Friday, August 1, 2014

"2 TICKETS TO PARADISE"

"Got a surprise especially for you

Something that both of us have always wanted to do we've waited so long, waited so long
We've waited so long, waited so long

I'm gonna take you on a trip so far from here I've got two tickets in my pocket, now baby, we're gonna disappear We've waited so long, waited so long We've waited so long, waited so long

I've got two tickets to paradise
Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight I've got two tickets to paradise I've got two tickets to paradise"

If Jerry said to me today that he had 2 tickets to paradise, I would run home, pack my bags and join him on a plane to paradise.  Paradise for me is where I am with my husband, my children and grandchildren.  I love sunshine, warm weather, low humidity, balmy breezes, palm trees and the sound of waves hitting the shore.  Paradise is a place where there is no stress, no worries, no sickness, no pain, and no bills to pay.  Paradise is a place where I can be at ease and relax.  Paradise is a place where there is no depression or anxiety.  Paradise is where I connect with my Savior and my God.  I see His handiwork in everything I see and I smell His handiwork in the fragrant flowers that line the pathways in Paradise.  I taste His handiwork in the food that I eat in Paradise and I feel His handiwork when the soft, gentle breezes caress my face. I experience His paradise when I look into the eyes of my children and grandchildren.  Paradise for me is place I long to be.  I want to grab a hold of this Paradise and place it in my heart.   Paradise to me is real, not a figment of my imagination.  It's more than just a place, it's a feeling I get, almost a comfort to me knowing that my Paradise is real.  

If someone told you that this Paradise is real, would you believe them?  Would you by a ticket on the next plane to Paradise? I know you would.  We would all like to experience what it would be like to live a day in Paradise.   It sometimes seems like this perfect pace doesn't exist.  It seems too good to be true.  Life is never that easy so why should we even begin to dream of this place called Paradise.  There have been numerous songs written about it, story books are filled with other peoples ideas about what Paradise is to them.  We see Paradise on movie screens and TV screens.  But Paradise is more than just a place to visit.  For me it's more about a feeling.  Paradise is a feeling I want to dwell in.  A state of bliss and peace amidst a world in chaos. Paradise is a feeling that overwhelms me and makes me long for more of it.  In this world where everyone is running at top speed to get tot he top of the ladder of success, I found Paradise.  In this world where wars are breaking out all over, I found Paradise.  In this world filled with cancer and death, I found Paradise.

If I told you this Paradise was available to you, would you believe it?  Would you need proof?  Would you take me up on my offer?  Would you grab the ticket I have for you to Paradise?  For many years I struggled trying to understand this Paradise I longed for. I tried to get there on my own, but never did.  I searched for Paradise, but never found it.  My heart ached for Paradise, but couldn't feel it.  There was an emptiness that I tried filling with other things, but no matter what I tried, that empty feeling remained. there was something missing in my life and I couldn't understand what it was.  An ache, a longing, an emptiness, a void that can't be filled no matter how hard we try.  Nothing can satisfy that feeling, and nothing else can fill that void except Jesus Christ.

I found my Paradise in Jesus Christ.  Through the blood He shed on the cross, I found my eternal Paradise.  Whether you chose to believe or not, there will be a day when you will have to spend eternity in the place of your choosing.  Heaven and hell is real!  The choice is yours to make.  An eternity in Paradise or an eternity in fire,  for me the choice is simple.  I chose Paradise.  This Paradise I experienced by choosing to believe in Jesus Christ has already filled the ache, that emptiness, that void and that longing.  There is empty place in your heart placed there by the creator that can only be filled with Jesus Christ.  You can try to buy enough stuff to fill it, it won't work.  You can try to ignore the emptiness by drowning you sorrows or you can fill yourself with enough drugs to numb that feeling, but none of that will work.  There is only one way to fill that void, Jesus Christ.  If I told you I had a ticket to Paradise with your name on it, would you take it?  Well I don't but Jesus Christ has a ticket to Paradise with your name on it waiting for you.  It's in His hand now.  Will you take it?

Jesus, today I am choosing to accept the ticket to Paradise you are holding for me.   I want you to fill the emptiness in my heart.  Fill me with your love and your peace so that I can live in an eternal Paradise with you, in Jesus name I pray, amen.   

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