This blog post may come way to early and pain may still be fresh for some after yesterday, however I believe the issue at hand is vital.
I received a text message last night, telling me a girl we went to high school with had died unexpectedly. I don't know details and to be quite honest I do not remember the girl all too well. But God still created her. Her life, like anyone else on this earth is important. She was created by God for a purpose.
I had gone onto her Facebook page to see if I could recognize her, and while the face wasn't grasping my mind, the post below did. Beautiful wonderful posts saying that people would see her in Heaven one day, that she was another angel added to the masses of wonderful ones already there. Lots of hearts and tears and wonderful wonderful prayers out to her family and friends. She was someone who was loved, by many people here and by Christ Himself.
But as I laid in bed last night this unsettling feeling started to sink and I started to feel really upset and torn and I do not know what else. God was not letting this go for me.
You see, will all these people truly see her again one day in Heaven? Are they saved? Do they KNOW Christ and follow Him?
The thing that I felt God really wanted to show me last night is how much the world believes that its a one way ticket into the gates of Heaven. That we all waltz in because we do good. Christ said its not by works that we are saved, but by believing and trusting in Him. I hear it everyday, but it never really hit me like it did last night. The fact is, in Christianity the rule is "You have Christ, or you don't get in." Blunt yes. But if you read your Bible, Jesus was pretty blunt about it too. Actually reading Matthew last night gave me a good understand on how blunt Jesus was. Not in an angry bitter way, but He didn't beat around the bush.
So why do so many of us not feel that there is a STRONG urgency to be making sure people get this. Especially ones who do claim to love Jesus? I'm not saying to go with a megaphone and start yelling at people to repent, but when opportunity knocks to share, why are we so afraid too? This is VITAL. This is peoples eternity.
He is the Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and the End. He's the edges, middle, circumference, outside, inside, every particle of it is Him. There is no room for anything else because He never made room for anything else. There is no room to be saved by your works or good deeds (while He does ask us to do them for Him, to be His hands and feet and we are rewarded) because He didn't make room for that. Its just HIM. So therefore, we need to have Him, in order to be able to spend eternity with Him as His intended creation. Not angels- because we don't become them either when we get to Heaven, they are an entire different creation to begin with- but to become spotless and blameless and just loved loved loved as He loves each and every one of us now. Its going to be a time of beauty, wonderful praise and joy. But our relationship with Christ cannot start once we are there, because then its too late, it needs to start now, while we have to option to decided yes or no. And I have not in a long time felt just how urgent it is.
I once had a pastor tell me that everyone DOES get into heaven, regardless of what they believe. This is because Jesus died for our sins, so all of our sins have already been forgiven. There's no need to ask for forgiveness or believe in Jesus because Jesus already wiped our slates clean. So maybe everyone does get into heaven.
ReplyDeleteAnnon. I think this is a very very very dangerous persumption. A beautiful one Im sure so many of us would love, especially when it comes to our unsaved loved ones. The fact is you NEED to trust Jesus as your savior and follow Him. Scripture clearly teaches us this. John 3:16 which is a passage so many people Christian and non Christian know shows this. Its all about Christ. Yes He died on the cross and died for our sins, but we have to accept that too and follow Him. If not, He never would have called Paul or anyone else to continue preaching a message that was now as your pastor had showed you null and void. There is still a strong urgency to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ because that is the ticket to eternal life. Nothing changed from what Paul and the rest of Christ disciples are doing till now. We are still under the same calling in our lives. Jesus hasnt come back yet, so we need to still be His hands and feet and spreading this awesome news that He wants a relationship with His children :) A few other scriptures you may be interested in checking out are Romans 6:23, John 17:3, Romans 3:22, and one that is very important John 14:6.
DeleteRevelations is another book that shows very very clearly that there is going to come a time when people run out of time to accept Christ. When He comes again, there are going to be a lot of people sitting back who are not going to be swept up and away to Heaven.
The great thing is that if you are still breathing, there is still a chance to give your life to Christ. Im not sure if you are a follower of Christ, but its the best decision I could have ever made. Allowing Holy Spirit to lead me daily has taken me on the most amazing blessed journey of my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. If you ever want to chat please contact me! <3