Heaven is for Real

I read the most amazing book last night and this morning. In about 3 hours. If you know me I am not a huge book reader, however since losing Esther I think this is the 4th book I have finished. This book is incredible. It is called Heaven is For Real, by Todd Burpo, about his 4 yr old son who had a near death experience and was in Heaven! He unfolds details to his parents in the weeks and months and even years that followed. I don't want to give it away but it will change your life! I don't know what your view of God is, or has been, but it will make you love Him more, and fear death less. If you have lost children or other loved ones, it gives such a sweet picture of what Heaven will be like. Colton tells of things that He could not have known, that happened decades before, and of people He met there. It gave me such a sense of urgency. Heaven IS real, and we need to tell the world. Colton describes it from such a simple perspective, from that of a child. I have heard three different people tell me that they have read their devotionals with their children recently, and how much it spoke to them! I think God is trying to tell us thick headed adults whats up! Keep it simple. It isn't difficult. You make it difficult. If you are like me, I know I do that so often! Jesus talks about the little children coming to Him, and that we need to have faith like children! This book affirms that and warms me to the core. A-mazing! I was so encouraged after finishing that book today. I was about to explode! Then i read Jesus Calling and the devotional led me to 2 Corinthians 2:17 - which talks of us being new creations in Christ, the old is gone, the new has come! But then it goes on to say, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." I believe that Colton experienced this so that he could tell the world about Jesus! God knew his personality, that he is very blunt and he was just the person to share glimpses of what he saw. That is what we are all to do with what God has entrusted us in this life! Every experience. I looked up the definition of ambassador. I love that word. It means "an authorized messenger or representative." Is that not incredible? Jesus Christ has authorized us, you and me, to spread the message, to share with everyone the message of reconciliation. -God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. -He makes His appeal through us! So we are authorized to take that message to the world, and share what he does in our life and through our story. We are not in a hopeless situation. This life is only temporary. What we need to concern ourselves with, is sharing the message so that everyone will be made right with God, through accepting what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Accepting His gift to us through the death of his son, is what makes us right with God. NOTHING that we do on our own. I am reminded of my aunts poem that she wrote for Esther soon after we found out that she was sick. Although we asked for a miracle of healing, one of her lines in her poem stuck out to me then, as it does now.

Lord, there are throngs of those who need to see
Who live in pain brought on by sin’s desire.
Who’ve lost all hope that ever there could be
A rescuer to lift them from this mire.

There is a rescuer, His name is Jesus, and he uses us to tell His story to the world as we walk our own journeys. We long to show them hope, and love and peace. This world needs a lot more of all 3 of those.

So, i was pumped today, and went back to the high school for the first time by myself, to hang out with kids at lunchtime. It was awesome. The Lord poured out his grace and mercy and favor on me today. I asked him to, and he did. He is sooooo good like that. I got to talk to some girls about losing Esther, and I got to talk to some other girls about camp; and some boys about mohawks and faux-hawks (a shorter version of the mohawk). And I was affirmed in my core once again, that I was made for this. Yes that is Young Life's tagline, but i was. And we all were really. It doesn't matter how we do it, or what ministry we do it through, but we were made, created to be Christ's ambassadors. Heaven is for real, and God wants everyone to be there.............so do I. Let's get to work people.