Yes, You Can Ministry

The best is still ahead!

Isaiah 65:17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, especially before lunch. It was one of those days when the sun is shining, and the birds are singing. It was a preview of the beautiful Spring days that lie ahead. It was the kind of day that you see on a postcard or a Thomas Kincade painting, PERFECT; ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! It was a preview of the beautiful days that we can imagine because we’ve seen them before, but it was also a preview of the glories that wait for us that we cannot fathom!

I was driving around town yesterday, and I had my car window down, and my radio turned up. It was the kind of day when you envy the dogs, and if you weren’t scared of catching a bug in the teeth you might’ve hung you’re head out the window.

As beautiful as yesterday was it was only a tease of the glories that have been prepared for us by God. John tries to give us a glimpse into the glories of heaven when he shares his vision in Revelation 21:1-9 . Then in Revelation 21:10-27 he describes the Holy City of God, New Jerusalem.

“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of clear-crystal jasper. It had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names are written on them which are names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east, and three gates on the north, and three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.  And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke to me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates, and its walls.  And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as its width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and its width and its height are equal. And he measured its wall seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.  And the material of the wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of the Lord illumines it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the king’s of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime (for their shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”     

I believe that John searched his imagination to find words that our human minds could understand, and these were the best that he could think of that we would understand.  The truth of the glories that await us can be found in Isaiah 55:8-9, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are you’re your ways My ways’, declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.’” And Jeremiah 29:11, “’For I know the plans that I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not calamity plans for a future and a hope.’”

So, Please bask in the glorious days that we have down here, but never forget that they are only a prelude to what is waiting for us in Heaven.

I feel like I need to end this devotion with a story that some of you may have heard before; Keep Your Fork:

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live.  So as she was getting her things “in order,” she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. “There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly.

“What’s that?” came the pastor’s reply.

“This is very important,” the young woman continued.  “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.”

The pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?”  the young woman asked. “Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request” said the pastor.

The young woman explained. “My grandmother once told me this story, and from there on out, I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement.
 
‘In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming … like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie.  Something wonderful, and with substance!’ So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder “What’s with the fork?”.

Then I want you to tell them: “Keep your fork … the best is yet to come.”

The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye.  He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did.  She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW that something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the young woman’s casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and the fork placed in her right hand.

Over and over, the pastor heard the question,
“What’s with the fork?” And over and over he smiled.

During his message, the pastor told the people of
the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her.

The pastor told the people how he could not stop
thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

He was right.

So the next time you reach down for your fork,
let it remind you ever so gently, that the best is yet to come.

Praise God the best is still coming! One day the dark clouds of storm will never be seen again!