Anne Graham Lotz - Heaven: My Fathers House

In Troubled Times,
Looking Forward With Hope To...

HEAVEN
My Fathers House

ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ

Foreword by BILLY GRAHAM

HEAVEN: MY FATHERS HOUSE
Copyright 2001 by Anne Graham Lotz.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, TN, by Thomas Nelson.
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Scripture quotations used in this book are from the Holy Bible,
New International Version (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984
International Bible Society. Used by permission
of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Some of the material in this book has been
adapted from A Vision of His Glory.

ISBN: 978-0-8499-0699-2 (tp)
ISBN: 978-0-8499-1748-6 (hc)

Printed in the United States ofAmerica
09 10 11 12 WC 12 11 10 9 8

To the dying
and
To all who are facing the future
with a troubled heart

Other Books by Anne Graham Lotz
The Vision of His Glory
Gods Story
Just Give Me Jesus

Contents

Foreword

Looking Forward to Heaven
Knowing where you are going
takes the uncertainty out of getting there

A Home in Heaven
My Fathers House is a home
prepared especially for you

The Home of Your Dreams
My Fathers House is the home
you have always wanted

A Home That Is Safe
My Fathers House will keep you
and your loved ones from all harm and danger

A Home You Can Never Lose
My Fathers House is built to last

A Home of Lasting Value
My Fathers House is a good investment

A Home That's Paid For
My Father Himself has paid off the House

A Home Filled with Family
In My Fathers House,
we will live with Him forever

A Home You Are Invited
to Claim As Your Own
The invitation to My Fathers House
is extended to all, but you have to RSVP

He's Left the Lignht on for
You
Your Father is waiting
to welcome you homeunconditionally!

A personal word for you
from my father...

O n Tuesday, September 11, 2001, we all watched in horror as the twin towers of the New York World Trade Center erupted into raging fireballs after being struck by hijacked airliners. A tragedy that seemed to be as bad as it could be became dramatically worse when the buildings imploded. One hundred and ten stories of concrete, glass, and steel disintegrated into six stories of dust, soot, and twisted metal. The devastation was beyond belief.

Nevertheless, at ground zero, the search and rescue effort that gave way to a massive cleanup revealed that the foundations of the towers were still intact. And I was struck by the similarity between our lives and that of the towers. At times, we experience unexpected blows, not of hijacked airliners, but of such things as bankruptcy, death, disease, and marriage and family breakups. As devastating as these blows are, our foundation of faith in Jesus Christ is sure. And that faith is a solid foundation that enables us to look forward with hope to our heavenly home.

Our age is one of terribly painful remembrances of the brevity and uncertainty of life. When all around us seems vulnerable to destruction and the constant threat of danger, we search for foundations that will hold. We seek answers to the questions that plague us: What happens to our loved ones who have been taken from us? Why are we here? Where are we going?

I am now an old man. More and more, I cling to the hope of the gospel message that I have preached all over the world. I have preached in times of relative peace and in times of great world crisis, to people in materialistic plenty and to people in great poverty, in countries of political stability and in regions torn by civil war and social strifemany different faces, circumstances, and histories, but all with the same foundational need to know God. Across the changes of a lifetime, I continue to return to the one sure foundation that has undergirded me since I first began: trust in a loving God Who never changes, Who invites us to draw close to Him in Jesus Christ.

This little book written by my daughter Anne sets forth the tremendous hope of Gods promise that we may spend eternity with Him. Annes words in these pages have already inspired and enlightened my wife, Ruth, and me, and I know they will you as well. I know of no one who has delved more deeply and prayerfully into Gods Word or is more effective in conveying its truth than Anne is. Because of the Cross and the resurrection of Christ, we can look forward with confidence to an eternal home in Heaven. The words written here point us to the assurance that we have been given in the Word of God. You can look forward with me, with Anne, and with all of Gods children to the joy of our Fathers House.

May God bless you
with that hope today,

... and from my
Heavenly Father

T his book is developed from the following Biblical description of Heaven:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new! Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.

He said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liarstheir place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.