If This Isn't Heaven, I Don't Know What Is

Biblical Reasons Why We Should
And Practical Suggestions on How We Can
Create Heaven on Earth

They see rising crime, illiteracy, immorality, and corruption, and they feel powerless to do anything about it.

• They remember the days when the federal government was not keeping statistics on the number of 13 year-olds with sexually-transmitted diseases.
• They remember the days when movies that glorify virtue, courage, and the family were not relegated to "the family channel" on the most expensive cable packages.
• They've given up any hope of seeing politicians or reformers genuinely committed to "Liberty Under God" -- the vision of America's Founding Fathers.
• And when they read Micah's vision (Micah 4:1-7) of everyone living safely under his "Vine & Fig Tree," they have no hpe of this even becoming a possibility.

I believe this is because we have not been exercising our Spiritual Muscles.

Just as biceps and deltoids are unable to carry heavy burdens when they have not been exercised, so our spiritual muscles become weak and unable to carry us through the day if we have not been exercising them.

Sure, God will carry us through the day, but not if we lack the strength even to call on Him. And God says He will not hear our cry if we choose to be spiritual couch potatoes.

You've seen the claims in magazines and TV, of the 98-pound weakling becoming another Arnold Schwarzenegger "in just 5 minutes a day," and you don't believe those claims.

But the Bible makes even more outrageous claims about the benefits of exercising our spiritual muscles. When our spiritual muscles become fit, we can forget the past and grab onto the future. Not just a new look -- "there is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This is a book of exercises. These exercises are not dull and repetitious, nor do they cause strained muscles or require Ben-Gay when finished. These exercises are the very reason God put us on earth. When we do what God created us to do, we strengthen our spiritual muscles, we regain hope and we change the world around us.

In fact, we literally create heaven on earth.

Jesus told us to pray "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

And the Bible says we are to work as well as pray. God speaks of it as "exercising dominion over the earth."

And if we do these things, God promises joy unspeakable. God promises hope like you've never known it.

If you work through these exercises, you will be blessed with such joy and optimism that you won't be thinking all day long about leaving this life and going to heaven, you'll be swept away and fulfilled by creating heaven on earth.

You're skeptical.

You've been told that heaven on earth is not possible until Jesus returns.

You've been told that we pray "Thy Kingdom Come" even though we know it won't.*

"This life sucks," you say, "and I'm ready to be raptured."

What would you say if I told you that the spirit of resignation is the spirit of anti-Christ? What if I told you that such negativism runs contrary to the very reason why God created you? It's sort of like spending all day longing to be a clam when God created you in His own Image as a human being. But the Bible tells us we can have joy and optimism.

Are you Berean enough to get out your Bible and see if these things be so? (Acts 17:11)

I'd like to invite you to open your Bible and see it in a new light. I'd like you to read several hundred Bible verses that you've never read before, or if you've read them, you just passed by them because you've probably never heard a sermon on them before, and didn't understand what they were saying. You've never really thought about them, and as a result you've never seen the Bible's big picture.

If you work through these exercises, not only will you never look at the Bible the same way, but you'll never look at planet earth the same way. You will never look at your life in the 21st century the same way. Your walk with the Lord will be closer and more continuous than you've ever thought possible. Paul said "Pray without ceasing." Some people cannot bring themselves to pray once a day. After flexing your spiritual muscles, you will be able to pray and rejoice without ceasing.

You will be amazed.