Tag Archives: Bible

Jan 23 2024

Some things I know about heaven… and some things I don’t know


How much should I be expected to know? Not much. The following Bible passage discourages me from getting all bent out of shape because my knowledge of heaven is …well…limited.

9 But as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV)

If no one has seen it, no one has heard all about it, and no one has even imagined it, I’m not too disappointed that I’m not an expert on heaven. Having said that, God has given us just enough of a glimpse to peak our curiosity and cause us to be keenly interested. You will see in the remainder of this writing that my “knowing: is mixed with my “ignorance”. I will try to be honest so if you discover an untruth or something that needs correction, by all means drop a comment and tell me. (I have thick skin)

Some things I know

God Made it. In the first verse of the Bible we learn that God made the earth and the heavens in one swoop. In one sentence earth and all above the earth was created. But what is it and where is it? Well that’s something I don’t know. I told a friend recently that “it’s North of here” pointing upward. I believe there is the heavens (plural) which consists of what we can observe with our eyes and the best telescopes from the most distant platforms. I saw three Bible verses that mentioned the “heaven of heavens” and Paul mentioned “the third heaven”. I still don’t know where it is and to say more about that would be futile.

I was recently thinking that if someone told me to point toward heaven I would go outside and point my finger upward toward the sky and maybe I would be right. However, if a guy in Australia was asked the same question he would do the same thing i did, but because the earth is a round planet we would be pointing in exactly opposite directions. Go figure…

It’s God’s headquarters

The throne of God is there, angels are there, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is there. He sits on the right hand of God. Does he sit all the time or is that figurative? Jesus is still God/man. He is still in the flesh and he is there. In Matthew 6 the “Lord’s Prayer” is recorded. I think it is more correct to call it the “disciples prayer”. But Jesus was warning his disciples to not be hypocrites by praying, giving, and fasting to be seen of men. And in that discourse he suggested how his disciples should pray beginning with “Our Father who is in heaven” . Then later in the prayer “…thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. So there is no doubt that heaven is where God is. Mysteriously He is also everywhere else too. Think about that for a while!

Wherever the location of heaven is, it’s temporary!

Yes, you read that correctly. At some point in the future God is going to destroy the earth and the heavens and move his kingdom to the new earth he will create.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice saying “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, or the former things have passed away”. (Revelation 21 1-4 ESV)

Wow, what a packed 4 verses. We can learn much here.

God will not be distant any longer. He will live with his people

There will be no more sea

The new city of God will be the new Jerusalem

There will be no tears

There will be no death

There will be no mourning

There will be no crying

There will be no pain

All former things have passed away

That is quite a lot we can know about heaven but there is more…

According to none other than Jesus

There will be no marriages, no weddings in heaven.

“For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven (Matthew 22:30 ESV)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the husband you love so very much will not be your husband in heaven. My deceased wife Jeanine Kay will be only a sibling. I see so many posts by friends on social media who are longing to be reunited with a deceased spouse. I suppose they have never read this passage or maybe didn’t want to believe it. But there it is. Marriage is only for time. It does not exist in eternity.

Shocker alert! Will we be gender neutral? What does “as the angels of God in heaven” mean? I don’t know. I know they are spirits, there is some sort of ranking, but we know little about the angels who worship God for ever. We know that some of them can be seen by humans when they want to be seen. In that way they are like Jesus in his resurrected body who is both body and spirit. He could easily disguise himself so that his closest friends didn’t know who he was until he wanted them to know. He could appear in a room without opening a window or a door and he still had scars from his crucifixion.

We will be “like” him

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not year appeared, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2 ESV )

I will not venture a guess as to what that means but we will be more like the resurrected Jesus and less like the people we are now. That’s for sure. I think one fact that hinders our understanding of things in the future with God and his people is that we unconsciously attempt to imagine with the resources we now have. Our sight, sense of taste and smell, what we see, what we feel, and what we hear. Jesus in his glorified body transcended those limits and in some ways I don’t yet know, we will too.

