Hymns With A Message: HOW BEAUTIFUL HEAVEN MUST BE

Our small group recently completed a study on heaven which was developed and produced by Dr. David Jeremiah. The dvd's and lessons were excellent and it was exciting and encouraging to study this topic. I highly recommend it to you for a group study. And while there is so much that we don't know about this special place that is being prepared for us, what God has revealed to us in the Bible should stir anticipation and longing in our hearts. It will be a spectacular home without pain or tears. And we will be reunited with many friends and loved ones. But most importantly, Jesus will be there and we shall dwell with Him eternally. And we who are God's children can have the hope and assurance of heaven because Jesus himself said that He was going to prepare a place for us and that He would one day come again to take us to that beautiful place. This week's choice is a song which expresses the beauty of this eternal home where there shall be no more death and the Lamb is the light. The text was written by Mrs. A. S. (Cordie) Bridgewater (1873 -1957). Very little is known about her except that she. was born in North Carolina and married A. Samuel Bridgewater from Tennessee. The couple lived near Hanceville, AL, from 1909 to 1917, where he farmed. It is believed that she produced the words to "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be" during this time. They apparently moved from Hanceville around 1917, and no further records of them have been found. Likewise, we know little about the actual writing of this week's choice. But we can imagine that her life experiences and study of the Bible gave her this hope for her future home. Are you burdened today with the toils and challenges of this life? Are you discouraged by the events around you? Do you sometimes fear the future realizing that there is no hope for this world? Then raise your sights, look up and be encouraged. Christ is preparing a beautiful future for His children. Now I'm not sure if the angels will be singing and playing golden harps as mentioned in the last verse, but I do know that heaven will be a beautiful place, more spectacular than we can even imagine. And I am excited about such a future. Are you?

1. We read of a place that's called heaven,

It's made for the pure and the free;

These truths in God's Word He hath given,