I was at the store just a couple of days ago, and a lady in the aisle next to me was talking on her cell phone. She was talking to a man. How do I know that? Well…she was using the speaker phone feature. Now, I’m not an eaves dropper by nature, but she was talking on speaker phone in a public place. It wasn’t exactly a private conversation.
I never saw the lady, but I did hear part of what was said. The situation seemed to be that the man was reporting to her how a recent discussion had gone between another person and himself on behalf of the lady. It appeared the man was her pastor or fellow church member, and he had been enlisted by her to talk to someone about coming to church.
The person the man talked to must have said something about not having time to go to church, because I clearly heard the man inform the lady of his response:
“Well, you got time to go to Hell? You got time for that? Hell is always open”.
That made me laugh a little – I have to tell you. I thought it was a pretty crafty response at the moment. While I do admire the wit, the more I thought about it, I realized just how truly powerful the whole statement is.
What do you have time for?
A word to the wise
Funny how we make time for all the things we think are important in and to our lives. I don’t have to list all the things…okay, I’ll list a few:
Work – Friends – Entertainment – Weekends – Work – Sports – Spa time – Shopping – Work – Facebook – Gossiping – Judging others – Work – Kids – Spouse – Parents – Work – Work – Work
When it comes time to pray, worship, study, fellowship, gather, or go – some Christians can barely find the time for that.
They are so busy at work. You just don’t understand how busy they are.
Perhaps it’s not work, maybe their child is a star athlete and just can’t miss practices or tournaments. You just don’t understand how good they really are and how important they are to the team.
Some of them are so exhausted from everything else they do that they absolutely must take any time they can to rest or catch up on whatever. I know…we just don’t understand.
Now, for those of you really washed in the blood of Jesus, you’re not going to go to Hell because you haven’t figured out what He was talking about in Matthew 6:33:
But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…
You’re just living half the life you could be living, and you are modeling for your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, everyone who knows you – what is truly important to you and just where God stands in your life. Your Hallelujah‘s busted.
The world allows every worldly and fleshly thing to come before God. He called us to be different.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever, (1 John 2:15-17).
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God, (Romans 12:1-2).
The “good, pleasing, and perfect will of God”. Christians understand that better and better the closer we get to God. It’s really hard to be close to God when you don’t have much of a relationship with Him. You don’t have much of a relationship when you are putting other things before Him.
Never fear though, you can fix that today!
Right now even.
It’s simple…fix your Hallelujah!
Acknowledge the truth about what you’ve done, ask for forgiveness, and put Him first. Praise Him. Show Him that He is first in your life. Seek a deep, meaningful relationship with Him. Let Him be the guiding force in your life. It’s that simple. You will be richly filled and blessed, and you will understand why His will is so perfect.
A word to the unwise
Lost sinner, I know you don’t have time for church, or maybe you go to church every week. Possibly you thought you were saved 30 years ago, and you’ve been teaching Sunday school faithfully for the last 15 years, but you’ve realized in your heart that you’re not a child of God.
Well, I’m not gonna sugar-coat this for you. You’re going to Hell. Simple as that. There’s not enough good intentions or prayers or anything else that can change that for you after you are gone.
Whatever your excuse is:
- I just couldn’t stand the embarrassment
- I meant to
- I was planning to start going to church and straighten up after I did this, that, & the other
- I just started reading the Bible
- I was too busy
- I had to do this first
- I’d heard rumors about some of those people in that church, and I just couldn’t go
- I didn’t understand
- I thought I had more time
It won’t matter.
Keep putting off until tomorrow what you should make right today, and you will lift up your eyes in Hell with an eternity of tomorrows that will never bring relief. You will hunger and thirst for one more chance, just one, to surrender yourself to Jesus and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. It will not come. To your sorrow and regret – it will never come.
Surrender today lost sinner. Today is your day. Stop allowing Satan to deceive you…tomorrow will not always be there for you. Cry out to Jesus to forgive you and accept His salvation. Cry out today and receive your Hallelujah!
Hell is always open
This thought should make all Christians want to run through the streets sounding the alarm.
HELL IS ALWAYS OPEN!
Always.
No matter how long my life will be, I don’t feel like it’s enough for me to tell as many people as I possibly can about Hell and the only way to avoid it.
Just dwell on that for a minute: Hell is always open.
What an absolutely terrifying concept.
If we really believed that, imagine how it would fuel us in fulfilling The Great Commission.
Satan spends all his time wandering the earth, to and fro, seeking all those he can devour, (Job 1:7; 1 Peter 5:8). Why? Because Hell is always open. For this time, anyway. When the Judgment comes, Hell will finally be full of all those who have rejected God, and no more will be added to its ranks. Satan is fully aware of what is to come. He knows his time is short and he seeks to do as much damage as he possibly can – while he can, (Revelation 12:12).
Remember, Jesus told us in Luke 16 the story of how the rich man opened his eyes in Hell and begged for someone to come and place just a drop of water on his tongue because he was in so much torment. It was not to be. So he thought of his family and wanted a messenger to go to them, (Luke 16:27-28):
‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house—because I have five brothers—to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’
It was not to be.
WE are the messengers. We must warn people what they face if they do not accept Christ as their Savior, (Romans 10:14-18).
As terrifying of a concept it is that Hell is always open, the reverse is simply magnificent.
HEAVEN IS ALWAYS OPEN! (to some of us)
For those who have already accepted Jesus, Heaven is always open. The Holy Spirit lives inside us. We can pray and petition the Lord any time while we are still in this life, and when we pass onto the next – because the blood of Jesus is shed abroad in our heart – we will transcend into Heaven. A Heaven that is open to us.
For the lost, Heaven is open for you. The Holy Spirit is in you to convict you of your unbelief. Once you listen to Him and respond accordingly, you will be saved and Heaven will remain open for you. If you choose to ignore Him and die in that state, Heaven is no longer open to you. You will go to Hell. Worse…if you chose to deny the Holy Spirit altogether, well, that is blasphemy, and from that there is no redemption. (John 16:7-11; John 16:13-14; Romans 10:9-13; Matthew 12:31-32).
My sincere prayer is that by reflecting on these things, you have been inspired to rejuvenate your walk with Jesus if you are a Christian. If you are not, I beg you to put the Holy Spirit off no longer. Surrender, and let all the Saints rejoice.
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God Bless you!
I love reading your posts! Refreshing to my soul!
Thank you so much Angela! I really appreciate hearing that. God bless you.