Where are you going to be in ETERNITY?

     YOU suddenly find yourself standing before the judgment seat of God.  "Just a second here!  All was fine, wasn’t it?" you exclaim.  Silence.  "What of  that loud crashing sound I heard?  Am I dead?" you ask.  You were driving home from the grocery store.  A drunk hit you broad side at seventy-five miles an hour.  Were you ready to die?  The memories of your past come flooding back all at once.  You recall the times when your friend told you about Jesus and you said, "I’m a good person, I don’t need your religion."   Or the time you saw an evangelist ranting and raving about Hell fire and the Cross of Calvary.  You thought he was nuts!  You figure your baptism at Mass, when you were a baby, was all you needed.  You simply lived out your life.  You figured that religious stuff is only for drunks, whores, and Country Western singers.  Jesus was not your "thing."  "Too narrow minded, that Christianity." you figured.

     Now, here you are in Eternity, standing before All Mighty God.  You are naked and stripped of your worldly wealth before Him.  He reads off the names in the Book of Life, your’s is not in there!  Satan comes to accuse you to your face!  He taunts you and argues before the All Mighty his case against you, as your past convicts you!  Then you hear the most terrifying words Jesus could ever say, "Depart from Me you worker of iniquity.  I NEVER KNEW YOU!"  Satan grabs you by the back of your neck, says to you, "You’re Mine!" and hurls you into the Lake of Fire!  A place of no escape and eternal torment, where you are a soul without a body.  You are tormented by every little thing you said and did.  You are tormented by all the opportunities you missed to accept Jesus into your life.  Finally, you are tormented by the memories of those you tormented, FOREVER!

     HELL is not a "happenin’" place!  Budweiser will not be found there, let alone water!  It is the place where volcanic lava cones from!  Imagine it, you are now living in the center of the Earth where it’s so hot rock melts!  Why do you suppose Jesus calls it the "Lake of Fire"? He never wanted you to go there!  Why do you think He went to the Cross?!  To rescue you from the judgment of Hell!  Hell was made for Satan and his minions, not you!  You went to Hell of your own free will!  Your wailing will do you no good!  God can’t hear you now!

     YOU find yourself standing before the judgment seat of All Mighty God.  A bit taken back at what you see.  But wait!  Were you not just a second ago in the hospital?  The doctors said you’d live, the surgery was a success.  Wasn’t it?  All you remember is getting dizzy and blacking out.  Now you’re here, in Eternity.  This awesome place starts to come into focus.  It’s beautiful!  You are a bit numbed by it as you look around and hear the angelic choir singing.  Then all of a sudden Satan comes to accuse you to your face of all the wrong you have done!  "Oh Lord! This can’t be happening!"  "Do not fear, BE STILL!" this soft, but thunderous voice says to you.  Satan begins to shriek in holy terror!  He cannot stand in the presence of the Almighty.  Next, the voice calling from the throne of God thunders orders at Satan, "Shut Up Accuser!  You have no place here!"  "This person has been forgiven of his sins, cleansed by the Blood of Calvary!  Depart from here, Satan!"  You look around as the shrieks of demons descend into the Abyss of Hell fire.  Then silence, all is at peace.   Memories start to fill your mind of the friends who invited you to Vacation Bible School one summer.  It was where you invited Jesus into your life as a kid.  You remember your praying grandmother who kept you in her heart.  "Yes, she is here!" the voice says to you.  Then a memory that shakes you with fear. The day you forsook Jesus for the business world.  You remember things going great at first, the anticipation of finally having made it to the top. Then everything unravels around you, all your prosperity is gone.  You go bankrupt and lose your business. You were at your wits’ end!  You wanted to commit suicide.  In your darkest hour you somehow realized you can’t live without Jesus anymore.  You tried so hard to do things your way, now it’s Jesus’ turn.  At this time of crisis some old Scripture verses from V.B.S. came to mind.  "I will never leave you or forsake you."  "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me though he were dead, yet shall he live."  You recall recommitting your life to Christ and forsaking the ways of a sinful, fallen world.  You flourished in your new business.  Your marriage was restored.  You lived a blessed life by being a blessing to others in need.  By your testimony you led many to Christ, some indirectly.   Most of all, you loved Jesus with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

     Suddenly that all comforting, soft, yet commanding voice of Jesus interrupts your memories.  "Well done My good and faithful servant, enter into My rest!"   You are given a golden crown and a white robe as you enter into heaven.  You almost overlooked your new body, the excitement was too great!  That pesky aching back is gone!  So too is that blood clot that killed you!  Hey!  Look!  There’s your grandmother!  Come!  Meet the many that arrived before you, they received Jesus because of your obedience!  There’s the Prophets of Old!  Look!  The twenty-four elders throwing their crowns down!  They and the great congregation, the four-faced beast and all of heaven crying out, "Holy! Holy! Holy! Is the Lord God Almighty!"  You too fall to your face in awe.  Then you stand up and begin to shout to Jesus, "Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Praise and honor and glory are yours forever!  Hallelujah!"  Think about it!  This is going to last for all eternity!  And that is a long, long, long. Time!

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     These examples are of many people I face each day.  We all must die sometime, there is no avoiding it.  Where we go from there can not be left to chance.  The time is now to get ready!  You must receive Jesus into your life if you want to go to heaven!  All you have to do is admit you are a sinner in need of a Savior.  "There is none good, no not one."  the Bible says.  "All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory" (reflection).   We have all broken God’s Law, the Ten Commandments.  It took the Blood of Jesus to pay for our sin (law breaking).  He is God in the flesh.  Thus the Only One capable of obeying His own Law!  Admit He is God, that He died, was buried, and rose from the grave the third day, for you!  He is greater than your circumstances and your sin.  Ask Him to come into your life as you are, to forgive, heal, and guide you in Holiness and righteousness.  Jesus loves you the way you are.  He loves you too much to leave you there!  He wants you to have a new life in RELATIONSHIP with him!  Upon asking Him into your life, get a Bible and read it everyday.  Attend a Christ centered, Bible believing church so you can grow in your new life.  Get baptized as a public demonstration in renouncing your old sinful life and in receiving your new one in a risen Christ.   "Congratulations!" if you have accepted Christ’s gift of eternal life!
 
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