Carried by the king of Heaven

Heaven is surrounding you, it is both far away and right around you in the air you breath. It is in your heart, but heaven is the place where God lives yet Jesus rules there in his new resurrection body. Heaven is so close the angels wings brush against your face each night as you sleep. Heaven is out of our grasp and yet it is so close we could step into it in an instant. The inhabitants of heaven watch us with focused attention. Heaven guards us.

Heaven carries us in its arms.

What's your soul worth?

Mark 8:34-37 NLT

Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.  And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?  Is anything worth more than your soul?
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Peter and the other disciples knew that Jesus was the Messiah. God had revealed to them Jesus' true identity. Jesus' disciples wanted the promised rescuer to come. Most Jewish people at that time wanted to be rescued from the cruel rule of the Romans.

Jesus was the Messiah but he was also the Son of God.

Yet Jesus' method of deliverance was to suffer and die. Furthermore, Jesus was inviting his followers to suffer as well.

God's way was radically different from what the disciples were expecting.

Jesus wanted to rescue his people. But rather than gain the world the Romans controlled to give to his people, he was inviting his followers to give up everything. The downtrodden and oppressed were being invited to give up everything so they wouldn't lose their soul.

What in this world is so valuable that you'd exchange your own soul for it?

Would you give up your soul for temporary fame?
Would you give up your soul for power and riches for this short life?
Would you give up your soul for a unfulfilled struggling middle class mediocre disappointing life?

What in this life now is so worth trading eternity in God's kingdom and everlasting life with God for?

The Messiah came to rescue you from this world, its priorities, its dead end goals, its selfishness, and its king of the hill struggling mentality.

The God of heaven and earth is offering you the opportunity to be with him in his kingdom, but you must be willing to give up your claim on this world.

When he comes it will be as simple as, Which kingdom did you long for?

If you cling to all that you desire here, your hands will be full and there will be no way for you to follow Jesus hand in hand into his kingdom. If you didn't want to cling to Jesus while you lived here, and you didn't follow Jesus in the way he went, then you will not be following him into heaven.

You will have invested your soul in a world you cannot have, a world destined for destruction. If you only believe in this world you'll end up with nothing. You'll spend all your time, energy, and love struggling to have what you cannot attain and you'll miss out on all that Jesus offers.

What's your soul worth?
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Mark 8:29-38 NLT

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah. ” But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.  And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?  Is anything worth more than your soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Keeping it simple

John 16:33 NLT

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

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Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
{- Man in Black (Wesley) from the Princess Bride}

The thing I like most about Jesus and the Bible is the it is so realistic. It tells the truth, 'warts and all'.
Jesus isn't selling something. In fact he's giving it away. But he's not glossing over the facts.

-'Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.'

There it is plain and simple. The bare truth with no caveats delivered to people had not even begun to see the worst of it.

But neither had they remotely seen the best of it. That was also yet to come. See I can believe Jesus when he says he has overcome the world at least in part because what he says about the world is true. Here on earth you do have sorrow!

That's not all though. Jesus has healed people, fed people, made lame walk, blind see, deaf hear, and raised people from the dead. Then there are all the prophecies he's fulfilled some very clear and ancient and he's ticked nearly every box. Lastly, he said it. So either he's crazy, a liar or he's telling the truth. And since it looks like he's been telling the truth I've got good reason to believe that he has overcome the world.

Jesus means that as an encouragement. Yep, you'll face sorrows. Some may threaten to undo you, uproot your sanity, and sink you into despair but Jesus has overcome the world. When it gets on top of you, just remember Jesus is on top of the world. He's in charge and large! Jesus can handle your pain. Jesus wants you to know that in the world to come, there'll be no more sorrow.

How does that make you feel?

The problem of rust.

Matthew 6:19-21 NLT

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

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People don't really believe in heaven. Many people do believe in pensions, investment portfolios and savings accounts. Others believe in a good education or hard work and determination. But people don't believe in heaven. Some people believe in global warming, the effects of an eco-friendly life, their carbon footprint or saving the shark from extinction but they don't believe in heaven.

Do you really believe in heaven? Do you believe in God up above? Do you believe he rewards those who desire his kingdom more than the things in this world you can love?

Are you hoping to be comfortable, secure and well off because of your wisdom, your savings and shrewdness? Are you trusting in things of this world? Or have you set your heart upon heaven and believed in the promise of God? Have you put your hope in God's goodness and set your heart on things stored up above?

Be honest with yourself, does heaven fit in your plans?

Do you consider yourself fortunate in this life?

Psalms 49:16-20 NLT

So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich and their homes become ever more splendid. For when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them into the grave. In this life they consider themselves fortunate and are applauded for their success. But they will die like all before them and never again see the light of day. People who boast of their wealth don’t understand; they will die, just like animals.

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God warms us about putting our hope in wealth throughout the Bible. And yet it seems we have a very convenient ignore button that we press whenever we read such warnings.

We want to get rich. We'd like to have a windfall, an inheritance, to win the lotto, or to get a really big pay raise! We'd like to be rich.

Yet God isn't impressed with our money, our nice house, or our car.

Why don't we believe, "we can't take it with us!"

I'm going to paste in the whole of the Psalm below because it is so good.

But I'd suggest you ask God to help you to stop envying the wealthy.

Ask God to help you deeply rearrange your desires and your priorities.

Your life will be better if you seek God and his kingdom, not if you get rich.

Please take the time to read about God's view of wealth.

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Psalms 49:1-20 NLT

Listen to this, all you people! Pay attention, everyone in the world! High and low, rich and poor—listen! For my words are wise, and my thoughts are filled with insight. I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp. Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me? They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches. Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave. Those who are wise must finally die, just like the foolish and senseless, leaving all their wealth behind. The grave is their eternal home, where they will stay forever. They may name their estates after themselves, but their fame will not last. They will die, just like animals. This is the fate of fools, though they are remembered as being wise. Interlude Like sheep, they are led to the grave, where death will be their shepherd. In the morning the godly will rule over them. Their bodies will rot in the grave, far from their grand estates. But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave. Interlude So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich and their homes become ever more splendid. For when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them into the grave. In this life they consider themselves fortunate and are applauded for their success. But they will die like all before them and never again see the light of day. People who boast of their wealth don’t understand; they will die, just like animals.

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