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Heaven: Your Real Home...From a Higher Perspective
For the past twenty-five years, Heaven has inspired us to live well on earth even as we long for eternity. Drawing on Scripture, Joni Eareckson Tada answers the deepest questions of our hearts about what heaven will be like, who we will see there, and who we will be there.
This updated and expanded edition of Joni’s classic brings a new understanding of what heaven is, along with new mysteries and hopes. Now in her late 60s, Joni is much closer to heaven than she was when she first wrote the book in her mid 40s. And she says, “I will soon—soon!—hear His voice, look into His eyes, and feel His embrace. And He will say, ‘Welcome home, Joni.’” It is from this vantage point that Joni now speaks about how we can live for Jesus as we look forward to our real home.
As a quadriplegic for fifty years, Joni has also endured cancer and extreme ongoing pain. She doesn’t speak lightly when she reminds us that, “God knows the precise tools to use in your life to cut, facet, cleanse, and refine the diamond that is your eternal soul…. Every good thing that God has ever given you will last for all eternity—including the best part of every affliction.”
At the end of each chapter in this updated book, Joni includes additional reflections that speak to where she is now, higher up on the hill of perspective. She calls these thoughts Climbing Higher, and that’s her invitation to all who make this journey with her.
This updated and expanded edition of Joni’s classic brings a new understanding of what heaven is, along with new mysteries and hopes. Now in her late 60s, Joni is much closer to heaven than she was when she first wrote the book in her mid 40s. And she says, “I will soon—soon!—hear His voice, look into His eyes, and feel His embrace. And He will say, ‘Welcome home, Joni.’” It is from this vantage point that Joni now speaks about how we can live for Jesus as we look forward to our real home.
As a quadriplegic for fifty years, Joni has also endured cancer and extreme ongoing pain. She doesn’t speak lightly when she reminds us that, “God knows the precise tools to use in your life to cut, facet, cleanse, and refine the diamond that is your eternal soul…. Every good thing that God has ever given you will last for all eternity—including the best part of every affliction.”
At the end of each chapter in this updated book, Joni includes additional reflections that speak to where she is now, higher up on the hill of perspective. She calls these thoughts Climbing Higher, and that’s her invitation to all who make this journey with her.
304 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 1995
253 people are currently reading
725 people want to read
About the author
Joni Eareckson Tada
323 books549 followersJoni Eareckson Tada is an American evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
April 14, 2020
Un libro poético e inspirador que te confrontará a vivir con la mirada en la eternidad. No es lo que usualmente leo, pero aprecié el aporte de Joni y me vi confrontada a vivir conforme a la verdad de que el Cielo es mi hogar.
April 25, 2016
If you think Heaven is people in white robes sitting on white clouds, singing hymns and playing harps for eternity, then you really need to read this book! Nothing on earth can compare with the beauty, color, and excitement of Heaven. (God managed to create a beautiful world for us here, didn't he? With plenty to keep us busy and interested, in spite of the FALL? Can Heaven really be something less? Of course not.)
This is the best work I've read on Heaven. Joni pulls from hundreds of other sources, compiling the richest description of Heaven that I've seen. The book is inspiring and encouraging--like any good travel guide, it certainly makes you want to GO THERE--but the book contains ample meat for spiritual growth here on earth, as well.
The subtitle sums up the theme of the book: "Your Real Home," and Joni can make that clear like no one else. She writes about the way that our losses on this world make us long for our REAL home. And when people we love go there, a part of our heart goes with them. We begin to long for Heaven, but more than that, we begin to long for Jesus.
Having suffered as she has, Joni convinced me she had spent a great deal of time not only researching Heaven, but simply longing for it. Her book should become a great classic, though it may not because people spend so little time thinking about their Real home....
This is the best work I've read on Heaven. Joni pulls from hundreds of other sources, compiling the richest description of Heaven that I've seen. The book is inspiring and encouraging--like any good travel guide, it certainly makes you want to GO THERE--but the book contains ample meat for spiritual growth here on earth, as well.
The subtitle sums up the theme of the book: "Your Real Home," and Joni can make that clear like no one else. She writes about the way that our losses on this world make us long for our REAL home. And when people we love go there, a part of our heart goes with them. We begin to long for Heaven, but more than that, we begin to long for Jesus.
