Riches of Heaven

When we decided on the name richesofheaven for our blog, we knew there were numerous websites and blogs already out there using various combinations and synonyms of these words. In fact, if you type these words into the Google search bar it shows there are 116 million results that are in some way related, or somehow connected, to these words.

Surely, there is a lot of interest in this subject, mostly, I think, in the riches part. In the King James Version of the Holy Bible the word riches, and its related words, occur 180 times where it’s most often used as a good thing, but sometimes not so much.

There is another word in the Bible that is, in my opinion, one of the most attractive words in the English language: It’s the word mercy. Some of the 361 times we see this word in scripture it’s used with other words such as ‘tender’, enduring’, ‘great’, ‘bestowed’, ‘granted’, ‘given’, ‘obtained’.

My favorite use of the word mercy is in Ephesians, chapter 2, starting with verse 4: Here it is from the New King James Version: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7) that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”     

When I read the word mercy, I think about some people I’ve known over the years:

There was the young man who was facing an uncertain future, an uphill battle for survival in his dysfunctional life, was at his wits end, and had nowhere else to turn, “But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love . . . that He might show the exceeding riches of His grace . . .“ spoke to his heart one evening, and he knelt to pray the prayer for forgiveness, and God answered his prayer, turned his life in a new direction, and he was forever changed;

There was the middle-aged man who had shunned God all of his life, wanted nothing to do with ‘religion’, and then one day found himself incapacitated, lying in his bed in his home, barely enough strength to exhale the cigarette smoke from his cancer-filled lungs, with his doctor telling him he had very little time left to live. Until that day he had rejected every overture by his friends who wanted to pray with him. “But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love . . .” answered this man’s prayer for forgiveness that day just a few hours before his life came to an end. People who were with him when he passed said they were convinced he was ready to meet God;

There was the man who had lived an unsavory existence all of his life, mostly fueled by alcohol, frequently in trouble with the law, many nights spent in a jail cell, very often telling off-color jokes, wanting nothing to do with religion, shunning God at every opportunity. “But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love . . .” spoke to him one Sunday afternoon, made him find a new suit of clothes, and wear it to church that evening for the first time in his life where he joined a group of men who prayed with him. I’m convinced that God answered his pray for forgiveness that day only a few hours before he was found, deceased, lying on a sidewalk.

There was the man who had shunned God all of his life, heavily into alcohol, and one of the filthiest talking people you would ever meet, unable to utter three words together without one of them being a swear word, particularly invoking the name of the Lord. As a teenager, he was so unruly he was forced to leave home and lived with his cousin for five years. He had a knack for electronics and eventually he found work at a large industrial company. There, he made a lot of money and, in time, started his own business, became very wealthy, accumulating everything money could buy—land, buildings, cars, gold, diamonds, boats, airplanes, horses, and people to take care of it all. He was not interested in ‘religion’, did not need God in his life. “But God, who is rich in mercy . . .” spoke to him one Sunday morning and persuaded him to attend church with his wife for the first time. After that day he was a changed man, and I’m convinced that when he passed away several years later, he was ready to meet God.

There was the man who was so opposed to anything related to God, or ‘religion’, he became belligerent just talking about it. He was a wealthy man having made a lot of money in his highly successful industrial business. He owned all the things money could buy—land, cars, gold, diamonds, and hired hands to take care of everything. Even after the doctors told him he had cancers that could not be treated, he was stone-cold resistant to hearing anything about getting prepared to die. “But God, who is rich in mercy . . .” spoke to him one day at his bedside in the hospital, answered his prayer for forgiveness, and before he passed away a few months later he told me he was ready to meet God.

There are others I’ve known over the years who finally listened to the God who is rich in mercy, and made things right with Him. By any measure, it is one of the greatest of the riches of heaven. In scripture the Psalmist refers often to the ‘tender mercies’ of God and emphasizes that His mercy ‘endures forever.’

Many people may not think they have a great ‘turn-around’ story to tell about finding a new life in God. In fact, most stories of redemption begin with people who think they are ‘pretty good’ folks, and they really don’t think they have anything in their life that needs changing. Their good deeds may have lured them into a state of complacency where they don’t hear the voice of God speaking to them. “But God, who is rich in mercy . . .” will one day capture them, and, when that day comes, and the time is right, He will get their attention.

Thank God for His great and tender mercies that have been extended to me and that endure forever.

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