Heaven In The Now By Ace CollinsSample

Day 2

The Big Picture (He Keeps Me Singing)

Scripture Ephesians 5:19

When faith is not abstract, then Heaven ceases to be a vague promise and instead become a very real place. Nowhere is this clearer than in story behind one of Christian music’s most beloved hymns — "He Keeps Me Singing". The song was created to explain the joy found in living a life of faith while on earth and a reminder of an even more wonderful life just over the next hill. 

Luther Bridgers was born in 1884 in North Carolina and went to college in Kentucky where he met the woman he would marry, Sallie Veatch. As husband and wife, they worked side by side sharing the good news throughout the south. Their love for each other and their calling was so enthusiastic and genuine, people pointed to this couple as an example of a union made in heaven. 

Bridgers was a naturally outgoing man and his quick smile, wonderful laugh, and bright eyes reinforced his Biblical message. When asked where his happiness came from, he picked up a pen and wrote his testimony in a song declaring that during thick and thin, the Lord was always there and that Jesus was just as alive today as during His ministry. Thus, with Jesus in our hearts, guiding our actions, heaven could be in the now as much as it is in the future. As Bridgers explained, having a positive attitude and sharing grace was like visiting heaven everyday.

On March 26, 1911, not long after Bridgers had finished an evangelistic meeting hundreds of miles from home, he was given the horrific news his wife and three children had perished in a house fire. At that numbing moment, he dropped to his knees and whispered these words, “Lord, I have preached the gospel to other people, and told them it would comfort them in every hour of sorrow. Grant that this same gospel may comfort me.” A few days later, Luther stood at his family’s funeral, smiled, and led the congregation in his song “He Keeps Me Singing”. His faith assured him that his loss was temporary and there was a wonderful homecoming waiting down the road. Battered and bruised, Bridgers continued to share this message and joyfully sing his musical testimony for the rest of his life. 

Faith isn’t proven during the moments when blessings are deep and bountiful, it’s proven in the times when the tides have turned against us. Yet, thanks to the promise of heaven and the grace of salvation, we can be a light even in our darkest moments.

Lord help us to realize a strong faith endures even when hearts are shattered and things can’t be explained. Faith has this ability because we know there will come a time when all of us shall wing our flight to worlds unknown and once more be united with You. Thus, even while we walk this earth and deal with its problems, a part of us is already in Heaven.