Heaven In The Now By Ace CollinsSample

Day 4

Living Beyond Expectations (Jesus Loves Me)

John 3:16

In the decade before the American Civil War, two independent sisters, Anna and Susan Warner did not fit the accepted female molds. Upon completing high school, Anna and Susan were tutored by their father, one of the nation’s most celebrated attorneys, until they received the equivalent of a college degree. The sisters’ knowledge of the Bible was so great that some of the country’s best known ministers inquired about the Warners’ viewpoints on theology, and a major university asked if the women, now barely in their twenties, would become mentors and instructors to their male students.

Accepting the call, Anna and Susan began teaching Sunday school at West Point. As part of their rewards for instructing future military officers in the Bible, the sisters were turned loose in the school’s library where they read everything from works on history, philosophy, theology, and classic literature to the best-selling novels of the day. Blessed with talent and creativity, Anna and Susan began to compose essays that were published in newspapers and magazines. In the 1850s, the sisters penned a string of hit novels and emerged as best-selling authors whose books were read all over the world. 

One day while working on a solo novel, Anna hit a wall. She was battling a scene where her lead character, a wise adventurer named Linden, comforts a dying child. In a pivotal moment Linden comes to Johnny Fax’s bedside. The desperately sick child looks up at Linden, searching the man’s face for some kind of strength and hope. Linden, overcome with grief, pats the boy and weeps. Using a theme Anna had employed in a recent Sunday school class to explain her own faith, she created a poem for Linden to share with the dying child. Today, we know this poem as the greatest of all children’s hymns, “Jesus Loves Me.”

Heaven is only mentioned once in “Jesus Loves Me.” The lyrics offer no description of what heaven looks like or what goes on there. And yet the mere fact that Jesus so deeply loves each of us paints a clear picture of the promise that lies ahead and how wonderful it must be. This assurance should provide us with the confidence to be like Anna and exceed earthly expectations in order to do what what our heavenly father knows we can do. 

Lord, we know you love us and you have saved us. Let us use that knowledge to lead others to you. Let us, through our lives, inspire others to not just know you, but to allow you to empower them and us to be more than anyone thought possible.