Having suffered as she has, Joni convinced me she had spent a great deal of time not only researching Heaven, but simply longing for it. Her book should become a great classic, though it may not because people spend so little time thinking about their Real home....
June 3, 2013
I literally chew on this book. It sits by my chair in the book holder with my bible. I use it mostly when I need to be uplifted. As a suffering MS individual Joni Tada can put me back to reality and pull me out of self pity like no other author. "Heaven" is our real home and that makes this earthly life livable day by day.
November 3, 2015
The cover also on this book was beautiful and I understand was painted by the author Joni with her paintbrush between her teeth since she is a quadriplegic & unable to use her hands to write or paint. God has given her the talent to have done many outstanding pictures , Christmas cards that can be purchased & her talent is outstanding. Joni is such an inspiring lady that has dedicated her life completely to the ministry of Jesus Christ and helping others by not only her talents, but by being a spoke person for those with handicaps as myself having Multiple Sclerosis. She is a shining example in what life is all about & The Joy of working unselfishly to encourage & help others.
Heaven is told about and made to look forward too as you the words as they almost make you feel you are there looking onto our future & the Hope we have if we give her lives to Jesus Christ, what a wonderful beginning, not an endng, but a beginning.
Heaven is told about and made to look forward too as you the words as they almost make you feel you are there looking onto our future & the Hope we have if we give her lives to Jesus Christ, what a wonderful beginning, not an endng, but a beginning.
March 17, 2017
I love to think about heaven, especially since my cancer diagnosis. Joni's understanding of heaven is one that has come through the fire of disability and her love for Jesus. A very good read for those who want to know more about your future home.
December 18, 2020
Joni Eareckson Tada at age 17 became a quadriplegic after she misjudged the depth of the water and fractured her spine when she dove into the Chesapeake Bay. She spent 2 years in a hospital bed before she was finally released and has spent the rest of her life in a special wheelchair. She married Ken Tada in 1982, and now runs her own foundation specializing in helping others who have suffered disabling spine fractures.
During the two years Joni was in the hospital, she had lots of time to go through every emotion possible including anger at God. But at the end of that time, Joni had given a lot of thought to heaven, what it said about it in the Bible, and what she had to look forward to when her time came. This book is a wonderful compilation on her thoughts about heaven supported by a great deal of Biblical foundation. I found it wonderfully encouraging both for the here and now and for what is yet to come for those who believe in Jesus Christ.
During the two years Joni was in the hospital, she had lots of time to go through every emotion possible including anger at God. But at the end of that time, Joni had given a lot of thought to heaven, what it said about it in the Bible, and what she had to look forward to when her time came. This book is a wonderful compilation on her thoughts about heaven supported by a great deal of Biblical foundation. I found it wonderfully encouraging both for the here and now and for what is yet to come for those who believe in Jesus Christ.
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October 6, 2021«El cielo» no solo es un aliciente espiritual para mirar el cielo desde una perspectiva bíblica, sino también un recordatorio de la persona que hizo posible que nuestras moradas estén siendo preparadas en estos momentos. Lo que hace que el cielo sea relevante es quién está sentando en los lugares celestiales.
Lee la reseña completa en Coalición por el Evangelio.
Lee la reseña completa en Coalición por el Evangelio.
November 10, 2023
Joni has had all the same feelings and questions about Heaven as I have had. Joni writes with so much truth and passion. You can’t help being excited about Heaven after reading this book! This book was exactly what I needed to read and I’m sure I’ll be back to it again and again.
July 7, 2021
I have read her book entitled JONI and it was a good book. Hoping this one will be to.
October 20, 2021
Awesome— more about “going” to heaven, than the facts of heaven. Joni is funny and even snarky at times. Can’t wait to meet her in paradise: when we both die…and LIVE.
February 6, 2019
This book is an expanded edition to the author's earlier work, Heaven Your Real Home. The author shares many insightful observations and relates many things from her personal experience. I found the first part of the book to be more interesting.
June 1, 2023
Parts I liked and parts I didn't. At first I was expecting a more theological essay on heaven, but as I continued reading I saw the beautiful picture she was painting of heaven ... A place that is so hard for us to understand. So may or may not be accurate, but it gets one thinking about the heaven of the Bible, and the place we want to go.
