Heaven in Human Space

Heaven in Human Space
(the springboard for these thoughts is "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Willard)

There are three heavens mentioned in the Bible (2 Corinthians 12:2).

1^st heaven – earthly environment in which we “live and breathe” (Acts 17:27-28)

2^nd heaven – the physical “above us” from atmosphere to galaxies (Genesis 1:1)

3^rd heaven – the home of God and every redeemed soul (John 14:2-3)

Acts 17:27 says “in Him we live and move and have our being”

God is all around us. We live in His presence. But what kind of God? Is it a god who loves us through gritted teeth? Or is it God our Savior who loves us joyfully and completely (John 15:11)? What is our view of God?

Adam Clarke defined God this way (plow through this thoughtfully and carefully):

“The eternal, independent, self-existent Being; the Being whose purposes and actions spring from Himself, without foreign motive or influence; He who is resolute in dominion; the most pure, the most simple, the most spiritual of all essences, infinitely perfect; and eternally self-sufficient, needing nothing that He has made; illimitable in His immensity, inconceivable in His mode of existence, and indescribable in His essence; known fully only by Himself, because an infinite mind can only be fully comprehended by itself. In a word, a Being who, from His infinite wisdom, cannot err or be deceived, and from His infinite goodness, can do nothing but what is eternally just, and right, and kind.”

This definition is arrived at through a careful study of the position of Jesus on the subject of God. Jesus simply operated from this orientation. 

Imagine how different life would be if we simply walked through our day conscious of THIS God all around us. Imagine every action, slightest thought, or inclination motivated by this reality. That is living in God’s kingdom. How safe and secure would life be living in this kingdom consciousness. Jesus, in Matthew 6 taught from this frame of reference saying, “Don’t worry about anything that is going to happen to you: about what you will eat or drink, about what clothes to wear. Your life does not consist of eating, and there is much more to your body than clothing. Take a lesson from the birds of heaven (meaning the 'first' heaven: flying around in the presence of God). They don’t sow or reap or hoard away in granaries, and your Father-in the heavens around you-sees to it that they have food. Aren’t you more important than birds? Who can change their physical features by worrying about them? And as for worrying about clothes, well, look at the little flowers of the fields. They just pop right up! They don’t slave away getting or making clothes. But King Solomon in his best outfit was not as glorious as one of these. Now if God so adorns the wild grasses-which are here for today and the next day are burned for fuel-won’t He do even better by you? You of little faith!

            So don’t worry about things, saying, “What are we going to eat?” or “What will we wear?” (People who don’t know God at all do that!) For your Father-the One in the heavens around you-knows you need these things. Instead, make it your top priority to be a part of what God is doing and to have the kind of goodness He has. Everything else you need will be provided.

            Tomorrow? Don’t worry about it. You can do your worrying about tomorrow tomorrow. And anyway, enough will happen today to keep you in things to worry about until bedtime.”Matthew 6:25-34 Msg

God is. I will live in Him today. I will attempt to join Him in what He is doing. I will do this by faith, not worrying about the future. “Yard by yard life is hard. Inch by inch, life is a cinch.”