Heaven and Earth
God created the world and everything in it. God created us in his own image. God gave us the earth and all that is in it as our domain. We are the caretakers of the world and we are responsible for everything that God has given us.
Jesus taught us that we are all the children of God. Jesus gave us a way to live, without regrets and without the worry of always being right. He showed us that we can live the life that God has intended for us and that we can be happy with what we have and look forward to what we are promised.
And it is that promise I want to address. It is what we expect from this life and what we are promised in the next that God wants me to speak on. God has asked me to try to clarify what it is he has given us and what it is we can look forward to.
I am not saying that what I have to say here is true or right or correct but it is something to think about and something to consider and it is something that God has asked me to share. If it helps others, then it has served its purpose and it not then at least consider what I have said and let it maybe allow you to appreciate what God has done for us and continues to do for us every day.
What we are taught and what we believe is that everything will be better in the afterlife. That everything will be great and everything will be perfect and we will have all we want and lack for nothing when we die. We believe all our worries and all our troubles will disappear and we will be happy and rewarded and live a justified and carefree life in Heaven.
I know all that will be true. When we go to meet God, everything will be better. Everything will be good and full of love and happiness. But there are things that we believe that are not true. That God says do not exist and maybe it is just our human way of expressing in Man's terms what Heaven will be like but He thinks we are beginning to believe that these things are true and that we are expecting something that will not happen and will not be true when we go to live with God.
For one thing, there is no gold in heaven. There are no mansions and no fancy chariots and certainly no flowing honey and roses. Those are man-made things and things that we covet as men. They are not what God has promised us as there is no use for these things in heaven. Now I know that we say these things as an example of what we expect but it is a problem that we sometimes believe these words to be true. That we somehow think that this is what God has waiting for us. We believe that the things that are important to us in this life are what we can expect to have in the afterlife. God says that is simply not true. I think we understand that and that we really do not believe that is what will happen but I think sometimes we do believe it. Maybe it is a need to know that things will get better, that sometimes in our lives, we need to know there is something better and the problems we have will go away. As I have said many times, if that is what you need to get you closer to God, then that is what you need to believe. But these things are just something to think about, something to consider when you start to think about your life and the life God wants you to live.
So lets talk about what God has asked me to say. What God has asked me to ask you. It has more to do with this life and not necessarily the afterlife and how we are not living up to our potential in this world. How we seem to have forfeited what God has given us and we are looking at the afterlife and ignoring what we already have. We are so focused on what we are going to get, we are not realizing that God has already given us everything we need.
Look out the window. What do you see. Do you see the sky, a tree, a mountain, a hill. Think about that. Think about what that means. A tree. How is it that we think gold is more valuable than a tree. Or a rock, or grass or birds or water. How can these things not be as valuable as the most precious gems, the largest stack of coins, the illusion of wealth. Our values are so skewed by what we value as men that we have forgotten what God has set all around us. The sky, the wind, the oceans, the land and all the trees. The animals and the all the things that make life worth living.
It is said we cannot take our possessions with us when we die. God asks, why do you want to. Why do we think that the things we value in this life will still be valuable in the next. Why is the only way we can describe what heaven is like is by describing it in the terms of this life. It is Heaven. It is a chance to meet God. Isn't that enough? It says everything. Heaven. The word has meaning and does not need superlatives to make it better. By giving it values based on this life, we cheapen the value it has in the afterlife. It is not necessary. When we say we are going to heaven, that should be enough. It is all there is and nothing more is needed. We have lost the meaning of what heaven is and what it should mean to us.
But lets talk about this world and what has been given to us. God gave us the world and all that is in it. He did that because He loves us and wanted us to have everything He has created. He gave us everything we need. Everything we can see, or touch or smell is ours to make what we can of it. We have the greatest gift of all. God's love. And part of that love is everything he has created for us.
So God is asking, why is that not enough. Why do we look towards heaven and say, when I get there, I will have more. That what we have now is not good enough. That we can only be happy when we get to the afterlife and we somehow have more.
There is no more. We have everything we need now. Everything we would ever want or need is here. We have it all. There is nothing more.
I can say that because everything we have now and everything we will ever have and everything we will ever desire has no meaning in heaven. It is Heaven. We cast aside worldly things and we live with God. Is that not enough?
So look at what we have now. Stop looking at what is wrong with the world and take a look at what is around you. We have everything we need to make a happy life. God has provided us with everything around us. We do not need any more. God has provided all. We need to make of it whatever we can make of it.
It is up to us to make the world a better place. It is up to us to use what God has given us and do what is right. You might say, but other people don't do that. Other people get in my way. Other people prevent me from doing what I think needs to be done. All true, but it does not prevent you from doing the right thing. It does not prevent you from trying to make the most of what the world has to offer. Don't focus on what you cannot do but focus on what you can do.
And when things do not go your way and things are not what you want them to be, then focus on the tree. Look out the window and say thank you God, you gave me a tree. And the grass and the sky and the mountains. You, God, gave me everything and I am grateful for all that you have done. You may not have given me gold or jewels or a new car, but you gave me a tree. Only God can make a tree. Only man treats gold as a reward for life. God says, you have the sky, is that not enough. It is enough, because we should be grateful for what we have and not complain about things we do not have and things that have no meaning in any world except the world that Man has created.
Enjoy the world. Be thankful and amazed for the things we have and the things God has provided. When the world gets you down, say thank you. I know what You have done for me and I am happy to be your caretaker of what You created here on Earth.
Yes, we should strive for the Heaven we are going to, but we should be thankful for the Heaven we have here on Earth. We live in what God has created for us and he has allowed us to make of it what we will. Do your best, do the right things, and you will see Heaven in the afterlife. And you will get to live with God. It is the promise He has made to us and it is His gift that He has provided. We live in the paradise God has created. We should be more grateful for it.
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