First Day in Heaven

 

The bliss I feel—

My heart explodes—

To see His face.

My feet have felt the streets,

I’ve seen Incarnate Grace. 

I run abandoned toward Him,

Cast myself before the One

Who gave His life

To take away my sin.

The longing has been satisfied.

All crying, sighing

No more, forgotten like a dream. 

The patriarchs and saints of old,

Mighty martyrs, humble souls,

Polycarp and Abraham,

Peter, Paul, Stephen, Huss—

The ones who went before,

Who overcame,

Rejoice I made it. 

They glow with light,

Are fresh with youth.

I’m led through realms celestial 

Where God and man

Abide as one. 

Your Hand has led me into

Beulah Land.

No longer does there span

A distance.

I am home

At last. 

The old is past;

The new has come. 

This vibrancy

Is pulsing through my veins.

Insane sensations!

I’ve never felt this alive,

Like I had wings!

The mansion fashioned just for me

Reflects the care of God,

The King who lavishes His riches

And adds the custom touch.

Jesus said He’ll come and visit

Anytime I want!

We’ll sit together, side by side

In perfumed gardens.

My joy could not be greater!

We’ll dine 

As I share all that’s on my mind.

In the halls of heaven’s library,

Giant books of truth and wisdom

Wait for all to freely learn.

I want to read them all!

The secrets of the Kingdom

Have been given.

Choruses of praise resound

Within the courtroom,

The center of the universe.

The holiness of God pervades my soul;

I’m stirred right to my core.

My heart resounds with the worship.

I fall before His throne

As angels, saints, and cherubim call

“Holy, holy, holy!”

The music here transcends all other;

It’s from another realm!

All yearning, hope, and holy burning,

Dream and desire

Culminates here

In union with Eternal Fire. 

-- Charity Lacroix

"However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived"— the things God has prepared for those who love him—" (1Co 2:9 NIV)

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

(Heb 12:1-3 NIV)

"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." (Heb 12:22-24 NIV)

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." (Rev 22:1-5 NIV)

Attribution notice: Wherever noted, Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Wherever noted, other quotations taken from the NASB, copyright Lockman Foundation, used by permission.

Photo credit: Image may be subject to copyright, used per the Fair Use Act for commentary purposes only. No copyright infringement intended.

Author's note:  The poems in this blog were written by my children, ages twelve through nineteen . The Why This Blog post explains how the Lord inspired these poems in answer to a prayer during illness.  I also recommend visiting my children's blog, A Brush with Life, where you will also find beautiful art they have drawn for the glory of God. You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master. Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Jesus?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International . He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Fruit in Every Season

When Jesus comes looking for fruit on our tree,
Regardless of the season that it may be,
May He find our branches with something to offer --
Something delightful to Him and the Father.

Love is the first fruit the Lord wants to find.
Is this at the root of our acts toward mankind?
And do we obey Him because “it’s required”?
Or does love compel us to seek what’s desired?

Joy follows second as fruit for the Groom.
It’s a choice that we make in defiance of gloom.
When clouds overshadow to darken our days,
He still wants to find us exuding joy’s rays.

What about peace, the anchor in shaking,
When all is tumultuous, unstable, and quaking?
At all times we ought to have peace in our soul,
Especially when things get out of control

Then there is patience. When we are short-tempered,
We fail in this fruit and haven’t remembered
That frustration and anger do not bring about
The righteousness of God in any amount.

Kindness is something the poor and the weak,
With gazes imploring do hope for and seek.
There may be some sacrifice made on our part,
But really, God’s looking for a cheerful heart.

The sweet fruit of goodness is equally needed
It truly affects the way others are treated.
All that comes forth from our lives as our deeds
Reveals what we’ve laid up within as the seeds.

Now let not the Lord find us failing the test
Whenever He checks for the fruit faithfulness.
Will we keep all our promises, stand by our word?
Pressing ahead, though it’s hard to endure?

The Gardener expects just as much to discover
The fruit gentleness as He would any other.
Look through His eyes at the simple and slow.
Then will compassion from Him through us flow.

Last but not least, do we bear self-control?
We can’t leave it out, for it makes our tree whole.
Our wills must be fully submitted to Christ
For if they take charge, we will pay a great price.

-- Charity Lacroix, age 18, August, 2016

Related Scriptures:
“…so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Col 1:10)

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Gal 5:22-23)

"Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again!' And His disciples were listening." (Mar 11:13-14)

"Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, 'No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.' And at once the fig tree withered." (Mat 21:19)

"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Rev 22:1-2)

"By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." (Eze 47:12)

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." (Joh 15:1-2)

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." (Joh 15:4-6)

Related articles:
Fruit in Every Season (article)
Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit: What's the Difference?
Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work
Multiplication

More children's poems:
Perfect for the King
Overflowing Blessings
Use Your Talents
The Sheep and the Goats
Reward for the Overcomer
Vessel for the Master
Connected to the Vine
Make Your Bride Ready

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note:  The poems in this blog were written by my children, ages seven through fourteen. The "Why This Blog" post explains how the Lord inspired these poems in answer to a prayer during illness. Poems on this site may be copied and used for non-commercial purposes, as long as proper credit and backlink to this blog is given.  No commercial use allowed without express permission from author.  I also recommend visiting my children's blog, A Brush with Life, where you will also find beautiful art they have drawn for the glory of God. You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.