Saturday, March 25, 2017

Many Mansions



I dreamed that I had participated in a pageant giving awards for character, citizenship, and service. The awards ceremonies were extensive and took place over several days at a beautiful, luxurious resort. Although I was surprised, honored and joyful over some rewards I received, I was also disappointed at first that I did not receive some rewards I thought I deserved. But overall I felt jubilant, blessed, and thankful.

My husband had been with me throughout the week, and both our mothers were supposed to meet us there on the last day. His mother arrived in the late morning and was hungry, so he offered to take her to lunch. While I waited for my mother, I decided to explore the resort, as I had been too busy to do so while participating in the final events leading up to the awards ceremonies.

As I wandered through what seemed like a palace, beyond anything I had ever seen or imagined, every vista and surrounding seemed more inviting and spectacular than the one I had just experienced. Fragrances of orange blossoms, jasmine and exotic spices wafted through the air on a warm, gentle breeze.

Birds were singing, and many instrumental and vocal melodies blended together in perfect harmony. Lotus and water lilies floated on pools, magically undisturbed by cascading fountains. Tile mosaics in the floor and walls glittered as if made from gold, silver, and precious stones.

Several people approached me and thanked me for taking part in the pageant and said they had been uplifted by my story. They seemed familiar, as if I knew them, but I couldn’t pinpoint the specifics of our meeting or relationship.

The farther I traveled through this glorious place the more I wanted to experience, and the thought of leaving became unbearable. In the deep corners of my mind I knew that I had to return to my room, pack, and go home, but the urgency of doing that became increasingly remote. It finally struck me that in all these amazing settings, some designed as common areas and some as individual guest rooms and suites, there were no doors!

I found myself in a penthouse suite where a father and his young sons were playing in a fountain. The father was telling his sons a joyful story, and I could sense the overwhelming love and unbreakable bond that family shared. They seemed aware of my presence but welcoming and not in the least disturbed by the intrusion.

As I gradually entered wakefulness I did not want to leave the dream, for I felt as if I had an imagined glimpse of Heaven. Yet my dream was limited by the bounds of my earthly experience. Even for the apostles Paul and John, whom God actually transported to Heaven during their lifetime, albeit for a very short while, words could not begin to describe what they had experienced! (2 Corinthians 12:2-4; Revelation 4:1-2).

I was refreshed and encouraged by the dream, and yet I felt that tinge of disappointment at realizing that it was still a dream and not yet reality. For now, we are still strangers passing through a foreign country, longing for our true home (Hebrews 11:13-16). But we have that blessed and living hope of Heaven (Titus 2:13; 1 Peter 1:3), far beyond our wildest dreams!

One day, I believe and hope very soon, the Lord Jesus Christ will return for His children, for all those who have trusted Him as the Savior Who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:14; 51-53). He will call us up to meet with Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18), and we will face Him at the judgment, or bema, seat where we will give an account of all that we have done, good and bad, since we were saved (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

Our sins will not keep us from Heaven, for He has paid the price in full with His shed blood and justified us, or clothed us with His righteousness, so that we are reconciled and acceptable to the Father (Romans 3:25; 2 Corinthians 5:18). He will reward us for those deeds that we did to accomplish His purpose, provided they were motivated by our gratitude and love for Him and not to earn the praise of men or other earthly prize (Matthew 6:1-6).

The fire of judgment will identify those worthy deeds, for they will emerge unharmed and shining like gold, silver and precious stones. But for those deeds that burn up in the flames like wood, hay or stubble, we will suffer loss (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). We may have been expecting a crown for our faithful service (1 Peter 5:1-4), only to realize that we did the right thing for the wrong reason (Luke 13:30).

But thankfully, He will wipe every tear from our eye (Revelation 7:17; 21:4) and we will be filled with joyful bliss just to be in His presence!

I believe I was reluctant to awaken from my dream because I hoped I might be there long enough to catch a glimpse of His precious face (1 Corinthians 13:12), or even just to touch the hem of His garment! (Matthew 14:36). Jesus Christ Himself will be the Light of Heaven (Revelation 21:23) and the Fountain of Living Water (Revelation 7:17) giving eternal life to all of us!

As if that were not enough, Heaven will also be filled with our loved ones in Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We will break bread with them, first at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), and then whenever we desire, just as Jesus ate in His glorified body (Luke 24:30; 41-43).

And we will meet all those whom we in some way encouraged in their Christian walk (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). Even if we were not there when they asked Christ into their heart, we may have planted the seed of faith (Luke 8:5-8) or watered it by giving them a tract, witnessing, showing them the love of Christ, supporting a missionary who led them to Christ, or just by being a Godly example (1 Corinthians 3:6-8; Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:9).

What a blessing to meet them, and then have eternity to get to know them better, as well as so many new family members (Matthew 12:47-50) who are our brothers and sisters in Christ! In our Father’s house are many mansions, each specially and lovingly designed for each of us (John 14:2). The streets will be of gold, the walls and foundations of precious stones (Revelation 21:18-21), and glorious worship music and praise will fill the air (Revelation 5:8-14).

In the New Jerusalem, there will be no sea (Revelation 21:1), for there are no more barriers between nations. I believe there will be no doors in that heavenly city because we will all be one loving family, with no secrets, no facades and nothing to hide. We will have free access to all of Heaven’s amazing homes, meeting places, and even the heavenly throne!

