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What's In Your Future?
by Donald Mehl Do you know whats in your future? You might know about your plans for tomorrow or next week, but what about 100 years or even 1,000 years from now? The Bible teaches that all of us will always be somewhere. What does eternity future hold for you? Do you know for certain where you will be? God loves us with a love that truly has no bounds. However, God hates sin and cannot look upon it. We are all sinners in His eyes and are deserving of eternal death. Its not His will that any should perish, so God in His infinite grace and wisdom offers His gift of salvation that is available to all who will receive it. The gospel message teaches that Jesus went to the cross willingly to suffer and die in our place to pay our sin debt in full that through Him we might have eternal life. Salvation is a free gift offered to anyone who would choose to accept it by reaching out to Him by faith making Jesus the Lord and Master of their life. The third chapter of Johns gospel speaks of a man named Nicodemus who was a teacher, religious leader and ruler of his day. In spite of his knowledge and status, Nicodemus did not understand the gospel message of salvation so he sought after Jesus to question Him. In John 3:3 Jesus said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus clearly taught that the one and only possible way anyone could receive eternal life was to become born again by faith alone through Him. The moment we humbly ask Him to forgive our sins and invite Jesus into our heart and life is the moment we become born again, or spiritually re-born. All things become new when we put our faith and trust in Him. When we become born again, we instantly become royalty. We become sons and daughters of the most-high sovereign God who created all that exists and who rules today and will reign forever. As a child of the King, we become heirs to the kingdom of heaven. If we are a Bible believing child of God and by faith alone have been washed by the blood of the cross, then there is a rapture in our future. In our future there is a mansion created just for us in glory. City streets of pure gold as clear as crystal are in our future. In that magnificent jeweled city we will be part of a massive celebration of worship and thanksgiving that will be far beyond anything we could ever imagine. The voices we will hear from the heavenly choir all rising up together in an enormous crescendo of praise singing Holy, Holy, Holy will be incredibility awesome. All of that and much more will be in our future if we truly belong to Him. However, the glorious mansions, the streets of gold, the precious stones, and all the countless other splendors of heaven will suddenly pale by comparison the moment we meet our Lord and Master. We will be on our knees before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords when we finally see our Savior face to face, and when we see the scars in His nail pierced hands and feet. Have you received Jesus into your life as your Savior and Lord? Are you an heir to His eternal kingdom? You must be very sure because without Him in your heart and life, you have no future. Jesus spoke these words as recorded in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. When Jesus said, I am the way, He was saying to us that there is no other way without Him. When Jesus said, I am the truth, He was telling us that only through Him can there be truth. When Jesus said, I am the life, He was saying to us that without Him there is no life. The same message can be read in Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. The message is very clear. Without Jesus there can be no glory because He is the only way, He is the only truth, and only through Him can there be life. The scriptures also clearly teach us that the free gift of salvation is only offered to us by Gods grace and can only be received by placing our faith and trust in Him. Grace is God freely giving to us that which we dont deserve. Faith is having a rock solid belief and unshakeable assurance in what God has promised for us in His Word. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no man may boast. The message here is that there are absolutely no works, religious traditions or rituals that anyone must do or can do to earn or insure our salvation, all of which are mans vain attempts to somehow gain a greater acceptance in the eyes of God. If salvation was even partially dependent on things or works performed to receive it, then nobody could ever do enough to make themselves worthy to enter heavens gate into the presence of a Holy and Righteous God. He has promised to accept us just as we are and wherever we are in life, if we will only choose to follow Him. Some people might say that since they have always been a pretty good person and never did anything really bad, then, a loving God wont be too hard on them. Yes, Gods love for us is limitless and unlike any other, but no one will go to heaven simply because God is a loving God. Many good people will never enter heavens gate, therefore many good people will spend all of eternity separated from Him. Among the lost will be soccer moms, dads devoted to their families, caring grandparents, church-going folks claiming to be Christians, and many Pastors. They will all be lost with no future if they dont truly know Jesus as their personal Savior and the Lord of their life. Today, Satan is deceiving large numbers of people causing them to be blinded to the truth, which