Of Course, Cats go to Heaven

My oldest cat, Sammy, was put to sleep tonight. He was calm and happy to sit in my lap. I asked God to send Little One and Tabitha, who he'd grown up with and had already passed, to meet him. Not only did He send them, but also Dids, who was my cat from years ago and had never met Sammy.

They waited patiently for the formalities to be over and comforted me while I waited. Jesus showed up too, kissing my forehead. When it was over and Sammy had exited his body, the girls greeted him. Christ then took them all with him to heaven.

While I will mourn Sammy's loss, I know he and my other cats are reunited. They'll be playing at Jesus feet until one day, I join them.

Citizens and the Book of Life

Phillipians 4:8

With other fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life.

According to Bible Manners and Customs it was custom, sort of followed in today's society, to have registries with the names of their citizens, both those born there and those adopted. Heaven is shown the same way. There is a book with the names of God's children in it. It's referenced in Revelations as well during the final judgement called the Book of Life.

In the latter, those whose names are not found, are thrown into a lake of fire, but only after God has judged them according to their deeds. What type of judgement is not really clear. However, according to the ancient customs when one lost their citizenship, they're name is erased from the registry. Makes one wonder if they will be forgotten for all time by those who survive and dwell with God.

P. 463

God Loves You

God loves you. A simple message. A true one. There are no conditions. He always forgives you. He always forgets what you did wrong. He longs to see you and will rejoice when you dance in heaven. Or on Earth. He longs for your worship. For your time. Just to be with you. God loves you!

You are His

Is your relationship with God intimate? Is He the first person you think of and speak to in the morning and your last thought and goodnight?

Do you take Him with you throughout your day? Does He stand beside you while you put dishes in the dishwasher? Is He ever present at work? Do you release your Children and Spouse to him when they're away from you? Or even while they're with you?

Do you trust Him to the point that no matter what happens, you know He's going to catch you?

Beloved, He holds you in the palm of His hand. You are precious and wonderful to Him. His love for you is everlasting and He longs for the time you will be Him forever and forever.

And when that time comes...will you run and throw yourself in his arms? Or slink away in shame because your life did not glorify Him or you think you're not worthy?

Child, there will be dancing in heaven before His throne and a feast such as we have never seen.

He chose you, before the foundation of the world. He knew you would be His and believe in His son, Jesus Christ.

You are His. Rejoice. Dance. Enjoy.

God's Got This

When you feel like you're dropping off the edge of the Earth.
When you think it can't get any worse.
When you wonder what you could possibly have done that was so wrong.
Remember.
God's Got This.

You are His masterpiece.
You are his precious and beloved Child.
You are an heir God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.
You are already sitting on the right hand of God.
You are healed. Physically. Emotionally. Mentally.
You live more than abundantly.
You are taken care of via His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.
You can do all the things Christ did and even more because Jesus sits in heaven.
You can speak in Tongues, speak forth prophecy, discern spirits, have words of knowledge and wisdom. And that's only the beginning of the spiritual gifts!
You name is written in the Lamb's book.
You will be raised from the dead or changed when Christ returns.
You're going to get to meet all those wonderful people you've read about in the Bible.
You get to live in heaven - forever.

So Remember.
God's Got This. 

Vantage Point

God's plans for our lives is much like the movie 'Vantage Point'. The complete story will not come together until the final climax to see how the all the puzzle pieces fit together.

If you've not seen the film, it is highly recommended. The blogger just saw the allegory and decided to use it.

The main character, the secret service agent or the child of God.

The event, a summit with all the nations of the world. Any major cross road of a Christian's life.

All the other story lines filling in the details - all the people whose lives the Christian meets.

The final climax, the return of Christ and the rewards in heaven. Plus, finally understanding whose lives were touched, who made it to heaven because of it and the rewards handed out.

God's final secret revealed in all those seemingly meaningless interchanges, or dead end jobs, or ended relationships, friendships, deaths....

Quite a vantage point our heavenly Father has, huh?

'Why Not Question' : Creationist vs Evolutionist - Part 1

2 Peter 3:8

But, beloved, be not ignorant (lanthano - to be or lie hid) of this one (mai - agree, one, first) thing, that one(mia - agree, one, first)day (hemera the time space between dawn and dark) is with the Lord as a thousand (chilioi - literal thousand) years (eniautos - literal year), and a thousand( (chilioi) -years(eniatutos) as one day (hemera - the time space between dawn and dark).

Evolutionists say the Earth is much older than the recorded history says. Creationists think the Bible means literally seven days. Yet, in this verse, it says a 'day' is as a thousand years. Note, the use of a simile here. Literally it means a day with the Lord is like a thousand years. Think Peter is trying to tell the believers something?


Gensis 1:1 In the beginning (reshith - first or former) God created (bara - to prepare, form, fashion, do, make)the heaven(shamayim - sky, unseen celestial places, heaved up things) and the Earth (erets - land, to be firm).

Evolutionists theorize that the that 'the big bang' created the universe. Even here in Genesis, created means to fashion and note one of the meanings to heaven is 'heaved things up'. Hmmmm...maybe both parties are really on the same page and just don't realize it.

Genesis 1:2 And the earth(erets - land, to be firm) was without form (tohu - a ruin, vacancy, to lie waste, a desolation of surface) and void (bohu - emptiness, undistinguishable ruin); and darkness (choshek - (misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness)was upon the face (panim - against, anger, battle, employ, endure, cast out, mark, look ) of the waters (mayim - liquid).

In this verse the reader is hit with a mixture of meanings. Could it be the Earth was a formless blob filled with liquid? The Evolutionists and Scientists seem to think so.

Yet, there seems to be something else. Another translation could be that the Earth was laid waste to by wickedness because of a battle and nothing was left but water?

Could it be between verse one and two that the battle in heaven between God and Lucifer happened and the Earth was destroyed because of it? It is an interesting matter of speculation and unfortunately, there simply isn't enough information to form a strong hypothesis.

However, it is interesting that in the following verses God simply speaks everything into existence, as if He were simply doing what he had done before and doesn't actually create anything until verse 21.

Another possible question is - could this have happened in the era of the dinosaurs? Scientists have found the asteroid that hit the Earth off the coast of Mexico. They also know what havoc the dust in the air would have caused and how almost every living thing died.

The main reason this is being asked, is because of the fowl of the air. We all know birds are the descendants from dinosaurs.

Next week Part 2 of Creationist vs Evolutionist

'Why Not Question' - Book Review : '90 Minutes in Heaven' by Don Piper w/Cecil Murphy

'90 Minutes in Heaven' is a compelling story telling of the death of Don Piper on the fateful day of January 18, 1989. He died in a car accident and was declared dead on the scene. A Baptist preacher showed up, asked to allowed to pray for the dead one, and despite the 'you've got to be kidding' looks from the EMT's, followed God's instructions. As the pastor said he prayed in a manner he had never before done and hasn't since.

Don Piper returned to life. Much to everyone's shock.

The rest of the book tells of his experiences and the long, slow recovery process. However, he does briefly share what heaven was like. Most of what he remembers is praise music and moving to the gates with those who had come to escort him there. Don Piper says there are no human words to describe what he experienced.

An excellent read but somewhat disappointing due to the lack of description of Heaven as the title promises. However, it does show the healing power of God and how by following revelation in the instance of raising Don from the dead, miraculous things can still happen today. They're not all confined to New Testament days and 'over and done with' as many are taught in churches today.