At the end of yesterday’s Hebrews class, Leong Tien Fook reminded us of that hope that we have of heaven and that we should live out our lives with faith, hope and love until we see Jesus again.
This is the part I was confused about. If we are waiting for heaven and we do NOT experience Christ in a real way (and a lot of us are like that!), then we are just part of the world. Yet, we are told to have hope of heaven! And when we are told to love others, we tend to love others out of our own strength and that is legalism. Earlier in this journey, this message of hope of heaven seemed to tell me, “Don’t worry about dying, then you can go to heaven to see Jesus”. It just did not sit well in my spirit because somehow there is a job not done, a calling not fulfilled.
So, how do I live on earth meanwhile then, just suffer and wait for heaven? Before this journey, it was so difficult for me to even pick up the bible or to spend time for devotion before. My cousin over the weekend told me she struggles with this. As a lawyer, she works till very late. Her colleagues work to 3 or 4 am! She doesn’t do that and still she has no time for God.
Yesterday night, it all became clear why it did not sit well with my spirit and I thank Tien Fook for this.
It is the fact that Jesus became the fore runner as the perfect High Priest into the heavenly tabernacle and by his perfect sacrifice, He has torn down the veil between us and God. So, we NEED NOT wait till we die but we can experience Him right here, right now – in the new Jerusalem (heaven), in our hearts, spiritually because the holy spirit dwells in us now. We can enjoy Sabbath-rest in Him right now. What joy what beauty! Spiritually, we can experience God so real. Imagine, Jesus sits at the right hand of God always interceding for us and His blood that cleansed the heavenly tabernacle so that we can draw near to God. Somehow, when I was jolted out of my spiritual slumber (and trust me God will find a way for each of you to experience him all over again) I could suddenly have a relationship with God again and experience His awesome love for me even though I am NOT in heaven yet. And when His love flowed through me and I have that confidence in Him, he blessed me and even healing flowed through me!
It is this faith, hope and love that compels me to want to share with others. When I shared it with LP, I saw her life transform and she says she loves God. I don’t think she would say that to her god previously because it was not personal, it could not talk to her. She started going to church, her children are really enthusiastic to learn about Jesus in Sunday school and even teaches her in return. She says she plans to go for bible study soon when her face clears up from taking Tarceva.
When I shared with Cheryl recently, she said she could not hear Jesus and later she surprised me when she shared Psalm 56:3,4
“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. “
and Psalm 41:3
“The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.”
That’s God speaking to her and comforting her! When we start to believe God’s words over our circumstance, then His love will just flow through us and He will carry us through whatever situation we are in.
After learning Hebrews, the representation of the earthly tabernacle to the heavenly tabernacle gave me a better inkling of what to expect. One interesting fact is that in the old system, the high priest wore a breastplate with 12 stones on it, each representing a tribe. When he walks in alone into the Holy of Holies, he represents the 12 tribes as well. Although God wants to dwell with us then our forefathers’ sins prevent them from entering into His presence. It took all the rituals of cleansing, sacrifices and offerings before the high priest could finally enter into God’s presence (the Holy of Holies) and that too - only ONCE a year. What a barrier between God and man!
But in the heavenly tabernacle, there will be a city where there are 12 types of precious stones making up the foundation of the city and they are there in heaven forever (see Revelations 21:19,20). The 12 tribes, the 12 apostles are there in heaven, with no barrier (no veil, no holy place and no outer court yard i.e. the 2 other parts of the tabernacle) and they are continuously dwelling with God! And that’s how it would be like for us too. That is the hope that we have in heaven to finally dwell with God with no death, mourning, crying or pain. Just rejoicing forever and worshipping God. No necessity for tabernacle/temple too for HE is the temple, WE will be in His presence forever.
So, if you are finding it difficult to do devotion or read the bible, keep fighting the devil, it does not want us to fellowship with God. It comes like a roaring lion, it want to steal your time, your prayers, God's word.
1 Corintians 10:3-5 NLT
"We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ."
Align back yourself to God's word and once we do find Him (and He said He will be found), it is so awesome, you just wanna cry and keep digging more and more and know Him more and more. And then, even if we die today, it doesn’t matter anymore because there is continuity from the spiritual new Jerusalem into the real new Jerusalem! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
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