All dogs go to heaven!

Don't you just adore animals? We've always had at least one dog, and sometimes fish, birds and a cat, as well. As a child, I'd watch the circus on TV and wish I could bring all the animals right into my living room to snuggle.

When I saw how "compassionate" or "tenderhearted" God is toward animals as well as people, I was deeply touched. I just love these indications of the tender love of our Heavenly Father for us all:

When Jesus came upon the funeral at Nain, he found a widow weeping over her son. She now had no man to help her and protect her. His heart moved with compassion, Jesus raised her son from the dead and restored him to her. But first, He had to tell her, "Don't cry."

In the law, God commanded on three different occasions, do not boil a kid goat in its mother's milk. Anyone who has ever cuddled a kid goat at a petting zoo knows how cute they are. I guess our tenderhearted God thought it ironic to the point of being cruel and disrespectful to the animals to cook the little thing in the sustenance of its own mother.

God also tell us that the creation itself groans and waits for our glorification. When we are finally free of the sins of this world, the creation will also experience freedom from corruption. What a beautiful thought.

And finally, in Psalm 104, God mentions His provision for His animals ten times, by my count. You can verify the number, yourself, below and enjoy the praises to God.

Do all dogs go to heaven? I feel sure they do. Cats? Probably. LOL My own theory is that animals are here to serve us and show us God's love and majesty, and then return to Him, like a class of angels. Just my opinion.

My heroine, Maggie, in my wip set in New Orleans, Pensacola, Paris and Israel, is tenderhearted, so much so that sometimes she compromises her values for fear of hurting someone else's feelings. She discovers this can be a problem. A major problem that could cost someone else's life.

Anyway, it's no wonder that God urges us to be kind to one another, compassionate, tenderhearted, as Jesus is toward us. Easier said than done, but God promises that He pours out His love on us through the Holy Spirit. So it's also no wonder He commands us to be (continually) filled with the Spirit. If He desires it for us, He will not deny us the same. Our job is to regret our wrong thoughts and actions and ask Him to forgive us, save us, and fill us. It is a request to which He always says yes.

To enjoy these tenderhearted passages, click here and here.