’t see coming. Other times, I cry at the bitter sweetness of an ending where all did not live “happily ever after.” Did you know that God is writing our story, day by day? And we can already know the ending if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Our lives are barreling quickly towards our ultimate destiny…death. But that is not the end of the story. Our story has an epilogue that makes this life worth living. Our epilogue is that after death we have eternal life to look forward to, a new Heaven, a new earth and being with God forever. The end of our story is not meant to be a sad or bitter one full of regrets that we have to leave the earth behind. It is one of hope and promise that what we are going toward is so much better than what we leave behind. So, while I read for pleasure, I live for God, because He is writing my story and He has planned a glorious future for me with Him!

The Truth About Death

No matter what part of this planet you live on, how well you take care of your body, or how much money is in your bank account, there is no escaping death. 

Sound a little depressing? Sure. But there’s still good news! Really, really good news.

For those who belong to Christ, we have a hope that’s beyond this world…

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Death is the greatest tool of our enemy, which is why Jesus came to defeat it. That’s why He became human, took the ultimate punishment, and put death in its rightful place—under the authority and dominion of God. 

Yes, life is fleeting, but death is only temporary. And the Spirit of God can do what no human can—give life to the lifeless and redeem what has been lost. 

The truth about death is that it’s not the end of the story.

Soon, God will wipe away every tear and make all things new. Just as a baby is given the miraculous and mysterious breath of life, His Spirit will revive the seemingly perished and bring the dead back to life.

Death is not the end of the story. For all who belong to Christ, that is the really, really good news.

Resting in Peace

On By vickleaIn Scripture6 Comments

Patty went home this morning about 2:00 a.m. She is no longer in pain and we who know and love her trust that she is at rest at last. All of us will one day face a final breath, a final look at a loved one, a final clasp of loving hands and a final kiss. Then, our soul will be no more in this body on this earth, but we will be with our Father in Heaven who has prepared for us and knows exactly when to expect us to come to Him.

We don’t know when the hour will be, but we know that every person will die in some way at some time. My prayer for each of you is that you are as prepared to meet God as He is to welcome you.

Getting Older and Closer to God

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I have been visiting with grandchildren lately and one of the things that interests them is the fact that my hair is turning white. The littlest one told me that it means that I will go to Heaven soon. Well, maybe she is right. Because as we age, there are outward physical signs, but there are also inner ones. I don’t want to leave earth one moment before God wants to call me home, but I do want to be ready to leave and be with Him forever. No matter where my home is, on earth or in Heaven, God will continue to be my strength. As the little one said, “It will be fine, Nanna. You get to see Jesus.” There is a lot of wisdom in little children, isn’t there?

Have a blessed day and may you feel His strength surrounding you as you go about the business of blessing others.

Pause and Think

On By vickleaIn Heaven, Scripture16 Comments

One of our pastors has posed an interesting question.

If you knew that you only had thirty days to live, would you change how you live? If so, how would you change?

Thought-provoking and deep and I’m not sure how I would answer it yet, but I am pondering it and invite you to ponder along with me. Of course, we cannot know the time of our death. Jesus said that the Father knows. We know that God has told some people in the past to get ready to die. King Hezekiah immediately comes to mind. He is the king who turned his face to the wall and cried out to God for more years, a wish that God granted him. I would hope that if God told me that I was about to die that I would be ready and willing to go with Him then, but we just don’t know until such an event happens to us. So, ponder with me, if you will, what would you change in the last month of your life?

As I have been aging, at first approaching death was a scary thought for me. Now, it has become an inevitable end to this life on earth and the beginning of a new life with God. It means the end of all of the aches and pains and daily concerns. Of course, it also means missing my loved ones here on earth, but there is always the promise to see them again in Heaven some day. No more sorrow or tears and no more goodbyes has me looking more expectantly towards Heaven, more with excitement and less with fear. How about you? Do you ever think about your own mortality? Do you think about what Heaven will be like?

In a devotional that I read this morning, the writer had been told that she only had a short time to live and was fearful of death. Having lived over a decade past the time the doctors pronounced for her, the fear had become distant and her new attitude was one of wonder. No one really knows what Heaven is like, so her curiosity was stimulated. She says that her curiosity was somewhat satisfied when she was with an elderly woman just before she died and with her last breath, she said, “Wow!” Now, that, my friends is food for thought. What will we say when we cross over into eternity with God? I think”wow” is pretty descriptive, don’t you? (Daily Guideposts 2021, October 19, 2021)

I don’t want you to leave this post without promises from God that will hopefully stir your heart to look up and await Him with expectation and hope. (I heard someone say that hope is not dead because He is a person!)

