Heaven and Hell

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. Psalm 139:7-8

Last week I shared about what Grace meant because it is the beginning of our Christian life.  Today I share about the end of life.  It is either Heaven or its Hell.  There are no other options. There is no ‘in-between’ place.  During Grace and death a lot of thing happen to us.  Some things are good and some things are bad, but remember this, “Who you are today is who you want to be.”

You may disagree, but it is still the truth.  Day in and day out, you have to make choices.  If you wish you were someone else, you will have to make different choices.  Let me say it this way.  If you wish you were a Christian but you aren’t, you’ve made the choice not to be one.  If you want to be a wonderful husband or wife, find out what would make you be that way. 

This is not hard to become who you want to be, but it does take action on your part. From today on, you will be headed toward the end of your life.  Will that be in Heaven or Hell?  I will try to explain the difference if you don’t already know.  “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”  Hebrews 9:27.  Every person who is alive today will die at some time. No one can escape death, so it is important that you understand what happens next.

Heaven is the dwelling place of God. Only those who believe in God and understand His Son, Jesus, who came to earth from heaven to die so we might be forgiven for our sins, will go to Heaven when they die.  Those who go to heaven will never be sick or in pain again. They will see those that they loved when they lived on earth, if they were ‘saved’.  We will be surrounded by angels who take care of us. You will no longer age and will be able to do amazing things.  God has things planned for us that are too wonderful to describe. There will never be any sorrow or sadness and all tears will be washed away. This is a very short description of a life to come which will be eternal love and joy.

Now, let’s look at Hell!  Hell is also eternal.  It is a place of eternal fire that never stops burning.  It is a place of torment and anguish with no hope of escape. If you are in Hell, you will finally know the love of God of which you will never have a part. I don’t want to spend too much time describing Hell and the Lake of Fire.  I believe you can plainly understand it from the description I gave to you. 

Jesus tells the story in Luke 16:24-26 of two men who died. One was a rich man, and the other was a beggar, Lazarus who was in Heaven. The rich man was in Hell and he begged Father Abraham who was in Heaven to have mercy on him, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. “But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” 

Jesus was using this as an example to show that once you have died, and if you went to Hell, you are still aware of pain and anguish, but are not able to reach Heaven. As I said last week, this is real and if you want to gamble on everything coming out all right, it is your choice. 

Listen, I’m not ready to leave my loved ones; I want God to use me as much as he wants; and when my time is up, my heart is ready to go with him.  God already knows our time; our days and years are numbered.  There is a time to live and a time to die.  God loves me and has a place prepared for me in Heaven.  I am assured of this because “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” 

Do you believe that Jesus loves you so much he died on the Cross for you?  This is so simple it seems hard to believe, but it’s true.  As I continue with this series, I pray that you will get this whole thing and accept the fact that Jesus is waiting to hear from you.  Don’t try to make something harder than it is.  Here are the steps; 1) The grace of God is available now; 2) while you are still alive, you need to make the decision on where you will spend eternity; 3) what you can do about it right now.

The next part is “There is Only One God”.  How can we know that for sure?  If you don’t know, that’s a good place to begin; there are several reasons to accept that and that’s for next week.  I challenge you to go back over what I have written; get it firmly in your mind.

Hang on, there is more to come!

The Grace of God

This is beginning a 4-part series of presenting scripture in the very simplest way possible. Next week is about "Heaven and Hell".

The Grace of God

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23

Let’s begin by understanding what “the grace of God” means. Grace is unearned favor given to sinners who don’t deserve it.  Yet, if you are one who is looking to know God and are tired of living a sinful life, and call on the name of God or Jesus, He will answer you.  Ask him for his mercy and forgiveness and he will give you his grace and forgive you and welcome you into his family. Those who are forgiven now belong to the Family of God.

There is nothing more you have to do.  He will take you just the way you are with all your confusion, fears and selfishness.  If you stick with him your life will change. Just talk to him like you would a friend – that is what prayer is.  You can ask him for anything and he will listen.  If you ask for ungodly things, you won’t get them, but he will give you everything thing you need. He will teach you things that you do not know. If you read the Bible, you will learn to live as a Christian.

