On the other side — eternity — are various settings.
There are abodes in a rustic countryside, near inconceivable waterfalls, in grand, towering, expansive “forests,” next to pastures of pure luminous verdure. There are hamlets.
There are cottages.
There are hovels.
There are mansions (many of these: John 14:2). There are villages and towns and cities of light and “cities” within those cities. I read an account of a Chinese woman who had passed on after a long illness and walked with Jesus to gates of pearl which were opened by angels past which she saw gorgeously colored houses and golden streets.
When Rebecca Springer had her extensive near-death experience (which was back in the 1800s), she visited the home that her brother had helped construct for her.
When she asked about small homes, he replied, “That was all the material (good works) they sent up.”
To repeat: Your mission is your mansion.
Your true purpose brings you closer to God.
Use what you are given to give to others (and your gifts will grow).
The more you give, the more of God’s Grace will flow through you—healing here on earth; registering in Heaven.
Death is no more traumatic, to those prepared, than leaving one room and entering another.
“Let me tell you, my dear friends, there is always an angel with you as you leave this world,” said Gladys.
“If you love everyone as yourself, the heavens will open up and receive you. But be aware. If you are evil with evil thoughts, you will never see the light or the cleansing white cloud that washes away the old earth and makes you pure, to be able to see the Lord.”
A pure heart is a portal to God.
It holds nothing back.
It bears no secrets.
Look at negative trends that keep repeating in your life and tackle them.
Life is about how you do things, your tone of voice, the pattern of your thoughts.
With discipline, every thought that was critical can be turned into a kind one.
(As soon as a person enters your thoughts, pray for him. In this way there will not be a negative perspective.)
The virtues are always with us. So is perseverance.
Remember that a seer from Kibeho, Rwanda, once called purgatory the “place of those who persevere.”
“The Lord will give people situations, like cancer,” adds a woman named Lisa Tesch. “They’re scared. They’re so frightened. They have no idea what they’re going to run into
or what to expect to happen. All I can say is, ‘Rejoice!’ When you are embraced in the Arms of the Father Almighty, there is no greater Presence. And it’s total, holy, pure love. He totally embraces you and you become one in Him. I said, ‘Jesus, save me,’ and I was instantly in His Presence.”
Death dissolves like a vapor.
If we fail to use our faith and help others we are like the Pharisees who castigated Jesus for violating the “law” of the Sabbath by healing the blind man. Who was without sight: the blind man or the Pharisees?
There is “over-scrupulosity.”
We can’t see the forest for the trees.
We are “penny wise and pound foolish.”
We lose sight of the “big picture.”
God is merciful—hugely. We must never forget this! You cannot imagine His kindness. Extremes distort our emotions.
–MHB
[resources: What You Take To Heaven and retreat Cincinnati]