We will be outside the limits of time and space

There will be no night, no sun, no moon

There will be eternal day with Jesus being the light

We will know our friends and family

We will know all of our siblings

On that day when my salvation is complete, finished sanctification, my love and affection will be perfect like that of Jesus. I will be just as pleased to see your mom as mine. I will love a sibling from a tribe I have never heard of as I will my dearest friend on earth. Try to imagine loving and being loved by God and all his people. Heaven sounds better all the time!.

The past is gone!

The last part of Revelation 4:21 says “…and the former things have passed away”. I have heard people talking about Aunt Betty looking down on a wayward boy hoping he changes his life. Or Grandpa is watching his grandson’s little league game from heaven. No, sorry, it isn’t happening. If I could look back on earth how could I not grieve for lost souls and friends who fell on hard times? It would be impossible.

No Sin, only joy and peace

Try to think of the most blessed time of your life, the most fun, the most fascinating, the most euphoric, the greatest peace you have experienced, the most beautiful thing you have ever seen or heard. Now multiply those experiences times infinity and you will not come close to the experience of living with Jesus in a place he prepared for you.

I know how you can get there.

There are many differences between you and me but in some ways we are the same. We are going to die. That is a fact that can’t be ignored. We are sinful people. God hates sin. To get into God’s heaven something must be done about our sinfulness. Only perfect righteousness will be accepted. Every human other than Jesus Christ is short of the mark. God loves you and made a way for you to be counted righteous like Jesus.

” For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV) God put all your sins on Jesus and he died like a common criminal, in your place, and for you. If you simply accept the final and finished work of Jesus for you God will count you righteous based on the perfect obedience and perfect sacrifice of Jesus alone.

11 “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13 ESV)

The “who” in these verses can be “you”. Will you receive him? Will you believe on his name? Repent (change the direction of your life toward Jesus) and put your trust in Jesus and he will make you his own child. Not by the will of man, nor of human performance, but wholly of God.

Royce Ogle
Granbury, Texas

Sep 25 2014

Some thoughts about Bible study…


I’m no expert! I’m just a guy who has over 50 years of experience of reading and studying the Bible, doing it the wrong way and doing it the best way. My purpose is not to tell you what you should do but rather to share what works for me and has been most helpful on my spiritual journey. So, I open my study door and welcome you in. Observe, and if you find something that might help you, please take it.

The absolute place to start is to develop the utmost regard for the Word of God. I can’t over stress the importance of loving and honoring God’s revelation to those he loves. Deuteronomy 32:46-47 The Bible is the way we learn about God, the beauty of the Christ, and the depth of his love for us. Always have as your purpose when you open your Bible that you want to hear from God. Believers should want to be listening to what God has to say so that they may be shaped by his words into the most useful vessels possible.Unless you master the Bible it will not master you. The following are some things that have been helpful to me and I think can be to you as well.

1. Context is king! A passage out of context often becomes a pretext.

Never come to your Bible only to find passages that seem to support what you already have decided is truth. Always come to your open Bible with an open heart and and open mind expecting to hear and learn truth from God. The Bible is the primary way God speaks to his children. But back to context…

Think of context in at least these ways.

Historical
Geographical
Cultural
Situation
Speaker
Audience

If you will think about Scripture in these ways you will be far more likely to get the meaning intended for you. All Scripture (Old Testament and New Testament) is God’s message to us to change us for the better. 2 Timothy 3:16

Critical thinking is required work here. Who was speaking? Who was the speaker speaking to? Why? What principal can I apply to my life today from a statement made many centuries ago to people in a different culture? If you will develop the habit of thinking in terms of context you will avoid some common pitfalls along the way. A good study Bible will have introductions to the books of the Bible and will give broad context to the story. Use that resource!

Remember this! Every false teacher takes God’s word(s) out of context. Everyone!

