My Dream about Heaven

[Mark Corbett]

In the greatest sermon in the history of the world, the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly speaks about God rewarding us. While we experience many blessings and much help from God in this life, Jesus is focusing on future reward for those who suffer for God.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
(Matt. 5:11-12 NIV)​

God only gives us hints and glimpses of what our reward in Heaven will be like. It will certainly be far better than whatever we can imagine. Yet, if Jesus did not want us to think about reward in Heaven, He would not have mentioned it repeatedly as a motivation to keep serving God even when serving is difficult and costly.

All Christians will sometimes be asked to make sacrifices and suffer in some ways for Christ. I remember reading a book by Elizabeth Elliot about suffering. She defined suffering as having what you do not want or wanting what you do not have. That’s a very insightful definition of suffering from a Christian who experienced a lot of suffering. Her definition covers big examples of suffering and small ones. Defined that way, it is easier to see how God does ask all Christians to suffer for Christ.

Sometimes the suffering is more obvious. I was blessed to live in a Muslim majority nation for fourteen years. While living there I constantly shared the Good News about Jesus with my Muslim neighbors, urged them to follow Christ, and I constantly encouraged other Christians to also share the truth and love of Christ with all their neighbors. I knew that any of my Muslim neighbors who came to Christ as a result would likely suffer in many ways. And some of them did suffer. I believed it is worth it.

Once, while living in Indonesia, God blessed me with a dream which reaffirmed that following Jesus is worth it no matter what we suffer here. I don’t expect or want anyone (even myself) to believe this is true just because of my dream. We believe this is true because of God’s Word. Nevertheless, my dream did reinforce this truth in my heart.

In the dream I was in Heaven. I was just walking around the streets. I did not see Jesus or God. In the dream, the streets were in fact made of gold. But that is not what made a lasting impact on me. I did notice that there was absolutely no darkness anywhere. Not even a shade of shadow under the benches along the road. This was a very unusual visual effect and different from anything I have ever seen with my waking eyes. This visual effect was unusual, but it is not what impacted me so powerfully and caused me to weep every time I remembered the dream for some time afterwards.

What impacted me most was not anything I saw or anything I heard. It is was what I felt. For just a few minutes, for the dream was not very long, I felt absolutely pure joy. Even now as I write, it brings tears to my eyes. I’ve never felt anything like it before or since. I’ve been blessed with happy days and occasions. But even on the happiest days of my life, like my wedding day, or the day Joy was born, or seeing people saved, my joy has always been mixed with other feelings. There was always some worry, fear, or anxiety, at least a little, mixed in with the joy. But for those few moments in that dream about Heaven I felt pure, unalloyed, undiluted, joy.

When I woke up from the dream I wept and wept. I could no longer feel that pure joy, but just remembering feeling it moved me. I could not even share the dream with Hope (my wife) for some time because the feelings were too strong to talk about it. I couldn’t even think about it without crying, partly out of joy and partly out of longing.

My friends, I have no doubt that pure joy, and much, much more, await us who follow Jesus. God blessed me with a tiny sample of that joy in a dream, and I believe the dream was accurate because of God's Word:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
(Revelation 21:4 NIV)​

Any sacrifice God asks us to make, any suffering He asks us to endure, is very small compared to the glories of eternal life in the New Heaven and New Earth:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that will be revealed in us.
(Rom. 8:18 NIV)​

Whatever you’re facing, don’t give up and don’t give in. Follow Jesus, even on the path of suffering that leads to a cross, especially on that path. For “great is your reward in Heaven”.

Suggested discussion questions:

What comes to your mind when you think of "reward in Heaven"?
Do you believe God occasionally gives people "supernatural dreams" today like He did in Bible times?
How should thinking about Heaven and future rewards change how we live here on earth?

 

[Sorn]

I once had a similar dream, at least i think it was a dream, it was some years ago. It was short but in it I found myself in heaven and I was standing amongst a crowd in front of God. In my dream God was this large (twice as tall or so as a person) brilliant ball of intense light with fuzzy edges (again, just a dream). But like you what struck me was that for a few moments I felt intense joy, and it, the joy, basically eminated from God and flowed over the crowd.
If the intensity of those feeling is what we will feel in heaven, not just for a few moments but for extended periods if not always then it will be awesome.

