He sang of Silver and Gold long before anyone knew of Robert Kiyosaki or Mike Maloney. I have the utmost respect for both these men of course.
Burl got in when everybody thought he was crazy. He wrote a song about it, want to hear it again?
Out there beyond the stars is a place called heaven. It is as real and tangible as if I said out there near the Atlantic Ocean is a place called North Carolina. There is a city whose builder and maker is God. There are real people living there. It is the most unusual place in all of God’s creation. Twice Jesus calls heaven a (topos) meaning a place.
In John gospel chapter fourteen and verses 2 and 3 he writes; “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also.”
Never question the fact of the place, but realize, please, that which makes heaven so special is the presences of our Lord Jesus. I know that many of you, like I, have family and friends in heaven that you miss very much, and long to see them again. If we should arrive in heaven today, our first objective would not be to see our family or friends, but to first of all meet face to face with Jesus. He knowing our hearts for so long, will know the need to direct us to our family, after we have enjoyed being with Him. No need to worry about time, for time is no more. In eternity we are no longer in the dimension of time, and never a need to hurry.
I have a friend who had lost his father, and he was so worried about his father missing him. I explained that missing is absence, times, time, and since there is no time in heaven, those there cannot miss us here on earth. Also in John chapter fourteen is the word “oikos” which means a house or a dwelling place. There is for every believer a prepared place, a custom built, especially designed place, ordered by the Master, just for you.
Taking this thought a little further: In Acts 1:11 Two Angles spoke to the Lord’s disciples while Jesus was ascending into heaven, and said: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.” Please note: Jesus did not go into a state of mind. He was not dreaming. He was not experiencing an abstraction, or an idea, or a figure of speech. Nor did He teach us to pray, “Our Father which art in a state of mind.” Jesus went to a place, a real place, and will come back in the clouds of glory to call us who have committed our life to Him, to come and be with Him in heaven for ever. Our names are written in heaven; Luke 10:20 “Not withstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” What a joy to know our names are recorded there with the redeemed.
Our treasures are there; Matthew 6:20 “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” It isn’t what we have in the bank that matters most; it is what we have on deposit in heaven. In heaven we will have a new name; Revelation 2:17, we will sing a new song; Revelation 5:9, we will live in a New Jerusalem; Revelation 3:12, we posses and enjoy new things; Revelations 21:5 and we will dwell in a new earth with a new heaven; Revelations 21:1. You can see Paris in the spring, Paris is France. You can feel the breeze of Rome, Rome is Italy, London is England, and Jerusalem (a favorite) is Israel, but the New Jerusalem is heaven, and there is no place to compare.
One thing more I must add; heaven will not be the same for me, if you are not there my friend. Heaven was meant to include you.
I’m going to be writing my way through Proverbs so I thought I would share some here. This first chapter gives us strong warnings to listen to instruction and teaching. How many times do we hear good instruction but it goes in one ear and out the other. When you are dealing with life and death it is best to pay attention. Look at the benefits of attaining wisdom and discipline.
Prologue: Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight;
3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-
6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools [1] despise wisdom
and discipline.
Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Do you pay attention to warning signs when you are driving? How about crossing the street, cooking meat, washing your hands? What about the simple warnings regarding how we are to live?
Warning Against Enticement
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
11 If they say, "Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul;
12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, [2] and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"-
15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!
19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.
Go ahead and reject wisdom and see what you have in store. It is laid out pretty plain and simple.
Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom
20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares;
21 at the head of the noisy streets [3] she cries out, in the gateways of the city she
makes her speech:
22 "How long will you simple ones [4] love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
24 But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
25 since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me.
29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord ,
30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
Footnotes
1:7 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote one who is morally deficient.
1:12 Hebrew Sheol
1:21 Hebrew; Septuagint / on the tops of the walls
1:22 The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs generally denotes one without moral direction and inclined to evil.