The weekly meditation scripture and inspirational nugget are designed to encourage you in your walk with God, strengthen your faith and give you a specific scripture to meditate on all week long. To get the most out of these weekly scriptures, we encourage you to keep them before you every day and apply them to your life and circumstances. Declare them daily and stay focused on them until you experience true results.
The Reality—and Finality—of Heaven and Hell
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Most people look at the physical, tangible environment around them and think that’s all there is to life. When we see the world around us with that perspective, it’s hard to visualize anything else. This type of spiritual tunnel vision prevents us from seeing the big picture of what happens after our finite lives on earth are over. There actually is a heaven and a hell, and the decision we make determines where we go later.
The world doesn’t believe in things not actively preached in church, and most preachers avoid broaching the subject. However, the Bible is very clear about this. There’s a place that has a furnace of fire where there’s wailing, gnashing of teeth, and chains of darkness. Hell was never meant for mankind, but for the angels who sinned and faced God’s judgment.
Heaven and hell are final and eternal. During His earthly ministry, Jesus told the parable of Lazarus and the rich man to warn against the kind of unbelief that causes people to miss heaven completely. Because of Adam’s sin, hell is the destination for those who reject Jesus Christ as the final sacrifice for sin. Thankfully, accepting the grace God offers us through Jesus, and developing a personal relationship with Him, puts us on a different path than the one the world is traveling down.
Most people get born again out of fear of going to hell. Getting born again is vital, but the right reason to do this is so that God can show us His unrestricted, infinite love and mercy. It’s His will that we spend eternity with Him in heaven. God so loved the world that He sent His Son; whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.
Never has it been more important to receive God’s forgiveness and compassion. The trajectory of our lives hinges on our decision. Accepting God’s love as expressed through Christ radically brightens our future.
Prayer:Lord, we live in a world that doesn’t believe that heaven, hell, Satan, or even You exist. The eternal future of most people, therefore, is bleak. Thank You for sending us Your Son to save us from this and to redirect our present and future lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scriptures:Matthew 13:42
2 Peter 2:4
Revelation 12:9
Luke 16:19-31
Hebrews 10:12
John 3:16
