April 26th, 2026
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Beam Me Up!
When I was young, one of my favorite TV shows was Star Trek. As the Starship Enterprise and her brave crew crossed the final frontier exploring strange new worlds seeking out new life and new civilizations boldly going where no man has gone before. One of my favorite parts was the magical transporter that would reduce the body of a human into molecules, capture them into a beam that would transport those molecules to the destination desired by the brilliant engineering chief, Scotty and reformulate the molecules back into the original body of the traveler. Whenever Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock or any of the explorers on a planet, another star ship or other-worldly location got into trouble, all they had to do was speak into the transmitter and say, “Beam me up, Scotty.” Immediately they would beam back to the ship. What a cool concept.
Amazingly, Christ-Followers have found a similar, yet real way to be transported to the heavenly realms for daily connections with God. When God rescued us from the spiritually dead condition in which we lived before we knew Christ as our Lord and Savior and resurrected us to a new life in Christ, he spiritually transported us to be in his presence in heaven.
“What?” you ask, “But I’m living in Eastern New Mexico or Texas or Oklahoma or somewhere on planet earth. My goal is heaven, but that’s in the future. I’m trying to enjoy the right here and now, not the sweet by and by of the pie in the sky!”
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:6-7, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
In chapter 1 Paul describes how God raised Christ up from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm” (see verse 20). Now we find out that we were beamed up with him. HOLY TRANSPORTER, BATMAN! THAT’S INCREDIBLE!
Many people look to religion as a means to find and reach up to God. In their search all they find is disappointment and failure. Why is that? Because our sins hold us back. We can never do enough to find him, much less reach him. However, the GREAT NEWS is that God came looking for us through his Son, Jesus Christ. When he found us, spiritual zombies, languishing in a “living death” he reached out to us through having his Son take our place and dying on the cross and being raised from the dead so that an undeserved relationship with God can be received as a gift and eternal life can be had. Ephesians one tells us that the Holy Spirit was given to all who received this gift as a down payment on eternity. Through the Holy Spirit we find connection with God. 1 Corinthians 2 describes how the Holy Spirit connects to our spirits through a better understanding of God’s Word. Romans chapter 8 tells us that another huge connection comes in our prayer lives as we communicate with God. The Holy Spirit connects again with our spirits and tells God the things in our hearts that are too hard for us to express verbally.
We have that connection with God as we are seated in Christ with him in the heavenly realm. It’s important that we look forward to our new bodies and that presence in heaven, but let’s not sell our current situation short. If you are in Christ, you have been spiritually beamed up to have that perfect place beside him. You have access like you never knew before! Start enjoying it! Start relishing it! Start making the most of it today! You don’t even have to say, “Beam Me Up.” You’re already there.
This Sunday I will share with you another message in our “BUT GOD” series titled, “Sit Down.” We will share more about this amazing access God has given to all who believe. Come and experience that “BUT GOD” relationship. Bring your friends, family and neighbors to let them see what God has in store for them.
Beamed up into His presence,
Jon
Beam Me Up!
When I was young, one of my favorite TV shows was Star Trek. As the Starship Enterprise and her brave crew crossed the final frontier exploring strange new worlds seeking out new life and new civilizations boldly going where no man has gone before. One of my favorite parts was the magical transporter that would reduce the body of a human into molecules, capture them into a beam that would transport those molecules to the destination desired by the brilliant engineering chief, Scotty and reformulate the molecules back into the original body of the traveler. Whenever Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock or any of the explorers on a planet, another star ship or other-worldly location got into trouble, all they had to do was speak into the transmitter and say, “Beam me up, Scotty.” Immediately they would beam back to the ship. What a cool concept.
Amazingly, Christ-Followers have found a similar, yet real way to be transported to the heavenly realms for daily connections with God. When God rescued us from the spiritually dead condition in which we lived before we knew Christ as our Lord and Savior and resurrected us to a new life in Christ, he spiritually transported us to be in his presence in heaven.
“What?” you ask, “But I’m living in Eastern New Mexico or Texas or Oklahoma or somewhere on planet earth. My goal is heaven, but that’s in the future. I’m trying to enjoy the right here and now, not the sweet by and by of the pie in the sky!”
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:6-7, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
In chapter 1 Paul describes how God raised Christ up from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm” (see verse 20). Now we find out that we were beamed up with him. HOLY TRANSPORTER, BATMAN! THAT’S INCREDIBLE!
Many people look to religion as a means to find and reach up to God. In their search all they find is disappointment and failure. Why is that? Because our sins hold us back. We can never do enough to find him, much less reach him. However, the GREAT NEWS is that God came looking for us through his Son, Jesus Christ. When he found us, spiritual zombies, languishing in a “living death” he reached out to us through having his Son take our place and dying on the cross and being raised from the dead so that an undeserved relationship with God can be received as a gift and eternal life can be had. Ephesians one tells us that the Holy Spirit was given to all who received this gift as a down payment on eternity. Through the Holy Spirit we find connection with God. 1 Corinthians 2 describes how the Holy Spirit connects to our spirits through a better understanding of God’s Word. Romans chapter 8 tells us that another huge connection comes in our prayer lives as we communicate with God. The Holy Spirit connects again with our spirits and tells God the things in our hearts that are too hard for us to express verbally.
We have that connection with God as we are seated in Christ with him in the heavenly realm. It’s important that we look forward to our new bodies and that presence in heaven, but let’s not sell our current situation short. If you are in Christ, you have been spiritually beamed up to have that perfect place beside him. You have access like you never knew before! Start enjoying it! Start relishing it! Start making the most of it today! You don’t even have to say, “Beam Me Up.” You’re already there.
This Sunday I will share with you another message in our “BUT GOD” series titled, “Sit Down.” We will share more about this amazing access God has given to all who believe. Come and experience that “BUT GOD” relationship. Bring your friends, family and neighbors to let them see what God has in store for them.
Beamed up into His presence,
Jon
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