Weekend - Heaven ---God's House

God’s House

On this weekend blog I want to pause for a moment on the weekends to think about something that we maybe have forgotten about with Heaven so on the weekends for a while Im going to look at Heaven.

I was reading a quote today that says everything, A.W. Tozer said “There is little we need other than God Himself”

We Need God
Every person who lives on this planet now, lived on this planet in the past, or will live on this planet in the future has one common characteristic. The unanimous, universal denominator linking us all is a gaping, God-shaped void in our hearts. When He made us, He made us to have a holy hunger for Him.
This sacred space has been violated and twisted by the curse of sin. As a result, instead of seeking to fill our yawning empti¬ness with God, we easily settle for substitutes. Some of these surrogate gods are decidedly negative and dangerously addic¬tive. Everyone knows dependency on drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, or illicit sex can never satisfy. Other alternatives are neutral entities. Money, work, career, achievement, hobbies, food, and material things are only evil when we expect them to take the place of God. Then they fall pathetically short.
Most of us suffer from the continual temptation to put very good entities in our God void. We all attest to the intrinsic value of family, friends, church, and ministry. Yet when we try to place even these good entities into the God-shaped space in our hearts, inevitable emptiness comes. Why? Nothing or no one can replace God. Only God can fill the holy hole in our hearts. Everything else is, at best, a square peg in a round hole or, better yet, a tiny pebble in an infinite chasm.
We need God. One 100 percent pure God is our deepest need and greatest fulfillment. Clearly, nothing else can compare with infinite perfection. The very best of all things is God. With God you have all things. Without God you have nothing.
The great appeal of Heaven is more than the incredible beauty, astounding wealth, or fantastic fun we will experience there. It is the infinite God. The bottom line is that Heaven is about God. Maybe you want to go to Heaven because you were looking for something that seems to be missing. Let me tell you, that something is a Someone—God! What you really crave is found by experiencing more of Him—more often, more deeply, more intimately, and more powerfully—than you imagined possible. We experience tiny tastes of Him on Earth, but heap¬ing spoonfuls in Heaven. That is why it is Heaven.
In this book, we learn twenty-one of the best truths about Heaven. But absolutely, undeniably, and unquestionably the most significant truth anyone can grasp about Heaven is this: God will be there. Heaven is God's home, and we will see Him face to face.





Heaven is God's home.
Jesus encouraged His disciples by telling them about His Father's house.
"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you."
JOHN 14:2
When the apostle John saw into Heaven, the central feature was not the tree of life or the crystal sea. It was God.

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coin¬ing down out of heaven from God. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."
REVELATION 21:2-3
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
REVELATION 21:22
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city.
REVELATION 22:3
Heaven Is God's Home
The beat drumming throughout the Bible is that Heaven is the dwelling place of God. Moses prayed, "Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel" (Deuteronomy 26:15). Jesus told us to pray to "Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). John saw the Father sitting on His throne (Revelation 4:2-9). Jesus claimed that as the Son of God, He "came down from heaven" (John 6:42). Forty days after His resurrection, He ascended visibly back to Heaven (Acts 1:9-11). He will one day return to Earth from Heaven (Revelation 19:11-16). Heaven is the dwelling place of God.
One of the very best aspects of having a home is being in a place where you can be yourself. You can relax. You do not have to hold back. You can fully express yourself.
Heaven will be astoundingly amazing because, as His home, it is the only place in the universe where God is free to fully express Himself. In Heaven God holds nothing in reserve. Nothing is limited by the presence of sin. God can be Himself. All of His goodness, all of His grandeur, all of His greatness, all of His generosity, and all of His magnificent glory can be let out. Everything His infinite heart has held in check since the creation of the universe can be conveyed.
In their own home, people reveal their true selves. Their hobbies, humor, personalities, passions, and pursuits are unveiled. At home, in Heaven, the Lord's personality, humor, dreams, and desires will be evident.
We Will See Him Face to Face
Moses begged God for a glimpse of His glory. Knowing that a direct look at His glory would be much more than Moses could safely comprehend, God suggested a plan.
Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will pro¬claim my name, the LORD, in your presence. . . . But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back."
EXODUS 33:18-23
Moses was given a privilege no one else in his day could ever nope for. He received an unprecedented look at God's back. But every single person in Heaven will get to see God face to face Revelation 22:3-4).
For those of us who proudly line up in the company of God seekers, the mere whisper of seeing our God face to face sends shivers down our spines. For so many years, we have worshiped a God we have never seen. As His children, we have often heard the comfort of our Father's voice, but we have never been allowed to sit in His lap, look into His eyes, or touch His face. We have tried to be loyal servants, faithfully fulfilling the wishes of a Master we have yet to see. As dutiful soldiers, we have gladly laid down our lives for our King, yet our eyes have yet to see His throne. As His betrothed Bride we have received many gifts from His hands and letters of love from His pen, yet what we long for is our wedding day. Then we will dance in His arms, be consumed by His love, and gaze into His eyes.
It's the Person Who Makes the Place
What makes Heaven so amazing is not merely the stunning streets of gold, the gates of pearl, the radiant light, the crystal river of life, or the everyday association with angels. It is not merely receiving a great new body, enjoying the absence of sick¬ness and death, experiencing the reunion with loved ones, or basking in the majestic magnificence of the Master's throne— although each is amazingly impressive. What makes Heaven heavenly is not the place, it is the person. Heaven is heavenly because the Lord lives there.
Heaven is the only place where God's presence is revealed in an unlimited fashion. In Heaven God's presence is unhindered and unrestricted. Heaven is all God, all the time. That is what makes it so heavenly.
The Bible clearly tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16).
Since Heaven is the only place where God's presence is fully expressed, the very atmosphere of Heaven will be swimming in the pure, good, deep, rich, wonderful love of God. Just breath¬ing the oxygen of God's love in the air will heal our deepest hurts and soothe our greatest fears.
God is also light (1 John 1:5). Because Heaven is the place where God dwells unhindered and unrestricted, Heaven will radiate in the brilliant, perpetual light of His glory. Sun, moon, and stars will be unnecessary there.
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
REVELATION 21:23-25
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.
REVELATION 22:5
As God is creative, excellent, loving, joyful, encouraging, faithful, true, good, and holy, so is Heaven a marvelously holy place, overflowing with all that is beautiful and truly excellent, running over with love, joy, encouragement, truth, and peace. Heaven is the sphere where the heavenly presence of God is unleashed.

