Heaven is for real!

"Rejoice evermore." I Thessalonians 5:16  This verse has brought something that has been simmering for quite a while, to a full on boil.  Monday nights in August at my church have been simply amazing.  Each year, in the month of August, we have Sunday evening service on Monday night.  There are special guests, both musically and to preach.  The preacher we had on Monday is actually the preacher at one of the campuses for my church.  Wow.  He doesn't apologize for simply taking apart scripture, staying there for a while, and going as deep as time permits.  This past Monday he was preaching on "being in your spot", and while that was amazing, what stopped me dead in my tracks was this little verse.  He said that it was an outcome, not a command.  This is what is going to happen as an outcome of our faith.  We are going to rejoice evermore! 

One of my absolute favorite albums right now is Matt Redmond's 10,000 Reasons.  There is a song "Endless Hallelujah".  The first line grabbed me and the rest of the song carries you to a sweet, sweet place of rejoicing.  "When I stand before Your Throne, dressed in glory not my own, What a joy I'll sing of on that day.No more tears or broken dreams, forgotten is the minor key, Everything as it was meant to be"  The chorus simply says "We will worship, we will worship, Forever in Your presence we will sing.  We will worship, we will worship, an Endless Hallelujah to the King".  (you can hear the whole song here:Matt Redmond's Endless Hallelujah)This song is one of my go to's whenever I am having a hard time.  It almost always brings me to tears.  This is where my imagination goes wild.  Picture it... standing before the King of Kings... it takes my breath away!  Over the past few months I have realized how many songs out there are about worshiping in Heaven.  It made me start to think, and then I had to search.  Why are there so many songs out now that bring us to Heaven? What is it going to be like?  I have several friends and family members that I can't wait to see and are just holding a place for me. But the biggest thing, the most amazing thing, the thing that brings me to my knees in humble adoration, is I will be in the presence of the One that gave EVERYTHING simply to come to Earth, walk around in the flesh, be separated from His Father, and take my punishment so that I could be standing there where I don't deserve to be.  In the presence of the HOLY God.  To worship.  Revelation 4:8 has become one of my favorite things to sit and contemplate. It says "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come." It says "they rest not day and night".  Constant worship.  Simply saying "Holy".  The first time I caught that it was Endless, it literally took my breath away.  

I had this wish that those that have already had the privilege of being there, were taking time to look down checking in on me.  Scripture clearly states that is is endless worship.  They aren't thinking about me, worried about what was happening here.  They are worshiping day and night, in the presence of the Almighty.  How I envy them.  I long to sit at my Savior's feet and worship Him, simply for who He is and what He has done. 

While I may not be able to do it "in person" per se, I am still in awe of Him down here and can sing "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!"  So back to I Thessalonians. Rejoice evermore.  Such a simple verse, so easily overlooked.  However these two words care such a wealth of hope, it's hard for me to contain.  I always thought that this was a command.  Seems simple. Always rejoice.  But the words are flipped.  It's rejoice evermore.  It's a promise.  It's an outcome, not a command.  This is what is going to happen, not what we have to do, but what we get to do. Evermore.