Francis J. Connelly - Heaven on Earth

Heaven On Earth

FRANCIS J. CONNELLY

Copyright 2011 Francis J. Connelly

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-2844-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-2845-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-2843-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011918063

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/5/2011

Contents

General Introduction

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can aspire to heaven on earth by following the rules leading to a right relationship with God, made possible by the shed blood, and broken body of Jesus offered up in payment for our sins.

The road to heaven on earth, and in the world to come is paved with the codes revealed by our Creator in sacred Scripture, as recorded in the Holy Bible.

The foundational underpinnings for these codes are the Ten Commandments, * written by God the Father and given to Moses as recorded in the Old Testament *, and the Beatitudes, revealed by Jesus as recorded in the New Testament. **

*Recorded in the book of Exodus, chapter 20: 2-17, and in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 5: 6-2.

**Recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew 5: 3-14.

With the coming of Jesus the Christ, the covenant of the New Testament is created. Therein can be found new spiritual guidelines that those who love God will gravitate to as a consequence of being saved. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus specifically identifies eight states of blessedness that are pleasing to God. In other verses of scripture contained in the New Testament, additional spiritual attitudes and responses are described that help believers to live in accordance with the will of God.

The degree to which we live in accordance with Gods will (herein presented as Codes) is the degree to which we attain heaven on earth, leading to perfect happiness with Jesus in the world to come.

The Codes consist of: Commandments, and other rules of behavior; Kernels of wisdom and truths revealed by Jesus ; and Spiritual guidelines intended to assist us on the road to salvation. They will be numbered and discussed as we encounter them sequentially in the New Testament, starting with the gospel according to Matthew, and ending with the Book Of Revelation.

The appropriate verse(s) of scripture from which a code is derived will accompany the code, and be highlighted. Explanatory remarks are included whenever greater clarity, or additional emphasis is needed.

Certain codes are repeated, but they are not redundancies. The verse(s) from which each codes is derived, and the context within which the verse is found will indicate the intended connotation.

All codes and commentary are derived from the words of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.

Acknowledgments

This author wishes to thank the authors, and publishers of the many scholarly works, and reference materials on which he relied for information and viewpoints regarding biblical verses, some of which are open to various interpretations. Although the opinions of these scholars and experts are exceedingly appreciated, Heaven On Earth expresses the opinions and interpretations of yours truly.

Most importantly, thanks to my wife Anne. She never wavered in her support as I strove to finish a job that proved to be difficult to complete

As in my previous three books, Anne served as editor-in-chief. We work well together. If she does not understand what I am talking about, I rewrite it, period. One of my great failings is that whether speaking or writing, I assume people understand what I mean, but unfortunately, that is not always the case. Mostly though, it is her love and caring that carries me through the good times, and the bad. She has been doing it for more than 55 years. Thank you dear.

My thanks go to our family, in particular our five children, for their continued encouragement. I draw strength from their positive attitude toward my work. Thank you Frank, Danny, Patrick, Jerry, and Catherine.

Once again, a special thanks goes to our son-in-law, Tom Del Grosso for coming to the rescue whenever I am confronted with a computer problem.

WHISPERED WORDS

There are,

I counted them,

(not really!)

A thousand and one, so far;

Commentaries

on the bible.

Then next,

comes my humble offering,

and

it takes no genius of theology

to know,

that mine is not the best,

not nearly,

but

praise God

into it went

all I had to give, and

all praise God again,

some help came my way

from a preacher I know,

who

With gentle nudges, and whispered words,

Kept me on the narrow road.

Foreword

In late 1929, Al Jolson sang the song, Sonny Boy. Four lines of the lyrics are presented below, followed by comments regarding the sentiment of the song as it relates to the title and content of this book:

Youre sent from heaven

And I know your worth.

Youve made a heaven

For me here on earth

The focus of the song is a touching tribute by a Father to his son. The man expresses supreme love for his son, even going so far as to claim that, because of his son he experienced heaven on earth. Hence sprouted the seed for the writing of this book, but with an important turn at the flowering.

Is it possible to enjoy heaven on earth? The key is implied in the lyrics of the song: Love is the answer. But to more fully approach true heaven on earth, it is our love of Jesus that creates the conditions necessary for the attainment of a near-perfect heaven on earth.

The way to demonstrate that love is to follow His codes, whether great or small. This is what Jesus wants us to do. This is how we can attain the peace of mind that comes with knowing we are doing Gods will, walking the straight path to salvation.

For more information on the subjects of codes and love, please direct your attention to the Speaker. He has entered the field, and is ascending the podium stairs.

The Speaker

The speaker steps onto the podium, facing the eighty thousand (take a few, give a few) people assembled there. He carries two books, one in either hand, wearing a munificent smile obviously meant for the audience.

You are either going to be very sorry or very glad you came here tonight.

He tosses the two books to the stage floor in front of him, exclaiming,

Those are the rules of the game. What game? The game of life, the game of life or death. You can either pick them up, or let them rot on the the floor.

The two books land facing front, resting not flat, but on their bottoms, with the titles aglow, identifying them as, Jesus Says, and Heaven On Earth.