“I’M ON MY WAY  TO HEAVEN.”

“I guess ,I’m on my way to Heaven” a friend told me this today by phone after he received news about his health and asked what should he do  now?  The first thing to strike me was the news, the second was he did not say, “I am dying,” But….” I’m on my way to Heaven!”

He asked me what he should do in the meantime, I said, “Keep Loving God and others, ” I told him. He spoke about the seriousness of his diagnosis and reminded of a friend who recently went to be with the LORD Jesus, how beforehand he had shared how upon finding out he had little time left on this earth before going to be with Jesus, he did not care what people thought of him, he just shared the Gospel. He did not care what anyone thought of him!

OTHERS FIRST;

Now in light of the news  this morning… he was faced with similar news, yet his prayer was not for healing but His prayer request was for his wife…how like the LORD Jesus, others first! Even on the cross He prayed for – OTHERS- “Father forgive them they don’t know what they are doing.” He prayed that Mary would be taken care of- OTHERS FIRST. He was on the cross to satisfy the demands of His FATHER and for you and me our sin- OTHERS FIRST! And this dear man, his prayer request was not for Physical healing but the LORD would meet his wife at this difficult time- Like His Lord, -OTHERS FIRST!

“A HUNDRED YEAR VISION!” 

If you knew how long you had left, what difference would it make to you?  I shared with this dear man about the 100 year vision a few friends and I speak about. What it refers to is, in 100 years would you make the same decisions you are making now, or would you make different ones, in light of the effect they would have in eternal maters. Too many of us live as though we live here forever, and life is all about the here and now, as though there is no day coming when we will depart this world.

The Bible speaks of followers of Christ as, “aliens and strangers” whose “citizenship is in Heaven” who are to ‘set/fix their affections on things above.” Developing a “long term plan, “indeed an “ETERNAL PLAN,” begins with STOPPING, EVALUATING GOD’S PURPOSE, WHERE YOU ARE INVESTING THE TIME, OPPORTUNITIES, PLACE YOU FIND YOURSELF IN, HIS RESOURCES ENTRUSTED TO YOU. IT IS TO LOOK AT PEOPLE AND SEE… THEY ARE ETERNITY BOUND. SEEKING AS THE PRIORITY OF YOUR LIFE THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS BUSINESS.

It is to make His Business your business!

  • Do you live as an Alien and stranger in this world?This is not your home . You are here on Assignment for the Lord
  • Do you make your decisions based in light of eternity?
  • Do you fix your affections on things above?
  • Do you live as a “citizenship of Heaven”?
  • Do you see people as souls whom Christ died for and look for opportunities to invest in their lives the gospel. Seeing to evangelize them with His good news and if they know Him seeking to encourage them to continue to share HIS Word. {See Philippians 1:12-14 }
  • Are you laying up treasures on this earth where moth and rust corrode or are you laying up treasures in Heaven
  • Turning your thoughts of people into prayers for them.
  • The good news is we can be abut our Heavenly Father’s business. We can in the circumstances we find ourselves in as difficult as at times they may be respond like Paul who while imprisoned said,”my circumstances have worked out to further the Gospel”-Phil 1:12;
  • If you have been side tracked, Start afresh, praise God we have hope in Him for ourselves and offer Hope to others from Him!

“GET A GRIP OF ETERNAL ISSUES;”

Paul said to young Timothy, “Lay hold of  the eternal life to which you were called.” – {Read 1 Timothy 6:12}. He was NOT saying he needed to be saved and be right with God, for he was. He was saying “GET A GRIP OF ETERNITY.”  Live your life in light of Eternal issues. There is a Heaven, there is a Hell. There are souls who will enter one or the other. GET A GRIP ON ETERNAL REALITIES. The people you find in your circumstances seek to PRAY for them. SEEK to pray for those in authority. Seek to Pray that God will “sent forth laborers into His Harvest.” Ask God for favor that you might share with people who do not know Him Seek to see people in your circumstances who do not know Him as opportunities to share the good news with them, and those who do seek to continually encourage them to keep sharing with them! Paul said, “My circumstances have worked out to advance the Gospel.” He was in prison shackled to a guard he told them of the good news of the Lord Jesus. V 13. “Most of the brothers were encouraged to speak the Word of God without fear because of my imprisonment.” He had a GRIP ON ETERNAL ISSUES in his circumstances. So can you, right where you are!

ETERNAL MINDED IN AN “ER;”

An elderly man in his nineties sat in the emergency room. A pastor friend saw him and asked how he was. He shared he had been told by a doctor he had three weeks to live. While in the emergency room the pastor later told how this elderly man was sharing the Gospel- the good news that sins can be forgiven through the Lord Jesus. Indeed, turning to God acknowledging our sin is against Him and submitting by faith to the LORD Jesus as Lord to rule over you and Savior to save you from the penalty of sin. That night the LORD took that elderly saint Home to be with Him. He did not have three weeks, he had hours and he was about the Master’s business in the circumstances he found himself in. Are you? Am I?

GOSPEL HOBBY;

A man, in his early thirties once told me he had nearly died from illness. His Message was now to tell people to “slow down and smell the roses.” He went on to say, “when I retire I would like to do what you do as a hobby?”   Did he say with his lips what is true of my life, your life, his life? That the Gospel is a hobby- a secondary issue. Something we will get around to sometime! Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:1-3 What I have received I give to you as of FIRST IMPORTANCE…” A man who had a job as selling life insurance, loved his job for it gave him opportunities to speak about death. He used his job to turn to ETERNAL REALITIES and share the Good News. He saw people as potential souls to share with. Over time he began to climb the sales market numbers and somewhere along the line he saw people as potential sales. Not souls! He had departed from the LORD’S BUSINESS. He had departed from first love for the Lord Jesus and had displaced Him with seeking sales! Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with doing your job well, but remember that job is for the purpose ultimately of honoring Him and looking out for the welfare of souls whom He brings across your path. “Get a grip on eternal realities!” Is the Gospel a hobby to you?

  • “IN CHRIST” you and me are both on our way to Heaven, because of the Gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus. {Ephesians 2:8-9} one man realized it and became bolder in his sharing the Gospel, and is now in eternity. My friend today knows he is on his way and as he said “wants to take as many with him as he can….” he has an eternal perspective- this is what a “100 year vision” is…. it is to live life in light of eternity, and make decisions based on eternity. Be God conscious. Be concerned for the souls of men, women, boys and girls.

PRAYER TO GOD;

Ask God to awaken you if you are not so, to the eternal reality -you will die…you do not know the hour, He does.  Are you living as though one day perhaps you too will receive the news you are on your way to Heaven and may not have as much times as you think…time to consider your life, pursuits, purposes, agendas… and how many are of eternal worth in a 100 years from now?