John Chrysostom: For as when a king ceremoniously entered a city, certain dignitaries and city rulers, and many others who were confident toward the sovereign, would go out of the city to meet him; but the guilty and the condemned criminals would be guarded within, awaiting the sentence which the king would deliver. In the same way, when the Lord comes, those who are confident toward him will meet him in the midst of the air, but the condemned, who are conscious of having committed many sins, will wait below for their judge.
It seems clear that Chrysostom understood 1 Thess as Pronger1 asserted , as a Roman style greeting procession. I've discussed this with others years ago. IMO it remains the best explanation. However the Pauline material (authorship aside) does clearly express hope of residing in heaven.(2 Cor 5:1)
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
This in fact was commonly accepted in a number of forms of Judaism including Pharisaism.
IMO, the writer was describing a processional greeting of the King upon his return but how he imagined the next stage is uncertain. Some have suggested the "and thus we shall forever be with the Lord" is an editor's or marginal gloss. This makes sense given the difficult sentence structure. Pauline material was otherwise extensively redacted and interpolated. But as is true of so much, we must accept we just can't be certain.