A Ray of Joy

God lives and works today. He longs to work in our hearts and lives so that we can dwell with Him forever in the City of God. To know that God has made this goal for our lives and to know that He can use every circumstance in our lives to bring us nearer to the goal is like a ray of joy that can brighten even the most dismal circumstances.

It can change our lives so completely that we actually taste Heaven in the midst of our problems and suffering. The following testimony from the life of Basilea Schlink shares how this ray of joy became a reality in her life. For many months I lay imprisoned in my sick room.

During this time I couldn't go outside to enjoy nature and the beauty of creation. Everything around me became dark and difficult. The love of the Heavenly Father also seemed to grow dim.

Then, all of a sudden, a thought came into my heart like a bright ray of sunshine. It was as if God were calling to me, look in spirit into the City of God. In doing so, I realized it is out of love to us that God has prepared a heavenly creation full of glory and perfect beauty.

This is to be our eternal dwelling place. In this we see how much He wants His children to be happy. Only for this reason has He created Heaven.

No longer did I stare at the four walls of my poor little room. The Father's love had filled my heart. Now I knew that He who had prepared such a much, and the joy that such a glorious goal and such a kingdom of joy awaited me, caused all my physical suffering and all my sorrow to lose their power over me.

The one thing I knew for certain was that God is love, a true Father of love. Loving Father, Father of everlasting love, I sing and rejoice of your unending love, your planning, leading, counsel. Loving Father, Loving Father, Father of everlasting love, eternal love.

If you are in the same situation that I was in, and if your life appears dark and difficult, take a look in spirit into the city of God. There the love of the Father will embrace you, and your heart will be filled with joy and comfort, already here on earth. Beautiful Heaven, if once a soul is given a glimpse of paradise, earth shall soon fade and die.

Heaven's glory bright, such wondrous holy light, all sorrow, pain, and woe at sight of you must go. Heaven calls to me, I long my Lord to see. My heart for Father yearns, so hope whatever turns.

You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N dot org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet.

If you do not have access to the web, please contact this radio station for our postal address. God bless you.