More notes from "Heaven" by Joni Eareckson Tada

This book was so good! I probably should have had a post all its own, but I included some notes in another post, which maybe I will move over here. It's a lot though, so we will see.

"Suffering hurries the heart homeward."

Amy Carmichael- "We will have all of eternity to celebrate the victories, and only a few hours before sunset in which to win them."

Section heading, "Between Death and the Resurrection":

"Until the harvest, Billie and Tante Corrie (saints who have died) are not diminished while they are presently in heaven. They gained immeasurably the instant they crossed from the land of the dying to the land of the living. Second Corinthians 5:8 explains that "to be away from the body (is to be) at home with the Lord." Billie and Tante Corrie are not present with the Lord in some soul-sleep right now; they are "at home" with Him in the best sense of the word. They are alive, awake, aware, and full of the joy of having come home. Home where they fit, feel warm and welcomed, a place where they belong. Who can begin to measure the fullness of the meaning of that word "home!"
   There's another way that departed saints are not diminished and the clue is given in Luke 16: 19-31. Jesus relays not a parable but an amazing real-life occurrence after the death of a beggar named Lazarus and a rich man. The rich man was very conscious of his hellish surroundings as well as the condition of his brothers who still remained on earth, and he wanted desperately to warn his family. He felt, saw, prayed, remembered, and desired. My point? If lost souls can feel and care, how much more can those who have died in the faith!
   Tante Corrie and Billie presently reside with the Lord of Glory, the Lord of love. How deeply they must feel and pray and see. How fervent must be their love. Could it be that our loved ones in glory are able to love us now? Pray for us now? Love does not die; it cannot because it cannot fail. Love is a part of a departed saint's being, not his body, but his person. I'm convinced that Billie now loves her husband Cliff with a purer, holier, and more intense love than ever known on earth. And even if she is able to observe the mistakes, blunders, and tears of her loved ones on earth, she has the benefit of an end-of-time view, she is able to see the bigger, better picture.
   In heaven, we do not lose, for "to die is gain." We aren't less, we're more. When we die, we're not in some soul-sleep of a stupor, not purgatory, and we're certainly not unconscious. We are at home with the Lord. Home!

Section heading, "Then, the Resurrection and Rest":
   "Then one day, the Resurrection. "But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead" (Isaiah 26:19).
   The veil over this unseen divine reality was pulled back for me one peculiar Sunday afternoon. My mother-in-law recently purchased a family grave plot at a cemetery called Forest Lawn. She would not sign the papers, however, until Ken and I looked at the lot and gave our approval. "Do I have to?" I whined at Ken. I could think of better things to do with our Sunday afternoon.
   Playing the submissive wife, I trekked to Forest Lawn with Ken, looked at my gravesite located in a section called "Murmuring Pines," and listened to the realtor (that's what she was actually called) remind me that what with my head "here" and my feet "there", I would have a grand view of the valley and distant mountains. That's important, I told her. I also told her that I did not have plans to stay there very long.
   While the realtor and my mother-in-law conferred over the papers, I looked around at the hundreds of tombstones. It suddenly struck me that I was sitting on the exact spot where my body will rise, should I die before Christ comes. Resting on that grassy hillside did more to ignite the reality of the Resurrection than hearing sermons or reading essays on the subject. One day actual beings will return to actual graves and reunite to rise.
   And then, heaven,
   Then, rest.
   (There's more in this section, but I just wanted to record that part mainly).

As a side note to all of this, I remember my Grandma taking me to see a movie about Joni a long time ago. It's amazing that all of these years later, she has become a huge help to me.