Well, not exactly.The Bible says, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." So there must be tears... in Heaven.Why? What would there be to cry about in a perfect place where there is no more sickness, no more death?Between the Rapture of the church and the physical return of Jesus to Earth, there's this little-preached-about thing called the Bema Seat - or the Judgment Seat of Christ. It's when we Christians will find out the true value of everything we have done (and not done) as Christians. We may even be surprised at who we see there! (if we even notice the presence of anyone else at all...)1 Corinthians 3:11-15 talks about this time of reckoning. It is NOT a time when we will find out who goes to Heaven and who goes to hell. This is "for Christians only."I believe it will be a time when many of us - I daresay most of us - will be very surprised at what awaits us. Those of us who think we have done well in this life may find that our reward was all down here in the praise of men or even in the satisfaction of doing good deeds ("it feels good to be good"), and therefore, little or no reward may await us. Those of us who don't think our lives have amounted to much on Earth may discover that our little dark corner where we have slogged away in obscurity, illuminates with far more lavish reward than we ever dreamed imaginable. The secret, the determining factor, is in the fire of God: the purifying, motive-revealing fire. Please understand that it is not PEOPLE who will pass through the fire, but WORKS. Our sins, past, present, and future, have already been placed under the Blood. There will be no "confession", no "repentance", no "redemption" needed. He will show us what really was, and what could have been. There will be nothing left for us but to accept His perfect plan for us, His decision on what rewards await us for the rest of eternity. Read with me the words of Paul, inspired by the Spirit of God:11For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 14If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.(NASV)What a day that will be! There are probably going to be lots of us who weep in remorse because of lost opportunities to reach out, wasted efforts in religious pursuits, and impure, selfish motives in what we may have considered "our ministry." There will be no escaping the truth, no rationalizing our behavior. "All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." (Heb 4:13)Before we succumb to the temptation to say to ourselves, "Well then,... we'd better get busy!" that is not what this is about. This is about - as it always is with God - relationship. It's about being so busy doing the work of the Lord that we forget the Lord of the work. It's about Jesus waiting by the hearth of our lives, waiting to meet with us and spend time with us by the fireplace, enter our innermost dark corners and illuminate and warm them with Himself, free us from the chains of our pasts and cause us to realize how deeply He loves us. Once we realize this, our natural spiritual response will be to love Him back! That love will naturally spill over into our daily lives and touch the people with whom we come in contact - just like a beam of light pierces through the darkness. We will make a difference - for Him. Through Him. Because of Him.Not for reward. Not for crowns or jewels... or anything else except the constant awareness of His presence inside of us, transforming us, loving and working through us.He is desperate for us to let Him know us, to let Him into our innermost places and accept His love and His grace to live every day in His anointing. Not "for the rest of my life." Just every day, while it is still called Today.So the question that tells me if I am living progressively in that lifestyle is: am I looking forward to the Bema - the Judgment Seat of Christ - or not?
Credit: just-wicca.blogspot.com
