Heaven Among Us: Discovering God’s Presence and Power in Everyday Faithfulness

I used to think heaven was somewhere else.

Not in a doctrinal sense—I knew the right answers—but in a lived one. Heaven felt distant, future, safely tucked away beyond death or the return of Christ. Earth was where the real work happened, where discipleship felt heavy and outcomes uncertain.

I felt this most clearly in seasons when faithfulness bore no visible fruit—when teaching, praying, listening, and simply showing up seemed to change nothing. The work felt heavy and ordinary, stripped of any sense of divine nearness. Heaven, if it mattered, seemed relevant only as a future reward for present endurance.

Then Scripture began to insist on a different story—not of escape from earth, but of God inhabiting it; not of heaven remaining far off, but of heaven breaking in. Slowly, and then unmistakably, a new vision emerged: wherever God’s people are, heaven and earth meet.

The gospel does not merely promise us heaven someday. It announces that, in Christ, heaven has already come near—and more than that, has taken up residence within us.

Seated Above, Living Below

Paul’s words in Ephesians 2 are startling in their confidence. He does not say believers will one day be raised with Christ. He says we already have. “God… made us alive together with Christ… and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4–6).

This is not poetic exaggeration. It is a theological reality. In Christ, believers participate in His resurrection life now. Heaven is not merely our destination; it is our position. We live our earthly lives from a seated, secure place in the heavenlies.

That changes how we understand discipleship.

If we are already seated with Christ, then our calling is not to strive upward toward heaven, but to live downward from it. Our work is not to manufacture God’s presence, but to embody it. We do not bring heaven to earth by effort or excellence. Heaven comes to earth because God has already joined Himself to His people.

If you had asked me a few years ago whether I was striving toward heaven, I would have said no without hesitation. I was settled in the knowledge that my salvation was complete in Christ. And yet, more recently, I’ve noticed a quieter striving at work—a sincere desire to be faithful that can quietly harden into pressure to perform my devotion well.

Living from a seated place has exposed how easily I slip into proving rather than trusting. It has become a regular prayer to release that grasp—to live with open hands, attentive to God’s presence, allowing my heart and soul to be quieted within me.

This truth quietly dismantles much of the anxiety of making disciples. The pressure to produce visible results loosens when we realize that heaven’s authority does not depend on our competence. We live and serve from abundance, not scarcity.

Temples on the Move

Paul presses this even further when he reminds believers that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Under the old covenant, God’s presence was localized, confined to the tabernacle and temple. People traveled to sacred spaces to encounter Him.

Under the new covenant, the direction reverses: God no longer dwells in buildings made by human hands. He dwells in His people. The holiness once associated with places is now carried by persons. The meeting point between heaven and earth is no longer geographical—it is personal.

Under the new covenant, the direction reverses. God no longer dwells in buildings made by human hands (Acts 7:48–49). He dwells in His people. What was once localized in sacred space is now carried in human lives—“living stones” being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:22).

The meeting point between heaven and earth is no longer geographical—it is personal. God has made His home with us (John 14:23). Christ is in us, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).

This means that wherever Christians go, heaven goes with them.

I see this often when we visit my dad and his wife. In the quiet of their living room, they read Scripture aloud together, followed by a passage from a well-worn devotional. They pray deliberately—naming those who serve our country, friends, and family members, holding each before God with care. Watching them, I’m reminded that this is what intercession looks like in ordinary life. Heaven touches earth not through spectacle, but through faithful prayer offered at home.

A friend broke her shoulder while out for a walk, tripping over a sidewalk. Hearing how people—even strangers—unleashed heaven for her benefit brings me joy. In the neighborhood where she fell, motorists she didn’t know stopped to help. In a store weeks later, a stranger noticed her sling and asked if he could pray for healing. At church, people quietly adjusted chairs, stood nearby in crowds, and made room for her weakness. None of these moments were dramatic, but none were forgettable. Each one made God’s nearness tangible.

We become, quite literally, points of intersection—living spaces where God’s presence is made known. Thin places are no longer rare locations we seek out. They are ordinary moments inhabited by people who belong to Christ.

This is not mystical romanticism. It is biblical realism. God has chosen to make His dwelling among His people; He dwells with and in us. Isaiah offers language that helps us imagine how this works. “You heavens above, rain down righteousness… let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow up with it; I, the Lord, have created it” (Isa. 45:8).

The image is simple and profound. Righteousness descends from heaven. Salvation springs up from the earth. God is the source of both. Growth happens not through force, but through openness.

I was reminded of this recently in a conversation with other community group leaders at our church. A few years earlier, we had made a concerted effort to launch new groups, and now—slowly, almost imperceptibly—we were beginning to notice fruit. As we shared stories, no one spoke about clever strategies or dramatic breakthroughs. What surfaced instead was something far more ordinary: showing up consistently, opening Scripture together, praying—and staying when it would have been easier to quit.

As we talked, it became clear that growth had not been produced so much as received. We had not manufactured rain; we had simply kept the soil open.

The earth does not strain to produce rain. It receives what it is given. When it opens, life follows.

This is a fitting picture of discipleship under the reign of God. Heaven rains down what only God can supply. Our role is not to generate righteousness, but to remain open—to receive, to trust, to live in alignment with what God is already doing.

Jesus fulfills this vision through His own self-giving. His blood is poured out on the cross. The Spirit is poured out on believers. Heaven gives itself lavishly, and wherever hearts are open, salvation springs up, and righteousness grows.

Disciples are not made by pressure. They are formed where God’s generosity meets open, receptive hearts.

Praying What Is Already True

For generations, Christians have sought thin places—spaces where God feels especially near. But the New Testament reframes the search. God’s nearness is no longer confined to particular settings. It is carried into ordinary life by ordinary believers.

Discipleship usually unfolds quietly. Around tables. In shared work. Through listening, praying, and opening Scripture together. These moments rarely announce themselves as sacred, yet they are precisely where heaven touches earth.

Perhaps you’ve experienced it in a long pause with a friend. Tears welling in the corners of their eyes. You sense that this is not the moment for more words. Instead, you reach for their hands and pray—simply, honestly—trusting that God is present in the silence.

If heaven is present wherever God’s people are, then growth is not something we must force. Scripture is consistent on this point: one plants, another waters, but God gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7).

Isaiah’s vision returns here with quiet confidence. Righteousness grows because God has created it to do so. Life reproduces because heaven has already acted. This frees those engaged in disciple-making from the burden of outcomes. Faithfulness matters. Presence matters. Obedience matters. But results belong to God.

Multiplication, then, is not a strategy to master, but a fruit to receive. Where life is present, life spreads. Heaven, once unleashed, does not remain contained.

Living from Where We Are Seated

The gospel invites us to stop trying to bring heaven down and begin living from where we are already seated. Heaven is not far off. Eternal life is not postponed. God dwells within His people—now.

Wherever we go, heaven goes with us. Wherever heaven goes, righteousness rains, salvation springs up, and disciples are formed.

Open wide. Live attentively. Remain faithful, where you are.

There have been seasons when faithfulness looked painfully ordinary—opening Scripture without eagerness, showing up tired, praying because it was time rather than because I felt inspired. At the time, none of it felt especially sacred. Only later did I realize that heaven had been quietly at work in that persistence all along. Not in intensity or passion, but in staying present when it would have been easier to disengage.

God has already chosen the meeting place between heaven and earth—and astonishingly, it is His people.