 

[Ronald]

Very encouraging. Everything on earth is tainted with sin, darkness, danger lurking on the shadows. We get a glimpse of heaven occasionally, feelings of joy and elation. Our love we share is not as pure as it could be. We are selfish, even with our families sometomes, because sin dwells in the members of our flesh. Like Paul, who wrestled with that inner battle between spirit and the flesh, we are no different.
Our spirit is pure as snow, so at death, we separate from our flesh and are presented to the Father, pure.
(You know this, I'm not telling you anything, just reflecting on what you said.)
So the fruit of the Spirit that grows within us is a taste of what is to come. Imagine, in a moment, sin and all its consequences, gone! Even though we are free from the power and bondage of sin now, it still permeates the world, trips us up at times, and prohibits us from experiencing life in the full.
Another thought about heaven that we don't realize is when we are there, basic principals and feelings we have now won't be necessary:
Faith is the certainty of things unseen such as eternal life. Our faith will be fulfilled.
Hope - there will nothing to hope for, we'll possess everything we hoped for.
Mercy - won't need it.
Forgiveness - received it on earth, won't need any more, since we will not sin anymore.
I will finally have patience. There will be nothing to be anxious for. Conversing with a sloth wouldn't bother me.
Our greatest feeling of love is probably most directed at our spouses and children. Some of us who have bigger hearts, like Mother Teresa ( there must be more like her), will receive more rewards - they deserve it. But we will all feel that unconditional love for everyone. I think the relationships that she had, her sacrifices, will always be remembered when she sees those loved ones. That's probably the difference, she will know she had something to do with their joy.
God will have to wipe away the tears, the tears from those who we know who didn't make it, who forfeited their souls, rejected Christ. How could we not initially reflect on the lost? I suppose these memories will have to be wiped away, for they would impede our joy. That's just conjecture - just always wondered about that. Keep dreaming.

In the greatest sermon in the history of the world, the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly speaks about God rewarding us. While we experience many blessings and much help from God in this life, Jesus is focusing on future reward for those who suffer for God.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
(Matt. 5:11-12 NIV)​

God only gives us hints and glimpses of what our reward in Heaven will be like. It will certainly be far better than whatever we can imagine. Yet, if Jesus did not want us to think about reward in Heaven, He would not have mentioned it repeatedly as a motivation to keep serving God even when serving is difficult and costly.

All Christians will sometimes be asked to make sacrifices and suffer in some ways for Christ. I remember reading a book by Elizabeth Elliot about suffering. She defined suffering as having what you do not want or wanting what you do not have. That’s a very insightful definition of suffering from a Christian who experienced a lot of suffering. Her definition covers big examples of suffering and small ones. Defined that way, it is easier to see how God does ask all Christians to suffer for Christ.

Sometimes the suffering is more obvious. I was blessed to live in a Muslim majority nation for fourteen years. While living there I constantly shared the Good News about Jesus with my Muslim neighbors, urged them to follow Christ, and I constantly encouraged other Christians to also share the truth and love of Christ with all their neighbors. I knew that any of my Muslim neighbors who came to Christ as a result would likely suffer in many ways. And some of them did suffer. I believed it is worth it.

Once, while living in Indonesia, God blessed me with a dream which reaffirmed that following Jesus is worth it no matter what we suffer here. I don’t expect or want anyone (even myself) to believe this is true just because of my dream. We believe this is true because of God’s Word. Nevertheless, my dream did reinforce this truth in my heart.

In the dream I was in Heaven. I was just walking around the streets. I did not see Jesus or God. In the dream, the streets were in fact made of gold. But that is not what made a lasting impact on me. I did notice that there was absolutely no darkness anywhere. Not even a shade of shadow under the benches along the road. This was a very unusual visual effect and different from anything I have ever seen with my waking eyes. This visual effect was unusual, but it is not what impacted me so powerfully and caused me to weep every time I remembered the dream for some time afterwards.

What impacted me most was not anything I saw or anything I heard. It is was what I felt. For just a few minutes, for the dream was not very long, I felt absolutely pure joy. Even now as I write, it brings tears to my eyes. I’ve never felt anything like it before or since. I’ve been blessed with happy days and occasions. But even on the happiest days of my life, like my wedding day, or the day Joy was born, or seeing people saved, my joy has always been mixed with other feelings. There was always some worry, fear, or anxiety, at least a little, mixed in with the joy. But for those few moments in that dream about Heaven I felt pure, unalloyed, undiluted, joy.

When I woke up from the dream I wept and wept. I could no longer feel that pure joy, but just remembering feeling it moved me. I could not even share the dream with Hope (my wife) for some time because the feelings were too strong to talk about it. I couldn’t even think about it without crying, partly out of joy and partly out of longing.

