A glimpse of the Throne

Earlier today, I went to Fellowship Loop, a monthly lunchtime service in Macy's downtown hosted by Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.  You know the minister who sings God is Awesome, that's his church.  During worship, and that song in particular, I found myself focusing (imagining/meditating) on the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures at the Throne in Heaven.

Revelation 4: 4, 6-84  Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 

6B And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. ⁸ The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within.

Little did I know, my ride home at the end of the night, would involve other aspects of The Throne. As I was leaving my car to go inside my church, there was not a cloud in sight. So I disregarded the thunderstorm warning and left my umbrella in the car. After all, they've been wrong before, it was already 7pm and the watch was until 8pm.  However, by the time we left church, the scenery had drastically changed. It felt like a scene out of a Dixie Chicks song.  And I was driving like I just received my permit and my driving instructor was in the passenger seat making me feel very uncomfortable. 

I was so focused on the road. I was driving in lightning and thunder: I could feel it.  Lightning and thunder were seconds apart in a call and response, throughout my trip.  High winds, severe thunderstorm and even tornado watches!  I thought at any moment a car could slam into the divider or spin, God forbid.  Moreover, some of the lights on the expressway were out, so visibility was extremely hindered.  My gentle assurance prayer "Lord cover this car with the blood of Jesus" soon elevated into a plead. 

This was one of the longest dangerous rides I can remember in my history of driving, (11 years or so), even driving 4 hours on a normally 2 hour trip in a snowstorm up the interstate did not compare to this.  For one, I already don't like driving in severe rain from a previous incident. That incident was nothing compared to tonight. Two, I was riding solo this time in contrast to the snowstorm ride.  


Cars were pulled over to the side on the expressway, other cars were driving well under the speed minimum.  At some parts, the expressway was empty. I just kept on going, pleading the blood of Jesus for protection, it was that serious. It might not have been the smartest thing to do, but I was determined to get home safe and sound as soon as I could, plus it's been a long day and I was calculating my hours of sleep tonight.  Part of me with a hindsight aforethought, thought each time I passed a bridge, I should probably pull over, but I just kept going.


Thank God I made it home safely!


Throughout all that, I kept thinking The Throne is much more intense than this, unquestionably. See for yourself: The Throne - Revelation 4


Yet, He asks us to come boldly before Him, boldly before His Throne. Hebrews 4:16


Now that I made it home safely, the intensity of The Throne is magnified in me. Coming boldly before His Throne has new meaning for me. We haven't seen a thing yet! 


My God is truly awesome.

Heavenly Hindsight

Nothing puts life in perspective like death. Each of us has a predestined appointment to die once. No matter who we are, what we’ve done or how much we’re worth, we will die, and there is no escaping it.  How we live on this side will determine which side of eternity we wake up into. How we live on this side will determine whether we are in fact resting in “peace” or eternal damnation.

On Wednesday, January 25th at 12:25PM, my dear grandmother went to sleep and woke up in the presence of the Lord, no doubt about it.  Her faith was secure decades ago, but she kept on running her race, walking out her salvation with fear and trembling.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, she encountered could see her love for Christ.

As humans, emotional beings, we tend to mourn the loss of a loved one because we remember the times we’ve shared and imagine how life will be going forward without this person who played a role in our life.  And that’s okay, there’s a time for that.  Yet, we do not mourn as the unbelievers that have no hope.  For we know as real as death is, Heaven is real too.

Each time I begin to sorrowfully mourn my grandma's death, I have to check myself: “don’t you believe Heaven is real?” “Wasn’t she unquestionably saved?” (or as my brother called her a “professional Christian”) Then, I must know that now that she is absent from her body, she is present with the Lord.

"To the unbeliever, their last day on earth is the worst day of their life. To the believer, their last day on earth is the best day of their life." January 25, 2012, was the best day of my grandma's life, just short of a year after my grandfather was called home. Therefore, it is a celebration!

