Hopefully by now you will be used to me saying things in these blogs that at first reading will strike you on a scale as being anywhere from helpful to insane! Well, I am only sharing where I have found bread.  If you can’t eat wholesome bread maybe you are eating too much spiritual cake… there is a lot of it around!

I will send this out on  Sunday but actually it is being baked  on Saturday Night. I am taking a Sabbath break from my blog for a day tomorrow like a good Scottish Presbyterian! However as I think toward the Lord’s Day I am reminded that worshipping on a Sunday centres us on  what is at the core of our faith, namely that Jesus rose from the dead. Of course we can worship Him any time, place, or day, but it is good not to lose the focussing  or re-focussing benefit of Sundays to bring us back to fundamental things. We believe in the resurrection of Christ and we believe in the resurrection of our own bodies too!  We actually believe that this world is not all we are living for, though we are to care for it and its people. Paul once said that if we were only living for this life then of all people Christians should be pitied the most; he wrote that at a time when Christians were being mocked and persecuted. His words may come into their own with a fresh measure of reality in these days when many of our Christian brothers and sisters are being persecuted with horrendous brutality. Heaven probably  takes on more importance in such times. Perhaps we are too at home in this world and have forgotten this is not our truest home. Actually we are aliens here according to the bible. If you are still reading this blog, then along with me, hopefully, you are still waiting for your truest home.

In my mind today is an experience that I will leave you to think about. Someone I knew was dying. I found myself sitting in the bath singing over them in my spiritual imagination, “God sent His Son they called Him Jesus, He came to love, heal and forgive…” In particular I found myself moved as I sang, “And then one day, I’ll cross the river, I’ll fight life’s final war with pain . And then as death gives way to victory, I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives”  I started to clap for the valour this person was  showing as the end of their life on earth drew nearer and I went on to sing the chorus, “Because He  lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone: Because I know, I know He holds the future and life is worth the living, just because He lives.” I sang and thought no more of it. Only later did the man’s wife share that as her husband was nearing the last moments of his life he heard a choir of angels  sing, “ Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow!” Did I join with the angels? Who knows? I don’t care one way or the other.  I only know that the Gospel is that the Kingdom of Heaven is close. So why should we not join with the angels? Why should we not expect the lines between time and eternity to be fudged a bit? Why should we not expect miracle, heavenly things to happen that cannot be understood in earthly terms? I am sure I am not the only one to have met an angel and benefited from their ministry to God’s people… but that is for another day….!

It may be that some preachers will read this blog before going out to preach. Can I encourage you to believe that something heavenly will happen in someone’s life as you share the Word of Life? I always believed something would happen for at least one person when I preached and when I get the strength to preach again will believe for that still. As I honour the gospel of the Kingdom being near, I trust that the God of heaven will be close to touch someone’s life with heavenly grace and help and even with transformation.

Most of you will not be preachers. If you have the health  and feel emotionally it is within your reach even if with a struggle, then go and join with God’s people this Sunday. When you do, remember the God of heaven is close to meet with you. Can He not meet with me anywhere? Of course He can. But He is helping us truly to be the body of His Son, where each part or member blesses the other. So often heavenly help comes not direct form God or through the angels but through that very ordinary person sitting next to us in the pews. David Watson once shared that he was at a conference where everyone was asked to turn and say to their neighbour, “I could not live without you!” I guess the idea was to give a practical response to the idea that as members of Christ’s body we need one another. David Watson said that sitting next to him was the most strikingly beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life! He kept his eyes firmly to the front! I hope though, you get the point! Believe in the closeness of heaven. Believe in the singing of the angels and their ministry to us. But believe also that the people in your local church, who  you may well have issues with, could be the touch of heaven to you too. It is so irritating when God at times insists on meeting with you that way! Don’t dismiss the angels, but don’t disconnect with people, even if you have got issues with them. The Word of he Lord to you might simply be. “Get up out your bed and go back to church!”

What if you are on your own this day and for good reason cannot be at church? Well, the gospel is still wonderfully true for you. The Kingdom of heaven is close. May the touch of that Kingdom be upon you. The Risen Christ can meet you this Lord’s Day, even if you cannot be with His people for good reason. I am thinking especially, but not exclusively of  those who would love to be with fellow believers but they are right now imprisoned and even being tortured for their faith. Richard Wurmbrand shares that on one occasion when he was in solitary confinement during his many years in prison for his faith,  he asked the Lord to speak to Him, and The Lord Jesus did;  Jesus screamed….  This is Holy ground where even angels would fear to tread but would veil their faces: when someone’s body  is being hurt or in pain, the head of the body screams. Perhaps today the heavenly thing that will happen for you will be that you really do realise one of the holiest and most precious of “heaven being near earth” mysteries;  Jesus, the head of the body is touched with the very feelings of your infirmities and mine.

…Changed my mind. Am sending it out tonight. Had a feeling someone needed to read this before tomorrow morning…..

PS – You are very welcome to enjoy these blogs and share them with anyone “without money or price!” However, if you ever feel grateful for these blogs and are able to do so, then please make a donation to Open Doors, Scotland. Their website is

http://www.opendoorsuk.org/scotland

In case you have not heard of them, Open Doors works to help our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world.