So What?
The insightful twentieth-century prophet A.W. Tozer said, “The man who has God for his treasure has all through One.” Everyone in Heaven will be astoundingly rich because the Lord will be our treasure. Our capacity to enjoy and appreciate this privilege will be expanded and enhanced to the extent that we make God our primary passion now.

SAYINGS NOT IN BIBLE "The Lion shall lay with the Lamb"

Ever heard this expression before? The Lion shall lay with the Lamb.

Really? Is that so?

Problem number one: The Bible says no such thing. Search the Bible through and through, from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation and you will never find where it says the lion will lay with the lamb.

It simply is not there.

How did this tradition get started? Well, we don't know for certain, but many years ago a man by the name of Thomas A. Dorsey wrote a song titled "Peace In The Valley". It has been sung by many popular worldly singers including, Red Foley, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, , George Jones, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn, to name a few.

Part of this song says:

There will be peace in the valley for me, some day.
There will be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord I pray.
There'll be no sadness, no sorrow,
No trouble, trouble I see.
There will be peace in the valley for me, for me.

Well the bear will be gentle,
And the wolves will be tame.
And the lion shall lay down by the lamb, oh yes.
And the beasts from the wild,
Shall be lead by a child.
And I'll be changed, changed from this creature that I am, oh yes.

The closest thing to this expression in the Bible is found in Isaiah 11:6 where it says: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."

Nothing at all about a lion laying down with a lamb!

Isaiah 11:6
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

Isaiah 65:25
"The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain," says the Lord.

As you can see, the lamb is both times paired with the wolf and the lion is paired with a beast of burden (once with calves and another with the ox). Still, the meaning behind the imagery is not really done damage by switching the juxtaposition to include lions and lambs. One can see with little trouble how the image became as widely popular as it has. Not only is the image made more dramatic by replacing the wolf with the lion, but there is already some precedent for the comparison if one considers the lion/lamb imagery keyed in Revelation 5.

SAYINGS NOT IN BIBLE "God Helps those who help Themselves"

How many times have we heard the familiar passage “God helps those who help themselves?” We hear it quite frequently, don’t we? In order to fully understand that passage let us turn to it. You all know where it is located don’t you? Maybe it is in the book of Hezekiah or possibly Phillips 66:1. No, that’s not right. Look as we may we won’t find that passage in the Bible. Although often quoted and stated this phrase doesn’t come from the Bible nor is it even Biblical in origin.



In fact this quotation has come down to us from GREEK MYTHOLOGY! Specifically it comes to us from one of Aesop’s fables, of the 6th century B.C. Let’s read this fable entitled “Hercules and the Waggoner.” “A Waggoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At last he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So the Waggoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong.



‘O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress,’ quoth he. But Hercules appeared to him, and said: ‘Tut, man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel.’


The gods help them that help themselves.”


The saying “the gods help those that help themselves” evolved to “God helps those who help themselves” as the phrase was repeated and passed on from culture to culture throughout the centuries. And, Christians, as well as others, often quote this phrase thinking it is Biblically based, without realizing that it actually originated from pagan mythology.

The saying, "God helps those who help themselves," came to us in the United States also by way of Benjamin Franklin (1736). Franklin himself was a deist and so he believed that God did not play an active role in men's lives. In his point of view if man was not able to help himself, then man was hopeless.

But, you may say, isn’t it still true? Doesn’t God expect us to work as hard if we were doing it all and yet expect Him to work things out for us? That is what most of us have been taught BUT that isn’t the teaching from Scripture.


Let us notice just a few passages.


Psalms 25:3 “Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.”



Psalms 25:5 “Lead men in thy truth, and teach me: for thou [art] the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.”


Psalms 25:21 “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.”



