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Heaven's Tour Guide
About two years ago I happened to be out in our local neighborhood park where I live, giving our house pet retriever her accustomed evening walk. I have long been a Christian, and that evening, upon gazing up into the glorious and vast starry heavens, my spirit was overcome with such a foretaste of heavenly glory that I had never known possible prior to that evening. It was joyous beyond human expression, absolutely off the charts from our feeble concepts. As the celestial zephyrs wafted into my innermost being, a peace unlike any I had ever sensed before flooded my soul with rivers and rivers of unfathomable peace, fantastic peace. I had previously known the initial peace and joy of first trusting in Christ, but this was different...Way, way more and intense in degree. You will just have to wait and see for yourself. As the evening concluded, I walked back to my house and attempted to share with my good, Christian wife my experience, but she simply couldn't partake of it, it was for me alone, or was it? To my great surprise, upon walking the dog the following evening, the same identical experience repeated itself, all over again, and I was eating it up with indescribable relish. Here is where all this gets interesting: This cycle, this enduring heavenly foretaste kept up it's blessed repetitive rounds for about two and one half weeks until I began to shift from bliss to fear as I finally asked the Lord, "Lord, what are you trying to tell me? Are you doing this to prepare me for my coming home?" The next day I had an unaccountable peace and assurance that I was not coming home, but that I was a member of a race and planet that are soon to end. That is half of what I feel this whole experience was about; It is God's will for the Christian Church to get ready for heaven. Our history will be concluding before too long and time is of the essence for us. Well, off to the park the next evening and guess what? Yeh, you guessed it... All over again, on and on, each evening for about four and one half weeks total of the same evening, heavenly foretastes. I was beginning to crush under the load of glory and found my bliss an unshakeable distraction to my daily duties! Realizing that there had to be some other purpose for this visitation, I finally conceived that it just might be possible that the Lord wished for me to preserve my burden in some literary fashion for others. Yes, that was it! I walked calmly into my study, took up my pen and begin to write out, as best I could, and the stanzas flowed out onto the paper like the oil down upon Aaron's beard. When my little poem of fifteen stanzas was completed I, of course, walked out into our local park at the next opportunity, expecting the usual waves of bliss to assuage my now overflowing soul, only to find that my heavenly raptures had ceased. It had accomplished it's intention, and I am now left with this little poem which I also share with you. May it bless your soul, as it did mine then and now, in the love of Christ.
THERE IS A LAND
There is a land, beyond the clouds,
beyond Orion's brow,
Where, angels gowned, in grace renown, look down and ponder, 'How?'
'Oh how, oh how do mortal men, those transient specks in time,
'Enwrap their eyes, with all that dies, while nobler things, sublime,
'Are set on every verdant hill, in every fragrant vale,
'In every glimmering, golden hall, where we immortals dwell?'
Where is this land, where every breeze sings soft in metered rhyme?
Where every thought, or look, is sought, to dwell on things divine?
Where is a tree, a flowery bough, so weighed with blossoms there,
That glory blooms with sweet perfume, profusely in the air?
Oh, show me now that marbled court, immeasurable to see,
Pavilioned square, yet ends no where, to walk eternally.
If but; To reach, to touch, to hold, to tell them all my heart,
With words of love, like those above, in sentimental art.
To trek that endless, vast domain, immense beyond our dreams,
Yet ever find, another kind, of new and glorious scene.
Oh, show me now Seraphic guest, oh, guide me to the gate,
And take my hand, throughout that land, where all these treasures wait.
Then, in another, different tone, I hear a voice, divine,
Call sweetly there, 'My realm, I'll share, and show you where to find.
'Now take my hand, you'll know it by, a lonely nail print there,
'For heaven is of, my limitless love, which sails throughout it's air.
'And no one finds a silvery stream, or tastes celestial wine,
'Or seeks to touch, with holy hush, the smallest thing of mine,'
'No eye has every yet beheld, the Mighty Mount of God,
'Where choruses blend, their praise to send, in joyous, solemn bond,'
'But only those who find that gate, will walk on streets of gold,
'When galaxies pine, away with time, and lower worlds enfold.'
'I am that Gate,' He said to me, 'I am the Truth, the Way,'
'Oh, seeking soul, this Gate behold,
'I AM, I AM THE WAY.'
