Where Are You Going?

As I passed by Holy Cross Lutheran Church in North Miami, I could not help but notice the words on the bulletin board: Life: The Time God Gives You To Decide How You Will Spend Eternity."

Those words brought a passage of scripture to mind: Luke 16:19-31. Luke 16 is a biblical description of what it will feel like in hell. It tells the story of the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the beggar. Here is the account:

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.
The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he
looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham,
have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool
my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.

But Abraham replied,
'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while
Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed, so that
those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from
there to us.

He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'

Revelation 3:20 says that God waits for us to invite him into our hearts. Revelation 21:8 warns that those who do not believe in God will go to hell.

2 Corinthians 4:4 says that many people do not believe in God because Satan has blinded their eyes. Still many others believe in God, but do not have a personal relationship with him. Part of that reason is because they are repelled by the church and the behavior of people who claim to be Christians. The antidote: Develop a relationship with God that is independent of others.

Life itself is hard, but when you add Jesus to the equation, you can stress less because you can cast your cares on him. Stellar Kart sang a similar refrain in their song, "Life is Good:" "Life is good, but eternal life is better."

You decide: heaven or hell?

RESOURCES:

One Minute After You Die

How You Can Be Sure That You Will Spend Eternity with God

Divine Revelation Of Hell

Divine Revelation Of Heaven

23 Minutes in Hell

90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life

Fundamentals of the Faith: 13 Lessons to Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus Christ

25 Basic Bible Studies: Including Two Contents, Two Realities

Got Questions?: Bible Questions Answered - Answers to the Questions People Are Really Asking
Learn the Bible in 24 Hours

Can Man Live Without God by Ravi Zacharias

No Stealing, Killing or Destroying Allowed!

John 10:10 is a popular verse of scripture. It says that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give us an abundant life.

As Christians, we have an inheritance because we are in covenant with God. That covenant is explained in the Bible and includes salvation, protection and prosperity. The devil does not have an inheritance because he refuses to believe God. As a result, he steals, kills and destroys to get what he wants.

1 Kings 21 gives an account of how wicked King Ahab killed Naboth because he wanted his inheritance. This explains the quote, "The cemetery is the richest place in the world." Many people die with unfulfilled dreams.

Many people allow the devil to steal from them and destroy them because they think that this is normal. While God promises to restore the years that the devil steals in Joel 2:25, God does not want the devil to steal anything from us. We should be on the defensive and prevent the devil from stealing from us and destroying us. We are connected to God and no weapon formed against us prospers according to Isaiah 54:17.

In fact, we are supposed to be taking things from the devil. Proverbs 13:22 says that the wealth of the wicked is reserved for the righteous. That means that our wealth should not be devoured by the devil.

Matthew 12:29 says that we can tie up the devil and his evil spirits and carry off with his possessions through the power of the Holy Spirit. It's time to plunder the enemy's things.

I bind the thief from stealing, killing and destroying in my life.

RESOURCES:

Satan His Motives and Methods

The God of Justice

We don't need statistics to tell us that the world is full of wickedness. In fact, it seems as if there is an increase in wickedness as time progreses. There are many theories about the reason for wickedness, but one of the most overlooked reasons is that people do not seek justice. As a result, few people know God as deliverer and vindicator. The majority of people who want justice resort to guns and witchcraft. In addition, the wicked continue to prosper because they mistakenly believe that God is silent, but the Bible says that one breath from God's mouth can destroy the wicked.

I asked God to avenge me for the wrongdoing my persecutors have done to my family and I in June 2008. An African witchdoctor hired by my enemies is trying to block the answer to my prayer, but I know that God will eventually give me justice.

In the Old Testament, God fought many battles for those who had a covenant with him. He also used wicked rulers to show his glory, but we must always remember that justice comes from God.

In the New Testament, Luke 18 tells the story of a persistent widow who received justice after crying out to God day and night.

The only thing we have to do to receive justice is to ask God to avenge us.

There are other scriptures in the Bible which talk of God's justice.

Proverbs 21:15: Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers."

Proverbs 29:26: "Many seek the ruler's favor, but justice comes from the Lord."

Isaiah 61:8: "For I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery and wrongdoing."

Amos 5:7: "You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the oppressed. You treat the righteous like dirt."

Matthew 5:6: "God bless those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied." (NLT)

2 Thessalonians 1:5-6: "God will use this persecution to show his justice and to mkae you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. In his justice, he will pay back those who persecute you."


RESOURCES:

God: As He Longs for You to See Him

Jealousy and Your Future

Jealousy is heralded as a respectable sin. Don't we all have a little bit of jealousy people justify? No we do not.

God commanded us to not covet our neighbor's possessions in the 10 Commandments because he knew how destructive jealousy really is.

Jealous people tear others down with their words and try to kill people because of what they have. Harboring jealousy allows us to be used by Satan. James 3:14-15 says that it is demonic. I saw first-hand how an African witchdoctor recruited Christians and nonbelievers alike by telling them something about my future. He said, "Anyone of us can be used by the devil with a touch. It's something demonic in them that it attaches to."

Jealousy is listed as one of the signs of carnality in Galatians 5: 19-21. In essence, when we are jealous, we behave like demons and people who are living in darkness.

A Christian who exhibits jealousy is one that does not that they have a covenant with God and can claim their inheritance simply by asking God for what they want.

Jealousy also prevents us from fulfilling our destiny because we are so focused on the achievements and possessions of others that we neglect our own destiny. Joan Didion explains the root of all jealousy: "To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self," she said.

There is a growing trend of jealousy among parents because they compare their children with those of other people's. They are not happy because their children did not meet the expectations that they had hoped. In their jealousy, they resort to doing witchcraft on other people's children to prevent them from succeeding.

Sometimes, they become so focused on destroying others that it consumes all of their time. But, the irony is that they usually end up destroying themselves because their plans backfire. As a result, many promising children have become vagabonds.

While standing in front of my parent's bedroom during the week of April 8, I heard Piman Bouk, a Haitian radio disc jockey in Miami, Fl share an interesting story on his radio station, AM 1320. He told it in Kreyol, but I translated it for my blog.

He said that he saw a junkie and asked the junkie:
"What made you a junkie? Were you a junkie when you left Haiti?"
The junkie replied, "no."
Piman Bouk asked again, "Then how did you become a junkie?"
The junkie confessed, "Hating people turned me into a vagabond."

This story also shows that jealousy is one of the faces of hate. Proverbs 27:4 says that it is more dangerous than anger.

Jealousy also affects our health. Proverbs 14:30 says that jealousy causes our bones to rot. The New Living Translation of the same verse says that it is like cancer in the bones.

Solutions:

See jealousy for what it really is: demonic and a dissatisfaction with yourself.
Acknowledge that you are jealous.
Stop comparing yourself to other people.
Be thankful for your achievements.
Celebrate the accomplishments of others.
Focus on your own destiny.

Resources:

Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate

The Sin No One Talks About: Jealousy

A Revelation of Righteousness

Revelation 12:10 describes Satan as the accuser of the brethren who accuses us before God day and night. His job is to constantly accuse us of being unrighteous.

Since I learned that the devil is trying to ruin my reputation, God gave me a fresh revelation of righteousness and where it comes from.

To be righteous means to be made right with God. It is sometimes interchanged with the word holy.

How do we become righteous?

Romans 3:20 says that we cannot become righteous by keeping the law. Verse 22 of the same chapter says that we are made right with God by placing our faith in Christ Jesus.

Romans 4:5 confirms that our righteousness comes from God when it says that people are counted as righteous because of their faith in God.

Clearly, the Lord is our righteousness (see Jeremiah 23:6)

When we accept Jesus as savior, we get a clean slate and God declares us to be righteous. He exchanges our sins for his righteousness. Righteous character is therefore the fruit of salvation (see Philippians 1:11).

Zechariah 3 shows Satan accusing Jeshua, the high priest, before the Lord's angel. Jeshua was sinful, but the angel removed his sin and changed his dirty clothing into new clothes. This explains 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation because old things have passed away.

In short,

You+Jesus=Righteousness
You-Jesus=Righteousness

However, God's righteousness is not an excuse to sin. We have to maintain our righteousness. We are called to be living epistles to the world so that we can win others to Christ. Romans 2:24 says that when unbelievers see Christians living in sin, they blaspheme God's name.

Don't allow God's name to be blasphemed because of your sin!

Moreover, in Romans 8:33-34, God tells us that Satan's accusation and condemnation are useless. "No one can accuse those whom God has chosen because God has given us right standing with himself. No one can condemn us because Christ died for us and was raised to life for us."

RESOURCE:

Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen

The Pursuit of Holiness