For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another with these words.

I Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NAS)

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, an expert with this amazing machine called the computer. I used to say, facetiously, that I knew how to turn it on and off. Well, I have really advanced! I can send and receive emails; I can get access to the Internet and surf to my heart’s content; I know how to use Word for writing my devotionals; and I love working with Power Point, so I am computer literate (by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!).

Emails can be annoying or interesting or fun. I have a friend, Jim, who sends me a potpourri and I usually enjoy them. So when he sent one with great positive remarks -How in the world did they catch this with their camera? Amazing photography! I opened it expectantly. It began by showing a bear cub rolling around in the grass, having a great time, scratching his back, and loving life. Then, somewhere to the right, a cougar appears, spots the cub, licks his lips, and charges! The cub scents the cougar and begins running as fast as his stubby little legs could carry him, all the while whimpering and stumbling. I turned it off! That I do not need! I returned it to Jim and said, I couldn’t handle this one, Jim, but tell me – did it have a happy ending? “Oh yes! The mother bear came on the scene and the cougar decided he wasn’t really all that hungry.”

Happy endings. I love it when the last paragraph reads and they lived happily ever after. Did you know that your life has a happy ending? Oh, you may be living in virtual hell now in this fallen world, but when your part in the play is over and you walk off stage, your story has a happy ending! How great is that?

The Bible doesn’t really tell us all that much – specifically – about heaven, but the references we do have tell us all we need to know. Jesus gives us His thoughts about heaven in John 14:2-3 (J.B. Phillips): There are many rooms in my Father’s House. If there were not, should I have told you that I am going away to prepare a place for you? It is true that I am going away to prepare a place for you, but it is just as true that I am coming again to welcome you into My own home, so that you may be where I am. Friend, that is a happy ending!

John’s Revelation (which I do not understand) adds a magnificent promise! The New Jerusalem (the heavenly city) will be the abode of all the saints, the bride of Christ, and the place Christ is preparing for His people (John 14:2-3), and when we arrive there something wonderful, wonderful happens. And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; (Revelation 21:4 NAS). Ecstasy! (A state of overpowering joy!) Incredible! (Seeming too wonderful to be possible.) Oh, yes! We, as His children, have been promised a happy ending.

Maybe you turned off the video of your life – it was too scary to watch! Well, there may be a lot of scary things and you may be running and whimpering and stumbling, but your Father appears and your story has a happy ending!

. . . and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Comfort one another with these words

(I Thessalonians 4: 17b and 18.)