Eternity is a Long Time

  You don’t want to be in the second resurrection. “I speak to you eternal truth: Soon the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will arise with life! For the Father has given the Son the power to impart life, even as the Father imparts life. The Father has transferred to the Son the authority to judge, because he is the Son of Man. “So don’t be amazed when I tell you these things, for there is a day coming when all who have ever died will hear my voice calling them back to life, and they will come out of their graves! Those who have done what is good will experience a resurrection to eternal life. And those who have practiced evil will taste the resurrection that brings them to condemnation!” John 5:25-29

July 22nd was my spiritual birthday. 18 years ago I gave my heart and my life to Jesus and my life changed forever. Not only will I be with Him forever in Eternity - His spirit lives within me. I am His. The peace and contentment Jesus brings is something I wish for everyone - friend and foe alike! If you haven't had a good talk with God recently, why don't you? Now. Right now. All you have to do is take a deep breath, let it out, and talk with God. Give Him thanks for the blessings you have received in your life (for we all have had blessings). Tell Him you know Jesus died to pay for all, ALL, the things you have done which were wrong and all the things that you should have done but did not do. Ask Him to forgive you. Tell Him you are willing to put Him first and to follow Him. If you do this with a sincere and trusting heart, He will forgive you. Just as Jesus was resurrected after paying the debt for the sins of the world, so too will you be born anew as a Child of God. You

  The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. This is the truth even though America in 1776 did not treat all men equally. The truth is that God does not play favorites. He looks at each of us individually and expects us to love him with all our heart. He created us equally for that task. What we do with those gifts while we are alive on earth is up to us. But the eternal issue is not what things we do on this earth that other people can see, it’s about how we love God; it is what we were created to do. That is why He endowed us with those unalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

We need to keep the main thing the main thing. We need to remember that there are debatable and non-debatable issues in Christianity. What are these non-debatable issues? - Jesus is the Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, 100% God, 100% human - Jesus sacrificed Himself to pay the wages for all of our sins by dying on the cross - Jesus rose on the 3rd day and ascended into Heaven shortly thereafter - He is alive and will come again to judge the living and the dead - Jesus created all that was made - We are saved for eternity with God by faith in Jesus and His works, not by our works - The Bible is the word of God All the other issues such as whether a Christian can drink alcohol, eat non-Kosher foods, speak in tongues, whether there is a rapture before the second coming of Jesus, etc, these are all debatable. It is fine to debate them and to have strong opinions, but none of these opinions should get in the way of the non-debatable issues.  If a person has a belief on a debata

It's a heart issue with God. It has ALWAYS been a heart issue. We will meet so many people in Eternity who don't even know what a Bible is but their hearts were in sync with God. There will also be many who knew their Bibles well who will not be present at the first resurrection because their hearts were never soft towards God. “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ (Matthew 7:21-23) I talk further about how your heart needs to be soft here.

 A wagon train had just crossed the river when they saw a prairie fire coming toward them. They knew they could not re-cross the river before they would be engulfed in the flames. The leader started another fire behind them. When the embers had cooled the wagon train moved on to them. The oncoming fire could not burn twice what had already been burned once. Likewise, we are to stay close to the cross for we know not when the Judgment comes. Jesus already paid the price for our mistakes and sinfulness with His sacrifice on the cross. The fire of the oncoming Judgment will not burn those who cling to Him

  Looking at the comet again tonight and basking in the glory of God’s creation I am reminded of what Paul wrote: They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Romans 1:19-21 NLT

How can man ever accept a personal relationship with God; a relationship that is unique to every individual? Only one way - God has to also be man and show us His love by dying as our substitute. He took our punishment and made it His own in a way everyone can see and feel even through they weren’t there. The empty tomb and the victory over sin is all the more joyous for the pain He went through for us and eternity will be the sweeter.

