I read it on my social media page. Big blue letters. Jesus is coming soon.
I think this statement is relative for me because when is “soon”?

Not soon enough.

When I say this it makes me feel almost guilty for all those who have ignored people who have tried to witness to them. It makes me feel empathy and compassion for those who are teetering on the line of belief and faith, yet still have a foot in the world. It makes me think of those who left the church and their faith due to something human that happened to them or around them. And I catch my breath at the implications for those right on the edge, willing to pause for salvation out of uncertainty and fear.
on the other hand…

Not soon enough.

If they knew what I know, they wouldn’t pause at all. There would be no waiting.

There would be no hesitation because God is good, all the time.

If you believe that, then imagine what heaven looks, feels, smells, and sounds like! A place of no sorrow, no pain, no frustration. For me, no anxiety, no relationship faux-pas, no worrying about what other people do or say. There will be no tears, no physical pain, and no suffering.

No gossip, no slander, no jealousy, and no fighting. No crime, no injustice, no shootings, and no racism.

There will be only peace. Forgiveness. love. redemption.

We cannot possibly fathom how incredible Heaven will be. The only way to know for ourselves is to arrive there when we leave here.

The only way to accomplish that is to ask Jesus for forgiveness and turn from the way of this life to a new life within yourself. A life that includes obedience, scripture, and following the path God has laid out for you. You can save yourself by taking the steps and following through.

Below in John 14, Jesus speaks and gives clear instructions for redemption. He tells us exactly what to do and how to do it. And he tells us he is going there to prepare a place for us that we can only imagine.

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God^[a]; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know^[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[c] in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

²² Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

²⁵ “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

²⁸ “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. ³⁰ I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, ³¹ but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

“Come now; let us leave.”

XOXO,