Psalms 27:14 “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”



Psalms 37:7 “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”


Psalms 37:9 “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.”

Psalms 62:5 “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation [is] from him.”

Psalms 130:5 “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.”

Psalms 145:15 “The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.”


Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.”


Lamentations 3:25 “The LORD [is] good unto them that wait for him, to the soul [that] seeketh him.”


Hosea 12:6 “Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgement, and wait on thy God continually.”



What does it mean to “wait?” These are only a few of the many verses that tell us to “wait on the LORD.” What are we being told to do? To “wait” means to “stay or rest in expectation and patience; to stop or remain stationary, till the arrival of some person or event.” It is our human nature to take matters into our own hands and try to make things happen on our own.



Before we discuss what we should be doing and what we shouldn’t be doing let us look at a few more Scriptures.


Psalms 4:5 “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.”


Psalms 37:3 “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”



Psalms 73:28 “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.”



Psalms 115:10-11 “O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.”



Psalms 118:8-9 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.”


Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”


Proverbs 28:25 “He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.”



Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”



So, the question we need to answer is, “Are we to sit around like lazy bums waiting for life to be handed to us on a silver platter?” Do we work at everything as if we were doing it all? We do know that faith without works is dead. We must be doing certain things. The Word is quite clear that we are to carry on our daily lives working to provide for our families. Yet, even that is within the framework of Scripture; it is God that gives us the power to get wealth (Deut. 8:17-18).



There are many areas in our lives that are beyond our human capacity to address. And, there are areas that God gives us specific instructions and teaching.



Some areas are much like the Israelites at the Red Sea. God tells us to “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD...” There are times that God gives specific instructions of what to do. You may remember the account of Naaman recorded in 2 Kings 5. Elisha, the man of God, sent a messenger to tell Naaman to go and wash himself in the Jordan seven times and then he would be healed of his leprosy. Jesus instructed the ten lepers to go and shew themselves to the priests. And, as they went they were cleansed.



As an aside, you might notice that in neither of these cases were the individuals told to go to the doctor. And, there are no Scriptures instructing us to go to doctors. James tells us rather to call for the elders of the church, to be anointed with oil in the name of the Lord. (James 5:14) Earlier in the book he had told us to “ask in faith, nothing wavering...” (James 1:6) He continues in the next verses stating that if one wavers he shouldn’t think that he would receive anything. Verse 8 is pretty pointed, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Being double minded is saying you are looking to God, putting your trust in Him and at the same time looking to the arm of flesh, to man to take care of the situation.



As the Psalmist said, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” We read from Isaiah that “they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength.”


About now some of you are asking, “What about James’ statement that faith without works is dead?”


Have we ever considered that “waiting,” “trusting the LORD,” and “the trying of our faith working patience” are the real WORKS that God wants? Perhaps the hardest “work” we will ever do is waiting on God to act, trusting Him with patience.



Because waiting, trusting, believing, exercising patience is SO hard we want to “look to our own understanding.” We want to look to the flesh, the physical. We say we know God can do all things!



And, we know that He says that if we believe we will receive whatsoever we desire when we pray. Yet, we want to “do something” to help God. We don’t appear to really believe and trust Him.



Let’s look at one last Scripture, Jer. 17:5. I quote this from the Bible in Basic English as it is a bit clearer. “This is what the LORD has said: Cursed is the man who puts his faith in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart is turned away from the LORD.”

SAYINGS NOT IN BIBLE "Pride Comes Before the Fall"

I often get questions by people asking me to locate various sayings in the Bible which do not exist. Many sayings have developed throughout the years by a variety of means. Scripture supports the purposes of some of the sayings while contradicting others.


Pride comes before the fall It is uncertain when or why Proverbs 16:18 was altered for popular consumption, but the original rendition states that pride ends in destruction.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

SAYINGS NOT IN BIBLE "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness"

In the next few blogs I want to look at sayings that are said all the time but the wording is not found in the Word of God.
I often get questions by people asking me to locate various sayings in the Bible which do not exist. Many sayings have developed throughout the years by a variety of means. Scripture supports the purposes of some of the sayings while contradicting others.

"Cleanliness is Next to Godliness"


Cleanliness is next to godliness The book of Leviticus frequently deals with the issue of cleanliness and impurity so that the Children of Israel would be clean as a sign of separation from the surrounding nations. Yet in the New Testament, cleanliness finds mention in relation to the cleansing of the believer's life.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 15:3
You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

2 Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Ephesians 5:26-27
So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

The Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins, having come under recent scrutiny at the hands of the 1995 film, Se7en are:
Gluttony Greed Sloth Lust Vanity Envy Wrath They are, though certainly sins that Scripture condemns, not to be found in Scripture in any such grouping. The seven sins originated in the writings of medieval theologues and have been remarked upon by such noted personages as Pope Gregory the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Geoffery Chaucer, and John Milton. Also of interest is a Scriptural list that bears at least some similarity to the historical list of seven. Proverbs 6:16-19 reveals:These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. Now while these are clearly sins despised by the Lord, none of these are able to keep one from salvation if he will only repent and believe.