Long
Answer Version
Heaven
is widely thought of as a place of inexpressible beauty, peace, love,
purpose, and meaning. It reflects the glory of God. His loving presence
fills heaven in a way that is very tangible and enjoyable, or so I am
told by Scripture.
The promise of heaven is only one part of being saved. In some ways,
we can start our experience of heaven here on earth, at least in part.
Getting saved also means being set free in this lifetime from many of the burdens that we humans experience. God can set us free from guilt, shame, loneliness, and hopelessness, to name just a few. He saves us from ourselves and many of the unwise choices we would make without Him. He saves us from behaviors that hurt us and that bring negativity into our lives.
Not only
does Jesus save us FROM many unwanted circumstances, but He saves us TO
a better life with Him in the picture during this lifetime.
Getting
saved means being adopted by God spiritually as a son or daughter. He
is generous and loving to His children. As we give Him that place of loving
Father in our lives, it is amazing what good it produces in our hearts,
and experiences.
Getting
saved entails being infused with life of a godly, heavenly nature that makes each of us a better person progressively through our stays here
on earth. That nature grows within each of us, producing wonderful benefits.
Getting
saved is starting a new relationship with Jesus. Receiving
salvation means we receive forgiveness for sins. Being saved leads to
many other new rights and benefits that come with the salvation “package”.
If you choose
to believe in Jesus as your Savior, you will experience many blessings
afterward. Maybe not all at once, but just wait. You will see the more
you get to know Jesus, new clarity will bloom. The Bible will make more
sense to you. You will pray and see the results of answered prayer. You
will notice a new spiritual side to yourself, that is honed in on Jesus
and able to sense things about Him. These things are just the beginning.
As time goes on, you'll find your life has more meaning and purpose.
Heaven is a kingdom. ''Kingdom'' means the rule and reign of a king.
When
the king is good and loving to His people, the ''Kingdom'' results the
wonderful experiences and benefits that the King brings upon those who
live under His reign. Jesus is the highest King of all. He brings His
kingdom to us here, on earth, in our lives and hearts when we are saved
and afterward.
The apostle Peter stated something as one of the central reasons to believe in Jesus. He addressed the crowd after healing a lame man in Solomon's porch of the Temple. He proclaimed the message of the good news of Jesus. Shouting so the crowd could hear, he said, ''turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.''
In a sense these times of refreshing are God’s kingdom love, presence, and power appearing for us to experience. My prayer is that you will receive and enjoy periods of refreshing from Jesus for years to come in this lifetime.
Refreshing can also come when we serve others and God with an openness to His presence with us. These activities deepen my love and trust for Him. The more we deeply express our love to Jesus, our inner beings will follow suit. We will find ourselves loving Him more. The more we love Him, we will recognize the many blessings He puts into our lives.
The brilliance of His kingdom that we experience later, will far exceed the glimpses in our earthly lives, but these glimpses can be nonetheless breathtakingly beautiful to our souls. The Bible says they are foretastes of a future kingdom that believers will experience someday.
Believers can be said said to have "tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good word of God, and tasted the powers of the age to come''. These tastes and partakings might not come to us all the time, but even when they are infrequent, they are blessings nonetheless. They are too precious to dismiss.
I have found that refreshing and foretastes come more often and tangibly to my heart the more I spend time with God in prayer, praise, worship, and tasting "the good word of God".
Refreshing
can also come when we serve others and God. These activities deepen our
love and trust for Him. The more we deeply express our love to Jesus,
our emotions will follow suit. We will find ourselves loving
Him more. The more we love Him, we will recognize the many blessings
He puts into our lives.
God has His ways and timing for each of us. He made us all to be different,
and knows where, when, and how to work in us.
If you choose
to believe in Jesus as your Savior, you will experience many blessings
afterward. Maybe not all at once, but just wait. You will see the more
you get to know Jesus, new clarity will bloom. The Bible will make more
sense to you. You will pray and see the results of answered prayer. You
will notice a new spiritual side to yourself, that is honed in on Jesus
and able to sense things about Him.
These things are just the beginning.
As time goes on, you'll find your life has more meaning and purpose. The benefits
and experiences I am describing can come either with, or without special
feelings from God. If it seems you are not feeling anything blatantly
spiritual yet, please keep in mind that faith is more important than feelings.
He will customize your faith
to your personal make-up, so you do not base the truth of your salvation
primarily on feelings. He will be near to you no matter what you are going through.
You will feel His presence when, and to the extent, He wants you to. When
you believe in Jesus as personal Savior, the truth of your salvation will always
supercede your feelings. You receive salvation merely by deciding to welcome
Jesus into your hearts. That is positive in every way. It is cause for rejoicing.
Once you
believe in Jesus as your Savior, you can be encouraged to express your
heart to Him. You may confidently reach out to Him with your best feelings
of love, thanksgiving, and joy. Also, it is OK to bring to Him all your
sorrow, pain, loneliness, depression, and neediness, when those feelings
arise.
Try to let yourself feel toward Him when you pray; don't just talk.
Receive the truth of His love for you, and let yourself feel warmed by
it. You don't need to be a super spiritual believer to do any of this.
Just be real with Him, and you might find that He will be even more real
with you.
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