A Shining Lamp

Ask any Christian when they became really knowledgeable of the doctrine of Heaven, and I’d bet it would be AFTER the death of a loved one. There is something of the desperateness of a grieving soul that needs to grasp the reality of where loved ones have gone that propels the searching out of Scripture verses to help ease the pain. Certainly that was the case with me; as stated in the introduction, this book is a result of my own frantic need to understand the realities of life after death.

And what did I find? That God is most gracious to give us information that will indeed aid in our healing. Sometimes it comes in a very small verse, like Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Thanks be to God that He informs us that being with Him in Heaven is better than life here on earth, as wonderful as life in this world may be. Consider all the best of life experiences here below: precious relationships, the beauty of creation, the joy of new life, etc. But Paul is stating that “...to die is gain.” What an encouraging thought.

Or sometimes God through Scripture gives us a whole new way of looking at the big picture of life, as in Philippians 3:20: “But our citizenship is in Heaven...” Any rumblings of homesickness for an unseen place of glory that we feel here on earth are understandable in light of this passage - we were not destined to be comfortable in this present life because we are not HOME yet. Our true home is in Heaven, where we will experience all the privileges of real citizenship, including not being stung by sin, death, or pain anymore.

But we are also encouraged to stand firm in the midst of suffering and grief while we live this side of Heaven: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thess 2:16-17) It certainly sounds as though God has already given us this “...eternal comfort and good hope...” Somehow we need to grasp hold of these eternal concepts in order to be equipped to do good works and to give words of comfort to others now.

We truly need to praise God for all these morsels of Heavenly truths that He distributes throughout His Word. They truly are “... a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Let’s use every Scriptural help God gives us to bravely continue our journey here below until we see the glories of Heaven with our own eyes.