What Happens When You Die?

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows...He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5

You are not alone. Everyone else in the whole world has the same fear that you do. You know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about death.

Fortunately, because Jesus died for us, our deaths do not have to be the scary thing that the world portrays it to be. There are, however, many misconceptions about death. Here are just a few:

Death is the end. This is not true. Jesus would not have suffered and died and rose again on our behalf if He had not been saving us from something terrible and for something wonderful. People think this one gives them permission to do whatever they want, that they will never have to answer for their actions. Don't be fooled. We will all answer for our actions one day.

If God is a God of love, then He would never send anyone to Hell. You have to understand, God doesn't send anyone to Hell. We send ourselves to Hell when we reject the love that He offers. His death opened the door, now we have to walk through it.

Death is simply a do-over. Reincarnation. Karma. Don't believe it for a second. Jesus certainly did not suffer and die so that we would still have to work our way into a better life the next time around.

Heaven is for good people and Hell is for bad people. I have news for you-Hell is going to be filled with lots of good people, people who were so good they never thought they needed a Savior. Not only that, but Heaven will be filled with lots of bad people who knew they were destined for Hell and looked to Jesus to save them.

There are two lies in common between these misconceptions. They either get people to believe their actions don't matter or that their actions alone determine their afterlife. Both of these lies reject our need for a Savior, and that's where the problem is.

Here's the truth-Heaven is real, and Hell is real. We get one shot at life, and we need Jesus. He suffered and died to pay our way to Heaven because we cannot get there on our own merit.

What Jesus has done for us changes our eternity, but I hope for something more. As you consider what Jesus did for you, how does it change your life right now?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

I can hardly believe that You would suffer and die for me the way that You did, but I do believe. I confess that I can never make it on my own and I need You every day! Please come into my life more than ever before and help me live for You.

Amen

For His Name's Sake

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. Psalm 23:1-3

I live in southern California. It's dry here sometimes. If you don't water the lawn, it dies, and sometimes the city doesn't let you water the grass because the people need water more than the plants.

So I can relate with David at least a little when he talks about God making him to lie down in green pastures. I'm sure that, as a shepherd himself, it might be frustrating when you're trying to move your sheep to new grazing land and everything is brown and dead. But this is what we know about life with God as our shepherd-He never gets frustrated by looking for green pastures; He always knows where to find them and then He leads us to those places.

I know that there are people reading this today who feel dry inside. It's like life has been hard for a long time and somewhere along the way, you lost the peace and rest that your soul needs. Maybe it's your job that feels dry, or maybe it's your marriage that feels dry. Whatever it is, the Lord wants to turn those places into green pastures as you turn to Him today, where He promises you to not just make you lie down in green pastures, but to lead you beside still waters.

You know, I think we've become complacent about the quality of water that we drink, where we get our needs met, and what satisfies our deepest longings.

Don't allow just any well to satisfy you, okay? Don't just look for the immediate meter-ofthe-need. Because, a lot of times, what we have chosen for ourselves is some stagnant, polluted, parasite-filled pond, instead of the still, pure, flowing rivers of the water of life that God has for us.

Now listen, these things happen for those who make the Lord their shepherd, for those who follow Him. Are you allowing Him to lead you today? If you're not, then don't be surprised if you feel dry today. If you are, then here is your promise-He restores your soul.

In other words, no matter how you feel today-dry, sad, lost, hopeless, hurt-God promises to restore you if you follow Him. If that's how you feel today, simply ask Him right now to show you His green pastures.

Then follow as He leads.

Prayer Lord God,

Thank You for being a good shepherd who always makes sure that I have all that I need, even restoring my soul! Please show me Your green pastures and still waters today. Help me to live in that place with You and never leave.

Amen

Joel in 3D

So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you...And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Joel 2:25,28

No matter the summer sun, tropical climate, or length of day, countless people around the world are living in darkness. Maybe you feel like you're one of them.

The darkness I'm talking about looks like loneliness, joylessness, hopelessness, anxiety, and anger. If you have any of these operating in your life, how do you get out? I'll tell you.

First, repent from living one-dimensionally and allow the Lord to fill and rule your life. Don't be caught just living for yourself. Instead, ask Jesus to join you in life and lead you by His light.

Second, return to the Lord. This is a heart issue, making what's important to God important to you and leaving the rest behind.

Third, re-gather, making the study of God's Word in fellowship with other believers a priority in your life. If you're repenting from fellowship with the world and returning to the Lord, you have to have a new place to go-that place is a fellowship of believers.

Fourth, resist the devil. Don't buy into the things the world is trying to sell you, but instead fix your eyes on the things the Lord wants to give you.

Fifth, rejoice, for there's always something to rejoice about no matter what your circumstances are, especially in light of God's gift to us in giving us what we don't deserve. Things might look dark now, but as you follow the Lord, He will turn the darkness to light.

