Some things to consider…
- Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs?
- To you, who is Jesus?
- Do you think there is a heaven or a hell?
- If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?
- By the way, if what you were believing is not true, would you want to know?
Today at 11:30am my friend Carrie Greene went home to heaven to be with her Savior and Creator. Carrie for the last year has battled to fight Stage IV Juvenile Granulosa Cell Ovarian Cancer and today lost by the world’s standards but from God’s point of view she has won. I remember one day, shortly after her diagnosis, I got to visit with her in the hospital. We exchanged some greeting and she told me a little bit about her treatment options and in our conversation I had to ask her a very pointed question – “Where would you spend eternity if cancer would take your life tonight?” Carrie looked at me with a scared face and tears in her eyes and said, “I don’t know.” I responded, “Would you want to know how to spend eternity with Christ?” She responded, “Yes.” I pulled a bible out of my pocket and ask her to read out loud the scriptures I had highlighted. What I began to share with her are the scriptures below and after she read them I ask her this question, “What is God telling you?” Please ask yourself the same question as you read these verses:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’” (John 3:3). “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6). “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame’” (Romans 10:9).“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15).After reading these verses of scripture and discussing what Christ was saying to her. I looked at her and I ask Carrie if she wanted to give her life to Jesus. She looked at me with tears in her big brown eyes and said, “YES, I DO!” We prayed and Carrie asked Christ to forgive her of her sins. This moment will be forever etched in my memory. I was able to help change someone’s eternity not just make them feel good or provide them with great memories through photos. I am so thankful that on that day last May I was able to help Carrie be saved from her sin! Tonight I know she is with Christ because her faith was real. Tonight she is no longer in pain because she is with Jesus in heaven. This was only made possible through her confession of sins and allowing Christ to forgive her and take control of her life.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:3-9
Where will you spend eternity if you die tonight?
Will you spend it in heaven with Jesus Christ or eternally separated from Christ in Hell? If you said Hell it doesn’t have to be. Call on the name Jesus and confess your sins to Him. He is faithful to forgive all unrighteousness.
