Heaven vs Hell

Following my blog post a few days ago, about our place in Heaven and Jesus preparing our rooms for us, I have been thinking about heaven and hell.  I came across an article about near death experiences and not always good ones.  Some people talked of being taken into a dark, frightening place where they were deprived of light, love, hope and any emotion except terror.  Essentially, an absence of God.

When I worked in a cardiac intensive care unit in Cape Town, I received a patient back from theatre following his bypass surgery.  One of the things I enjoy about ITU is the unconcious patient!  No backchat, demands, tricky behaviours etc.  But we do eventually have to return them to conciousness and extubate them.  If they are tricky people, we can comfort ourselves with the thought that they are about to be shipped off to the ward soon.  LOL.  Usually, the patients are lovely, grateful their surgery is over and keen to recover.  They trust that we are looking after them and have their best interests at heat.  But this particular gentleman was a horror.  His timid wife was waiting for him to come out of surgery,  She looked like a typical tyrant's wife - mousey and down trodden.  He fought against his ventilator, struggled with his chest drains, pulled out his drips.  Everything.  And he wasn't confused.  He was just unpleasant.  When he was awake, he shouted abuse at us, shouted at his wife, was generally one of the most unpleasant humans I have met.

His children refused to visit him.  He was alone except for his wife, who didn't seem keen to be there either.

He had an arrest in the unit the next day and we spent a while trying to get him back.  We did.  He looked totally shaken, which is unsurprising considering, but he was very quiet.  He sat on his bed weeping.  He asked the curtains to be drawn around his bed while he talked to his wife.  She emerged a while later weeping too.  She made a call and her children arrived to see their father,  There was a lot of weeping, a lot of hugging and a lot of forgiveness.  I don't know the details, he wouldn't share them with anyone but his family, but he did say to me "I don't want to go back there."  Make of it what you will, but I believe that he had been to hell.  I can't say whether he became a christian, or what happened to him.  After he left the hospital, surrounded by his family and happier looking wife, I never saw or heard from him again.

I can't imagine a place without God.  He is so much part of my life.  It would be hell indeed without him.

I have been trying to spend time this week immersed in God.  Letting His love enfold me.  How much more wonderful will heaven be?  I have a lot of life to live still, but I am looking forward to heaven. 

Hide me under Your wing

The Picture

The Verse Psalm 17:8

Hide me in the shadow of your wings

The Thought

There is a song that based on this psalm by Reuben Morgan of The Hillside United band.  The words say all I could about it.  It is a gorgeous song - I have put in a link in the title of the song.  Listen to the song and enjoy it.  This is about just being still with God, remember?

I will be still and know You are God 

 Hide me now, under Your wings.
Cover me within Your mighty hand.
When the oceans rise
and thunders roar.
I will soar with You, above the storm
Father You are king over the flood,
I will be still and know You are God.

Find rest my soul in Christ alone,
Know his power, in quietness and trust.

When the oceans rise
and thunders roar.
I will soar with You, above the storm
Father You are king over the flood,
I will be still and know You are God.

Find rest my soul in Christ alone,
Know his power, in quietness and trust.

When the oceans rise
and thunders roar.
I will soar with You, above the storm
Father You are king over the flood,
I will be still and know You are God.

When the oceans rise
and thunders roar.
I will soar with You, above the storm
Father You are king over the flood,
I will be still and know You are God.

Be still

The Picture

The Verse Psalm 46: 10a

Be still and know that I am God

The Thought

Sometimes we race around trying to sort out work, life, children, school runs, swimming lessons, shopping, karate, church activities, ironing, meals, cleaning etc. (or is this just me? I don't think so).  The time we spend with God is allocated into 5, 10, 30 minutes slots in which we have to read the bible, pray and get the message and we are thinking of all the other things we need to do too.  We have our daily time with God, but it is forced and unnatural - like popping in to visit that elderly aunt out of duty, but looking at our watches to see if it is polite to leave having done our time.
This week away, I had lots of the "daily" activities taken away from me.  And no internet or distractions.  And there was time to be still and be with God.  And it was wonderful.
So often, the only time we are quiet with God is when we are in a remote or empty place.  But the challenge is being still with God in the middle of our busy lives.  Try using your bespoke quiet time this week just to BE before God.  Not trying to learn something profound or pray "meaningful" prayers, but just stopping and savouring His presence. Sometimes He speaks loudest in the quietest time.

