Heaven. Where is it?
People live and then die. That’s a pretty bleak statement! Yet, as hopeless as it might sound, there exists somewhere in this stunningly short time of our lives on this earth – a moment in time between living and dying – a conscious decision about where our souls will end up – for ALL eternity, forever, infinity.
It takes faith to believe the Lord’s salvation message. His message is one of forgiveness, to live with Him in Heaven forever. Forever is akin to perpetual. It borders on being a math equation: to live or do something forever, infinity. I believe it also takes faith to intentionally go to Hell, or to Heaven.
I have been to Heaven. I prayed about visiting it because I wanted to write about the Lord’s home. My experience was not – repeat not – a near death experience (NDE). Some people tell me what I experienced. They say, “Ed, you had a dream,” Oh, Ed, you experienced a vision,” “Poor, Ed; he hallucinated!” I visited Heaven twenty-seven years ago. That experience still delights my senses in full color.
So, where is this place called Heaven? When the angel led me away from earth, we flew up and away from earth at a smooth velocity. As we traveled, I turned around to face the earth to see it becoming smaller. I saw that the United States was completely in the dark, the sun several hours yet to rise upon its East Coast. Most of the Atlantic Ocean was sparkly blue, and I could see that daytime had come to the European coasts, Portugal, etc., several hours before.
So, do you know which way to get to Heaven? It’s a real destination. Physical bodies – those of flesh, bone, and blood – cannot enter, but only the spirit can.
John 3:5, KJV “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Whenever there is a discussion on death and dying, the mortality of this life, the talk quickly turns to the subject of Heaven – or Hell. I lived in the barracks when I was in the Army. One evening, I listened in on a spirited conversation of how four soldiers were going to control Hell when they got there:
One soldier who liked to play poker, said, “When I get there, I’ll beat the devil at Poker and my bet will be that he will have to give Hell to him. It will all be mine!”
Then the second soldier, who hated anyone with authority but liked being in charge, said he would run Hell better than the devil. He said, “I ran my uncle’s gas station better than he did, so I’ll run Hell a hell of a lot better than the devil!”
The third young soldier had the best plan of all. “I’ll blow up Hell, and then God will have to let us in to Heaven because the place will be shattered by my bombs!”
When the laughter subsided, they looked to the fourth guy. His eyes downcast for a moment, his eyes narrowed, his face flinched, timid in a bashful sort of way, he said, “I don’t know, guys. Seems to me that if there is a God, he would have the final say about what goes on in Hell. Hell’s down, you know, an’ Heaven’s up. He’s got the military advantage, and we should think twice about our intentions.”
So, these young men, who wanted to live their lives, knew they were headed for Hell. All but one of them had figured a way to beat their destiny of eternal punishment; that soldier was the closest to understanding the truth, and that basic truth is John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You will not ever see those kinds of people mentioned above. You won’t find the police because there will not be any murderers, thieves, car wrecks, fights – and just to wrap it up – nothing bad ever happens in Heaven; there is no sin in Heaven.
If you believe in what the Word of God says, His Bible, you will be pulled toward Heaven – whether you pass away on this sin-stained earth or you hear God’s voice saying, “Come up here!” – a prelude for the Rapture of the saints.
Ed Gaulden