Heaven #1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven; his eyes behold.

The LORD is high above all nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high.

Gen 1:1, Ps 4:4, Ps 113:4-5

Father, when we think of where You are, we know it is up and not down. We do not fully understand how far up and we even try to measure the immeasurable. Father, the depth of the heavens is surely greater than the universe we can partially see. We know it is a place from which angels come so it is real, not illusory or imagined.

Father, what we do not know about heaven far exceeds what we do know. Help us not to fret about not being able to define the circumstances of eternity but help us instead to confess that all that we see and know is Yours and is a gift, here and now, to us that we might serve You.

We confess there is no one like You. We acknowledge Your omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience, words that in themselves exceed our experience. Father, we look to You and are so grateful that You sent Jesus to us, a living manifestation of Yourself. Jesus solved the mystery for all time of who You are and what You are like.

We lift our hands and our hearts in worship this day and we pray for Your Holy will to be made clear to each of us, this day. In Jesus' Holy name, we pray, amen

Bruce Caldwell

Heaven #2

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.

One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.

Psalms 24:3-4, 27:4

Father, not one of us feels we have clean hands and a pure heart. How Father, given our lack of perfection, will You ever let us come into Your presence? We know the answer! We do not come before You in our own righteousness, which compared to the righteousness of Jesus, is as filthy rags. We come cloaked is His righteousness, cleansed by the shedding of His blood. He has made the final sacrifice, dying for our sin, which permits us to stand before You just as if we had never sinned.

Such grace seems too good to be true. Why Father, given all the goofy things we have done, would You send us Your Son as our redeemer? Again, the answer is clear. You love us, You created us in Your image and You desire to have eternal and perfect fellowship with us. Father, what else can we do but rejoice in your kindness and mercy?

We do seek to dwell in Your house all the days of our eternal life and to be taught in Your Holy temple. Prepare our minds and our hearts for this wonderful moment. In Jesus' Holy name, we pray, amen.

Bruce Caldwell

Heaven #3

...Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive. ..."hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers. ..."hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I Kings 8:30,34,36, Psalms 23:6

Father, the Psalmist says three times, hear in heaven and forgive. We too say, please hear us, please forgive us. Sometimes we feel our prayers are impotent and that You may not listen because our hearts are so out of tune with You.

Help us today, to know that goodness, mercy and Your outstretched hand will follow us if we will but follow You.

Father, we are surrounded by turmoil and distress of every kind. It would be so tempting for us just to give up and live as if there was no rationale for hope. But that would be yielding to what it is Father, a temptation.

Father, You have taught us that Satan tempts but that You allow the test. Help us not to succumb to feelings of despair and hopelessness where Satan sees that he has upended our life.

Our hope is in You and we know that if we are faithful we will please You. That is what we pray for today Father, more faith. Help us to look to You in all circumstances. We know the world has no long-term answers. Teach us and lead us today. We pray in Jesus' name, amen

Bruce Caldwell

Heaven #4

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21, www.solascriptura.com

Jesus, You have taught us that everything on the face of this earth will perish. It is childish prose to say that we cherish that which is going to perish but isn't that the truth?

We also know that the treasures of this earth must be left behind if we die before You return. Here You plainly teach us that laying up treasures here that will not endure is unwise. It is better to lay up treasures in heaven that will endure forever.

But how do we do that? We can not send our assets ahead of us so they will be there when we get there. What is it we store up? You have taught us plainly that good works, which spring from love, endure forever. We know, Jesus, that loving You and loving our neighbor are the two over-arching commandments.

Help us today to use the resources You have freely given us to show others and You how much we care. We pray for more that we can share more. We pray that we can become as a Holy conduit, this day, sharing a smile, giving someone a pat on the back and offering encouragement to a discouraged person. Withholding those gifts would disappoint You, we know. Bless us we pray, amen.

Bruce Caldwell

Heaven #5

... I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

..."Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. "Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. "Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. "Last of all the woman died also. "Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

Matthew 8:11, 22:24-32

Jesus, here you refer to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses and You tell us what the Father told them before You came. Then, you use that teaching to remind us that the Old Testament is not irrelevant.

Jesus, help us today to get better acquainted with Your Holy word and the people we hope to someday meet in eternity. You have taught us that we will be different entities in heaven; we will not be as we are here. You have told us that we will not be young or old and here you tell us we will not be marrying or seeing offspring marry.

We won't marry at all, we will be thirtyish and we will not reproduce but instead we will be Spirit filled, like angels of God. It seems Jesus that You showed us, following Your resurrection, what we will be like. Help us today to study Your word diligently and to have a better grasp of what is coming. Maybe it will help us to not overly value the transitory nature of this brief sojourn.

We look forward to sitting down with the descendants of Abraham and with Moses. Help us be prepared for that meeting. In Your Holy name, we pray, amen.

Bruce Caldwell

Heaven #6

For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

"then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men),

Isaiah 57:15, 2 Chronicles 6:30 www.solascriptura.com

Father, You inhabit eternity. What a necessary truth for us to know. You await our arrival into Your Holy place. You have told us before that everyone is invited but here You tell us the nature of those who will have accepted Your invitation. You will dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit.

Father we know that pride and egocentric behavior are disgusting to You. Yet, we have seen repeatedly how some of Your children once behaved that way. Some of us have more trouble being humble and contrite than others but here we see that we must overcome that tendency, through the strength of the Holy Spirit in us, if we ever intend to stand in Your presence.

Father, we do confess our sins, this day, and beg that we not deceive ourselves in matters of obedience. We know that You know our every thought and action but better than that, we know You rejoice with us when we make good choices and do Your will. Bless us and keep us this day. We pray in Jesus' Holy name, amen.

Bruce Caldwell

Heaven #7

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Matthew 25:31-46, www.solascriptura.com

Jesus, You teach us that our love for You must be accompanied by our love for our fellow man for if we do not love one another it is the same as if we do not love You.

Help us to see every human encounter as an opportunity to demonstrate that what we do to others, we do unto You. Oh how we will need help this day with that reality. Touch our lives and lead us we pray. Amen.

Bruce Caldwell

Heaven #8

"... whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

"But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

Matt 10:32-33, Matt 18:10, www.solascriptura.com

Jesus, sometimes Your teaching gives us no hedge room. We would like to say we "sort of tell people we love You" but here you seem to be saying, "do it". What form would You have our confession take? We know that we are to love our enemies and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, so how can we witness to others without the risk of offending people who just do not want to hear it?. Perhaps the answer lies in the second verse.

You tell us that "these little ones" always see Your face. The children are a special treasure in Your eyes. What is it Father that we adults lack? Do we lack the forthright nature of a child? Their innocence is genuine, not contrived. Their faith in Your love and the love of those around them is not like our faith as we mature. Our faith in other adults is usually conditional, based on how things are going at the moment. Help us today to see that the faith of a child, towards others and toward You, is an enabling factor. It makes telling other people we love You much easier if we have the faith of a child.

As to "denying You before men", we know that behavior would greatly grieve You. We would actually be putting our souls at risk, forever, if we were to do so. Strengthen our witness and our faith this day, we pray, in Your Holy name, amen.

Bruce Caldwell