My friends, I have no doubt that pure joy, and much, much more, await us who follow Jesus. God blessed me with a tiny sample of that joy in a dream, and I believe the dream was accurate because of God's Word:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
(Revelation 21:4 NIV)​

Any sacrifice God asks us to make, any suffering He asks us to endure, is very small compared to the glories of eternal life in the New Heaven and New Earth:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that will be revealed in us.
(Rom. 8:18 NIV)​

Whatever you’re facing, don’t give up and don’t give in. Follow Jesus, even on the path of suffering that leads to a cross, especially on that path. For “great is your reward in Heaven”.

Suggested discussion questions:

What comes to your mind when you think of "reward in Heaven"?
Do you believe God occasionally gives people "supernatural dreams" today like He did in Bible times?
How should thinking about Heaven and future rewards change how we live here on earth?

 

[Mark Corbett]

I once had a similar dream, . . .
If the intensity of those feeling is what we will feel in heaven, not just for a few moments but for extended periods if not always then it will be awesome.

Sorn, it appears you a fairly new here (at least based on the number of comments). Welcome! May God bless you and make you a blessing to others at Christian Forums and in all areas of your life.

Thanks for sharing your dream. It is a real encouragement to hear that someone experienced the same feeling.

I have no doubt that eternal life with God will be awesome. I look forward to seeing you there!

 

[Mark Corbett]

Very encouraging. . . .

Ronald, thanks for sharing! Your thoughts are likewise encouraging to me!

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thess. 5:11 NIV)

 

[SPF]

Heaven.

 

[Mark Corbett]

Heaven.

I loved that book. Thought it was well written and Biblically rooted. Thanks for sharing the link.

 

[Beloved2018]

I don't have any dreams to share, just longings. For a long time now I've wanted to 'travel' around with the angels and continue to help those who struggle here on earth. I'm not sure how 'restful' I could be, knowing others still needed Jesus. For as long as earth remained, that would be my ultimate joy, to go around the world and help save souls with the angels. I want to go to heaven behind the very last of the sheep. I think only then could I be truly at rest and full of joy.

 

[Mark Corbett]

I don't have any dreams to share, just longings. For a long time now I've wanted to 'travel' around with the angels and continue to help those who struggle here on earth. I'm not sure how 'restful' I could be, knowing others still needed Jesus. For as long as earth remained, that would be my ultimate joy, to go around the world and help save souls with the angels. I want to go to heaven behind the very last of the sheep. I think only then could I be truly at rest and full of joy.

Thanks so much for sharing your longing. I think your longing to help the lost get found is a Holy Spirit fueled longing.

We don't know if we will be able to be involved in the work on earth in any way once we are with Christ after death. If so, our role is entirely invisible to those who are here, and this would be important so that people would not be tempted to seek help from us instead of from God. I lean towards thinking that once we die, we rest until the resurrection.

I think the main way to live out your good desire is to pour out our lives here and now while we are alive on earth. To give, and go, and pray, and risk like many lives depend on it, because they do.

Your passion reminds me of an old song by Steve Camp:

 

[joshua 1 9]

Any sacrifice God asks us to make, any suffering He asks us to endure, is very small compared to the glories of eternal life in the New Heaven and New Earth:

The suffering does not seem so small now. But I do think about Heaven and the rewards we will have there. The house I live in was remodeled by the previous owner who was an architect. This house in the summer was designed to be able to handle at least 100 people. Even in the winter we can fit a lot of people in here. We read about our mansion in Heaven and it may need to be very big when you consider the number of people that may want to visit or even stay with us for a while. If you were someone like Johnny Cash then there maybe a lot of people that would like to visit you and hear you sing. Your house is going to need to be big enough to hold a LOT of people. I would like to be able to spend some time with some of the authors of some of the Books in the Bible. I would like to talk to David about the 119 Psalm and his love for the Law of God. Because I can not find anyone here who understands that enough to have a conversation about what David is teaching us in that Psalm. How many people in the Bible if we can not visit with them then it would be nice to at least attend a teaching. I look forward to attending a university there so I can finally understand what we struggle to understand here in this world.

 

[joshua 1 9]

I want to go to heaven behind the very last of the sheep. I think only then could I be truly at rest and full of joy.

Yes, I prayed or talked to God about this once. I said at the time that I would be willing to go into the tribulation period if there was something I could do to help people. I believe He told me that there would be nothing I could do during that time and there would be no reason for me to be here. There will be 144,000 in the world then giving a witness and a testimony for God. The age of Grace will have come to an end.

The Bible says the first will be last and the last will be first.