Mel Blanc was the voice behind the Warner Brothers cartoon characters in Looney Tunes. At the end of every movie Porky Pig pops up with the same send-off: "That's all, folks!" When Mel Blanc died guess what his family put on his tombstone? "That's all, folks!" But it's not, and deep down we know it. The Bible says God "set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecc 3:11 NIV). It's a longing that won't go away. It's why the Egyptians built the Pyramids and the Greeks put a gold coin under the tongue of the departed so they could pay the ferryman to cross over the River Styx.
But our longing is not just for a longer life, particularly if longer just means more of the same. A Christian college once sent students door to door to talk to people about spiritual issues. Two of them knocked on one door to find a frenzied mother of three with a vacuum in one hand and a screaming baby in the other, food burning on the stove and a living room so messy it would have qualified as a Federal disaster area. "Are you interested in eternal life?" they asked. "Frankly, I don't think I could stand it," said the mom. We don't want more of just more of the same. We want what's wrong to be put right. We want suffering to stop. We want clean air, meaningful work, honest politicians, clear consciences, ceaseless beauty, and the end of loneliness and war. In other words, we want Heaven. And the good news is, when Christ is your Savior that's where you go when you die!
I love what Revelation 21:3-4 says about Heaven and everything being put right. "(3) 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. (4) He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
I am also reminded about the words that Jesus spoke that confirm just where our citizenship really is located. He said, we pass from death to life. Many act as though we pass from life to death but actually it is quite the opposite. Let a longing for heaven grow in your heart today.
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If we could only grab on to this and understand whose we are. It seems that discouragment abounds and that our faith is always under attack. Yesterday when sitting at the doctors office waiting for the results of all my tests I felt anxious and no matter what I did I could not get my anxiety under control. The Holy Spirit actually said to me "nothing is wrong so why do you feel anxious?" I long for the place where my faith is so strong that the things of this world have no affect on me. I want to be so rooted in Christ that everything else falls to the ground. Material things and financial blessing mean very little to me anymore although they make me comfortable. I want the real deal and I want to walk out the book of acts and the new testament in the 21st century. We serve an awesome God. A God of Awe and Wonder. Oh, to know him more...and believe in the things He reveals to us!
Philippians 4:4-7 (New International Version)
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The Song says..
** Soon and very soon we are going to see the King...
oh waht a day or night that will be.. Praise God.
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