Category: Heaven

Every thought

Ruth Kirk

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).

May every thought
Become a prayer,
And all I see
Be filled with you;

May all I hear
Be your dear voice,
To help me serve
In all I do;

May all I feel
Be shared with you,
And every word
Be said with love –

Then I will live
Like you, Lord Jesus:
One with God
In heaven above.

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me (John 17:21; NLT).

References

I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name: Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19; JB).

“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed (John 20:28; NLT).

 

Start here, on earth

Ruth Kirk

The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself (Leviticus 19:34; NKJV).

If we are all to be one
In God’s heaven,
Why don’t we start here,
On earth –
By welcoming strangers
Of every persuasion,
And valuing
Every new birth?

If we are all to be one
In God’s heaven,
Why don’t we start here,
Below –
By caring for people
Who come to find safety,
Thus making communities
Grow?

If we are all to be one
In God’s heaven,
Why don’t we start here,
With love –
By helping the homeless,
The sick, those in jail,
And the hungry, Lord,
Just as we should?

You, too, must show love to foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:19; NLT).

References

I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, with one shepherd (John 10:16; NASB20).

My Father’s house has many rooms (John 14:2; NIV).

The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40; NIV).

 

Oneness

Ruth Kirk

I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me (John 17:22-3; NLT).

One with God
And with each other –
That’s what heaven will be.

We will all
Be one forever –
Unity is key.

Being one with all
Is joy –
Our wounds can heal at last;

But being one with God
Is bliss –
Beyond our earthly grasp.

God is greater than we can understand (Job 36:26; NLT).

Here on earth

Ruth Kirk

The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need (Psalm 23:1; NLT).

Here on earth, Lord Jesus Christ,
You’re all I want or need,
For in this world, Adonai,
You hear me when I plead.

On this planet, Lord my God,
You’re my only Guide,
For in this life, my Shepherd King,
You’re always at my side.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me (Psalm 23:4; NLT).

God’s Presence

Ruth Kirk

The LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them (Exodus 20:11; NLT).

We can picnic, or play,
On the shores of God’s Presence,
Wade, even swim there,
Whenever we choose …

Or, we can dive
In the depths of God’s Being,
And live there forever –
Just selfhood to lose.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20; NLT).

References

All your waves and breakers have swept over me (Psalm 42:7; NIV).

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence (Ephesians 3:12; NLT).

Heaven is full!

Ruth Kirk

The heavens proclaim the glory of God (Psalm 19:1; NLT)

The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the LORD will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy (Psalm 22:26; NLT).

Heaven is full
Of joy and music:
Praise and worship
Never cease.

Heaven teems
With other people:
One, at last,
We join God’s feast.

But heaven is also
Silent rapture:
Deep contentment,
Perfect peace.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (Isaiah 26 3 NLT).

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever (Revelation 21:4; NLT).

In heaven

Ruth Kirk

He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies (Psalm 103:3-4; NLT).

In heaven,
Every sin is cleared:
Forgiveness waits
For every soul.

In heaven,
Everything’s made right,
And everyone will be
Made whole.

The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:8-12; NLT).

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever (Revelation 21:4; NLT).

In heaven

Ruth Kirk

Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them! (Matthew 5:4; GNT).

In heaven, terror turns to peace,
And grief becomes delight.

In heaven, trouble turns to bliss,
And every wrong’s made right.

In heaven, anguish turns to smiles,
And pain, at last, is healed.

In heaven, weeping turns to joy
When Jesus is revealed.

We look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed (Titus 2:13; NLT).

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing (Psalm 30:11; NLT).

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever (Revelation 21:4; NLT).

My purpose

Ruth Kirk

I have spared you for a purpose – to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth (Exodus 9:19; NLT).

“You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27; NLT).

My purpose, Lord, is loving you,
And starting every day anew.

My purpose is to listen, Lord,
And spread to all your grace, outpoured.

My purpose is to grow like Christ,
By sharing in his sacrifice.

My purpose, Lord, is serving you
Through all I think, and say, and do.

My purpose is to run the race
You’ve set for me, then see your face.

My purpose is to worship you
On earth, Lord, then in heaven, too.

I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants (Jeremiah 32:39; NLT).

References

We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ (Ephesians 4:15; NLT).

Since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering (Romans 8:17; NLT).

Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us (Hebrews 12:1; NLT).

The throne of the Almighty and of the Lamb will be there, and God’s subjects will serve faithfully. They will see the Most High face to face, and bear God’s name on their foreheads (Revelation 22:3-4; TIB).

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28; NLT).

What if I meet my abuser in heaven?

Ruth Kirk

Introduction
Some years ago, when my emotionally-abusive mother died, I was extremely relieved to know she was no longer here, on earth.

However, since then I have often wondered uneasily whether I might have to see her again in heaven. If so, what will I do if she continues to relate to me as she did in life? What if I need to confront her, yet again, about her behaviour? What if she continues to deny, minimise, and dismiss the damage she inflicted on me, just as she did when she was alive?

These thoughts readily re-trigger my anxiety and dread. They make me fear I will never truly escape her power to wound, and even to destroy me.

Heaven: forgiveness and healing
This issue began to change recently, when I saw that in heaven there will be no danger whatsoever of having to confront my mother, for this task belongs to God alone (Zephaniah 3:19; NRSV).

It will be up to God to hear her confession, witness and accept her repentance, and forgive all her sins. I will never know what passes between them, nor is it my concern. Moreover, my mother had damaging experiences of her own, so God will also heal her wounds completely.

In just the same way, my own sins, like those of everyone else, will be forgiven, and all suffering, including that caused by other people, will be healed.

Oneness
When our sin and suffering have been removed, only the innate goodness and perfect wholeness of our souls will remain, for our souls will still be part of God, just as they always have been (Genesis 2:7; KJV).

In heaven, we will at last be fully re-united with God and with each other forever, far beyond time and space (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).

Perhaps we will no longer even be recognisable as the embodied, gendered individuals we were during life, because we shall all be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51; NKJV). Jesus said that we will be like the angels in heaven (Mark 12:25; NIV), whilst John said we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2; NIV).

Conclusion
So, in heaven there will no longer be “abuser” and “victim”, no “others” or “self”. Once we are forgiven and healed, these distinctions will disappear. We will all be one, all like Christ, and all united in God. Our histories, their consequences, and our emotions about them, will pass into nothingness. Everyone will be forgiven, and everyone will be healed. Past events will be viewed very differently, left behind at last, or perhaps mercifully erased.

There is therefore no need to dread having to meet, or confront, our abusers after death. Isaiah offers us a vision of what heaven will be like:

“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain” (Isaiah 11:9; NIV).

Amen. God is good! Thank you, Lord!