The Prayer
Father God, please let me make the effort to stop before you and just enjoy your presence.  Lord use my quiet times this week to speak to me and to refresh me.  Thank you for your love.  Thank you for your comfort,  Thank you for loving me.

He is Risen!

Happy Easter Everyone - sorry that the last few days of lent never materialised - we were on holiday in the Lake District and had no internet access - it was heavenly, but means I missed the last week.  
I plan to carry on with my postings, but it is likely to be sporadic.  I would love it if you kept an eye out though.
Have a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord

Day 40: Just appreciating God. I can't get my phone to type the body of text and I ha ve no internet. watch this space...

Day 39: Plenty of room at the Inn!

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Verse: John 14: 1-4

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.

Thought

When Jesus spoke these words, he was talking to his disciples just before he was crucified.  They are confused and scared as their world seems to be tumbling down around them.  He is anticipating their pain and comforting them.  As Christians we know that Christ is alive and present.  We know him and talk to him,  Although we can't see him, we trust him.  The omniscience of God means that He is everywhere, so He is always there when we need him.  We just need to believe in him and trust him.

And Jesus also promises us a place in Heaven, in His Fathers house.  He says there are many rooms and he has gone to get our rooms ready for us.  (I always imagine I will get a basement room!).  And then he will come and fetch us to take us there.  I love this image.  Imagine going for a walk with a friend and you are exhausted so you sit down at the side of the road. Your friends pats you and says, "You look exhausted - just wait there.  I'll go and sort out somewhere for us to stay".  So you wait there and trust he will come back for you.  When he does come back (as you knew he would) he arrives with a posh car to drive your exhausted body to the most fantastic 5 star hotel in the world.  And you find he has organised things so they have laid on everything you could want.  And there is a room just for you.

That 5 star hotel is heaven.  And you know what? Jesus is just getting it ready for us. He says, "If it were not so I would have told you."And he is coming to fetch us to take us there, to take us home.  It is going to be wonderful.  And I love the idea that heaven is a house - not a country or city of lots of different dwelling places, but one house that we will all dwell in.

I trust Him.  I trust that He will take me to heaven, to his fathers house when I die.

 

Prayer

Father, thank you that there is a place for me in your presence and in Your Fathers house. Thank you for holding me in your arms and loving me. Thank you for caring for me and coming into my life. Thank you for daily reminding me of your father’s love for me.

Day 38: Speak wisely

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Verse:  Proverbs 16 :22-24
Discretion is a life-giving fountain to those who possess it, but discipline is wasted on fools.
From a wise mind comes wise speech; the words of the wise are persuasive.
Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.

Thought
We all wish we could find the fountain of youth.  You see people aspiring to retain their youth wherever you look.  But it is a myth, a dream.  But the life-giving  fountain of discretion or wisdom is real.  I have the choice of being encouraged by God-given wisdom or being brought down with a bump with my own foolish thoughts, words and behaviour.
The word for understanding in this verse is wisdom or insight.  Like a fountain of life, it is refreshing, life sustaining and inexhaustible.  A wise person is very careful about what they say because they do not want to hurt but instead help others. They doesn't just speak the first words that come to mind, but pause and consider the words they will say.   Sometimes you draw encouragement from others and they from you in equal measure.  You may start out by thinking you are providing the support only to find you draw as much, if not more encouragement from the encounter.   And kind, gentle and loving words can do more to boost you in your morale and energy levels than anything else.
So take time to consider the words you speak, the comfort you give, the advice you dole out, and make sure they are words from God, not just the first random thoughts that come from your brain.  Encourage where you can and boost people with the things you say.
Prayer  
 I need to make a list of things I can do to make others happy. One of these items needs to be that I will be careful to guard my tongue so I will not say things that hurt others.  Help me be thoughtful of the words that come from my mouth.