NIV 365 / The Here and Not Yet

The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading Plan

Day 302 of 365 The Here and Not Yet Good, true and beautiful - those are the attributes of the divine Hero's heart, along with love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. He is compassionate and good, holy and true; and there's an entire kingdom - heaven - where his heart defines reality. Read Somewhere beyond the earthly realms that we can see is God's ultimate kingdom, heaven. It doesn't have a location we can pinpoint. But it's real and it's somewhere, even though we don't know exactly where. Revelation 21:2 speaks of the new Jerusalem "coming down out of heaven," so somehow heaven is above us. It may be beyond all galaxies and universes or even outside of time. While there's much we don't know about its specific location, there's much that we do know about heaven. It's where the Hero reigns, where he is all in all. It's the place the Archnemesis fell from. And it's where God's throne is. Think Scripture tells us a lot about heaven; but since we've not yet experienced it, there's much that remains a mystery. There is one thing that's crystal clear: Heaven is where God's ways are carried out perfectly. In the Hero's kingdom, the Hero reigns. That means that in heaven, there's no sin and no evil. The fruit of God's Spirit - "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22 - 23) - is the code of the kingdom. Justice reigns. Integrity is all that exists. Everything in the Hero's kingdom is under his authority because he is King. Heaven is where everything is as the Hero wants it to be. It is very, very good. Live Right now, in a realm we can't see but that is very real, there is a place where the Hero's ways are the order of the day. It's a perfect, wonderful place. Taken from NIV The Great Rescue Revelation 4:1-6 Revelation 4:1-6 KJV 1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.