There is a classic traditional Christian hymn that comes to mind with this quote. In the chorus of the hymn He Lives, there is the line, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart”.

“God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart”. – Bible or Not?

This quote is true, God does in fact live in heaven and the Bible tells us that He lives in the heart of every believer. The Bible quotes Jesus as saying, “Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart], and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup (dwell) with him, and he with me”. However, the exact “God has two dwellings” quote is not Bible.

Izaak Walton is the author of the quote. He was a popular English writer who was born August 9, 1593 and died December 15, 1683. Izaak Walton was an avid fisherman and is probably best known for his book called The Compleat Angler. Walton als wrote several biographies of prominent clergymen of his time. You can see the compleat biography here ;-).

Last night I was teaching out of the Book of First Peter and a few times in that book Peter states that we as followers of Christ should expect to suffer.

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy”. 1 Peter 12-13 NKJV

Or, in other words…

“You’ve got to go through hell before you get to heaven.” – Bible or Not?

Is this quote from the Bible? Is it even a Biblical principle? You tell me…

This famous quote could be from Buddha, Ghandi or Jesus. Do you know?

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

The essence of this quote is that when you find “heaven”, you should be willing to forsake everything else in your life to acquire or attain it. The idea that the spiritual is of tantamount importance over the temporal or material is a hard concept for most people to understand, and even harder to accept.

But can you really acquire “heaven”? In the popular Led Zeppelin song from the 70′s they sing of a woman who was buying a stairway to heaven. Many Christians object to this philosophy knowing that heaven, or salvation, cannot be bought by human means. It comes only in and through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.

So, then if you find a treasure hidden in a field, which is a representation of heaven, how does one go about acquiring it? Do you think salvation can be bought? Or is there some deeper spiritual meaning? Is this in the Bible or not?