Heaven is a Person and Hell is a Perspective. Heaven, being thought of as a place in all of its splendor and beauty, means nothing without Jesus being there. We could have all these eternal spiritual good things but without the presence of God they all would be meaningless. When Jesus primarily teaches about the kingdom of heaven being near while he was here on earth, that topic is primarily highlighting the KING of that kingdom but in a humble manner. This king who IS peace, love, joy, freedom, etc, is freely accessible to you as you dwell inside of his authority and leadership. The only place I want to live eternally is as close to Jesus as possible. I don’t care where this, what this place looks like, what I have, what others have, who is there, as long as I am as close as possible to his heart and his face. Nothing else matters being he is my heaven. He is my only refuge, my only hope, my only strength. He can determine anything about my reality because it belongs to him, he created it and its for his glory.
The worst part of existence in this lifetime, although I realize is for my good and for my growth (to learn to rule and reign as he does), is when my perspective lies to me and communicates anything other than heaven being here with me now. I am accepted right now, I am saved right now, I am God’s eternal dwelling place right now, I am in union with Christ right now. Just because I lose sight of those truths doesn’t change this reality, my lack of ability to see these truths affects whether or not I experience these realities from the inside out. The bible teaches the kingdom of heaven is righteousness, peace, and joy. These become our experience in this life as a result of submitting to Jesus’ rule on a daily basis; our faith and surrender allow us to participate in this eternal goodness while on earth. The work of the devil, as outlined in Jesus’ teaching to steal, kill, and destroy. My conjecture from this lesson, is that the devil’s aim is to interrupt our experience and participation of God’s kingdom while we are here on earth, and he does that first by interrupting our perspective, which, in turn, interrupts our experience, by resulting in changed behaviors.
The devil wants to sow the opposite of God’s kingdom into your experience. The opposites of righteousness, peace, and joy are sin, anxiety, and depression. Do you see the fruit of any of those perspectives in our society around us or in your own life? If that is the case you may be a victim of spiritual theft, death, and destruction. This is because you are a unique creation of God’s beauty and expression, full of life, love and divine purpose. You are powerful and Christ loves to live with you, through you. You are a gift to this earth and a bright shining star. Have you forgotten this, or been reminded about this yet today?
Heaven is available to you to experience today, because Jesus is available to you, to be with you, near to you, close, in relationship today. May your perspective actively stand against every thought which opposes what Christ has purchased for you with his blood that he died to return you to as a gift, freely given. Return to through rest and faith in your living savior to the power of heaven and the purpose of God in your life right now because Jesus displayed his ultimate love for you by dying for you on a cross, and chose to give up his life so you could fully live yours. Happy Easter.