April 4, 2011
{Updated}
After forcing patience and repentance upon my ethical radar and into my personal circuits, I do like much of sister Joni's meditations. I am acquiring a dead-tree version of this book for my wife for reference; she had no qualms about the book. My next quest will be to analyze some of the more profound things that Joni has written/spoken because some of what I liked of her writing coincides quite well with the NT Wright book ("Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church") I have just finished reading to my wife.
[A few niggles below:]
I am listening to the audio version of this book to quickly catch up to my wife that we might discuss some aspects of Joni's speculations and reasonings. I had no intention of writing a bad review of this book, but the cloying "Evangelicalese" style of the vocals really 'puts me off', and the style of writing is also flavored heavily with the Evangelical ghetto.
Joni's heart is in the right place, but her book exactly portrays some of the problems of Evangelical culture and it's flirtation with paganistic or gnostic views of death. For example, when Joni shares about her father's funeral, she describes a poignant moment with many excellent scriptures quoted, but the whole account is marred by the fact that it is not a burial type funeral but the scattering of the ashes of her cremated father. This is cognitive dissonance. A more solid theologically robust worldview would have caused Joni's family, devout and pious as they are, to not even consider anything other than a burial type funeral.
But why complain? She has done something here I have not even done: use her talents to encourage us all via a book.
After forcing patience and repentance upon my ethical radar and into my personal circuits, I do like much of sister Joni's meditations. I am acquiring a dead-tree version of this book for my wife for reference; she had no qualms about the book. My next quest will be to analyze some of the more profound things that Joni has written/spoken because some of what I liked of her writing coincides quite well with the NT Wright book ("Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church") I have just finished reading to my wife.
[A few niggles below:]
I am listening to the audio version of this book to quickly catch up to my wife that we might discuss some aspects of Joni's speculations and reasonings. I had no intention of writing a bad review of this book, but the cloying "Evangelicalese" style of the vocals really 'puts me off', and the style of writing is also flavored heavily with the Evangelical ghetto.
Joni's heart is in the right place, but her book exactly portrays some of the problems of Evangelical culture and it's flirtation with paganistic or gnostic views of death. For example, when Joni shares about her father's funeral, she describes a poignant moment with many excellent scriptures quoted, but the whole account is marred by the fact that it is not a burial type funeral but the scattering of the ashes of her cremated father. This is cognitive dissonance. A more solid theologically robust worldview would have caused Joni's family, devout and pious as they are, to not even consider anything other than a burial type funeral.
But why complain? She has done something here I have not even done: use her talents to encourage us all via a book.
April 15, 2015
This is a beautiful, thoughtful, well written, and well researched book about Heaven as described in Scriptures. The author, Joni Eareckson Tada, is a remarkable person. She is a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, has written a number of excellent books, is a national speaker, and has a ministry to disabled individuals. She pictures heaven in vivid, insightful and glorious images.
The book is divided into three parts.
1. What Will Heaven by Like?
2. Will Heaven be Home?
3. The Journey Home.
Throughout the book Joni gives illustrations from her own experiences and from the experiences of others, especially those with major handicaps. Chapter 5 Why Don’t We Fit on Earth? resonates with my own experiences. Our culture’s materialism, tasteless entertainment and corrupt morality cause me to feel this world is not my home. Joni writes “I’m a little like a refugee who is longing for a better country called heaven.” Pg. 98
Throughout the book Joni gives inspiring and thoughtful insights. For example “We are not only to “set our hearts on things above where Christ is seated, but set our minds on things above as well. That’s hard.” Pg. 127 She explains in detail why that’s hard and promises we will have “the mind of Christ when we lay hold of Him and His ideas.” Pg.129 No book review can do justice to this book!
This is not an easy read. It must be read slowly and thoughtfully. It will challenge many Christians, especially Chapter 9 Getting Ready for Heaven and the scriptures about suffering. This book can be very helpful to anyone who is severely handicapped or who takes care of a handicapped person and wants to understand God’s perfect plan for their life.
It will give all readers a glorious view of our future home and help us focus on HIm!
The book is divided into three parts.
