Don't Show Up Empty-handed

She opened her eyes and caught her breath. The dazzling light, music, and laughter surrounded her and was part of her. Tangible joy pulsed through the air like an electrical charge. She glanced down at her white robe and then up again. It was real! Heaven was real and Jesus Himself was coming toward her with arms outstretched, dark nail holes in His hands, and a smile she couldn’t tear her eyes from. “My daughter! You’re here! I’ve been waiting for you. What did you bring me?”

Imagine that moment, but this time it’s YOU. Life on earth suddenly stopped and now you are in heaven. You know you are only here because Jesus paid the price you owed God. You trusted in Christ, gave your life to Him, and God counted that as sufficient, pronouncing you Not Guilty. But now Jesus is eager to hear how you spent your life after He saved you. He knows what He invested in you and expects a good return. What will you say? “Well, Lord, I had a good time…tried to be a good person…bought a nice car…kids’ in sports…vacations…” As you gaze in adoration at the One who gave His life for you, will you be ashamed of how little you did for Him? Will anyone be in heaven because of you? What fruit will you bring Him?

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.  Romans 14:12

Final Thought: Jesus gave it all for you. What are you doing for Him?

Prayer: Lord, this is a little scary. Will I be ashamed of how I spent my life when I stand before you? You’ve saved me by your mercy, but am I living in a way that makes you glad you did? Help me get ready for my accounting. In Jesus’ name, amen.

New Identity

He became sin for us, who knew no sin, 

that we might become the righteousness of God. 

2 Corinthians 5:21

Roy’s knees trembled as he stood with head bowed before the throne. He had dreaded this day since childhood, and now, here he was. It had happened so fast: the speeding semi, the crash. One minute he was reaching for the radio and the next, standing before the Lord God Almighty. It was too late to change anything. He couldn’t undo all he’d done. No way to stack up good deeds or apologize for the mess-ups. He’d only known Jesus for three weeks. Still didn’t have it all figured out. How could he explain— “Next!” The Voice was like the sound of a thousand waterfalls, and Roy forced himself to look up.

Smiles. All he saw were smiles. Everywhere. “Roy!” Jesus was coming toward him. Dark holes marred the hands held out in welcome. “I—I don’t—I’m sorry…” Roy blurted, but Jesus placed a hand on Roy’s shoulder. “Father, Roy’s one of ours. He’s wearing my righteousness.” Roy gaped at his spotless clothing. Where’d he get that? All he remembered was dirt and blood and broken glass. Before that, nothing but sin and selfishness. He’d done nothing to deserve this robe or those smiles, but there they were. “Welcome, Righteous One,” came the Voice again. Righteous one? Roy wanted to object, but the Voice went on. “Because your sin debt has been cancelled by my Son’s sacrifice, you are welcome here. Enter the joy of your Lord!”

If you have accepted Jesus as Lord of your life, 

then God has given you a new identity: Righteous One.

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Is There Life After Life?

  

Where are you headed next?

The Bible is clear that there are two possible destinations for every human soul following physical death: heaven or hell. Only the righteous inherit eternal life, and the only way to be declared righteous before God is through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The souls of the righteous go directly into the presence of God.

For those who do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, death means everlasting punishment. This punishment is described in a variety of ways: a lake of fire, outer darkness, and a prison, for example. This place of punishment is eternal. There is no biblical support for the notion that after death people get another chance to repent. Hebrews 9:27 makes it clear that everyone dies physically and, after that, comes the judgment. Christians have already been judged and sentenced. Jesus took that sentence upon Himself. Our sin becomes His and His righteousness becomes ours when we believe in Him. Because He took our just punishment, we need not fear ever being separated from Him again. The judgment for unbelievers is still to come.

Second Thessalonians 1:8–9 says, “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” The misery of hell will consist of not only physical torture, but the agony of being cut off from every avenue of happiness. God is the source of all good things. To be cut off from God is to forfeit all exposure to anything good. Hell will be a state of perpetual sin; yet those suffering there will possess full understanding of sin’s horrors. Remorse, guilt, and shame will be unending, yet accompanied by the conviction that the punishment is just.

There will no longer be any deception about the “goodness of man.” To be separated from God is to be forever shut off from light, love, joy, and peace because God is the source of all those good things. Any good we observe in humanity is merely a reflection of the character of God, in whose image we were created (Genesis 1:27).

While the spirits of those regenerated by God’s Holy Spirit will abide forever with God in a perfected state (1 John 3:2), the opposite is true of those in hell. None of the goodness of God will exist in them. Whatever good they may have thought they represented on earth will be shown for the selfish, lustful, idolatrous thing it was (Isaiah 64:6). Man’s ideas of goodness will be measured against the perfection of God’s holiness and be found severely lacking. Those in hell have forever lost the chance to see God’s face, hear His voice, experience His forgiveness, or enjoy His fellowship. To be forever separated from God is the ultimate punishment.

For more information about how to avoid this eternal separation, click here.

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Hey, Angel

We all have our own ideas of what we think heaven will be like.

Everyone mentions meeting relatives who died years ago, Bible characters, and
of course Jesus. We picture glad-handing a disciple or two, hugging Grandpa, and meeting children who died before birth.

But have you ever thought about the other creatures who will be present?

Several places in the Bible describe heavenly creatures that are as hard for the writer to explain as they are for us to fathom. Frankly, they don't sound all that warm and cuddly, but they're there and their purpose will only be understood when we are there too.

Have you ever thought about the fun of meeting angels who already know you?

After I'm finally finished hugging Jesus (if such a time comes), I look forward to meeting the angelic messengers who protected and ministered to me on earth. We know God gives his angels instructions to guard and care for his children, so imagine the stories they can tell!

• The burly one who threw himself in front of the speeding 18-wheeler that night you were driving home from college. He barely missed you and your heart didn't stop pounding for the next 50 miles. You kinda wondered even back then...

• The fast one who raced down the hill in time to stop your baby before he got to the street. The angel stood between baby and the street and you always wondered why the baby had suddenly stopped crawling, sat up, and laughed at the sky. Won't it be fun to meet the reason?

• The gentle one who nudged the bank officer's hand into signing the loan, even with a frown on his face. "Don't know why I'm doing this..." he'd growled. Won't it be fun to find out the real reason he did it? He might enjoy finding out too.

• The host of them who stood around you, holding you as you cried out that life wasn't worth it and you were ready to end it all. For some reason, you didn't. You've always been glad. Won't you be thrilled when you can thank them?

Angels are never to be worshiped. They are the first ones to correct that nonsense. But I can't wait to meet the ones who have been personally involved in caring for me during my journey on this earth. I want to thank them for being obedient to God and kind to me.

Which ones will you want to thank?