How awesome it will be to experience that which our eyes have not seen and our ears have not heard (1 Corinthians 2:9), exceedingly abundantly (Ephesians 3:20) beyond what we could even imagine or think! Even beyond that will be our indescribable, perfect, complete joy and peace of seeing our precious Savior face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12), worshiping Him and basking forever in His light and love!

Come quickly, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)

© 2017 Laurie Collett
Womanhood With Purpose
Adorned From Above
No Ordinary Blog Hop


14 comments:

Winkel's Crazy Ideas said...

Blessed by your post, I enter into another earthly day here in Norway. I have thought a lot about heaven lately as certain circumstanses have changed. After reading what you wrote, I feel renewed, joyful and uplifted and so very very happy to follow our Lord Jesus. Thank you, God bless you. Pam in Norway

Frank E. Blasi said...

Dear Laurie,
What a wonderful refresher to remind ourselves, especially after reading about the recent atrocity which took place in London last week (which is the subject of my blog for this week).
With my own history of world travel, I have seen for myself some of the most beautiful places this world can offer, but nothing like what awaits every true believer in Jesus Christ.
Revelation 21 and 22 describes the city of New Jerusalem, believed to be up to 1,500 miles for each side, giving an area of 2,250,000 square miles. This indicates a population much higher than we often speculate. As you say, the main street of gold, as clear as crystal, and foundations and buildings (mansions?) made of twelve types of precious minerals, and I believe, transparent or opaque. A river of clear water will run from the throne of God, but I will miss the sea, for I always loved the coast!
An excellent blog to stir up our hopes and aspirations.
God Bless.

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Pam,
I am so blessed to hear that you were uplifted by the post! No matter what our earthly circumstances, we are not promised tomorrow, and it is such a blessing to know that Heaven awaits us once He sees fit to take us home.
Thank you for your lovely words of encouragement, and God bless you!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Frank,
God did bless us with amazing beauty throughout this planet that is our earthly home, but nothing can compare or even prepare us to imagine what Heaven will be like! The Bible description of the New Jerusalem is awesome indeed, but I don't believe that we can now even begin to comprehend its glory! I too love looking out at the sea, whether from the sunny Gulf of Mexico or the mysterious and rugged Ireland coast. But somehow I don't think we'll miss it in Heaven!
Thanks as always for your encouragement and insight, and God bless,
Laurie

Aritha said...

What a wonderful dream! Love to read about what you are writing about heaven.
We shall see Jesus, just as they saw Him
There is no greater promise than this
When He returns in power and glory
We shall see Jesus, we shall see Jesus,
just as He is!

Laurie Collett said...

Thank you, Ariella, for your lovely comment! That is a beautiful poem -- how wonderful it will be to see our precious Savior face to face!
Love in Christ,
Laurie

Donald Fishgrab said...

I find it interesting that you pointed out that some of the awards you expected t recieve were not received were not, obtained because the work was for the wrong reason. We cannot judge others, or even our own efforts becauwse we have trouble understanding our own motivations. Thanks for the reminder.

Laurie Collett said...

Very true, Donald -- I believe there will be surprises at the judgment seat, not only unexpected rewards, but unexpected loss of reward for good works done with the wrong motive. Only God knows the hearts. May we do the right things for the right reasons and hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
Thanks for your Bible-based comment and God bless,
Laurie

S. Knowles said...

Hello Laurie,
That dream sure sounds amazing. Always encouraging to drop by and be encouraged by what you have shared. Thanks for taking time to share your wonderful dream with us and to encourage us while we are sojourners here patiently enduring until the end, waiting for our Lord's return. God bless and keep you. Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

Laurie Collett said...

Hello Sateigdra,
I'm so glad you dropped by and I'm blessed that you were encouraged by the post! May we keep looking up, for our redemption draws near!
God bless and keep you too!
Love in Christ,
Laurie

Brenda said...

Hi Laurie,
the way you felt about your dream reminds me of my near death experience where I believe I was carried away to the 'third heaven'. There is no comparison to that place I was taken to anywhere in this world. That was reality - my twenty eight years of life was as the dream.
God bless you for sharing Laurie.

Laurie Collett said...

Hi Brenda,
What a lovely way to put it -- that our life here is as a dream compared to the reality of spending eternity with Jesus! Thank you as always for your encouraging comment, and may God continue to bless you richly,
Laurie

Susan said...

What a wonderful glimpse of heaven, even if it still falls short of what it will be like, the glory that we will see will be beyond what our earthly imaginations can think up, or dream up. I like what you say about “no doors” because we will have nothing to hide. That alone is so different from this world where we value our privacy above all, and often have many things we want to keep hidden from prying eyes. I’ve heard others say they will miss the absence of oceans, one pastor stated that he loves surfing and cannot imagine not having that anymore for eternity...but like you say there will be so much more, the glory of God!!! How can it be that we would suffer a feeling of the loss of the earthly while in the presence of God’s glory??? Inconceivable!

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Susan! All we hold dear in this life will pale in comparison to what God has planned for us. I have heard some commentators say that the absence of seas mentioned in Scripture may refer metaphorically to boundaries between countries, for we will all be one in Christ. Whether or not there are physical oceans, Heaven will be a place far beyond our wildest dreams, lacking nothing that we would want or need.
God bless,
Laurie