Heaven Is For Real

"Supreme Sanctuary" -- painted by child prodigy, Akiane Kramarik. She said that it was impossible for her to capture the colors
that existed in Heaven because of their uniqueness. They are not of this world. For the complete Akiane Gallery, please click here.

Matthew 22:30

At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; 

they will be like the angels in heaven.

Dong, the older kids, and I just finished watching the movie, "Heaven Is For Real". Though to Dong and I, the film left much to be desired in emphasizing the gospel message, we believe that it would be effective in making non-believers think about the truth of the existence of heaven.

What really is heaven and what happens in heaven?

The movie is based on Colton's pastor dad, Todd Burpo's recalling of the 
supernatural experience his son had as a young 4-year old.

According to Colton Burpo, the boy who almost died from a ruptured appendix, and who claimed to have gone to heaven during the difficult ordeal: "Jesus and some angels came and flew me up to heaven.... I knew that the first person I saw was Jesus. He was wearing white robes with a purple sash and He just came down nicely and gracefully... I was in the throne room of God to start with, so I got to see what that looked like. I was upset because I didn’t know what was happening. What God did was He used people or things that I liked to calm me down. From then on I felt better..." 

Colton recalled too, that he could always hear people singing in heaven and he always felt God’s love everywhere.

Colton now

Aside from seeing his grandpa in his young-man state, and his elder miscarried sister in her young-girl state, Colton also saw Jesus. None of the pictures his dad showed to him on Jesus looked "right", though.

Child wonder, Akiane Kramarik, with her portrait of Jesus. 
She was just 8 when she made this.

Akiane now, with the "Prince of Peace".

That was until he saw Akiane Kramarik's beautiful portrait of our Lord, whom she also claimed to have seen in heaven, from her own visions as a little girl. Colton finally found the accurate image of the Jesus that he himself had seen in heaven.

"Father Forgive Them" - Akiane's parents
supposedly converted to Christianity because
of their daughter's experiences with the divine.

Both Akiane and Colton were struck by the beauty of Jesus’ eyes. It may seem surprising to some that Colton and Akiane recall Jesus with blue-green eyes since He was a Jew; and Jews usually have brown eyes, but that was what they saw....

“All I remember were the eyes,” Akiane says, “and they were like no other colors that were ever created. The closest color I can depict through paints is a sapphire hue.”  Colton identified the color of Jesus’ eyes as blue-green.

Says Colton: "Jesus’ eyes are just so pretty."

Akiane with Colton -- Both claim to have seen Jesus and Heaven.

Akiane’s discovery of God seems remarkably personal, having grown up in an atheist home. “Since nobody told me who God was, I found God myself. He’s been there for me through the years.  I don’t belong to any denomination or religion. I belong to God.”

With her painting, "I AM."
Akiane claims her talent is from God.

To eliminate any confusion, however, Jesus is first in her mind.  “He is the only way to God — the only way to heaven and joy,” she states. “My personal views on Jesus have only matured and deepened since age 4.  As I grow I see how vast and unlimited His love is.”

“Jesus remains my highest authority, love, and God,” she adds. “I pray every day that people will one day follow Jesus, His teachings and feel His love.”

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While I cannot know for sure if these two individuals really saw Heaven, (This post was not written to contest them or their claims.) their incredible and amazing statements just make me excited to see and reach Heaven too (although I pray, not yet soon, because I still have four little ones to nurture, and a husband to help and to serve.)

But I do believe that there is a heaven, and it is reserved for those who love God and follow His Commandments.

John 14:2-4

2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

Akiane's prayer is my prayer too: 

That people will one day follow Jesus and His Teachings, 

and feel His Love.

Among Jesus' Teachings that I pray women will follow, is the teaching specifically directed towards us Christian wives who want to follow Christ in our marriages, which is found in this verse:

     Ephesians 5:22-33 

New International Version (NIV)

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word,27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b]

32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

                                                                        

* * * * * * * * * * 

While it is a bummer to no longer be married to Dong when we are both in Heaven, as the Bible passage at the top of this post points out; I want to encourage fellow wives out there reading this blog, that we don't need to wait to all go to Heaven in order to experience heaven.

We can make our stay here on earth a little glimpse of heaven by following Christ's Commandment for us wives to submit to the headship of our husbands.

It is possible! 

It can be achieved! 

All it takes is a LOT of dying to self, humility and 

total submission to the Will of God. 

We can never experience perfect peace and joy in this side of heaven, that is for sure, but following God's Design for Marriage and His Precepts on what a godly marriage is -- where the husband is the leader and the wife is the follower -- and where both the husband and wife are focused on Jesus and fully submitted to God, can surely make any earthly marriage, heavenly.

Heaven is for real... 

and a heavenly marriage is [for real] too. :)

I never thought I could have this much peace or joy ever.
It was only when I fully submitted to God, then to my husband, 
that I began to experience a godly marriage which
has trickled on and permeated all areas of my Christian life.
My prayer is for every Christian wife to experience what it is
to have a heavenly marriage as well. 
As the song goes "Heaven is a place on earth." :D

May we all be richly blessed! :)