Let me tell you about the Bible; the Bible is the spoken Word of God.  Yes, it was written by men of old, but the words to write were given to these men by God.  They wrote them down so that people throughout time could read them and be inspired to do what God wanted them to do. If you follow what the Bible says, you will have a better life and at the end of your life, you will go to heaven and live forever.  If you don’t become a Christian, when you die you will go to Hell and spend eternity in pain and torment forever.  It will never end.  It is your choice; Heaven or Hell.  God doesn’t put you there; he lets you make that decision.

I am trying to write this today in a very simple way and hope it gives you better understanding.  The Bible begins with the book of Genesis and helps you to understand how God created the world and people to grow into the world we live in today.  Let me say that there are many things about our heavenly Father we can never understand or know.  Isaiah 55:8-9 says “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

I can only write from my own experience so this is my story.  I was living a sinful life for many years and was so confused because I knew I wasn’t living like I should.  I was brought up in a church so I had some knowledge.  I actually knew that God had a son, Jesus and that he died on a cross so I could be saved.  I still didn’t understand the whole picture.  I remember one time when I suddenly realized that there was more in the Bible that I wasn’t understanding.  I asked several people, but no one seemed to have an answer. 

I didn’t find that answer for many years. They were hard years, I was married and had four children; life was good. Yet I was still unhappy and came to the point of divorce, drug addiction and suicide. I finally hit bottom and one day, alone in my room talking to myself I called out “Jesus”.  In an instant I realized who Jesus was.  He was God’s son and he died innocently on the cross, took on my sin and paid the price so I could have salvation.  I knew that day that if I didn’t ask him to forgive me, I might not have another chance.

So I lay on my floor and cried out to him and he poured his grace and his love into me.  That was over forty years ago and I’ve never looked back.  Today, all my children are saved and serving God.  My husband is a pastor and I have taught about the Bible to many people, written books, and have been a speaker at many churches and conferences.  I had a radio program for many years and my husband and I also had a television program for several years. My, it seems like I’m bragging but I’m not.  I could have done nothing without Jesus.  It has been his strength that has carried me though so many things that I can’t share here today.

I am not perfect, as my family can tell you, but I have the ‘Joy of the Lord’ in my heart.  I know that someday when my time is finished here on earth that I will go to heaven and spend forever with Jesus and those who have gone before me. This life I live is not a fairy tale; I have times of troubles, disappointment and pain, but I know that I am never alone.  

I want to share, in my own simple words, a scripture from Philippians, chapter 3, verse 12 -   I have not and never will reach perfection as a Christian, so I must forget the things in my past where I failed and continue to move forward by reaching out to Jesus for his help and to reach towards the goal of eternity with him.

I want to be an example to those who come after me; children, grandchildren, their wives and husbands.  I will fail at times, but when I do, I will pick it up and try again.  I only ask you once you have read this, read it again slowly and think about it as you read.  It may be your last chance to accept Jesus as your Savior.  This is why he came to earth and lived and was beaten and hung on the cross – He Did It For You! 

There is understanding if you just try. Don’t use the excuse that you are confused; that is what Satan, your enemy, wants you to be. The name of Jesus is the only power that drives away spirits and confusion and without it you are powerless.  With it, you can accomplish whatever you really want out of life. Without the power of Jesus name, you are nothing!!!!!!!!

Love is an Action

Love is an Action

So he answered and said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”   Luke 10:27

It took me a long time to learn the truth of this scripture.  I believed it to be true because it was God’s Word, but I guess I never put it into meaningful action.  I understood the meaning of loving God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind, but then that last part of ‘loving my neighbor as myself’ was a part I just didn’t quite get.  I prayed for them because they really needed it and loaned them small amounts of money when it was needed, which was always returned.

            This part really got me though; but love them?  They were nothing like my family who were responsible grown-ups with good jobs, well brought up children (for the most part). We all took care of our yards and didn’t leave junk lying all over.  Our neighbors on the other hand never did anything to their yards and left things where they lay. There was always a junk car or truck in their driveway and the grass was never mowed unless my husband went over there and did it when he couldn’t stand it any longer. 