John 14:6
ETERNAL INK (The actual account of a dream) by Craig F. Pitts
I dreamed I was in heaven
Where an angel kept God's book.
He was writing so intently
I just had to take a look.
It was not, at first, his writing
That made me stop and think
But the fluid in the bottle
That was marked ETERNAL INK.
This ink was most amazing,
Dark black upon his blotter
But as it touched the parchment
It became as clear as water.
The angel kept on writing,
But as quickly as a wink
The words were disappearing
With that strange ETERNAL INK.
The angel took no notice,
But kept writing on and on.
He turned each page and filled it
Till all its space was gone.
I thought he wrote to no avail,
His efforts were so vain
For he wrote a thousand pages
That he'd never read again.
And as I watched and wondered that
This awesome sight was mine,
I actually saw a word stay black
As it dried upon the line.
The angel wrote and I thought I saw
A look of satisfaction.
At last he had some print to show
For all his earnest action.
A line or two dried dark and stayed
As black as black can be,
But strangely the next paragraph
Became invisible to see.
The book was getting fuller,
The angel's records true,
But most of it was blank, with
Just a few words coming through.
I knew there was some reason,
But as hard as I could think,
I couldn't grasp the significance
Of that ETERNAL INK.
The mystery burned within me,
And I finally dared to ask
The angel to explain to me
Of his amazing task.
And what I heard was frightful
As the angel turned his head.
He looked directly at me,
And this is what he said...
I know you stand and wonder
At what my writing's worth
But God has told me to record
The lives of those on earth.
The book that I am filling
Is an accurate account
Of every word and action
And to what they do amount.
And since you have been watching
I must tell you what is true;
The details of my journal
Are the strict accounts of YOU.
The Lord asked me to watch you
As each day you worked and played.
I saw you as you went to church,
I saw you as you prayed.
But I was told to document
Your life through all the week.
I wrote when you were proud and bold,
I wrote when you were meek.
I recorded all your attitudes
Whether they were good or bad.
I was sorry that I had to write
The things that make God sad.
So now I'll tell the wonder
of this ETERNAL INK,
For the reason for its mystery
Should make you stop and think
This ink that God created
To help me keep my journal
Will only keep a record of
Things that are eternal.
So much of life is wasted
On things that matter not
So instead of my erasing,
Smudging ink and ugly blot
I just keep writing faithfully and
Let the ink do all the rest
For it is able to decide
What's useless and what's best.
And God ordained that as I write
Of all you do and say
Your deeds that count for nothing
Will just disappear away.
When books are opened someday,
As sure as heaven is true;
The Lord's ETERNAL INK will tell
What mattered most to you.
If you just lived to please yourself
The pages will be bare,
And God will issue no reward
For you when you get there.
In fact, you'll be embarrassed,
You will hang your head in shame
Because you did not give yourself
In love to Jesus' Name.
Yet maybe there will be a few
Recorded lines that stayed
That showed the times you truly cared,
Sincerely loved and prayed.
But you will always wonder
As you enter heaven's door
How much more glad you would have been
If only you'd done more.
For I record as God sees,
I don't stop to even think
Because the truth is written
With God's ETERNAL INK.
When I heard the angel's story
I fell down and wept and cried
For as yet I still was dreaming
I hadn't really died.
And I said: O Angel tell the Lord
That soon as I awake
I'll live my life for Jesus
I'll do all for His dear sake.
I'll give in full surrender;
I'll do all He wants me to;
I'll turn my back on self and sin
And whatever isn't true.
And, though the way seems long and rough
I promise to endure
I'm determined to pursue the things
That are holy, clean and pure.
With Jesus as my helper,
I will win lost souls to Thee,
For I know that they will live with Christ
For all eternity.
And that's what really matters
When my life on earth is gone
That I will stand before the Lord
And hear Him say, well done.
For is it really worth it
As my life lies at the brink?
And I realize that God keeps books
With His ETERNAL INK.
Should all my life be focused
On things that turn to dust?
From this point on I'll serve the Lord;
I can, I will, I must!
I will NOT send blank pages
Up to God's majestic throne
For where that record's going now
Is my eternal home.
I'm giving all to Jesus
I now have seen the link
For I saw an angel write my life
With God's ETERNAL INK.
Submit your Heaven poems and other Christian encounters to Heaven's Tour Guide!