When I toured the Westminster Abbey, I was amazed at its beauty. It has unbelievable architecture. It has high, high ceilings with intricate carvings on the walls. The place is so beautiful, it almost takes your breath away. Marble statues are throughout the Abbey. The stone floors and stain glass windows do not reveal its true age-over a thousand years old. Human hands made this place.

And then I thought of heaven. A place I look forward to going to. If the Westminster Abbey can be so beautiful, so intricate, what will heaven be like? The God who created the the earth and you and me, has created heaven. Can you imagine the unbelievable beauty?

There will be streets of gold. I can’t imagine that. Streets of gold? The structure we walk on, will be made of gold? That shiny, pretty metal we wear in tiny, tiny amounts, will now be the element, heaven’s streets will be made of. Now, we only know of asphalt: ugly, gray, dirty asphalt.

The gate surrounding heaven will be made of pearls. Imagine a gate made of white, smooth, beautiful pearls. Thus the phrase, “the pearly white gates.” Now you know where it comes from.

When we toured the Abbey, people automatically talked in whispers. It just seemed fitting. People walked slowly and reverently. And this, is just a man made structure that doubles as a tomb for famous people and royals.

What I look forward to most, though, is the tranquility and peace that will be in heaven. He says He will wipe every tear from our eyes. Imagine that? God, Himself, will wipe every tear from our eyes. That’s an image of comfort. An image of care – of peace.

We all go one of two places when we die. Either heaven or hell. No matter what you did in life, how you acted, that won’t be the criteria for getting into heaven. There is only one criteria: accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. You can’t be nice enough to get into heaven. You can’t be a huge donor to charities. You can’t have sacrificed your time or money. None of that is enough. None of us measure up. The great equalizer, death, comes, and we need to have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. He is the only criteria. Nothing else we’ve ever done in our lives matters. Only that.

I remember a friend of mine, came to know the Lord as a young adult. She had grown up Catholic, so had spent a lot of time doing good deeds, thinking she was earning her way to heaven. When she heard the gospel for the first time, she said she got mad. She was mad because of all the wasted time she had spent, doing good deeds and none of that mattered. Jesus Christ paid the price, and you only have to accept Him.

I love that story of my friend. Her honest reaction to finding out everything she did was worthless. We can try and be the best person in the world, but none of it will ever matter. It is only about Jesus Christ and did you accept Him or not? That’s it. That’s the only criteria.

I pray, that if you are reading this, you have accepted Him. If not, it’s never too late.

 

As I said, last week, we were gone for a week in London, England. We were dropping off our eldest for a Bible school over there.

I wasn’t sure about the whole traveling out of the country thing. I’ve never been out of the country before. Never owned a passport. So the thought of traveling excited me and overwhelmed me at the same time. I got a travel book on how to travel in England. It listed the hazards about traveling, just so you were in the know. The book said to keep your valuables at home and leave your wallet and purse behind. Use a neck wallet or a waist pouch, that you hide under your clothes. Pick pocketing was an issue in London at some of the popular tourists sites. I had to get a number from my bank, in case my credit card or debit card were lost or stolen. My mind buzzed on all these potential problems. You see, it’s one thing to lose important cards here in the good ole USA. It’s quite another, to lose them in another country, where you would have to wait and figure out what to do.

So I prayed. I started praying at least a year before we actually left. I prayed for our safety in traveling. I prayed for our protection from thieves. I prayed that my daughter would adjust well at the new school. It’s not like she can call us up and tell us to come get her. If you are a believer, you need to pray for everything in your life. God tells us to. The Apostle Paul tells us to pray without ceasing.

I’m happy to report, that our trip went fine. We returned to the good ole USA, all in one piece. We were never robbed and my daughter has adjusted swimmingly at her new school.

But I wanted to brag on God in this post, and tell you what He did, while we were traveling. He not only protected us, but He sent reminders throughout our trip that He was there and He was watching over us.

London is a crazy, fast city. Think New York City on steroids. We stayed close to a station that had the underground there, the train station and a bus station. The place was like Grand Central Station in New York City. We had to catch the underground from there. You had to walk quickly or get run over my someone or at least get your toes squished by a rolling suitcase. People’s heads were down, walking so fast they might have been running, but they weren’t. Nobody is friendly. They haven’t got time. As rookie travelers, we just learned to keep out of the way and try not to go too slow.

It was our second our third day of our adventure, when we were standing on the escalator to go down to the underground. My husband and I were talking about which tube to take, as we weren’t sure. All of a sudden, this young English woman, in front of us, turned around and asked us where we needed to go. She pulled us aside, so we wouldn’t get run over by the fast moving travelers, and helped us with our map. She took time out of her busy day to talk to three overwhelmed Americans and help guide them. I believe she was an angel.

My family are gluten free and dairy free. It makes traveling somewhat difficult, trying to find food we can all eat. My daughter wanted to go to this one place, so we took the underground there. As we got out of the station, there in front of us were a bunch of stands selling food. Out of curiosity, we checked out what they were selling. Gluten free bread, gluten free baked brownies and cookies. Gluten free egg and potato slices (like pizza, but made with eggs and potatoes and a little sausage thrown in). We ate to our heart’s content. The prices were fairly cheap for London standards and everything tasted so good.

