Do you ever think about your own
death? George Bernard Shaw said, "The statistics of death are quite
impressive. One out of one dies." Death may be a certainty, but the more
important question is this: "Am I going to heaven when I die?"
The Bible teaches that not only does
God make it possible for you to go to heaven, He wants you to know that heaven
is your destination the very instant you die. (See 2 Corinthians 5:8.)
Receive
The apostle Paul looked at death
this way: "'For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even
better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really
don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be
with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better
that I continue to live'" (Philippians 1:21-23, NLT).
On this earth, the presence of
Christ is in us. When a Christian dies, we are immediately in the presence of
Christ in heaven. Jesus said, "If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and
where I am, there will my servant be also" (John 12:26).
What do the following verses tell
you about life and death, about God and love?
"Jesus told her, 'I am the
resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after
dying'" (John
11:25, NLT).
"For as the Father raises the
dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will" (John 5:21, ESV).
Reflect
The good news is that you and I can
choose where we will spend eternity. But we have to make our choice this side
of death. Not
to choose is to make a choice. I
can think of no better time to nail down your eternal destiny than now.
How?
"If you confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right
with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved...For 'Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:9-10, 13 NKJV).
Respond
If you have never prayed and asked
Christ to be your Savior, forgive you of your sins and give you a home in
heaven, why not do that right now?
If you have done that, why not take
a moment and thank the Lord that the greatest tragedy in all of life can never
happen to you: standing before God with Jesus not as your Savior.
My Comments: You will hear it said,
"I can wait to choose,” "I'm
good enough so why try,” or "I don't believe in heaven and hell" or well
.... There are any number of comments to
cover why people do not believe God and accept Jesus as their Savior. I will just
address a few of these types of comments.
I have a car and it requires oil
changes, tune-ups, new brakes and even new tires now and again. If I said I can
just wait and choose to take care of my cars needs until later then sooner or
later it will break down on me. If I do not take care of my health or my
families health then that is not being responsible with my families, and my
health. We can tell ourselves we are healthy enough and just do what we want,
"eat, drink and be merry" and everything will just be fine. We can
say I don't believe in going to a Doctor or taking medicine or eating properly
or even my body knows what it needs and I drink or eat what I feel it needs.
Are you laughing yet? Our bodies, cars, homes, and families need to be cared
for and even preventive measures taken for the future needs of each.
So it is with our souls and choosing
where we want our souls to go after the death of our bodies. We don't wait
until our bodies or our cars or families are at the end to finally take care of
them do we? Why do some feel they can wait until the end life, or even just
take a chance the Bible is wrong, and reject God? None are good enough to stand
by themselves before the God of the Universe and claim a place in heaven and
standing before Him who created all of us, and trying to get away with, “I did
not know.” Will not be what gets one into heaven. Jesus said, He is the way and
that to go to the Father we have to go through Him (not Buddha, Mohammad, Joseph Smith, Hari krishna or any other person or other thing nor can we just be good enough) so we have
no other mediator with the Father (not Mary His Mother either or any saints).
Just Jesus!
A lot of people do not believe in
God or that He exists yet do you see the piston in your car or the cells of
your body? We do not have to see God to know He exists (yet we can see His
works and His glory in the world around us) anymore than we have to see the
piston in the engine of our car to know it is there and we see the leaves on the trees move when the wind blows yet we cannot see the air moving. God is and His
promises are true and because they are true do you want to stand before Him
without His Son Jesus interceding for you?
Imagine yourself in a court of law
without a lawyer or even yourself as your lawyer. Imagine now you have a lawyer
and he says whatever punishment my client deserves put on me. This is what
Jesus did on the Cross. He took on our sin once and for all so we could stand
before the Creator of the Universe and not get our just punishment because He
already took it for us. We just have to accept it and Him as our Savior and be
God’s own adopted child as precious as a new born baby and as pure as the new
falling snow. Without accepting His gift of Sacrifice we could do all the “good
works” we wanted or the world said were good and still be sinners and not
worthy of heaven.
The God who cast out Adam and Eve
from Paradise because of sin will not accept us into Heaven with sin. I hope
you accept Jesus as your Savior and then you will never have to wonder, “Am I
good enough,” You will be because of the righteousness of Jesus the Christ
foretold of in the Old Testament. If you have accepted His righteousness then
pray for others and do as Jesus instructed and go and make disciples and if you
accept Jesus today or when you do then go and tell others the “Good News of the
Gospel.”
Abba, we praise You and glorify Your
Holy Name and thank You for all You have done for us and in our lives. We thank
You for bringing us to the Cross and sending Your Son so we may have His
intercession before You. Protect us as Your children and be with us as we go
forth in the Name of Your Son Jesus to proclaim You to the world and make
disciples who make disciples. In Jesus Name. Amen
Rebishka
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