2. The Bible is it’s own best commentary.

A given text is best understood by reading other texts that address the same subject. A good reference Bible is invaluable. Before you consult a favorite teacher or preacher, before you read a commentary, read the Bible FIRST and then, and only then go elsewhere for more light.

3. Read whole books of the Bible. Admittedly some Bible books are quite long and you might not be able to read all of the book in one setting. But however you do it you must read the whole book.

My practice for many years (since I got high speed internet…) has been to do most of my Bible reading online. I prefer Bible Gateway but there are several other very good sites to choose from. I also prefer the ESV (English Standard Version). It is a trustworthy word for word translation that I find just as comfortable to read as the more popular NIV or Living Bible but more true to the best manuscripts available.

I turn off notes and references for my original reading. I read the book several times until I am pretty familiar with the story. I want to know how that passage applies to me and to others. Often it is in the simple reading of the Book that God seems to zero my mind in on a truth I had previously not seen or had forgotten. Remember, if you are God’s child, the best Teacher lives in you. The Holy Spirit alone is the supreme teacher. John 16:13

Once I have read through the text several times and thought about it, asked myself questions, and considered the actual words of passages, only then do I turn on notes and references. Then I read the passages referred to by the references given. Then next I read the notes available. My last resource is to read a commentary. I think it is far better to find what God is saying to me than to read what some other man says God is saying to me. Of course commentaries are very valuable but don’t get the cart before the horse. Let God speak first, ask God to show you His truth and then as a last step read a commentary, or your favorite preacher’s thoughts on the passage. How wonderful it is to have read a passage and come to a conclusion and then later find sweet assurance that I got it right when I find other trustworthy men and women reached the same conclusion.

4. Don’t allow a pet doctrine, your church traditions, your denomination or lack of a denomination, to get you off course.

Determine in your heart that your purpose is to allow the Word of God alone to advise you and set the agenda for what you believe and trust. If you are fortunate as I am, one day you too will be elderly and will have some time to contemplate your handling of the Word of God. You will see your mistakes, some because of youth and inexperience perhaps, some because of sinful tendencies, and some because of poor methodology. And thank God you can see some things you have done right and you will realize you are better because of it.

Remember this truth! When God described the ways we are to love him, one way is with our minds.

“And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

To love God with our minds requires some discipline. It goes against our natural bent. We must be purposeful, determined, and persistent. We must control our thinking, bringing even our thoughts into subjection to God’s will. To be right we must think right. We are to meditate on God’s word. Think for the glory of God. Treasure Christ in your mind first and your heart will reflect it and your life will show it.

I hope these thoughts will be helpful as you learn to love God more and grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ for his magnificent name.

Royce Ogle
Monroe, LA

Mar 14 2011

The Erosion of Truth


It is not a little disturbing that casting doubt on the veracity of the Holy Scriptures and Bible characters has in the past few years become quite in vogue. I read tweets and posts on Facebook, and many blogs, and there are more and more young preachers and others who are fascinated with those well trained graduates of institutions of higher learning who have reached the conclusion that the Bible is not really true after all, at least not all of it.

I have heard it said that history repeats itself and that there nothing new under the sun. How very true! Decades before most of those who are most admired, and those who admire them, were born I was living in a time when theological liberals, called “modernists” back in the day, were busy with higher criticism, discovering extra-biblical writings and other evidences which according to them proved the Bible is not really reliable. I’ll perhaps never forget when a few years ago I learned first hand that in our churches of Christ we had some preachers who did not believe the resurrection of Jesus, believed Jesus was just a man, although admittedly a better man than others. And more recently there is a host of men whose sport is to cast doubt on the truth and authority of Holy Writ.

My observation is that most of these guys are more impressed with themselves than anyone or anything else. It is very difficult to shroud pride isn’t it? I have always been a skeptic. There…my admission! With that said, I am a bit reluctant to trust a man who spends hours every day promoting himself, what he knows, and what he does, and what he has done, and …. Well, you get the picture.

