God’s will for us is simple, …
Throughout scripture we are taught to
always walk in God’s Un-Conditional Love; [1]
to Love God FIRST,
and Love People in ALL-WAYS. [2]
It’s Just that SIMPLE!
The Great Commandment, like all of God’s Universal Law, is written in the heart of every person on Earth [3]. Some say it is divine guidance, while others call it instinct, or our “gut” feelings. Whatever you call it, we all know the feelings in our spirit that guide our decisions. It seems we always know the right thing to do, but we often argue with ourselves about doing it.
Throughout my life, God’s universal laws have often caught my attention. It is when I see God’s gentle, almost unnoticeable, touch of simplicity, that I know it to be His loving “wink” saying “yeah, that was me.”
There was the day when I met Christ Jesus when I was ten years old. Walking to Boy Scouts, He introduced himself, saying “follow me, and you will live forever.”, and there was that morning when I woke up from emergency brain surgery, hearing His gentle whisper saying, “I got this.” Christ Jesus’ gentle words of Love were always there amid my chaotic and frightful world. A wink, a word, and a hug from the One who created Love, the creator of everything.
It has taken me decades to understand that my best friend, Christ Jesus, is always walking with me. Decades of unlearning the dogma of Heaven as a place to go after my life is over. Like Christ Jesus taught, “the Kingdom of God/Heaven, is at hand.” [4] Heaven is here Now!
How can Heaven be here, NOW? We don’t see the angels, the pearly gates, and the Heavenly armies. Scripture repeatedly reveals that Heaven is always available, always here [5], if only we had the eyes to see and ears to hear.
Think of Elisha, when he asked God to have the scales lifted from his servant’s eyes so he could see God’s Heavenly army on the mountainside [6]. In Apostle Paul’s case, he needed scales put on his eyes to see the third Heaven [7]. John, James, and Peter walked into Heaven with Christ Jesus to meet with God [8]. Moses met with God through a burning bush and where was the Apostle John when Christ Jesus gave him the Revelation? They were all on Holy ground, with God, yet they were still here on earth. Like Enoch and Elijah, they did not die and then go to Heaven. They entered Heaven here on Earth. In a sense, they became Heaven, or Heaven became them
You might be wondering “how does someone become Heaven?” Don’t we see similar transitions in the material world every day? It is God’s Universal Law of metamorphosis. Like water can become gas or ice, a tadpole becomes a frog, or a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. When we accept Christ Jesus, we are transformed into something new. A new creation that, like Christ Jesus, walks in the world and in Heaven at the same time.
When and Where is Heaven?
… “Truly I say to you, TODAY you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:43
Listening to a wonderful message by Dr. Tim Mackie of the Bible Project, he asked the most peculiar questions of Christians. “When Is Heaven?” followed by “Where Is Heaven?” My first thought was everyone knows Heaven is after we die, and it’s somewhere up there. You know, Over the Rainbow.
However, as Dr. Mackie points out, scripture and Christ Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is not only at hand, but also something we cannot see, and that Heaven is within each of us. Doesn’t that mean it is here and that it is now?
In talking with a good friend, the other day, we were pondering the where and when question leading us to talk about the Apostle Paul’s journey to the third Heaven prompting the question, “where and what are the first and second Heavens?” We gave each other a look of bewilderment and began our journey through the bible to better understand the Hierarchy of the Heavens.
Turns out that the ancient scholars mostly agree that the first Heaven is Earth and all its creatures, the second Heaven is often referred to as the stars and planets or outer space, the Universe, and of course, the Third Heaven is where we will spend eternity with God. It is where God’s throne is and where the “Lamb of God” sits at His right hand with all the Cherubim singing “Holy, Holy, Holy”.
Would it surprise you to know that Heaven is not a place but something that we become? That you, as a Christian, are already walking in Heaven like Christ Jesus? You just don’t see it. Christ Jesus is the son of God so it makes sense that He can traverse Heaven and Earth, but how is that Elisha, John, and Paul could see the third Heaven and we can’t? Weren’t they flesh and bone just like us?
The same way a tadpole becomes a frog, or a caterpillar becomes a beautiful butterfly, our Christian transformation happens from the inside out. While they might slow the process down, there is nothing that tadpoles and caterpillars can do to start or stop the metamorphosis, it is God’s Universal Law at work. Your transformation started the day that you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, repented your sins, and asked for forgiveness. As a child of God, you are different than a frog or butterfly. You are in complete control of when you begin to walk in Heaven, it’s your choice, and there is no reason to slow your transformation.
As Christians, the catalyst of our metamorphosis into the Kingdom of God are repeated several times throughout scripture. Christians know these first steps toward the Kingdom of God as the “Great Commandment”. Christ Jesus told us the most important commandment had two parts; “to Love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul, and that the second part is like it, to love others as you love yourself”. Simply stated, Always Love, Love God First and Love People in All Ways. Christ’s Great Commandment is the first step in the Kingdom of God here on Earth. The more we walk in Love of God and Love of People, the more we are transformed into the Heavenly creature that will live forever in the kingdom of God.
Where do we find God and Heaven?
When we give into our fears, we weaken our ability to Love and slow our progress of renewal and transformation. To regain our faith and embrace our conversion, all we need to focus on is our Love of God and Love for others. As Christ Jesus taught, nothing else matters.
Even the profit Elijah had fears and doubts. After God showed Himself to Jezebel and her profits of Baal on Mount Carmel [9], Elijah ran in fear for his life [10]. God met Elijah on His holy ground in the cave on Mount Horeb, the “Mountain of God.” When they met, God didn’t take away Elijah’s fear, doubts, or pain. Instead, God showed Elijah where and when he could always find peace and comfort with God on Holy ground. When God spoke to Elijah saying that He would pass by Elijah [11], Elijah found that God was not in the powerful wind, the earthquake or fire, God showed Elijah that He was always floating on the gentle breeze.
So often it seems we go looking for God in all the wrong places. He is always right there with us; God lives inside every one of us. When we seek God and Heaven, scripture tells us to be still, to know it is God, and to listen for the calming voice of God floating on the breeze. It is in those quiet meditations that Heaven Becomes Us, and we become one with God.
