Vision of Heaven
I would like to write a summary of the sights, sounds, and smells of heaven. In heaven there are no shadows. Even the blades of grass do not cast a shadow. The Glory of the Lord so permeates everything from within and from without that there are no places for a shadow to occur. There is a special music that comes from God that makes everything in heaven, by way of harmonics, emanate the same song. If you were to hold your hand to your ear you would hear the same song coming from within. The music doesn't come from any particular direction. It is everywhere coming from everything, even the air. It is the same with the perfume of heaven. There is an unbelievably wonderful fragrance that fills the air and everything. I first smelled this in the spirit, but a few years later when I bought a bottle of anointing oil (not olive oil) as it was made in the Old Testament I found that the fragrance of that was, to my perceptions, the same fragrance as I had smelled in the spirit. Many Christians wonder if we shall know each other. We shall know and recognize each other for who we are a thousand times more than we do now. The cloud of sin and the veil of the flesh and our own hiding have us bound from seeing each other now. The experience is like coming out of some sort of amnesia… you know, you feel, you recognize so much more and with such magnified clarity than we do here on earth. It is like having had a dream of a friend wherein their image is vague and then waking up and finding your friend standing before you in all the clarity that was not comprised of in the dream. So it is when entering heaven and confronting old friends and loved ones. Earth is like a pale dream in comparison to the realness of the things of heaven.
Each house is custom built to accommodate the tastes of each individual and there are no doors for keeping people out. Where there are doors in heaven they are for the purpose of beauty and decoration alone. Besides, in glorified bodies there is no need to open doors as one is able to pass right through them. In the City of God each person has their own "apartment". Above the entry into each apartment is placed the new name of the person for whom the apartment was made. Inside are particular furnishings. In an area somewhat like a dining area is a table upon which is placed a bud vase. You are allowed to pick your favorite flower of all the varieties in heaven and place it in this vase. In that vase it never dies or wilts. Nothing in heaven ever dies or wilts. The apartments are illuminated throughout from another object which is placed on the table. That object is a Bible. We will still have our Bibles. As it lay on the table the Glory of the Lord emanates from it and fills the entire apartment. The language in the Bible is totally in a pure language free of any and all translational errors. On the table is also a writing instrument and a type of exquisite parchment like paper upon which to write. An unexpected joy was to find that everything you write conveys perfectly, without flaw, the very idea, feeling, and intent as it was meant. The table itself is made of pure solid gold. Also in the apartment is a kind of couch-bed that you can lie down on. You do not recline out of any tiredness, but rather to lie and meditate upon the wonders and glories of heaven and on the love and majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. Also within are placed musical instruments of gold; a harp and a trumpet for the enjoyment and the praise of the inhabitants. The celestial bodies will have some very different but totally joyful properties as one is able to walk right through a tree or a wall or whatever. In fact the gates to the city are each of a single pearl that is seemingly about 200 feet high. This "gate" does not swing on hinges, but one passes through the very pearl itself. I believe that in itself is appropriate as Jesus is the door into heaven and we do not get into heaven by Jesus swinging to the side, but rather we must be "passed through Jesus” himself to enable us to enter. It is "through" Jesus that we enter, not "passed" him.
The city is built like a four-sided pyramid. There is a base section; then a middle section suspended above the first; and then the top section suspended above the mid-section. Christ is referred to as "The Cornerstone" which the builders rejected. We think of a cornerstone as that piece of corner connecting two sides of a foundation, but here the word is more appropriately translated as "Capstone". It refers to the pointed top section which is placed atop a pyramid. It is interesting that in the city it is in this very top section, at its point, that Christ has His throne room. Eyesight in heaven is most unbelievable. One can see another person at far distances and still be able to count the number of eyelashes on their face. I say this in a very literal and not a poetic sense. I saw a road there of purest gold, yet it is clear like glass. It has a depth to it like glass, but it is real solid gold like one might make jewelry of. It is like taking the light of the most golden sunset you could imagine and solidifying it and making a road of it. Within the gold is knowledge; the knowledge of God infinite and unending. I saw gems; emeralds, diamonds, and rubies and others. They all glowed with the glory of the Lord from within. My favorites were the rubies. There is a deep reddish purple color to them of a hue which does not exist on Earth. I saw glasses of wine that were poured that were of this very same color. I did not see any drinking the wine, but it seemed to have been poured in preparation and in waiting for the Marriage Supper. Even though I did not drink any somehow I had knowledge of how it tasted. Nothing on this earth can compare to its flavor. It is an absolutely new and different taste. And to drink it is not to get drunk, but it has an invigorating quality to it as it is consumed. Each of us carries on much the same interests there as we do here. There are great auditoriums where there is teaching going on all the time by the many great teachers and evangelists of the past and the Apostles. Everywhere there is activity going on, but without any hint of hurriedness or strife. Each departed saint has an occupation of some kind. Some are builders who build houses and auditoriums and everything. All the building that goes on is done so without noise. The Bible says that when Solomon's temple was being built that the sound of hammer and saw were not heard in it as it was built. There were teachers, instructors, and guides. Angels would teach saints to play musical instruments. Saints were teaching other saints how to play. And as Christ said of John the Baptist that the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he… is very true. Even the smallest of children had such knowledge of Christ. All the children were so precious and were treated as equal brothers and sisters and as co-heirs of the riches of Christ. None were treated as lesser creations.
Often people ask if there are animals in heaven and the answer is yes, but I believe that God desires us to keep our priorities straight. People need to consider the salvation of their souls and the souls of others before asking about whether their pets will go to heaven. The issue is Jesus died for us to save us and to bring us to where he is. After we get there we shall know all of the wonders that come with it. It is not good to sit around and contemplate whether your dead dog went to heaven or not when you haven't gotten your own ticket yet. Priorities!
Communication is great in heaven. It is instant and occurs before you can think to start. Actions are the same way. As you think to do something you find yourself doing it before you are finished thinking to start. Thoughts themselves create the very actions. You can go anywhere instantly as well. To think to be someplace places you there instantly. If you like the slower more leisurely and fun method you can just fly along the countryside to your destination. That's for those who like the scenic route.
So much in Heaven and these are just a few short words.