Further Up, Further in.

Homesick. Does it mean nothing? All the longing?

But Jesus said unto him, the foxes have holes, and the birds of the heavens have nests, but the Son of man hath not whereon to rest his head. ~Matt. 8:20

Our home is not with Jesus, our home is Jesus. When we accept Christ into our lives, he becomes a part of us. Indeed, the ultimate goal of a Christian is to glorify God, which we do through being as Christlike as we can. So, If the Son of man hath not whereon to rest his head, where do we rest our heads? We are only travelers here. 

This world is not our home. We must give our lives to Jesus, we are not our own. ~John Elefante

What I hear people say is, on earth, there are all of the aches and all of the pains that come with being an Animal. A mere mortal creature. God destined us for something greater, creating us Imago Dei (Image of God.) 

In Heaven, there are no more aches or pains or tears.

So? Is that why you want to go to heaven? I fall into this thinking all the time, especially when life is hard. I wake up some mornings and I just say, "Oh God, please take me home today. I'm tired of being here." 

But that is not It.

I don't want to go to heaven to avoid all of the pains and worries that come with an animal life. I want to go to heaven to be with my Lord, My Lover, My Savior. 

On earth, the devil will kick sand in your face when you're already down. 

But In Heaven, you are out of what Lewis called the shadowlands. You are done seeing through a glass darkly. I know that when I die, I will be face to face with God. I will not be able to handle it, unable to bear my shame. Every single lie i've ever told, every single time i've ever been angry, every single time i've ever had impure thoughts, every single time I have ever sinned, the record will be laid bare! Absolutely bare! The veil between myself and THE God Almighty, the Lord of the Heavens and Earth will be TORN IN TWO! I will fall to my knees, tears streaming down my face, shaking and pleading, "Oh My God, oh Mighty Lord, cast me not into the pit, cast me not away from your presence! I am yours Jesus, save me!"

Then In Heaven, Christ will come to my trembling and prostrate form, and he will pick me up and say to me, "Did I not say, 'all who call upon me shall have eternal life?' Come into the presence of God. Now is the time to worship, do you hear? NOW is the time to worship. Come unto your King, fully lean on the Lord your God completely. You. Are. Home."

Then In Heaven, I will spend all eternity worshipping the one true God. Complete unity with God, for all eternity-When we get to sing with the Angels, "Holy! Holy! Holy are You! Lord God Almighty!"

I cannot wait. I just cannot wait to be in the presence of God completely, with no cares, just to be forever in bond with Him in worship to Him. And then I find this verse: 

Let your heart not be troubled: Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places: If it were not so, I would have told you: I go to prepare a place for you. And If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that Where I am, there may ye be also. ~Luke 14: 1-3

God will take me when I'm ready. My fruits have to be ripe. In Luke 14, God doesn't tell us why he doesn't take us home right away. He tells us he will come back for us, that we may forever be where he Is. 

That is It.  That's what it's all about! Everything, this entire life that we live on this earth, that's what it's about! It's about Christ! It's about forever worshipping Him in His presence!  

We're born, we live, we hope to marry, have careers and a family, avoid pain and be happy. Is that it? No! Of course not! Again, I say to you that everything, everything, EVERYTHING is about worshipping Christ for all eternity. 

Does it mean nothing? That homesickness, that longing in the back of your head that says, "this is not your home"? 

That homesickness is Christ calling you to Himself. That's what it is, that's why we have it. I know that I can't go home to Him until He calls me once and for all, until then I must serve Him here to the best of my ability, worship to the best of my ability, and honor to the best of my ability. 

I know that when I die, this is where I'm going. I know that I am going home to God. 

When I die, I shall see Him. 

The anticipation you get when you know you are going to see a girl that you have feelings for? (Or a guy, if you're a girl.) Those goosebumps, those chills? How much more is being with God like that? 

The even greater anticipation that I imagine you get when you are going to marry the girl? What is marriage, but a representation of our eternal union with Christ? 

THAT is the anticipation I have for meeting my King. The anticipation I have to hear Christ say, "Come home, Come home, Come home. Come further up, and further in. Come evermore into me, for I am yours and you are mine. Well done, good and faithful servant. Come into the holy of holies, into the presence of the one who has loved you all of your life. For now my child, and for all eternity, You. Are. Home."

Soli Deo Gloria

What am I?