Our last day there, my husband and I went to St. James Park to just sit and enjoy the sunshine that had finally come out. We had just dropped off our daughter at the bus station to take her to school. As we sat on my husband’s coat, I looked up at this leafless tree that stood in front of us. There in one of it’s branches was a lone, white dove. He positioned himself, so he was looking down at us. I elbowed my husband and pointed to him. Then the dove, flew down, near us and walked around us. There wasn’t anything for him, but he walked around, unafraid, reminding me just who was in charge of this whole trip. I smiled at him and thanked God in my head.

God loves His children. He says that in His word over and over. He protects us. He guides us. He encourages us. All we need to do is pray. Pray for everything. Pray for the little things. Then, watch what God does in your life. And watch for those reminders, He sends you, to tell you, He is there, and He is watching and working.

We have an enemy. For those of us who are Christians, when we joined the body of believers, we inherited an enemy with it. It comes with the territory. Become a Christian and now you’ve joined a war. An unseen war, but real all the same. God warns us throughout scripture of the enemy, and what to do to protect ourselves.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:11-12

The devil doesn’t come at us, red, with horns on his head, holding a pitchfork. He’s not ugly, or rude. He’s deceptive, cunning, brilliant at what he does. He’s seductive. He will send someone into our lives that tells us all the right things. They will stroke our egos. They will compliment us. They will give us gifts. They will tell you: how wonderful we are, how beautiful/handsome we are, how smart/sexy we are… and the list goes on and on. But like the wiles of a seductress, they will bring us down, ruin our testimony, cause us to disobey God.

And there in lies the clue, that something smells rotten in Denmark. When you, believer, find yourself doing or saying things you aren’t supposed to, double check who’s around you. Is there someone in your life that seems to be saying all the right things, but you are starting to compromise your faith? A little sin here and a little sin there. If there is, you’ve found the mole sent in by the enemy. The only solution, is to cut that person completely out of your life.

Israel was told the very same thing. When they arrived in the promised land, they were to exterminate the people around them, completely. Why? Because God is a heartless, cruel homicidal maniac? No! Because God needed Israel to be pure, and these pagan people would ruin Israel, and cause her to go after other gods. These people had hundreds of years to repent, but they never did. And God’s solution for them, was to cut them off completely.

It’s the only way.

I’ve had to have this conversation with my kids recently. They are young adults, and need to be prepared for the world in which they live. I told them to recognize the signs. Be wary of the people who flatter you. Be wary of people of the opposite sex, who just want to be your friend. I told my son, girls don’t want boys as friends. They want boyfriends. They may say they only want to be friends, but that’s really not the truth. That’s their way into your life. Be on your guard.

God wouldn’t have mentioned it, if we didn’t need to be warned. But He mentions it over and over in scripture about our enemy. The Christian must be so very careful, where they walk and who they associate with. We must stay awake. God tells us this over and over.

It’s not hopeless. God never says it’s hopeless. He just warns us to be awake and be prepared.

He says it’s as easy as resisting the devil.

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

So, Christian, God just asks us to stay awake and be aware. Know you have an enemy. And know the enemy is not coming at you, ugly and twisted. He was the angel of light. I think of this country song, “The Devil in Blue Jeans.” That’s how he’s going to come into your life: looking good and saying all the right things. Just stay awake, so you can recognize him when he shows up. Because he will show up.

 

 

Next Sunday is Easter. The day, we believers, celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This Friday will be Good Friday, the day Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross and died.

One of the many significant events that happened that day on Good Friday, was when the veil in the temple tore in two from top to bottom.

“And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom,” Mark 15:38

Why is this so significant?

The veil tearing in two was signifying an amazing change that was going to happen. The veil separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. A priest entered the Holy of Holies, only once a year to make atonement for the sins of Israel. There was much preparation for the priest to go in there. He needed to be cleansed. Once, he entered, he was at risk of being struck dead, if he wasn’t properly cleansed. The people, often, would tie bells to the bottom of the priests robes, so they could hear him moving around in there. If he stopped moving, that meant he was probably dead. They tied a rope to one of his legs. So if he stopped moving, they could pull him safely out of there, without anyone else getting killed. NO ONE could enter the Holy of Holies, besides the cleansed priest and only once a year. The Holy Spirit resided in the Holy of Holies. And only the priests had access to it, and only after proper cleansing.

That day, on Good Friday, the veil, that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, was torn, in two, from top to bottom, right at the moment Jesus Christ died.

Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for the sins of mankind, He paid with His life. At the moment of His death, the veil was torn in two, because the ultimate price had been paid. Jesus Christ paid it with His life. And more to that, every person would now have access to salvation through Jesus’ atoning death on the cross. And on top of that, every person who believes in Jesus Christ would have the Holy Spirit move into that believer and indwell them. The Holy Spirit!

Imagine that? The very presence of the Holy Spirit would now come to live inside every person who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Holy Spirit would dwell in people! Before, he dwelt in the Holy of Holies, in which a priest risked his life to go into, in order to make atonement. Bells had to be tied to his robes, because the people weren’t sure he would make it. A rope, tied to his ankle, so they could drag him out, if he didn’t make it. That place was so holy. NOW, the Holy Spirit would indwell every single believer, who puts their faith in Jesus Christ.

As we approach this glorious holiday, think on what that means to have the Holy Spirit indwelling every believer. The very same Holy Spirit, that dwelt in the Holy of Holies, now residing within people.

Those of us who believe, now have access to the Holy Spirit because He indwells us. That blows my mind. Think about that and Happy Easter!