  A friend of mine said something I never expected to hear. He said he was very fearful of our current social situation. This is from a man who has always been rock solid. He's also a believer. But he seems to have forgotten that Jesus told us many times that trouble will happen. We are to cling to the rock and we'll be safe. He (Jesus) also said not to fear since He has overcome this world. He said this before He went to the cross. Of course, to God, time isn't the same as it is to us. Evil will seem to be winning and the pace of evil may seem to be increasing as we get closer to the 2nd coming of our Savior. But, as the old saying goes, "It's always darkest before the dawn". Jesus will come. Evil will perish. What is depicted in Revelation chapters 19-22 will happen. Do not let your heart be troubled.

In Eternity there will not be any distinction between white, black or any other skin color - there will only those who wisely gave their hearts to be sons and daughters of the Most High God.

  So many people get to the threshold of eternity in their relationship with God and then they hesitate or stop. This is true whether the person realizes it is God or not - for often God draws people to him without announcing it. They have accepted certain truths that have gotten them to this place but they can't get beyond - they can't cross the bridge. They know better things lie on the other side but they can't bring themselves to cross it. Why?

Jesus redeemed all of mankind once - at the cross. He did this while we were all still sinners; still at odds with Him. He did this because He loves us SO much and wants us to be in Heaven with Him for eternity. It is up to us to accept this free gift, to believe it, and to live it. Won't you join me?

Without an eternal perspective you get too caught up in what you think the world and people around you want you to do and be. God looks at your present circumstance from an eternal perspective since He wants you to spend the rest of time with Him. Therefore, when you seek Him you are seeking eternal guidance even if it is for a very worldly issue happening right now. If you don't have an eternal outlook you will be like the person described in the opening of the book of James: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." (James 1:5-8)

When those who have chosen wisely get to their eternal home, will we want to know about things from our life on earth? Some say no. They feel the overwhelming love of God and the thrill from being in His presence will overshadow all thoughts of our previous life on earth. They could well be right. However, I feel we will have questions - at least about some things. For example, my Mom died before I became a Christian. I truly have no idea whether she gave her heart to Jesus because I wouldn't have recognized it if she did or didn't as I wasn't aware that even existed at the time. If I try to figure it out from my faulty memory I feel like I would be so biased in favor of finding ways to justify my wish that she will be there that I can't trust myself to be objective enough. Therefore, I have resolved to simply trust God. His judgments are righteous and true all the time. If she meets me in Heaven then I will be thrilled. But if she doesn't, I will be disappointed an

Think of all the really bad people who got away with things during their lifetime and never had to "pay" for them. Is there never any justice? We all know that there are plenty of people who have done really, really bad things but have never been convicted of their crimes in a court of law. Is there any justice for them? Or do they "get away with it"? If you think about this question for long in relation to how God looks at things, you'll realize that He doesn't worry about what we do here on Earth towards each other. What? He knows that we do some nice things and some bad things to other people all the time. It doesn't matter what we do to each other as we are all condemned living here in the world. Each and every one of us. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17) Jesus wouldn't have come if we weren't condemned already. And Jesus came for EVERYONE. "For Go

  You're born. You live. Then you die. It's the circle of life - at least here on earth in its current state. But there will be a time when there will be no more death. Where there will be no more night. That day is coming for those who have chosen wisely.

  Think about the most beautiful sight you have ever seen. Think about the sweetest sound you have ever heard. Think about the most wonderful smell, the tastiest food or the best thing you ever touched. Then realize that Heaven will have sights, sounds, smells, tastes and things to touch that will be millions and millions of times better. And that's not even taking into consideration being face to face with God.

  My daughter is taking care of a stray cat who's on the last of his 9 lives. He will soon be going to his eternity. Of course, cats and other animals don't have the same choice we do regarding God. Their nature is aligned with God's plan for them. They are incapable of doing anything else. We humans, on the other hand, have the ability to reason, to think and to make choices. Our biggest choice is whether we choose eternity with our Creator by aligning ourselves and our heart with His plan for us. The alternative is a second death far worse and horrific than your worst fears since you'll experience the deserved punishment for every sin you have ever committed. Choose wisely.

  You're born. You live. Then you die. It's the circle of life - at least here on earth in its current state. But there will be a time when there will be no more death. Where there will be no more night. That day is coming for those who have chosen wisely.