            This past year we got to know them a little better.  They both had health issues and needed rides on occasion.  He sometimes came to our door wanting to talk to my husband and we both shared the Lord with him, but he had been in prison for several years and thought differently about God.  I felt a little uneasy about his past.  We always waved to them as we went in and out the driveway.

            I happened to read this scripture again the other day and this time it reached out and grabbed me; I did not love my neighbor! I didn’t even like them. I sat thinking about this for some time; loving and liking are two different things.  You can like something or someone, and that’s it.  But the word “Love” requires action.  I remembered some years ago when my husband and myself were teaching couples on having a good marriage.  One of the things we taught was that Love requires action.

            We can tell someone we love them, in a marriage just the words aren’t enough.  The action of doing things for your husband or wife is a far better way of showing them your love.  Now this scripture is not about your spouse, it’s about your neighbor.  “I don’t mind loving and helping my family and friends, but really, Lord, how can I love my neighbors who don’t seem to even try and help themselves?”

            “What about their souls?”  That’s where my focus should be, not on how they take care of things, but do they even know or understand that Jesus is waiting to help them, no matter what they have done or didn’t do.  I can’t believe I missed it, or maybe I just didn’t want to do anything about it. 

            I started thinking of all the excuses, “I am too old to help them”, “I’ve been sick a lot”, “I can’t walk very well,” and “they smell so bad of cigarette smoke”.  All those excuses are poor excuses. Ask them over and spray your rooms when they leave.  I’m beginning to understand why the Lord had us move here.  It wasn’t like this when we moved here ten years ago, but time doesn’t mean much to the Lord when he is waiting for his children to be obedient to his Word.
            The Bible tells us that “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22) I’ve no doubt what God expects of me now and I’m not making any sacrifice but to just please my heavenly Father because we are made to please the One who made us.  Amen

Behold, I will Do a New Thing.

Behold, I Will Do a New Thing

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”     Isaiah 43:18-19

Happy New Year to all of you who read my Bible teaching.  I pray that God will bring you a closer walk with Him and that you will no longer look back on your past but, with excitement and expectation, look to your future. May God bless you and give you peace in this New Year.

A few days ago I was sitting in my living room not thinking anything spiritual and abstractly watching television, when the Holy Spirit dropped this into my mind, “Behold I will do a new thing.” I had to look it up in the Bible because I didn’t know where it was. When I read the whole scripture, I knew it was for the beginning of this year of January 2018. 

It begins with verse 18, “Don’t think about how things have been in your past, don’t dwell on things of old.” (my version)  I found out a long time ago that if you keep digging up your past; it’s like old garbage – it stinks.  There is no way you will find peace in your life by dwelling on things of the past; it doesn’t get you anywhere and accomplishes nothing.  You can’t change the past!

Then in verse 19, God is telling us that he is going to do a “New Thing” in our lives and it is going to ‘spring forth’.  In other words, it is going to happen suddenly; it will spring forth. It will take us by surprise and we will know it is God who has done this thing.  When it says, “Shall you not know it?” means, you will know it. I, among many around the world, feel that we are anticipating something is about to happen!  I am not a prophetess and I don’t know what it is that’s coming this new year, but it will happen just as Isaiah wrote in God’s Word.  This I do know, God is true to His Word.

Many are blind to the things of God and do not know that God is still working according to His plan.  Perhaps what will happen will be a wakeup call to those who know about God, but don’t personally know Jesus as their Savior. 

Continuing on in verse 19, it says that God is going to “make a road in the wilderness.” Let me tell you, things are going to change.  It might seem like you have been lost in a wilderness and don’t know how to find your way out. You may have prayed for God to come and help you but you haven’t heard from him.  He hears every prayer and this year you are going to get your answers.  He will bring you out of the wilderness and it may be in a new way you never thought of.  Just Believe!

Then He said this, “He will make rivers in the desert.”  What that means is that not only will he bring you out of the wilderness, but He will continue to lead you on through what was once a dry and thirsty place and now is a lush and prosperous place.

Yes, His Word says “Behold, I will do a new thing!” Look forward to this New Year and declare that God is God and will do what He said He would do.  Praise God our Father who leads us onward and His Son who gave His life for you and for me.