Matthew 18:21-22  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Acts 20:35  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

Imagine.....

Before I start sounding like a John Lennon song, I want you to think about the word "imagination".  It implies unreality.  When we start imagining what things could be like if everyone believed that Jesus came to save the whole world and we all started living as if we believed that, we can picture that in our minds.  But then we open our eyes and see the "real world."

So, instead of closing your eyes (literally or figuratively) when you imagine, start looking at the people around you. Look at the cars in front of you while you are stuck in traffic.  Look at the TV newsanchor who is telling you about how bad the economy is.  Then remember that what you are actually looking at is made by a real God (see God is Real), who made the world to love each other and Him.

Now, imagine a place where everyone forgave each other person 490 times.  And I submit that if you manage to count to 489, then you probably have not really forgiven even once.  Imagine a place where having material things is not more important to anyone than loving their neighbor, even if their neighbor stole their car. Imagine a place where everyone trusted God to take care of their needs, not as an excuse to be lazy, but as a reason not to worry and be selfish.  If we saw a homeless person on the street, we would not think "Get a job" or "If I give this person money, they'll probably just use it to buy drugs" or "If I take this person home, they'll probably steal everything I own" or "If I let this person into my car, they may rape and murder me". Imagine a place where we all live in mansions (John 14:2).

Now that you have imagined such a place, I ask you: "Is this place possible?" Since you imagined it, then it is possible, and since it is possible, scientists' own arguments prove it exists somewhere in space or time (see God is Real).  You may immediately think "not on this earth" and you are probably correct. The question is why not?

I recently read a magazine article talking about the health benefits of forgiveness.  I have also seen articles about how people are happiest when they are giving and helping other people. The February 23, 2009 issue of Time magazine has as its cover story "How Faith Can Heal", (along with a subcover of "25 People to Blame for the Economic Mess We're In").  In the story on faith, it tells how science is discovering that part of our brain is wired to create in our heads all of the "supernatural" feelings we get when we believe in something greater than ourselves. They are finding that religious belief and praying are linked to better health in almost the same amount statistically as exercise is linked to better health.  The skeptics claim that this fact is due to the way our brain deals with stress hormones.  And studies have found that intercessory prayer (praying for others) has much greater statistical effect when the person knows they are being prayed for, which the skeptics say is the placebo effect. I say it means we should tell people we are praying for them when we do.

Instead of debating why prayer works and when it does, I ask this: If our brains are wired to believe in God, to help and forgive others, to live longer when we pray, why don't we?  Why do we answer that the place described above cannot exist on this earth? Belief, by definition, means that we actually think the God and heaven that we believe in is real - why would evolution create in us a part of our brains devoted to believing something that is not real?

Eden was intended to be a place where man and woman helped each other and had a relationship with God.  It was us that messed that up.  If you're thinking "It wasn't me, it was ______", then you are saying that you trust God enough to give all of your money, house, and cars to charity, if He tells you to (Matthew 19:16-22). If instead you are wanting to read the "25 People to Blame" story in the Time magazine, then maybe you should rethink whose to blame for why heaven does not exist here on earth.

Jesus loves us.  God did not create us because He likes to punish us.  He has plans to prosper and not to harm us. Some people read the Old Testament, or look at things happening in today's world and say that God is punishing us or other people, as if God takes pleasure from that. I don't think my human father took pleasure from punishing me, but I am glad he did. If God liked to punish us, He would not have sent Jesus to take our punishment for us.  All we have to do is believe and thank Him for it. If we do, we can go to that place that exists somewhere in space/time called heaven (John 14:1-7).