A letter from Heaven
This letter was written by a grieving father. His grandfather had written him a letter expressing his love and desire to see his grandson when they get to Heaven.
Dear Grandpa,
I got your message the other day. I was happy that you understood why God brought me home with Him. Even though I love my mom and dad, brother and sisters, I am not sad here. I am happy knowing that they will be with me forever after their time on earth is over. I talked to a couple people the other day about you and my family. I thought I would tell you about it to will help you understand even more about God's plans for you and the rest of my family down on Earth.
A man named Abraham told me that God promised him a son. He was so happy, and his wife laughed when God told them they would have a baby. Sure enough,
they had a baby boy. You know God never breaks a promise. When their son got older, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son to God. Abraham was ready to do whatever God said, even though it seemed crazy. Anyway, it turned out God didn't make him kill his son. Abraham had lots of faith. He trusted that God could make it better even if he didn't understand how. I like Abraham. He has a long grey beard. I think maybe you look like him.
I also talked to a man named Job. He told me how God gave him lots of kids. He had lots of blessings from God, but God let the Devil take them away from him. Job didn't blame God at first, but after a while Job questioned why God let this bad stuff happen. God explained His power to Job, and then remembered that everything he had came from God anyways, so he could trust God no matter what. Job says that God sometimes does things we don't understand, hard or painful things, that bring us closer to Him if we trust Him. Job had a grey beard, too. Maybe you look like him.
The best conversation I had was with Jesus. Did you know that my name is the same as His? Jesus, Joshua, Yeshua, Yesu, they are all the same name! I bet you also knew that Jesus is God's only Son. He left all this up here in heaven to come to earth to die and pay for our sins. He said all we have to do is trust Him and we can be forgiven of even the worst things. Wow, He must really love people to do that! Jesus had some hard times in His life, too. Even though He never did anything wrong, people beat Him and killed Him. But that's OK, cause He already knew that it would happen, and Jesus went anyway. He offered Himself to pay for my sin so that I could be here in Heaven.
Jesus says that He knows you, and that you talk to Him a lot. He says the Holy Spirit talks to you and that you read His letter for you. It is called the Bible. Jesus says that the Father has big plans for you and the rest of our family. Maybe Jesus will tell me about those plans some time, or I might have to wait and hear the story from you when you get here.
Of all the great things here, I guess the best part is Jesus. He is the nicest person I have met yet, and while we were walking, He held my hand just like a Grandpa would hold his grandson's hand. He looked at me like I think you would look at me. Jesus did have some sad news, too. He told me that some people won't be here in Heaven when they die. I hope that someone tells them about how much Jesus loves them and trust Him, so they can be here with us.
Of all the people I met, there were many kids and even some mommies. There were lots of grandfathers, lots with grey beards, but when I think of you, I hope that you don't look like them, I guess. I would rather you look just like Jesus. We are all made like Him anyway. Jesus said that He wants all people to be like Him and obey what He says to do. He said my mommy and daddy pray a lot about you. They think God is gonna do something really neat with your life, too.
That is all for now, and though it may be a long time before I get to see you, it will be worth the wait. I love you and am proud of you, too. Keep talking to Jesus, he is comforting to talk to. When I talked to Him, I felt like there was nothing He couldn't fix. I know you have had hard times, but Jesus can get you through anything. Then, when you get here, maybe you can tell stories about what God did in your life to other little boys like me. There are a lot of kids here. I guess God likes lots of kids. He reminds me of my mom and dad.
Your grandson,
Joshua
Joshua's grandfather died unexpectedly on June 27,2014, over 5 years after Joshua. This post in memory of Joshua Daniel Cowperthwaite and Daniel Phillip Allan.
