Light for the Journey: 12.03.08 A Glimpse of Heaven (5)

	Light for the Journey Online Bible Study Lesson 5 11.03.08
Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.

A Glimpse of Heaven

Welcome to Light for the Journey!

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Here's the Plan: Light for the Journey can be completed in one day or over a period of five days ... or even ten days - whatever best fits your schedule. Each day is numbered (ie: Day 1. Facts for the Journey). After completing each day's assignment, proceed to the next day.

Also included are several "extra" sections such as Joy for the Journey, Let's Talk About It,

and Resource of the Week. From time to time, you will also receive special announcements from Mary, coupons for the online store, etc. Below is a brief explanation of each section.

Mind-Set for the Journey: choose to discard distractions and focus on this special time with God

Facts for the Journey: study the main biblical facts and principles of the lesson

Prayer for the Journey: learn how to pray simply, effectively, powerfully

Steps for the Journey: make a specific plan to put feet to or apply the truths you have learned

Truth for the Journey: pinpoint the one truth that stood out and impacted you most this week

Power for the Journey: memorize one power verse each day

Mindset for the Journey

Pray, thanking God for His written Word. Ask Him to reveal the unique message He has for you in the primary passage of Scripture for each study. Read the mindset passage 2 or 3 times. Make the deliberate choice to fix your thoughts on each word and each phrase as you read it. Don't let your mind wander. Focus only on God's truth and let everything else fall away. Your mind is set and you are ready to begin.

Philippians 3:20 But our homeland is in heaven, and we are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven.

Day 1. Facts for the Journey
A Glimpse of Heaven

Heaven is a real place, a beautiful place, a city of light with no temples and an eternal city that God has prepared for you and me. We have looked at what heaven looks like on the inside, but I want to know who will be in heaven with me, don't you?

Our daughter is a very social young lady who loves to go ... anywhere.  Our son is more of a homebody. When we have the opportunity to go somewhere, Jered will always ask, "Who else is going and who will be there?"  Heaven is a wonderful place for many reasons but one of the reasons that heaven is wonderful is because of who is there. This week, we will address the question of who is in heaven.

Revelation 7:9-12  After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.   And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

1. Jesus will be there.

Heaven is God's home which means that Jesus will be there. The main treasure of heaven is the immediate presence of God.  We will worship and praise Him. We will serve Him and simply be with Him. There is much about heaven that we cannot know until we get there, but one thing we do know, Jesus will be there.

When our daughter was in middle school, she played soccer. During a game, in a freak accident, she fell on her elbow. She couldn't move it, had no feeling in her fingers and was in great pain. We knew we would have to go to the emergency room. On the way there, I asked her, "Are you scared?"  With tear-filled eyes, she turned to me and said, "Yes!  Very scared! But I know it will be ok as long as you are there!" We can study heaven and answer some of questions, but there are many things about heaven that we cannot know here. The main thing we need to remember is that everything will be ok because Jesus will be there. When we get to heaven, all of our question marks will be yanked into exclamation points!

2. Angels will be there.

Hebrews 12:22   But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly.

The word "heaven" occurs 559 times in the Bible. Angels are constantly identified as being in heaven.  In the Old Testament, "angel" literally means "to dispatch as a deputy, ambassador or messenger."  In the New Testament, the Greek word "angelos" is the word from which we get angel and it means "messenger." When we get to heaven, angels will be everywhere! "Thousands upon thousands" we are told If we are going to be living with angels for all of eternity, I think it is important that we know something about them.

Angels are beings created by God just like we were created by God. Psalm 148:1-2,5 Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
Angels have human characteristics and frequently take on human form.
Angels have personalities and intelligence as well as knowledge, wisdom and a desire to learn. 1 Peter 1:12 And now this Good News has been announced by those who preached to you in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
Angels are interested in us as they encourage us on our journey. Angels have emotions and feelings just like we do. They cheered as they watched God create the world. Job 38:4-7 Where were you when I made the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off how big it should be? Surely you know! Who stretched a ruler across it? What were the earth's foundations set on, or who put its cornerstone in place while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted with joy?
Angels worship God as we do. Hebrews 1:6 And then, when he presented his honored Son to the world, God said, "Let all the angels of God worship him."
Angels understand the plan of salvation and know what it means, so when even one person comes to Jesus Christ, the angels throw a party. Luke 15:10 "There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Angels have the power of choice, the power of sin just as we do. One third chose to follow Satan who was a fallen angel, an angel who wanted to be God. He was thrown out of heaven and a third of the angels followed him. 2 Peter 2:4 When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell and put them in caves of darkness where they are being held for judgment. But remember, two thirds of the angels chose to follow God ... and we will be with them in heaven.

