The Passport to Heaven

 

A passport is usually acquired by a traveller when they want to leave their country of origin on a journey to another country. Legal modalities require the applicant’s proof of place of birth, name, age, year, country of origin, nationality, colour of eyes and an official stamp, without which you get no passport. There is therefore, need to identify yourself to be deemed to belong to a given place, community, people or family.  Every individual has a right to acquire a passport. No compulsion can be used to make you get your passport. Its need only arises when we have to travel. We often scramble to get all types of passports but miss out on one very significant passport, the passport to heaven.

Ask anybody “Would you like to go to heaven?” the response comes “I do” an obvious question to ask would be “Do you have what it takes to get there?” I wonder what you would say. Try to visit any country now and prove the significance of a passport. Likewise, entry into heaven requires a passport whose acquisition is described below using King James Version scriptural quotations. The main prerequisite is that you must be a human being with a body, a soul and a spirit. That is the composition of man.

Proverbs 2:1-6

God admonishes you to take on wisdom from him as quoted from verse 1 to 6 by saying “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding, If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding” Wisdom from above is more precious than anything you lay your hands upon.

Proverbs 3:7, 13

God says in verse 7 and 13 “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding”.

Proverbs 9:10

In verse 10 He says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding”. The day we fear the lord we begin our journey of wisdom and understanding. Otherwise, we remain blind to the truth outside this.

Proverbs 20:27

In verse 27 God says “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly” God reveals how he has put in every person a candle. Note that the candle must be lit in order for it to search our inner parts. Even in our daily lives, a candle remains unlit until you purpose to light it.

John 1:4-9

God explains himself as the source of life and the light that lights the otherwise unlit candle in us by saying in verse 1 to 9 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”. Jesus is this light that seeks to light your candle or spirit. He is the Word of God that seeks to give you understanding and has power to turn you into a son of God.

Psalms 119:130

In verse 130 God speaks of the effect of his word in you by saying “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple”. Are you simple enough to receive from him?

Hebrews 11:6

God explains what you need to have in order to qualify to stand in his presence. You deceive yourself if you fail to follow his instructions. He says in verse 6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”. Do you have faith?

Romans 10:17

In verse 17 God explains to us how we receive faith which he measures out to every person through the preaching of his spirit charged words by saying “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. Hear with your ears and receive in your heart in simplicity without doubt, for a doubtful man receives nothing.

John 3:1-7

A look at verse 1 to 7, God lets us understand through Nicodemus’s example that there is a second spiritual birth that every man must go through in order to see or enter his kingdom “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” Just like you were physically born into this earth and into the human race, so must you be born spiritually by the spirit of God in to his spiritual kingdom. This clothes you with the right tunic to withstand extreme glory in his presence. For instance, you cannot go to the moon without a special suit.

Revelations 3:20

Jesus lets us know where he is in relation to our lives by saying in verse 20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” if you hear his knock on the door of your heart and opens the door by removing any inhibitions, a word of welcome from you to Jesus leads him to literally step into you and your life. Remember a spirit can occupy anything. He walks in and lights up your spirit enabling it to light up your inner parts.

John 4:24

God tells us about his form and the need to reach out to him correctly in verse 24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”. Do you know you have a spiritual form through which you can worship god? You have what it takes. What remains is just a lighting up.

John 14:6

Jesus highlights pertinent issues regarding the passport in verse 6 by telling us “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” No matter how much we try, we cannot reach God without going through his son Jesus Christ. He is our mediator like Moses was to the children of Israel. Therefore, put on Jesus if your mission is to get to God he is the way to follow, the truth that stands for you before God, and the life of God in you.

Romans 10:8-10

How do we get to light up our spirits? God knows best and hence tells us in verse 8 to 10 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. Just believe in your heart as you confess through your mouth that Jesus is the son of God, that he came in the flesh, died on the cross, and was raised from the dead, and you will be born again. No ceremonies or sacrifices over this because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. The passport must be signed in his blood.

1 John 5:10-12

God highlight the importance of his soon in our lives in verse 10 to 12 by saying “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life”.

After the process described above you become a son of God and will be able to commune with him by the spirit. Ask anything. Join a church that teaches the word of God as it is and continue in fellowship with brethren. Seek for the baptism in water like Jesus did when he had attained the age of 30 years. Thereafter, seek to be baptized by the Holy Spirit like Jesus received when the spirit perched upon him in the semblance of a dove immediately after water baptism. Listen to what the spirit tells the church hence forth and obey. You will have entered the kingdom of God and attained the passport to heaven. Try this and see what happens.

Remember you cannot trust your heart. Seek wisdom that is higher than you. There is no religion here, but a real life experience.

Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (KJV)