1. What Will Heaven by Like?
2. Will Heaven be Home?
3. The Journey Home.
Throughout the book Joni gives illustrations from her own experiences and from the experiences of others, especially those with major handicaps. Chapter 5 Why Don’t We Fit on Earth? resonates with my own experiences. Our culture’s materialism, tasteless entertainment and corrupt morality cause me to feel this world is not my home. Joni writes “I’m a little like a refugee who is longing for a better country called heaven.” Pg. 98
Throughout the book Joni gives inspiring and thoughtful insights. For example “We are not only to “set our hearts on things above where Christ is seated, but set our minds on things above as well. That’s hard.” Pg. 127 She explains in detail why that’s hard and promises we will have “the mind of Christ when we lay hold of Him and His ideas.” Pg.129 No book review can do justice to this book!
This is not an easy read. It must be read slowly and thoughtfully. It will challenge many Christians, especially Chapter 9 Getting Ready for Heaven and the scriptures about suffering. This book can be very helpful to anyone who is severely handicapped or who takes care of a handicapped person and wants to understand God’s perfect plan for their life.
It will give all readers a glorious view of our future home and help us focus on HIm!
March 19, 2017
The last few chapters on suffering are worth the read from someone who has gone through more suffering than most.
July 13, 2019
Dadas las luces que la Palabra nos entrega para poder pensar, soñar, o imaginarnos el cielo, es realmente un desafío escribir un libro sobre el tema; pero Joni, desde su experiencia, realiza una magnifica labor, pregonando una arenga no muy distinta a la que fue hecha por los apóstoles a la iglesia primitiva, buscando poner en perspectiva los que son estos “sufrimientos temporales” y como estos no se comparan con la gloria venidera.
Aún cuando considero que Joni podría abusar de sus auto referencias, ó del componente exitista generado por la añoranza del cielo; entremedio de estos ingredientes se encuentran reales joyas que valen la pena descubrirlas, considerarlas, y meditarlas.
Si bien no es un libro de escatología, se extraña una hermenéutica profunda a los pasajes citados, por eso no le doy cinco estrellas. Aún así es un libro esperanzador, que sin duda te re-encantará con el cielo, con nuestra patria eterna, con Jesús.
Aún cuando considero que Joni podría abusar de sus auto referencias, ó del componente exitista generado por la añoranza del cielo; entremedio de estos ingredientes se encuentran reales joyas que valen la pena descubrirlas, considerarlas, y meditarlas.
Si bien no es un libro de escatología, se extraña una hermenéutica profunda a los pasajes citados, por eso no le doy cinco estrellas. Aún así es un libro esperanzador, que sin duda te re-encantará con el cielo, con nuestra patria eterna, con Jesús.
May 28, 2022
Such Richness
As my life here fades, I’ve done a lot of what my husband calls my “trip planning.” I’ve pored through the Bible and multiple books to learn as much as I can about where I’ll be spending eternity and with whom. I learned from each book read but next to the Bible, gleaned the most from this one.
Joni has gained insight and wisdom that those of us bustling busy people rarely can. She asks the questions I ask. (What, there isn’t an ocean in the new heavens and earth? But I LIKE the ocean!) and gently, honestly she digs down to the foundational gemstones.
I wept for joy at several places in the book and finished the last page with reluctance because she has me so thrilled about it all that I didn’t want to stop pondering all she said. In truth, I won’t. This is a book full of treasures to live by, making the most of our brief time here, and making it gold and silver rather than wood, hay and stubble.
Highly recommended.
As my life here fades, I’ve done a lot of what my husband calls my “trip planning.” I’ve pored through the Bible and multiple books to learn as much as I can about where I’ll be spending eternity and with whom. I learned from each book read but next to the Bible, gleaned the most from this one.
Joni has gained insight and wisdom that those of us bustling busy people rarely can. She asks the questions I ask. (What, there isn’t an ocean in the new heavens and earth? But I LIKE the ocean!) and gently, honestly she digs down to the foundational gemstones.
I wept for joy at several places in the book and finished the last page with reluctance because she has me so thrilled about it all that I didn’t want to stop pondering all she said. In truth, I won’t. This is a book full of treasures to live by, making the most of our brief time here, and making it gold and silver rather than wood, hay and stubble.
Highly recommended.
October 24, 2015
I got through half of this book and stopped reading it because I did not agree with some of the things Joni Eareckson talked about. She thinks that she will get to have coffee dates with her friends, go on hikes, and other things that we do here on earth. We won't be doing that, we will be praising and glorifying God for eternity when we go to heaven. If felt like this book is her just thinking out loud and writing it down in a book. I know there is not a lot of Scripture about heaven, but I wish this book was more Biblical-based. Now, I love Joni Eareckson and am amazed at what she has overcome and I do believe she is a true Christian, I just don't agree with some of the things she said in this book.