Next week, we will continue our study of angels as we examine their names and their roles in heaven as well as their responsibility in our lives today.

Day 2. Prayer for the Journey

Daniel is one of my prayer heroes. To get the full picture of Daniel's walk with God and the power of his prayer life, read Daniel 6:1-10. Today's truth can be summed up in Daniel 6:10. He knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom.

Have you ever wondered why a pigeon walks so funny? A pigeon's eyes can't focus as it moves, so the bird actually has to bring its head to a complete stop between steps in order to refocus. It proceeds clumsily-head forward, stop, head back, stop. A pigeon's walk enables him to see.

Our spiritual walk is much the same. We need to build into our busy lives a habit of "stops". There is much about God that cannot be learned on the run. We need to stop between the steps we take and refocus on the Word and the will of God.

Does that mean we need to pray about every minute choice we make? No. For example, we don't have to pray about sticking our hand into a blazing fire to see if it is hot. But if it is important to you, it is important to God ... so pray.

Daniel's practice of praying three times a day was an essential part of his walk with God (Daniel 6:10). In fact, it was his "custom" which literally means "a habitual practice or the usual way of acting in given circumstances." Daniel knew there's a certain kind of spiritual refocusing that we can't do without stopping. His stops gave him a powerful walk with God and fed a powerful prayer life. Take some time to examine today's schedule for any "stops" that will allow you to focus on God.

There is a blessed calm at eventide
That calls me from a world of toil and care;
How restful, then, to seek some quiet nook
Where I can spend a little time in prayer.

-Bullock

Day 3. Steps for the Journey

In your journal, crate a section for "Heaven" and one for "Angels." Read the verses below for facts about Heaven and angels. Record these facts in the correct section.

Luke 10:20 Rejoice because your names are registered as citizens of heaven.

Matthew 6:20 But store your treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them.

John 14:1-3 Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you 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.

Hebrews 11: 9-10 And even when he (Abraham) reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith--for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly.

Matthew 6:20 But store your treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them.

Review each lesson and add to your list of facts as we continue our study of heaven.

Day 4. Truth for the journey

Ladies, it is time for more acrostics! I am amazed at your creativity and the way you grasp the heart of the lesson each week. We can learn so much from each other. I hope you have a section in your journal for these acrostics, but if you don't, make one today. As always, I would love to read and share them with our bible study members. Here is an example to get you started:

H His

E Eternal home

A At my disposal

V Value beyond comprehension

E Excellence re-defined

N Nothing and no one can keep my from Heaven.

Day 5. Power for the Journey

God's Word is our greatest source of power and strength for living. Listed below are five verses. Memorize one verse each day. Create a section in your journal for Power Verses and record each one or the ones that really impacted your life.

Matthew 25:31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.

Luke 4:10 For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully.

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

Revelation 7:11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.

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What Children Think of Heaven

"I think heaven would have blueberries and gold in it. David who fighted Goliath would be there, too. Old people will be there and God's angels. There also will be a big, big, feast that keeps everybody full." Andy, 3 yrs.

"Heaven will be place with no sin and no worries, a place with no problems and no hurries." Meghan, 15 yrs.

"There is no sadness in heaven. There are big houses for the people in heaven that are all equal, so nobody feels better than someone else and no one is jealous." Caitlin, 10 yrs.

"God says that heaven is perfect for every person, and we each have our own idea of what perfect is. My dad died, so part of my perfect heaven would be to have my dad there with me. Best of all, we could see God whenever we wanted." Taylor, 13 yrs.

"Heaven will be like living in the clouds with Christ and you can rollerblade on streets of gold. Peter will give you fishing lessons. We'll all be able to fly. We'll play tag in the sky. The trees will be made of gold and the leaves of silver. My point is, heaven is going to be wonderful!" Isaac, 11 yrs.

Joy for the Journey

Enjoy these bloopers of biblical proportions written by Sunday School students ...

In the first book of the bible, Guinessis, God got tired of creating the world, so he took the Sabbath off.

Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.

Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night.

The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert.

Afterward, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Amendments.

The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.

The Fifth Commandment is humor thy mother and father.

The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.

Solomon, one of David's sons, has 300 wives and 700 porcupines.

The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 decibels.

The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
One of the opossums was St. Matthew, who was by profession a taximan.

A Christian should have only one wife. This is called monotony.

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