HOW CAN I CREATE JOY IN HEAVEN?
Sakkie Parsons
In sharing the following with you, I would like to first make a clear statement:
You can do nothing, absolutely nothing to inherit eternal life after you truly repent with your whole heart and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, because that is all loving mercy – mere loving grace.
Everything – literally everything which had to be done to open the way to heaven for you and me, Jesus did already.
ROM 3:22-27
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Now my effort is, because of my love for Him and my fellow man, to take as many people as possible with me to heaven.
Yes, not because I can earn something, but out of love, honour and respect for Him.
Yet, I also know that when I stand before Him one day, He will take note what I have done for Him here on earth and He will bring it into account.
1COR 3:11-15
11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw–
13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Now I want to share with you something personal:
I was working on my computer and read a ‘Thought from the Word’ which a co-worker translated for me without me even asking – and this leads me to share this testimony with you first:
When I realized in 2011 that my wife, who was suffering from dementia, (it was still at the very beginning), could no longer edit my work for me and no longer will be able to help me with information from the internet – seeing that I am blind – I began to wonder how my ministry will function in future. In saying that, I just have to explain that I'm using a program to let my computer talk to me and because I'm just not technologically smart, I sometimes struggle on the computer and on the Internet. Our Lord, who know me and saw my concern, allowed a lady to write to me, who attended a service where I preached more than 15 years ago with her family, offering to help me with anything in my ministry where I can use her and from then on I have one of the best personal assistants in the world. She appointed herself as my PA without any compensation. Because you see – Our Lord has seen my need and sent her to me. She and her husband, who helps her a lot with her computer, and me, like my great hero Paul and all the other apostles of his time and all the other workers of Jesus Christ over the ages, today also have this great desire to win souls for Jesus and to see all the souls we win one day in heaven.
My great hero Paul, through the Holy Spirit, puts it this way:
1 TESS 2:19-20
19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
20 For you are our glory and joy.
On occasion, Jesus gave us, His children, the following advice / instruction:
MAT 6:19-20
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
You see, according to what I understand in this regard, it works like this:
I cannot take anything out of this world with me to heaven:
1TIM 6:7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
Yet – I can gather treasures in heaven.
To every person that you and I share the gospel of Jesus Christ, and who then accepts Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour, or those who return to Jesus and then follow Him for the rest of their lives into heaven – they are treasures that you and I have a part in.
Do you know how much joy we cause in heaven when we help our Lord to lead another person to repentance by proclaiming the gospel to him / her?
It is Jesus who speaks here:
LUKE 15:10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
All the angels in heaven see and share in the joy of God about a soul that comes to Jesus.
If you live in that place today, where you are so busy with the things of this life and you simply have no time to work or do something for our Lord, for example to be involved in some or other way in spreading God's gospel and building His Kingdom –
Yet, you know that you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour –
Then I want to ask you to pray about it and to reflect on our Lord and Saviour's words again, namely:
MAT 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Just imagine how infinite wonderful it will be – adding to all the wonderfulness that we cannot even imagine with our understanding – if you and I are standing before our Lord one day, and He look at all the treasures around us that we gathered and with a pleasing smile look at us and say:
MAT 25:21 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'
I would not be honest with you if I do not remind you that our Lord also wrote us a little further in this section –
But – while you read this, remember the enormous terrifying price which Jesus, the One who wrote these words for us, paid, so that you and I could receive the loving grace of our Lord to be with Him in heaven one day and not dying the most terrible everlasting death in hell:
MAT 25:29-30
29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
30 And cast the worthless servant (the people who did not repent and become followers of Jesus) into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Take note:
If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and you follow Him through and out of this life into the afterlife, you will also step into heaven with our Lord Jesus.
So, on your way to heaven, collect precious treasures, by bringing other people along with you to heaven.
Because do you remember and how absolutely wonderful:
ACTS 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
As I always say in some variation, I say again:
Not all of us can preach or evangelize, but we all have a life. So use what you can and live your faith and gather in such a way precious treasures in heaven.
Greetings,
Sakkie