In the last couple weeks, several people I know have become bereaved.  Today, I attended my friend’s father’s funeral. And I’d never really refer to a funeral as a “good” funeral but that was a good funeral/homegoing celebration.  I left this funeral uplifted and encouraged by his life and legacy.  This home going ceremony, coupled with the things people have been saying in honor of my grandma, as well as the fact that we are  pilgrims, passing through this vapor of a life, motivate me more, to live with my eyes on Heaven.

The question before me now and henceforth is: What will I say when I get to Heaven?  I’m just thinking of that video of my life that will play with the choices I made and the choices I am making. For example, imagine, how embarrassing it will be for me to try to explain an offense I held in my heart (or something else sinful). When I’m at the judgment seat of Christ, accounting for everything I’ve said, done, or thought, how will I explain all my choices to my Father? If the opportunity presents itself, which I'd imagine it could, since we'll be there forever: what will I say to my brother or sister in Christ?  "Oh yeah that time….yeah I was mad because….and yeah that was it. *blank stare* Yeah, it seems really lame and petty, I don’t even know how I could let that affect me. I wish I handled that differently. Thank God He let me in, even after that. So, yeah....” *awkward* Mercy me.

Philippians 3: 18-20 --actually read the whole chapter, letter, testament, etc. for context :)
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

We get caught up in all these trivial things of the world that will have no value in the age to come.  I want to live my life with a Heavenly Hindsight. I will (try to) live my life with a Heavenly Hindsight, daily. Grace, Lord.

"So I won't lose heart on this journey, in this vapor called life."

cherish the earthly relationships, on earth

I don't believe in living each day like it's your last . . .

I heard a Pastor say this week that marriage does not exist in Heaven. It is a question I had, which he confirmed, since my stepfather remarried my mother after my older siblings' mother passed, many years ago. My stepfather has also gone home to be with the Lord (Rest in Perfect Peace). Yet, I vividly remember the words my mother said to him with the casket open and how the Pastor responded to her. I could not help but wonder privately, who would he be married to in Heaven? And how does marriage in Heaven work for the polygamous homes, which were still popular in Nigeria as recent as two generations ago – my grandparent’s generation.

Thoughts of people that have recently passed and celebrating the anniversary of my esteemed relative’s home going (Dr. Femi Ogunnaike), as is the cultural tradition, caused other thoughts to resurface. When we attend funerals, usually as Christians, we comfort ourselves with the assurance that we will see them again. My initial reaction to the Pastor's affirmation, that the marriage relationship did not exist in Heaven, was something like "oh" *eyebrows raised* and "aww." The reassurance we hold onto likely encompasses the hope that we will see that person" again assumedly in the same earthly relationship. However, if the marriage relationship does not exist in heaven, neither will all other earthly relationships that we value. This makes me realize this one chance on earth is really the only time to cherish that form of the relationship.

Along those lines, I usually hear so many of my peers say “live each day like it's your last,” when they learn of someone’s passing. Many people probably said this same statement 9 years ago too, wherever we were, when we processed the World Trade Center’s terrorist attack.

Respectfully, I disagree wholeheartedly with the “live each day like your last” motto. I know I haven’t put much thought into my last day and how I want to spend it and I do not think I ever will. I would venture to say that many people who say that have not put much thought into it either. We generally work with the end in sight, but this is an expected end (for some - since not all will sleep) that we naturally and consciously suppress. Moreover, the average life expectancy in the United States is currently at about 78 years. Adhering to that motto essentially means we would spend, on average, a very substantial portion of our lifetime on earth, living in fear of life and death.

I do believe in living each day progressively and with purpose. The more correct statement or motto to me falls somewhere along the lines of “live each day cherishing all the time spent with people, family and friends with no doubt in your mind that if it were your last day once you've arrived at the gates of Heaven, God would say “my good and faithful servant you’ve done well.””

I don't want it to *look* good. I want it to BE good.

"I want to get to Heaven with a life poured out, not with a life that looks perfect.  I want it to not look good.  I want it to be good!"

--Darlene Zschech