August 14, 2011
I grew up knowing I should be excited about heaven, but it didn't always seem very interesting. So imagine my excitement when Joni expressed some of my same feelings in her first chapter! I loved that someone else had though the same things I had and had come up with excellent points to consider. We are so blessed here in America, sometimes it's hard to pull our heart away from the things of this world. But because of Joni's suffering, she has gained insight into the precious promises of heaven, and got me excited about it as well! Best of all, she continually points to Jesus as the focus of all our longings. I really liked this book!
January 12, 2013
I liked the book.
The majority of the reflections were interesting (though there were some I wasn't a huge fan of).
I felt that her main purpose, though she did talk a lot about what we can expect, was to show that there is divinity here and now on Earth. She wanted the reader to know that in sunsets, in words, in experiences, and especially in people he/she can see a wonderful piece of what is to come in Heaven. This was my favorite message! Find the divinity on Earth before you begin to contemplate Heaven and what is in store.
This is the first book I have read by her but I intend to definitely read another.
The majority of the reflections were interesting (though there were some I wasn't a huge fan of).
I felt that her main purpose, though she did talk a lot about what we can expect, was to show that there is divinity here and now on Earth. She wanted the reader to know that in sunsets, in words, in experiences, and especially in people he/she can see a wonderful piece of what is to come in Heaven. This was my favorite message! Find the divinity on Earth before you begin to contemplate Heaven and what is in store.
This is the first book I have read by her but I intend to definitely read another.
June 27, 2024
"Some people have to break their necks in order to set their hearts on heavenly glories above, and I happen to be one of them. It was only after the permanency of my paralysis sank in that heaven interested me."
What a wonderful book on the realities and glories of heaven! After my dad died, I picked this book up off my shelf where it had been sitting for two years, and finally opened it up. It was incredibly encouraging to me in my grief, as I considered what my dad is now experiencing. Joni's excitement for eternity is so contagious, and she communicated so much information about the Christian's real home clearly and beautifully.
What a wonderful book on the realities and glories of heaven! After my dad died, I picked this book up off my shelf where it had been sitting for two years, and finally opened it up. It was incredibly encouraging to me in my grief, as I considered what my dad is now experiencing. Joni's excitement for eternity is so contagious, and she communicated so much information about the Christian's real home clearly and beautifully.
February 9, 2008
The two stars really don't reflect my opinion of this book. Joni is a wonderfully descriptive writer, and this book is at its best when she is sharing from her own life, or the lives of her friends. She also paints heaven with rich, concrete images, which makes this a great book for anyone who has never thought much about what heaven will be like. Although my theology doesn't line up exactly with hers, there was only one passage in the book that I vehemently disagreed with - but I'll let you read it for yourself and see if you can figure out which one! :-)
April 29, 2008
It has been awhile since I read this and I plan to read it again in the next few months but I remember loving it. The normal thoughts of Heaven - about standing in front of God worshiping Him all day, streets of gold, and all that stuff sounded (well) boring. Joni Eareckson Tada gave me a new way to look at it and things to be excited about.
June 17, 2010
I have a lot of respect for Joni Eareckson Tada, and wanted to hear her perspective on heaven. A person in a wheelchair looks at life and death in a different way, and Joni's passion for heaven is very evident. She is looking forward to the day when she can run and swim and feel when someone embraces her.
So saying, this book didn't offer anything new for me other than Joni's unique attitude.
So saying, this book didn't offer anything new for me other than Joni's unique attitude.
May 11, 2012
I did finally finish this book. I like Joni Eareckson Tada and I did actually like this book even if it wasn't super compelling and I always was picking up a different book instead of this one. Some of the things that she wrote I've been thinking about and have rather stuck with me.
December 2, 2007
My mom told me about this book and I loved it. It is something I have read twice and will read again.
December 16, 2008
A beautiful account of what Heaven means to her vs. her disabilty in this world.
October 7, 2009
Her lessons on life and view of eternity
September 23, 2012
This book is boring. :/
July 23, 2014
This book really makes you think! I am sure that one day I will read it again. It's very well written and very interesting and inspiring.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews