HEAVEN OR HELL

Hey there my most wonderful humanoids. And you are wonderful. God thinks so and so do I because God doesn't create junk. Just think, made in the image and likeness of God Almighty. Being born again translates us into the Kingdom of God's dear Son, Jesus. We have been adopted into the family of God, you are a daughter or son of the Most High. Pretty cool ! Let us pray: Glorious Jesus, You are our hero and champion. Our redeemer and saviour. Our soon coming King....we bow before You now with love and thankfulness. Father God, You said we could call You Daddy when done with reverence and awe of Your holiness. So, Daddy, help us to be patient as we are anticipating Your appearing. Sometimes we just want You to take us away from this world which seems to have gone mad. Help us to have the attitude of Paul during our waiting to be with You. An attitude which says, I would rather be in heaven with my Father God, but while I remain let me continue to grow. Let me continue to be light, love and hope to those around me. May Your Glory fill this temple, along with all believers, so Your majesty would fill the earth. So all could see You and know they have a choice of heaven or hell. We agree with You that none would perish. We love you ! In Jesus name.....AMEN.

"Work out our salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12) "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and tremble." (James 2:19) "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14) "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." (I John 3:9,10) OUCH ! "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8) "Because of the increase of wickedness, (Jesus is talking about the end times) the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:12,13) Whew ! That is some rough stuff ! Please Holy Spirit, give us ears to hear what You are saying to us !

Please meditate on the above verses and on the following ones. We will come back to them shortly. Trust me, we are going some where. "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I (God speaking) have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him."(Deuteronomy 30:19,20) "The man who loves his life (Jesus speaking) will lose it, While the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow me; and where I am , my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."(John 12:26,26) "Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent me.' "(John 14:23,24) "We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, 'I know Him,' but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did."(1 John 2:3-6)

Before I get too deep into this, let us take a pause for the cause. This message is better understood, and written to, followers of Jesus. If you have not yet considered a relationship with God in Christ Jesus, then by all means consider it now while the Holy Spirit is moving upon you. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Our righteousness is like filthy rags to Almighty God. We can not obtain eternal life, or right standing with God, on our own. That is why Jesus came..to take care of the sin problem. With sin covered, we can fellowship with God face to face. But how did God take care of this ugliness which blocks our relationship with Him? The Word says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Before Jesus was born into the earth, by a virgin and through the seed of the Holy Spirit, the children of Israel (God's chosen people whom He has covenant with, but now we have been grafted into the covenants of promise in Christ Jesus) would sacrifice animals once a year. With that blood, the High Priest would offer it up to God to cover the sins of the people. GOOD NEWS PEOPLE. JESUS BECAME THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB ON OUR BEHALF. HIS SINLESS BLOOD HAS TAKEN CARE OF THE SIN PROBLEM ONCE AND FOR ALL.

What do I have to do to be born again from above? How do I approach a Holy God with the horrible sin and iniquity within me? How do I obtain forgiveness? Glad you asked. You can't work for it or achieve it on your own. You have to believe in God's goodness towards you. You must see God's great love for you. You are so valuable to Him that He allowed His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for your sins. God says that the wages of sin is death. Jesus took the penalty of your sin upon Himself on Calvary. His blood will atone and erase your sins forever. Go and get by yourself for a moment. Don't you feel the Spirit stirring your soul? Go and kneel before Almighty God. Admit to Him that you are a sinner and you want to be forgiven. Confess that Jesus is the Son of God and that you want to make Him Lord over your life. You are tired of the ugliness of your life thus far and you want to be born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Talk to God like you would talk to a person, because He is a person. But do it with humility and reverence of course. Cry out for forgiveness. RECEIVE IT BY FAITH. Ask God to come live in your heart. To be your God and Lord. RECEIVE IT BY FAITH. You are making a covenant with God. You desire to serve Him all the days of your life. He says that He will be with you; He will guide you; He will teach you; He will love you; He will heal you and so much more.

