Personhood

Who we are continues to be who we are on the other side of the curtain. When we speak of heaven we tend to comment on the differences. Yet, while there are great differences between earth and heaven, there are also similarities. Our personalitites will be the same, only better. Heaven is our earthly lives glorified and perfected. Jesus was perfect after His resurrection and so will we be perfect.

Our personal knowledge will be the same as it was when we died, only our minds and memory will be clearer than ever before. Death won't change what we already know; our personalities will just continue on with the same knowledge and information we have stored in our minds today.

Look back at your personal history: Parents, siblings, cousins, holidays, family reunions. Of course you will remember all of this and even more in heaven. Do you think we could possibly know any less? Of course not! The only difference will be that our thoughts that make us sad, won't make us feel sad any more.

Once in heaven we will see all those who preceded us in death. Some of them our own family and friends, others nameless to us but equally glorified in the life to come. We'll have so many people to get to know but that will be okay; we'll have plenty of time. Remember the Mount of Transfiguration formerly mentioned. The three of Christ's disciples met with Elijah and Moses. So far as we know there were no need for introductions, yet they knew who they were. In heaven there will be intuitive knowledge for our minds will be redeemed from the sin that used to limit them.

Our love of God will be more intense than ever. Finally, in heaven, without other things to distract us, we will be able to love God as we were intended to because faith will have given way to sight. "We shall know him as he really is." We will keep right on loving things that we loved here on earth, only we will love them apart from sin. In heaven our affections will be like they were on earth, except more so. Everything will be "better" and more so!

There is no evidence that those in heaven can see those on earth. It might be possible but we can't yet know. It is more likely that, should we wonder, we can get updates on people we left behind. I can't imagine why anyone would be refused such information! Although I must emphasize and caution that those who are already in heaven cannot communicate with us on earth. In fact, the Bible clearly forbids any attempts at trying to communicate with the dead. There are two realities or realms and only Jesus spans the two. So we must be satisfied to know that they are more knowledgeable than we are and that someday we will be with them and we'll have all the answers to our questions. God tells us all we need to know for this life and we need to entrust our loved ones into His care and keeping. But we can surmise that someone in heaven would tell us if it were possible for them to do so. We can be pretty sure they would urge us to stay faithful; that if we knew everything there is to know we'd do everything possible to draw closer to our Lord and do everything in our power to please Him above all else. Paul wrote in Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us." They would tell us, I'm sure, to live our lives on earth with heaven in mind.

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I woke up early this morning and decided to get my blogging done and out of the way as early as possible. Mario is of course up here helping me, sitting right beside the keyboard ready to try and crawl on into my lap if at all possible. It's so strange the way he acts. I just stopped and gave him a big hug. He likes that but it shouldn't surprise me. Cats are so much like humans. They want so much to nurture the things they love and take care of them as best they can. Every cat has his or her own personality. They are so much fun to be around. Right now we are holding hands (paws???) and he's trying to get in my lap. He just wants to be close.

Small group on Monday was really interesting. Of course, I feel like I've been a really bad leader because it's so hard to know how you're coming across. I can't help but think I've failed in the leading portion of our study. I had to resort to using a commentary this last time and will probably have to again next time. I had hoped to do this entire study without going to a commentary but I just couldn't come up with enough to say on my own. Strange, huh, me not coming up with enough to talk about! I don't usually have that problem; I'm a great talker. Oh well, I can only do what I can do. No more. No less. It's just that I'm not usually short on things to say. Whoa, Mario just jumped down and so I no longer have him draped over my arm seeking a closer relationship with me this morning. I'm sure if I type long enough he'll be back. He's like the proverbial bad penney that keeps cropping back up. Anyway we discovered that Roy isn't an animal lover (at small group). And he doesn't think we'll have animals in heaven. I can't imagine not loving animals. I thank God every day for the opportunity I have to interact with my fellow furry felines and canine too. They add so much to my otherwise boring life. I feel sorry for anyone who allows themselves to miss out on all that love the four-legged creatures give us. They are such an incredible blessing in my life. I can't imagine not having them. And I don't even want to try.

I have no plans for today except to maybe get a little more housekeeping done. I didn't get too much done yesterday but I was able to tidy things up around the house. I can remember when I used to keep my house spotless. I mean SPOTLESS!!! Of course that was another lifetime ago. Now all I hope for is to keep things down to a roar. Priorities change I guess.

I am half way through the second book in the Left Behind series. This one being the Tribulation Force. They are really quite simply written with most of the action taking place within the dialogue. Not very description oriented. (Don't know if that's right but maybe you can figure out what I'm trying to say.) It's about 98% dialogue. Well, Mario has managed to slink down into my lap, making it quite difficult to write. I should get busy anyway so I'll write more tomorrow if everything turns out as planned. Take care...

It looks like today will be another beautiful day here in paradise. The sun is bright and warm outside and ... oops! Mario's back.