Glorious Transition

Our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, has gone to heaven and has prepared the way for us to be there with Him.  He tells us in John 14 that He has gone to prepare a place for us.  In Hebrews 9, we can
read:
24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us...

Later in the chapter, we see these verses:

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Verse 27 is a Scripture verse that has been used many, many times in the heaven scene of the River Region Judgment House - a ministry through which thousands came to know the Lord, as those who came were invited to consider their eternal destiny.  The question of where we will spend eternity is a matter that should be settled - and we can have the assurance through Christ that we will be with Him forever.  It's a matter of receiving Jesus into our hearts through faith in salvation.

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The Bible instructs us that our citizenship is in heaven, and that those who have called on the name of Christ and have been saved will spend eternity with Jesus. 2nd Corinthians 5 states:
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven...

Recently, our Faith Radio programmer, Dr. Tony Evans, experienced the loss of his wife, Lois Evans.  The pastor's family has experienced a series of deaths over the last couple of years, according to a Christian Post article on the death of his father in November.  The article says:

The Evans family is still grieving the unexpected loss of Evans' sister, Beverly Johnson, who died in January, along with his niece, Wynter Pitts, who died last year, and his brother who died six months before that.

Earlier this year, Tony Evans revealed that his wife, Lois, was diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of cancer. The family is “totally resting on the supernatural” for a miracle for healing, Evans said.

About his 90-year-old father, Dr. Evans wrote on Instagram: "We celebrate this day because we know that my father is overjoyed to finally see the face of the One he served with his whole heart since the day He met Jesus and surrendered His life to him..."

In a sense, our lives are one chapter in preparing us for eternity with Jesus.  And, the anticipation of the transition from this world to the next can be inspiring for us and the people around us. According to a CBN article, Lois Evans, as she neared the time of her departure, tasted of the heavenly realm.  The article states:

Pastor Tony Evans says something supernatural was happening during his wife Lois' final moments on earth, and the family was there to witness it.

Lois Evans had been battling a rare form of cancer and the family had gathered around her in late December to say goodbye. At some point during their farewell moments, he says she began to speak about seeing "something outside earth's realm".

It seems she was catching a glimpse of family members in heaven, perhaps like the "cloud of witnesses" described in Hebrews 12:1.

In the memorial service for Lois Evans, her husband explained:

Pastor Evans said, "One of the things that I've observed in life and in scripture is that when people walk with God and He doesn't take them suddenly, He will give them a glimpse of heaven while they're still transitioning from earth. He will let them know, not only that it's time, but it's okay."

The article relates Dr. Evans said that Lois said she saw her mother and father, and at some point, spoke the words, "Two days, two days, take me up..." two and a half days before her death.  Dr. Evans likened that to Stephen, as he faced being stoned, seeing heaven opened and "Jesus...giving him a standing ovation."

One great reminder that we can take away here is to live in light of eternity.  At the memorial service, according to The Christian Post, the Evans' son, Jonathan...

...said God spoke to him about the prayers, saying, “Just because I didn’t answer your prayer your way doesn’t mean I didn’t answer the prayer anyway.” He concluded that either way, God did answer their prayers. “Either she was going to be healed or she was going to be healed. Either she was going to live or she was going to live,” he said.

“My mom would want me to let you know that if you’re writing your summary and you don’t like what it says and you’re sitting here breathing right now, you need to walk out these doors and live in such a way that you rewrite it,” Jonathan Evans concluded. “Because every man and woman ... wants to hear what my mom has already heard: ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done.’ My mom served the purposes of God. How do you know that you’re serving God? Simple. Somebody’s impacted.”

Also, going to heaven is a glorious transition.  The Post article said:

On Dec. 30, Tony Evans revealed that Lois was with him and their four children when she died.

"Just before the sun came up this morning, the love of my life, Lois Irene Evans, transitioned from earth and watched her first sunrise from Heaven,” he wrote at the time.

For the believer, our departure from this earth is a change of locations - from the temporal to the eternal.  We certainly miss those who have gone before, and there is grief and sorrow.  But, as Billy Graham said, quoted by CBN.com: "Some day you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God."

The Bible teaches that we will all stand before God one day, and the most important decision we face in this life is whether or not to accept Jesus as Savior.  If He is our Lord, then we can know we will spend eternity with Him.  Lois Evans and her family knew her departure was at hand.  Kobe Bryant on the other hand likely did not suspect that the helicopter that he boarded yesterday morning would go down, resulting in his death.  As Ray Comfort tweeted out, "We’re filled with sorrow at this tragic news. Like many, we asked if he knew the Lord."  He linked to a video that he had produced that has received over a hundred thousand views since yesterday.  The question for every human being is this: do you know the Lord?