Articles by Pastor Mark Woods

Unimaginable Joy!

When I was a child I remember asking my mother what heaven was going to be like. She countered by asking me, "Mark what are a few things that you really love or that you really love doing?" I don't remember now what I gave as examples of what I loved but I do remember her response to those things. She said, "Whatever joy you find in the things that you really, really love take and multiply by a million times and you will begin to get a feel for what heaven will be like." She told me that being with Jesus would be more wonderful than anything I could ever imagine and I remember thinking as a child wow! I thought heaven must be an amazing place to be that wonderful and exciting, and thoughts like this made me long to be there and to be with Jesus.

I didn't know it at the time but my mother's illustration was well grounded in the scriptures. Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church that, "The eye has not seen, nor has the ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." Those are amazing words if we would stop and ponder their meaning. Paul is saying here that we cannot even begin to imagine the kind of joy, peace, contentment, excitement, wonder, and awe that will be the reward of those who reach heaven's shore.

In another New Testament passage, Paul, writing to the Thessalonians says this, "When He [Jesus] comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed." Did you catch what it is that we are going to do when we see Jesus? We are going to marvel at Him, we are going to be blown away with the amazing splendor, beauty, and power of our risen Lord!

King David, the ruler of Israel during Israel's golden age, says in the 16th Psalm, "You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand there are pleasures forever." Now think about this; David, who was the king of Israel and who had almost anything his heart could ever desire at his disposal declared that it was in God's presence that he found his greatest joy and at his side that the truest pleasures were to be found in eternal abundance! King David, with all his wealth and abundance, longed for the day when his joy would be made perfect in heaven at Jesus' side.

Oh that God's people would take more time to ponder and meditate on the realities of heaven. Yes, we must be about our Father's business while we remain upon this earth but a critical part of serving Christ is seeing Him through the eyes of faith as He is revealed in the scripture and having our hearts quickened as we long for His beauty, His perfections, His righteousness, and His glory!

I want to end by quoting a few lines of a contemporary song entitled, "I can only imagine."

"Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel,
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing, "Hallelujah"
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine"

We can only imagine through the eyes of faith what it will be like when we see Jesus, but we know on the authority of God's word that it will surpass all comprehension. In the mean time we need to keep on imagining so that our hearts will long more for heaven than we do for this earth. May God grant us eyes to see Him that our joy might soar!

Pastor Mark Woods