“NO MORE TEARS SHAMPOO”
Do you remember that old commercial on TV of the baby at
bath time playing and splashing in the water? The mom is shampooing her hair
and suds are sliding down the little one’s face, not
fazing her in the least.
I remember when my son was a toddler. He experienced
and tried everything his little mind could think of. He’d play outside,
getting all sweaty and dirty; he’d play inside and get all sweaty and dirty.
At night, I’d give him a bath, put on his little “jammies” and he’d go
running through the house as happy and silly as he could be. He felt so good
to be clean!
King David said it so well when he said in Psalm 51:7b
and 10-12:
“…Wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast
spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy presence, and
do not take Thy Holy Spirit
from me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation, and sustain
me with a willing spirit.”
David knew what it was like to be clean and dance
for joy before the Lord, and he knew what it was to be weighted down with the
“dirt” of the world. He learned early in life, to run TO God,
instead of AWAY from God when he sinned. David was known to be
“a man after God’s own heart.”
In Ephesians 5:25-26, Paul
uses the example of an ideal marriage to teach us what His cleansing love is
like.
“Husbands love your wives,
just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for
her; that He might sanctify
her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with
the word.”
Let THIS wash over you; Jesus is coming again
for His cleansed and spotless bride (the church), to take her to be with Him
forever. He says so in John 14:3:
“And if I go to prepare a
place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you
may be also.”
Sometimes, when we get caught up in all our earthly
pleasures and responsibilities, we forget that He has prepared a perfect
place for us who believe in the sacrifice Jesus made for our sins. It’s a
“NO MORE TEARS” kind of place. Revelation 21:3c-4 says:
“…and God, Himself will be among them,
and He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes; and there will no
longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or
crying, or pain; the first things have
passed away.”
“Therefore, if any man is in
Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold all things
are new!” II Corinthians 5:17
I received an e-mail recently with this joke entitled, “GETTING
INTO HEAVEN.”
A man dies and goes to
heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.
St. Peter says, "OK, here's
how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven.
You tell me all the good
things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points
for each item, depending on
how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was
married to the same woman for 50 years and
never cheated on her, even in
my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St.
Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says.
"Well, I attended church all
my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter.
"That's certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!!"
"I started a soup kitchen in
my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for
two more points," he says.
"Two points!?!!"
Exasperated, the man cries.
"At this rate the only way I'll get into
heaven is by the grace of God."
"Bingo, 100 points! Come on
in!"
We often try to fix problems
with WD-40 and duct tape.
God did it with a nail.
Heaven is going
to be so much greater than we can ever imagine! John had a difficult time
even putting it into words in the 21st chapter of the book of
Revelation. The best he could do was to describe it using “precious,
costly gem-stones” and “pure transparent gold” and “pearls.”
He said, “…there is no need for the sun and the moon because the glory of
the Lord will illumine everything.”
To be with God forever is heaven. Our passport to get
there is by grace through Jesus Christ as it says in John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosover
believes in Him, should not
perish, but have everlasting life.”
When we believe, the time will come for Jesus to return
to take us to that indescribable place called heaven. Larry and I
look forward to seeing you there. When that happens, we will all be a part
of the greatest “NO TEARS” party and feast ever planned! We will all
be doing a “Happy Dance” with King David and all the angels in heaven!
