“And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” Ex. 9:22 KJV
For two years I worked under an English teacher whose greatest joy (it would seem) was to blaspheme God in the presence of his students. In class he would brazenly brag “I am not planning on going to Heaven. I am going to Hell where I can have a real party!”
I thought about him as I meditated on Exodus chapter 9. For me as for other born-agains Heaven is a climactic hope promised by a faithful God; But in many places the Bible affirms that those who hold this hope are in the minority. As sparkling a gem as Heaven is to me for most in our world what comes after this life is only “a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” Heb. 10:27NIV
For many thinking about Heaven only exacerbates the painful knowledge that they are not going to walk her streets of gold. It is not just tears of loss that we see in the funeral parlor. We see too, tears of fear. The reaper has hit home. The ability to deny the approach of judgment has been disabled by the reality that death comes knocking at all our doors.
When Moses raised his staff to Heaven and called forth plagues upon Egypt, the Egyptians were not thinking about the glories of the kingdom. They shook in fear.
I was young when I sat under the professor. My thoughts toward him were, to my shame, rather unkind. If I were to work under him again today I could only look on him with pity. I understand now, his comments were nothing but a frail attempt to mask his hopelessness…to make light of what he saw as a no-win situation. If I had it do over again I would try to paint a brighter possibility for his future. After all, I know the truth about where the party is going to be, and I have spare door passes!
Let’s Pray: Dear Lord, thank you for including me in the eternal celebration! Remind me daily that there are many who have yet to be invited. Help me to share the truth about Jesus without fear at every opportunity. In Jesus name A-men!
Reinventing the We'll 
Oh, how that prayer says it all. There are so many lost and we can only pray and hope that the opportunity arises to hand out door passes for those that are willing to pay the price of admission. My prayer is that those that see the price will say “oh, that’s not too much to ask I’ll pay that price.” God bless you, Pastor J as you take us on this journey of looking to Heaven.
A-men Deb! So many on my prayer list are currently in the position of declaring the price to be too high. May God change their hearts!
Amen!
Living in a Muslim-dominated country .. I know what you mean! Thanks for sharing!
May God use us to bring all to worship Him!
I will agree with you in prayer brother! God shall meet us!
In this morning’s local paper was a death notice and the phrase at the bottom said “Cruising the clouds on his Harley”. I have seen many with “Gone Fishing” and other such tags.
I have to wonder how deeply they believe such things, and just how much doubt is there. Like you, I have pity for them . . . and it makes me more determined to share the truth of the Gospel with all I meet.
Amen Angela! God has been really dealing with me about being even more open about the good news of JEsus Christ! The time is short!
“To share the truth about Jesus without fear” . .. This spoke to me, Pastor J. Only, I saw it not as me fearing to speak , but to speak to someone without causing them to fear, but to embrace the One who takes away our fears. God bless you as you pray and share Him today!
Oh that is so good! How we share is as important as sharing! May we all remember this!
Amen, I pray your prayer with you! So be it! Thank you!
Thanks Tom! There is great power in agreement!