allows them to embrace false gospels that are not biblical. Gods love for us is clearly evident in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. However, God is also a righteous and Holy God. He is a God of judgment who has promised that His wrath will fall on all evil and unbelief. No one will escape because we read in Hebrews 9:27, Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. We are warned in 1 Peter 4:5 that each of us will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Concerning that day, we have these words of promise and warning as recorded in John 3:36, He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides in him. What will you say on that day when asked what you did with Jesus? Is He number one in your life and the Lord over all things? Jesus gave His all for you when He suffered and died on the cross. Have you invited Jesus into your heart as your Savior and surrendered your all to Him? What He does with you will be determined by what you have chosen to do with Him. Its not enough to simply believe that God exists, or know about Him, or know what He has done. We learn from Ezekiel 28:14 that before Lucifer was ejected from his position in heaven, he was the anointed cherub who occupied a special place of prominence in guarding the throne of God. Lucifer, later called Satan, certainly knew much about God and served closely with Him. However, from Revelation 20:10 we are told that Satans future will be eternity in the lake of fire. Also, in James 2:19 we read that even the demons believe and they tremble! No one can become a born again Christian just by believing in a loving God and by living a good life with long exposure to Christian values and principles. Being a member of a certain church, carrying a Bible and singing Amazing Grace will not save us. Being baptized as a baby will not save us. The faith of our parents will not save us. Good works will not save us. A Pastor or Priest praying over us while we are dying will not save us. The only way we can have salvation is by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. If you believe there is any other way, then you have been deceived and have no future. Where we spend eternity future is a deliberate and conscious choice that all of us must make in this life. To simply not choose is our choice to reject His gift of salvation He so freely offers to us. If you have not been spiritually re-born, then one minute after you die you will suddenly realize too late that you would have given up everything for only one more minute of life and breath just to have surrendered your heart and life to Jesus. If you are ready to humble yourself before Him and invite Jesus into your life with your sins forgiven forever, then scripture is very clear as to how you can have that born again experience. You must be convicted of your sinful nature and understand that you are eternally lost without Him. If you truly believe what Jesus did for you on the Cross of Calvary by shedding His blood in your place paying your sin debt in full, then His free gift of salvation can be yours. You only need to reach out to Him by faith to accept it. John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My Word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Romans 10:9,10 If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:13 For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Just open your heart and call out to Him in prayer. From your heart just say something like this, Dear God, I realize that I am a lost sinner. You sent Your Son Jesus to shed His blood and die on the cross for me in my place. You rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for me. I believe what You did for me and want my sins forgiven and washed away. I confess them to You now and invite Jesus into my heart and life as my Savior and Lord. Help me to turn away from my old ways and lead a life that is pleasing to You. Thank You for saving me today in Jesus name. Amen. If you were sincere about submitting your heart and life to the Lord and humbly prayed a simple prayer like that one, then God heard you. You are now a born again child of the King and your future is secure in Him forever. Your sins have been forgiven and buried in the deepest sea never to be remembered again. The day is coming soon when you will meet with Him and see His shining, smiling face. You will do that with tears of unspeakable joy, confidence and thanksgiving in your salvation through Him. You will walk hand in hand with Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You will talk and laugh with Him as you stroll together down the streets of pure gold. Your special mansion will be ready and waiting for you too. A massive celebration of continuous praise and worship will be there for you to join in with them. What a day that will be! Our human minds simply cannot comprehend the magnitude and beauty of everything that will be waiting there for us. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:9, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. All of that and so much more will be in your future forever and ever . . . but only if you truly belong to Jesus. Whats in your future? During retirement, my prayer is that I might serve the Lord by sharing the Gospel through my writing. As the Lord leads, my work will inform, challenge and encourage. I also enjoy Biblical theme woodcarving, Bible studies and Christian music. Watch, pray and keep looking up! Donald Mehl Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |