Go to Hell?

Happy Sunday!

Did you know that God does not send anyone to Hell?  Really, it's true!  People go to Hell because they refuse to accept Jesus as the Only way to God!  I know, I know...your are thinking...what does that have to do with me?  Great question!  Everywhere we go these days, people are stressed!  It's showing in their faces, their voices, and in their actions!  Even us Christians who have been given "joy unspeakable, and full of glory" are running around like chickens with their heads cut off!(1 Peter 1:8).  So what does going to Hell have to do with this?  People go to Hell because they want to do things their own way, and people live in hell on earth for the same reason!  Bishop Henry Phillips, Pastor of Power of Change Christian Center in Cahokia, Illinois always said, "For some people this is the only hell they will ever know.  For others this is the only heaven they will ever know!"  WOW!  Why do people live through hell, then die and go to Hell?  Romans 10:3 describes it like this, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."(KJV).  Another translation says, "For they don’t understand that Christ has died to make them right with God. Instead they are trying to make themselves good enough to gain God’s favor by keeping the Jewish laws and customs, but that is not God’s way of salvation."(Living Bible).  One more translation says, "After all these years of refusing to really deal with God on his terms, insisting instead on making their own deals, they have nothing to show for it."(Message).  OUCH!  I'd hate to live this life, then die and enter eternity with nothing to show for it!   Don't be that person!

It's REAL out here people!  This is the time to "make full proof of thy ministry".(2 Timothy 4:5, KJV).  As Louis Jordan sang, "Is you is, or is you ain't My Baby?"  We have to decide in our hearts what we really believe.  No more straddling the fence!  Is Jesus your healer?  OK, then if the government takes all the tests strips and buries them in the sand, you are still going to live, and thrive diabetes free!(2 Peter 2:24).  Is Jesus your provider?  OK, and if he has to command ravens to bring you food or money, you will always have more than enough and some to share.(2 Corinthians 9:8).  Is Jesus your protector?  OK, then you never have to worry about wars with Russia, Iran, Iraq, or the KKK!(Psalm 91).  I know what you're thinking!  Cynthia, you make it sound so simple!  It is simple!  So simple that many people can't accept it.  1 Corinthians 1:8 says, "For people who are stumbling toward ruin, the message of the cross is nothing but a tall tale for fools by a fool.  But for those of us who are already experiencing the reality of being rescued and made right, it is nothing short of God’s power."(Voice).  The Word is truth!  

The Apostle Paul was not a lazy man.  He wrote to the Thessalonians, "Anyone not willing to work shouldn’t get to eat!”(2 Thessalonians 3:10, Voice).  He was never suggesting you put your head in the sand and ignore the world around you.  What he was encouraging us to do is to see the world in the light of the Word!  If the Word says, it's wrong...It's wrong!  No debate, no room for your thoughts, opinions, or Facebook posts!  If the Word says do something, do it!  No hesitation!  Remember Modecai told Esther..."If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this.”(Esther 4:14, Message).  Did you see that?  HELP and DELIVERANCE will come...will you stand for the WORD?  Will you allow God to use you?  The Apostle Paul knew about hard times, bad treatment, and sadness.  Read his testimony for yourself sometime.  It's in 2 Corinthians 11:21-27.  BUT after all he had been through he wrote, "Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies."(Philippians 4:8-9, Message).

Isaiah 26:3 says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."(KJV).   The Living Bible translation of this same scripture says, "He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn OFTEN to the Lord!"

Love and prayers, Cynthia