Good morning, friends. I pray you are all doing well and have enjoyed your own personal time with God. Today I want to write to encourage those of you who have Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, but more importantly to those who do not. I have a message for those who either do not believe at all or who may have decided that “religion” is not for you. Recently, Kaleb posted a message on facebook about how close we are to the end times and for everyone to wake up and see the signs. He had a comment from one individual that truly broke my heart. No kidding, this made me want to cry. In a nutshell, the person told Kaleb that he/she did not believe we were in the end times and that people had been crying this for years and it was simply a scare tactic to get people to follow some religion that may or may not be true. Fair enough. I do understand that this warning has been spoken for years. It was even a warning given to the early church thousands of years ago. I get that. I understand that. That is not what broke my heart. The pain came when this person went on to say that the entire Bible was nothing but a book designed to scare people and put fear in them to make them follow Jesus. First, I want to address the fact that Jesus forces no one to follow Him. Even the angels themselves are given a choice. Look at Satan who was once a very high ranking angel. He made a choice and it was his to make. Next, we need to address the fact that Hell was never, ever, ever created as a punishment for humans. Like it or not; believe it or not; accept it or not; you are a child of God. He is your Father and He loves you more than any human could possibly understand. The choice to accept this love is entirely yours (and yours alone) to make. When Satan chose to turn from God and use his (God-given) powers to create hate, pain, death, and suffering there had to be a final place to put him. There had to be a place that in the end he would stay and not be allowed to come near God’s children. Therefore, you have Hell-- a place of eternal punishment. You see, God does not like the bad things that happen to you and your loved ones any more than you do. You may be surprised to know that He hates them more than you do! So by following God you receive the gift of complete safety from ALL the troubles and trials of this world. You receive the gift of a perfect life in Heaven with Him for eternity. However, if you do not accept this gift (which, by the way, breaks His heart) there is only one other place you can go in the end….Hell. So let’s summarize. There are only two places that last through all eternity; Heaven, which was created by a loving Father who can’t wait to bring you to Him to stay safe forever, or Hell, a place created for punishment for the evil one who seeks to destroy you. This is not meant to scare you, but to offer you comfort. All tears will be dried and you will live forever and ever with the One who wants only to hold you and protect you. While believing in, and accepting Jesus Christ certainly does protect you from a raging Hell that will be filled with suffering unimaginable, that is not the main reason to turn your life over to Him. There are several reasons. 1. He created you and loves you. 2. He gave His life for you to have victory over the evil one because He loves you. 3. He wants to help you with all the problems you face here on earth. He wants to give you strength and peace that you have never known….Because He loves you. Nothing scary ‘bout that!
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:40:01 +0000
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