(Just to get it off my chest… A person with a British accent, or whatever that Geico salamander has, is not necessarily more brilliant than those who don’t have it.)

So, why in the wide wide world would anyone believe that God hates sin? Further, why in the age of enlightenment we live in would someone believe those who refuse to believe God’s truth are objects of His coming wrath? I’ll admit it, I don’t understand much of the last book of the Bible. And, I’m not the one to ask about final punishment. But I am sure that the same Holy Spirit who by revelation gave the great Apostle Paul the mysterious gospel of the grace of God to be preached to the Gentiles also revealed the truth to him about the sure wrath of a Holy God against sin. I don’t claim for a second to know what all that means, but rest assured it is not good.

The aged and experienced apostle Paul had some words of instruction and warning for a young preacher.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Of course it was happening in the first century just as it is today and it is still a real danger. It seems to come in waves, waves of unbelief couched in church talk and verified with seminary degrees and best-selling books. Paul’s warning to young Timothy was “Be sober-minded…” Good advice in 2011 I’d say.

I fear that for many of our people there is more value in reading what someone said about God and the Bible than to really know God and actually read the Bible! One of the “markers” or indicators of a true Christian is that he loves the “teaching”. That is the body of truth the apostles taught.

We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
(1 John 4:6)

Clearly, the “us” in the above verse is the apostles. This is not a difficult concept. One way you can tell a believer from a make-believer is by observing how he receives the Word of God. If a fellow has lots of problems with Paul and Peter and John…you had better watch him! And, we have lots of people leading people away from the apostles teaching rather than to the apostles teachings. I didn’t write either of these Bible passages but both are true and good advice for today.

Be careful! Everyone who looks like a sheep is not. I would go so far as to say any preacher who does not major on Jesus and what He accomplished for ungodly sinners should be taken in small bites at best. Instead, many of our unknowing people are taking them down a leg at a time.

If the Bible is not dependable we have no hope. Those who are making the case for moral improvement as a way to be fit for heaven and to avoid final punishment are deceitful liars, they are from the evil one and not from God.

Unbelief by any other name is still a recipe for perishing without God.

For Truth,

Royce

Dec 3 2010

God is at work, for your good.


One of the best known verses in the Bible is Romans 8:28.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV)

Do we really believe it? Really? All things is mighty broad. Should we really believe that “in ALL THINGS” God is working for our good? Other translations say it slightly different.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (ESV)

In both cases, it doesn’t really matter what translation, the promise is absolutely life changing and incredible….if it’s true. My divorce many years ago was one of those “all things”, how about it? The untimely death of my 2nd wife of 17 years was one of those “all things”, was it? I saw one of my dear friends quickly go from robust mom and grandmother, devoted wife and great Christian sister, to the object of a funeral a few weeks later. And now a second friend, a proud ex Marine, man of faith, just an all around good guy, is in a fight with cancer that he will not win. Or, does he win?

Here is an exercise you can do. Take a sheet of paper and one side list all of the bad things that have happened to you in your life since you became a Christian. I know you have some to list, we all do.

Now turn the paper over and list all of the good things that have happened in your life. That should be quite a list too. You’ll get the idea before you finish the list of good things. You will be shocked at how many of the “good things” can be traced back to the “bad things”. God is at work in your life making things work out for your ultimate good! I’m certain He is!

Think of several Bible characters that quickly come to mind. Joseph is at the top of my list. Then there is David…, see where I’m going here? And even Jesus can be on this list. Being betrayed by a friend and deserted by the others and then executed for the crimes of others was one of those “all things”. But God!! But God raised Him from the dead!

I believe that if you and I can become convinced that our Sovereign God is really in control, even when bad things happen, we can find faith for the moment and maybe even some joy knowing that God has our good in mind and is doing something about it.

God is for you, don’t give up. God is for you, don’t give out. My advice is faith it ’til you make it!

Royce