Almost every child asks this question. (I did, did you?) We were told: “It’s all around you, and it’s in your heart.”
In our unprecedented time of economic Tsunami and storm, such words do little to console us.
We’re anxious and fearful, unsure if our jobs have stability and our families will be fed. Finding “heaven in our hearts” is hard.
Yet this is what Jesus proclaimed over and over again, even in the midst of the brutal occupation by Roman Troops. (Mark 1:14-15)
As we look around us, and as we struggle to rebuild our businesses and our lives, lives, we weep for the devastated families and individuals.
What can we say to those who have no hope? …who have seen their jobs and homes crumble beneath them? What can we do to reassure them that God has not forgotten them?
For one, we, as the people of God, can tell them that we have walked this way before. That we have faced trials and disease, homelessness and joblessness. That we have struggled too.
And we can tell them that our God in Jesus Christ has walked each and every step with us, comforting us, strengthening us, giving us hope and giving us direction, even when all seemed lost.
We learned when Jesus faced the cross, and did not turn aside, that death is not to be feared.
We discovered when Jesus died and was placed in the tomb, that loneliness was not overwhelming.
We were given eternal life when Jesus rose from the dead, and proclaimed resurrection as God’s triumph over everything.
So, yes, Heaven, the Kingdom of God, is all around us and in our hearts, it’s not dependent on the circumstances that we find ourselves in.
It’s there because of God’s power. It’s there to show us the way to live. It’s there because we want it to be there, we opened the door, and let him in.
Have you tasted Heaven recently? What’s holding you back? What do you want to do about it?
(Want to take some first steps? Goto: http://www.oumc.net/newtoorangethorpe/faithjourneyorientation/)
How goes it with your soul?
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Terry
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