Now....hoop and holler. Dance and shout. Cry with great joy. Why? Because now you have been forgiven of all your sins. And if you fall again, just repent, receive your forgiveness and get back up. The angels in heaven are shouting with great jubilation before the very throne of God over your being born again from above. Get yourself a Bible. Find you a good group of believers to be associated with. Tell someone the good news. You have made Jesus the Lord of your life and you have been translated from the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of God's dear Son. You have eternal life. Oh, I am just beside myself with great joy over your decision. God bless you. You are so loved. Not just by God, but by all believers wherever they might be.

Now, concerning the scriptures we observed in the beginning parts of this discourse. These are but a snapshot of the theme running throughout the Bible. From them we see that being born from above is more than merely saying, "I believe Jesus is the Son of God." I am not going to get into theology. Many say that once you are saved then you are always saved. This is an argument that I refuse to enter into. Instead, I will let the Word speak for Itself. Can you not see that if a person is truly born again, from above, that he or she will follow the commands of the Lord God Almighty. That person will continue to be bent toward changing into the image of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. That person will be quick to repent of sin when they fall into it's trap. They will go quickly to the throne of grace and receive forgiveness, by the blood of Christ, through faith. They will fall, but like the Word says:" The righteous may fall a thousand times, but they get back up." Christian, do you get back up? Then sleep well at night my dear brother or sister.

Why did I title this discourse, "Heaven or hell?" Can I share something personal with you? Thanks ! Just last week I found myself with an angry spirit towards my wife. It led to a brief period of unforgiveness. A period of selfish, prideful me saying, "I refuse to give in, I will not ask for forgiveness or seek reconciliation." You know what God told me? He said, "Kenneth, if you maintain that heart attitude, you will surely go to hell." This day I set before you life or death, heaven or hell...choose wisely." I quickly found myself walking in the fear of the Lord at that moment. God continued, "Such a heart will not enter through the gates of my eternal glory." And you know what, He was right. Think about it. If such a heart was hard, resentful, prideful, selfish and bitter, would it feel more comfortable in heaven or hell? Beware of how long you allow your soul to relish in the area of unforgiveness in the times we live in. BEWARE AND BE ON GUARD PLEASE ! A soul left in that condition for very long will soon cover the heart and snuff out the flame of the Holy Spirit.

Remember the verse from above about enduring? That verse is actually the flagship verse of this writing. Whew, finally got to it. I never know where the Spirit is leading me during these teachings and letters of encouragement. But it's all good ! We are living in the very shadow of the return of Jesus for His bride. But we are also living in the shadow of God's judgement upon all the earth. Don't fret, we will not go through the seven year tribulation period. But, we will taste of horrible things which will test our faith. Get ready now....like the five wise virgins, keep your oil supply overflowing while you wait for His Glorious Appearing. Run the rest of your race on your knees. Ever praying, ever repenting and ever loving. God and man.

If you take anything away from this message of love and warning, take the following: "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But, if you do not forgive men their sins, Your Father will not forgive your sins." We are surely going to be tested in these times of calamity coming upon the earth. Our faith will surely come out of the testing brightly shining as the Son. The Lord, Himself, shared with me a few things concerning the things to come. He said that surely we will trust Him for many things in the very near future. But the true test of our faith and love will be in the area of forgiveness. The world (especially the USA) is on the brink of civil unrest. There will be great strain in the areas of keeping our thoughts from evil towards those over us, and in the area of ethnic group against ethnic group.

LET YOUR HEART BE QUICK TO FORGIVE, QUICK TO LOVE, QUICK TO ENCOURAGE AND QUICK TO RUN TO FATHER GOD ABOUT EVERYTHING. MAKE SURE HE IS YOUR ALL IN ALL AND THEN IN THE MATTER OF HEAVEN OR HELL: YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT YOU ARE ALREADY SEATED IN HEAVENLY PLACES. I love you !!