May God bless and keep you throughout this day and until we meet again on this page. Meanwhile, drop me a line in the comments and tell me the answer to my question above. Thirty days. What, if anything, would you change in your life?

Since writing this blog, I have one more thing to look forward to in Heaven…I get to meet you believers who have followed me online and see you face to face. I appreciate each of you and pray God’s blessing and His continued presence in your lives daily. I remain a servant of Christ and a seeker of truth. Until next time…

Possess What God Has Given You

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

www.bible.com/1171/jos.18.3.mev

I am doing devotionals daily and as I read, I am keeping my eyes open for God’s promises. They are so numerous that I cannot begin to name them all, but finding this Scripture reminded me that reading God’s promises is not enough. I have to actually claim them. They are already mine. And, guess what? They are yours, too! How often have I sat and whined that things are not happening the way I want them to and then God shows me that He is indeed moving. What I have discovered in my journey with God is that sometimes He wants me to step out into the promise, believing that it is mine. Now, I am not a proponent of “fake it until you make it” or “Claim it” no matter how selfish the desire you have in your heart is.

God’s promises have to do with establishing His kingdom in your heart and in the world. For example, Psalm 84:11 says: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” What “good thing” is this talking about? Riches, a huge mansion, a luxurious car? No! Of course not! Good things are God’s grace and mercy and salvation. He has already provided these good things for us. We just have to know that it is promised and walk with that promise in our hearts.

Can I see God’s Heaven here on earth? Not really. But I know that I know that the Promised Land exists for me, just as it did for the Israelites. I may face many enemies here on earth, most of them in my own heart waging battle against sin. But I have to step into the knowledge that each day I face, each step I take to advance God’s kingdom brings me closer to the Promised Land, the land in which I will spend eternity with Him. I can sometimes imagine God just looking at earth and its inhabitants and shaking his head in disbelief at how stubborn we get sometimes. He tells us to do something that will lead to the fulfillment of a promise and instead we hesitate and want all kinds of confirmation and assurances before we move forward. God’s promises are “Yes! Amen” and “Go for it!” But they are not meant to fulfill selfish desires, but to establish His kingdom.

May you be blessed by a promise today from the Lord that you find as you read and study His Word. Hold it in your heart and stop forward in belief that it will be fulfilled because God does not lie, ever.

This Is Not Our Home

On By vickleaIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Think about it. I mean, really think about it. This broken world that we live in is not our true home. We are only here for a little while and then we go to our true home, in Heaven, with our Father and all of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. In the meantime, here we are in this valley with so much sin and destruction and ungodly thinking all around us. I think sometimes that this is the worst that any generation has ever had it. Then I remember my history and the Crusades and the destruction and turmoil then. I recall the Inquisition and the deaths that were part of the desire to rout out all dissension from whatever the current belief was. No, we don’t have it so bad, do we? Yes, there is little acceptance of Christians and our beliefs these days. There is mocking from our friends, family and the media. But I remind myself and you that this is NOT our home. And since we were put on earth for a reason, we need to find that purpose and work at fulfilling it. Jesus knew His purpose, His destiny if you will, from His first moment on earth. We, however, need to seek our purpose. We need to find out why God put us here and then do our best to follow His plan for us. I’m not here at this time and in this place solely because of my choices. I am here because God wants me to be here. I could have died from a stroke five years ago. I lived. So, why? Because God was not finished with me here on earth yet. This world is a broken one, and we don’t belong here, but we have to do our work here before we can go home for the Great Dinner that God has prepared for us. I recall that when I was working, I worked hard at my school all day, from the moment I arrived until I locked my door and headed out to my car. I sighed with relief most days when my work was done and I could go home and sit and relax at dinner with my family. That’s how I see my life on earth now. I’m working for God and I haven’t finished my work; God is preparing a place at His dinner table for me, but He isn’t ready for me to come home yet. In the meantime, I know that there are two worlds and I long for my Heavenly home. At the same time, I also long to see my grandchildren grow up and establish their own relationship with the Lord. So, two worlds. While I wait, I will continue to be as good a witness as possible here on earth. I will state my beliefs clearly even when they are not acceptable or popular. I will not compromise my standards because I am basing them on Biblical principles as I understand them. Yes, I am a citizen of two worlds, and I am expected to be a good citizen of both.

I read an article by Dr. Denison this morning that inspired this post and made me think about life and all of its current corruption.

Dr. Denison “A Tale of Two Cities”

“Not of This World” by Petra