Fear, Glimpses of Heaven, Hope, Words of Endurance

Glimpses of Heaven Part II

“Lets not get too settled in,
too satisfied with the good things down here on earth.
They are only the tinkling sounds
of the orchestra warming up.
The real song is about to break
into a heavenly symphony,
and its prelude is only a few moments away.”
JONI EARECKSON TADA



When I was a young man, I compiled a mental bucket list of things that I hoped would happen before I died. I wanted to get married and have children. When that was checked off, I added grandchildren and other things to the list. All the items on my list of things hoped for before I entered heaven were good things. But how I viewed those things versus eternity showed me that I did not have a good theology of what life after death means. Those things were not just desires. They were very often idols, the “good things that became ultimate things.”



German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who died at the hands of the Nazis in World War II for standing up for what he knew was true, was fearless about death.



“Why are we so afraid when we thing about death? …
Death is only dreadful for those who live in dread and
fear of it. Death is not wild and terrible, if only we can
be still and hold fast to God’s Word. Death is not bitter,
if we have not become bitter ourselves. Death is grace,
the greatest gift of grace that God gives to people who
believe in him. Death is mild, death is sweet and gentle;
it beckons to us with heavenly power, if only we realize
that it is the gateway to our homeland, the tabernacle of
joy, the everlasting kingdom of peace. “



Wow. Do I believe that? That was an eye-opening, heart-wrenching indictment of how shallow my faith has been regarding eternity. Death is not the final chapter of our lives; it’s simply the prologue to joy and peace. Have I ever thought of death as God’s greatest gift of grace? Hardly. Yet that is the reality of our faith if we believe the gospel is true.



DAVE BURCHETT STAY-LESSONS MY DOGS TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE, LOSS AND GRACE (PUBLISHED BY TYNDALE HOUSE PUBLISHERS, INC. 2015)



The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow.
But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:18 (THE MESSAGE)



ON THE JOURNEY WITH YOU,
DAVE & JAN DRAVECKY