O Lord our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the world! Which hast set thy Glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I behold thy heavens, even the works of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, What is Man, say I, that thou art mindful of him. and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and worship. thou hast made him to have dominion in the works of thine hands, thou hast put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen: yea, and the beasts of the field. The fowls of the air and the fish of the sea, that which passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord our lord, how excellent is thy name in all the world! ~Psalm 8


What is man, say I, that thou art mindful of him? What am I, say I, that you should love me Lord?

I'm nothing. Nothing without you Lord. Draw me Nearer, never let me go. Closer to your heart, draw me nearer Lord.

I've been wading in shallow waters, You're the ocean I am after.

You're all I have
All I need
The air I must die to breathe
You hold my life
In your hands
Hang my head
Break My heart
All I felt I had torn apart
My burden to bear
Taken from my cares
You're all I have
All I need
The air you died so I could breathe
You offer your love
In your hands
Lord you let me know
That I can breathe again


My King is my all in all, the air I die to myself to breathe. My breath is my life Lord, and you are my breath. My first breath when I rise, My last breath when I rest.  I know all I can do is keep breathing. Thank you Lord, I know that I can keep breathing.

Divine Romance...

The Lord is exalted:for he dwelleth on high:He hath filled Zion with Judgement and Justice. ~Isaiah 33: 5

O God, my heart is prepared, so is my tongue. I will sing and give praise. Awake, Viol and harp. I will awake early. I will praise thee O Lord among the people, and I will sing unto thee among the nations. For the mercy is great above the heavens, and the truth unto the clouds. Exalt thyself, O God, above the heavens, and let thy glory be upon all the earth. ~Psalm 108: 1-5

Sometimes I feel apathetic, and I hate it. God is so great, and yet sometimes I feel like it's just another Monday. 

What I have to force myself to realize is that God is God, and we are not. We don't praise God because he's good to us, we praise him because he is God, worthy of praise just because he Is. 

and yet, just for His glory, he created all of the world and all of its beauty. And when humanity fell, he sent his one and only Son to die for our sins. So this being, the creator, who is completely worthy to be worshipped by every creature alive is good to us even though we don't deserve it, and even though we often forget it.

::commence tears of joy at how absolutely and completely awesome God is::

Open the floodgates up

I want to change my mind

I want to be in love

I want the water in my eyes

I want to cry until the end of time

I want to let the rain come down

Tonight

And what little we see of the glory of God here on earth? I cannot fathom what it will be like in heaven.

My eyes can see the colors of Glory. My hands can reach the heavens before me. Where our hearts will beat with joy together, and love will reign forever and ever, Oh my God, I want to be there with you! I want to see you face to face, where being in your arms is the permanent state. I want it like it was back then, I wanna be in Eden. 

And I saw a new heaven, and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city new Jerusalem come down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride trimmed for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be their God with them, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, neither crying, neither shall be anymore pain, for the first things are passed. ~Revelation 21: 1-5

For you

I sing I dance

Rejoice in this Divine Romance

Lift my heart

and my hands

to show my love

What of it?

“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”
― Martin Luther

Romans 12:15

Blessed be God, even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. Which comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any affliction by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God. For the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolations aboundeth through Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is wrought in the enduring of the same sufferings, which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. Our hope is steadfast concerning you, in as much as we all know, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. ~2nd Corinthians 1:3-7


Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep. ~Romans 12:15


On Saturday, May 5th, Josh Eddy-a close friend of people very dear to me-passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.
I never met him, but I feel like I did, hearing the stories of how good he was, and especially how much he loved the Lord.


Josh is in his heavenly dwelling now, the place the Lord has prepared for him, the place that he has longed to go to.

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be destroyed, we have a building given by God, that is, a house made not with hands, but eternal in the heavens. For therefore we sigh, desiring to be clothed with our house, which is from heaven. Because that if we be clothed, we shall not be found naked. For indeed, we that are in this tabernacle, sigh and are burdened because we would not be unclothed, but would be clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up in life. 2nd Corinthians 5:1-4.


Mortality has been swallowed up in life. Where, O grave, is now thy sting? For we do not mourn as those who have no hope.

For our hope is in Christ, the one and only son of the true and living God. The Life among the dead. The one to whom Josh is now saying, Holy, Holy, Holy are you, Lord God almighty.