A Different View of Heaven

Been reading Donald Miller's "A Million Miles In A Thousand Years" this weekend since I have a quite weekend of rest to get over my pneumonia.  It is a good book which I am enjoying very much and a timely read for where I am in life right now trying to figure out "my story".

One paragraph has stuck out to me though.  In a chapter in which Don talks about hiking to Machu Picchu the difficult four day trek across the Andes way as opposed to taking the easy one day hike along the valley or taking the bus and train there he ends the chapter talking about how he believes his view of Machu Picchu is different from those who came the other easier ways.  He describes this difference in this way:

"But the people who took the bus didn't experience the city as we experienced the city.  The pain made the city more beautiful.  The story made us different characters than we would have been if we had skipped the story and showed up at the ending an easier way."

He then goes on to compare this to our view of heaven:

"It made me think about the hard lives so many people have had, the sacrifices they've endured, and how those people will see heaven differently from those of us who have had easier lives."

I have often worried I came to Christ too easily.  I was raised in the church, by Christian parents, had Christian friends and influences all my life, and never really considered not being a part of the church with the exception of a few years in college.  Yet, my faith was not my own and not meaningful to me until I started to truly seek God and his will.  This goes back to the previous post on seeking God's presence I guess.  I have been lucky that God has guided my life and blessed me beyond what I deserve despite the fact that I did not always realize it or acknowledge Him.  Now that I choose to acknowledge Him and seek His face, it seems his blessing and provision is only increased, although on His terms.  It is an exciting, scary, but interesting time.  I can't wait to see what He has planned.

God give me the strength and faith to turn it all over to you.  Let me live like you are truly in control.  Amen.

Searching for God's Presence

It seems that the idea of seeking the presence of God as opposed to just seeking God (his will, his plan, his blessings, etc.) has come up quite a bit of late.  This is the topic of a Catalyst talk by Francis Chan that Ron has been circulating, I have seen it in scripture (Psalm 27, 84), I have seen it in devotional readings (see below), I have seen it in the lesson I taught in Middle School Sunday School.  It keeps coming up.  Obviously there is something to this.

So, God, help me be more mindful of seeking your presence.  If I am in your presence, the other stuff will naturally fall out.  Help me to remember that you are in control and to truly live my life that way.  Help me to put it all on the table, to loose those things holding me back from you, to turn my back on the sin that is separating me from you and your kingdom.  AMEN

Devotional Reading from last week (Psalm 27)
The title of today's reading is A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God. It talks about seeking one thing. During this time of seeking, it's easy to focus on seeking things from God instead of just seeking God--to seek His hand and not His face. Think of the difference between approaching a king to kiss his hand and approaching a loving father to kiss his face. God is both our King and Father. He is capable of meeting your needs and answering your prayers. But He also loves you more deeply than you can ever know. When you seek His face, you end up in a much closer posture to Him. Pray today that you will seek God's face and get closer to Him than you ever have before.