"Almost Heaven"

I know it isn’t heaven,

And heaven is my home,

We’re on the way, come what may,

But I love this Texas loam.

‘Cause here we are in Texas,

And where we’re meant to be,

A circle wide, I will confide,

Started long ago, you see.

Upbringing back in Alabam,

On a southern cattle range,

With cowboys who, knew what to do,

I never thought it strange,

That horseback was the way to go,

And ropes tied hard and fast,

My younger day, the cowboy way,

Thought it would always last.

But life will have its twists and turns,

We sometimes lose our way,

We travel far, through wound and scar,

And wonder if the day,

Will come when we’ll be horseback,

Or punch those cows again,

Or if it’s gone, because so long,

Since we did that back when.

But life will keep on rolling,

And time brings something new,

To my surprise I closed my eyes,

And opened them to you.

And now because God loves us,

He gave to us this place,

The Brazos near, God’s presence here,

As we both seek His face.

A little piece of heaven,

Enroute to heaven’s gate,

And all I knew has now come true,

And it was worth the wait.

Praise the Lord for heaven,

And praise for Texas, too,

Lift heart and hand for this sweet land,

I praise Him here with you.

“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives…” (Philippians 3:20, NLT)

When you know Jesus, you realize He wants to give you assurance concerning your eternal destiny. If He has assured you, your life is informed and transformed by the awareness that heaven is waiting. This enables us to live the way God wants us to live, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. If heaven is God’s unlimited presence, the Holy Spirit is God’s presence with and in us on the way. Heaven on the way to heaven is what God has in mind for us, in spite of the fact that we must deal with this life’s struggles. When God graces us with our heart’s desires, it’s another indication that it is His heart is to bless us on the way to the eternal blessing. And in the process, someone might want to go with us!

Lord, we praise You for heaven, and heaven on the way to heaven, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Ken Steinnerd, used by permission. Thanks, Ken, and God bless you.