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ARE WE IN HEAVEN NOW???
Many people are looking forward to going to heaven in the next life. But could we be missing the fact that we are in heaven now? Don’t be quick to dismiss such an idea. Try to keep an open mind for just a few minutes and consider some thoughts from the Holy Scriptures as we try to read “in between the lines”.
The first thing the Bible points to, that God made, was the heavens. In Genesis 1:1 we read:
In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth. (NIV)
Some translation use the word “heaven” while others read “heavens” (plural), but either way is correct. The word for heaven in the Hebrew language is shamayim. It is both singular and plural in meaning. It is similar to the word used for God in this verse which is both singular and plural. There is one God but multiple personalities (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). There is one heaven but different levels. I am going to suggest that the first level of heaven is here and now. If you disagree with me it’s probably because you are not experiencing it for yourself, but stay with me and I will show you how you can.
The reason that heaven was the first thing God made was for our sakes. He intended that we always live in heaven, both in this world and for all eternity. When God first created Adam and Eve, He put them in Eden, which was heaven on earth, was it not? This proves that it was God’s plan for man to live in heaven on earth. God never changes and neither do His plans. Adam and Eve had to leave paradise because they chose to be the gods of their own life. They had a son named Abel, whose name means “God is able”, whose life was like heaven on earth. He died prematurely because his brother Cain was jealous of his heavenly life.
On the second day of re-creation, God created the atmosphere around the earth to be like a blanket around the earth. He refers to our atmosphere as a firmament in Genesis 1:8a which reads:
And God called the firmament Heaven.
God has wrapped us in His Love, Joy and Peace which is heaven. We are swimming in His ocean of Love, yet most of us have no awareness of it. The devil has effectively got our attention off the ocean of God’s Love that surrounds us to focusing on the few tiny things that we wish we could have, but don’t. We focus on the tiny speck of what appears to be negativity rather than on the millions of beautiful things there are in life. Even if you are the most destitute person on earth, who is starving to death and you are blind and can’t walk and you are being eaten to death by bugs, your heart can be overwhelmed with joy if you just open your heart to the heavenly ocean that surrounds us.
Job experienced the worst condition that a human being can go through. He learned to praise God and see the good even in intense suffering when he said:
…when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Job 23:10
Even our greatest trials are blessings in disguise. Everything that happens to those who trust God works out for their good, as we read in Romans 8:28:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
If you truly trust God, EVERYTHING is working out for your good. That means nothing “bad” can happen to you. It’s all good. You have NOTHING to complain about. You should be praising God for everything in your life that you can’t change. Let me share with you what James said about trials:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
James 1:2 (NIV)
Did you catch that? Consider any problems you may have as PURE JOY! If you will follow that simple advice my friend, you will discover that heaven begins here and now. PRAISE BE UNTO HIS NAME FOREVER!!!
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