Sixth, restore-this is God's promise to you, that He will restore to you what the enemy has wiped out. As you turn to God, He really does redeem and restore what the devil took from you.

Seventh, receive, because God has promised to pour out His Holy Spirit on you. He has determined to do this, pouring out His very self into you so that you will never be the same again.

And in case you didn't notice, number seven above is way different than number one. God meets us in the darkness the moment we turn to Him, but He never leaves us there, having promised to lead us all the way into fullness of life in His Spirit.

Come trade your darkness for His light today.

Prayer Lord God,

Thank You for being such a good and generous God! I willingly turn to You today and give up the things that have led me into darkness. Please lead me into Your light and fill me with Your Spirit!

Amen

Blind Curves, Hidden Driveways, and Falling Rocks

Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is no one else besides me.' Therefore evil shall come upon you, and you shall not know from where it arises. Isaiah 47:10-11 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. 1 Corinthians 8:2-3

I'm giving you a two-for-one deal today. We're going BOGO on the Bible verses so you feel like you're getting a really good deal.

But seriously, look at these, especially the verse from Isaiah. And evil will come upon you, and you won't even know where it's coming from. Wow. Does anybody want to sign up for that? No way! I want to avoid that. How do you avoid that?

You avoid it by allowing love in your life to overrule your knowledge.

Knowledge matters. Knowledge is important. We should all have this thirst for knowing more about God. But, in that knowledge, love certainly does not go away. No way.

Now, look at the second verse for today. What does that verse mean? It means you don't really know God until you-what?-until you love God.

Well, I know a lot about Him. Yeah, but you really don't until you love Him.

I think the same thing needs to be said for our relationships with each other, as certainly it is here said about a relationship with God. And that love is what was missing in Corinth.

You see, there was an issue going on regarding food offered to idols. The people with knowledge said, Ah, it's no big deal; idols are nothing, really. And they were right, but the problem was that not everyone was so confident on that particular truth. So some believers were eating food that had been sacrificed to idols with no twinge going on in their conscience, but when other believers saw it, it made them stumble.

Paul says, Hey, let's come back to the point. I don't care what you know; I care about whether you love. In other words, what you know and the freedom you want is not as important as your brother or sister in Christ.

What's at the center of your world today-yourself, or love?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for loving me enough to die for me, laying aside all that you had a right to for my sake. As I look to Your example, help me to do the same and show love for the fellow believers around me.

Amen

Better Jobs

Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:1-2

Imagine with me for a moment that you stand before a room full of business owners and you can say anything you want to them, but you only have one sentence to do it. What would you say?

Boil everything down into the most simple, yet powerful thing you could tell them. What could you say to them in that brief moment that would still be worth saying?

Paul did exactly this, and what he told them was, Remember that you have a boss, too. Remember the way that your Boss treats you, then treat your employees the same way. Become a picture to your employees of your Employer so that they will see Him through you.

He followed this simple, transformational business principle up with the most impacting business strategy he could think of-Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

Remember that Paul could speak to business owners from firsthand experience. He had run a business as a tentmaker in Corinth while also planting and pastoring a church (talk about busy!). His experience in business taught him that you need the same things in running a business that you need in running a church-lots of prayer.

And not just prayer from other people, though that is good, too. No, Paul says you have to be the leader in your workplace prayer movement. You continue earnestly in prayer! Then let others join you in that, but the responsibility falls on you first because you are the owner.

Pray for your business. Pray for your employees. Pray for your future business. Pray for your clients. Pray for the atmosphere of your office. Pray for the companies who are your neighbors in your office building. Pray for your customers. Pray for your suppliers. Pray for your competitors.

Pray! And when you pray, pray earnestly. Do not be passive and removed from the circumstances for which you pray. Rather, dive into them wholeheartedly so that you are earnest in your prayers.

Finally, be vigilant in your prayers, not forgetting to be thankful for what God has already given you. Even, I challenge you, be thankful for the things for which you are praying even before God grants your request.

God wants your workplace. Will you follow His Word and invite Him in?

Prayer Lord God,

You are a good and just Master, and I thank You for the way you treat me. Please help me to be earnest and vigilant in praying for my workplace and help me to be the employee/employer You call me to be.

Amen

Downpour

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8

Have you ever wondered why God gave you the Holy Spirit to live inside of you? There are a number of reasons, but let me tell you one that I think a lot of people forget. Listen closely; it might just be the most important one.

See, if you read our verse today, you see Jesus' promise regarding the Holy Spirit. You see that He promised that the Holy Spirit would bring the power of God's presence into our lives in the most intimate and personal way imaginable. But He also promised that there was a purpose to that power-that we would be empowered to be His witnesses throughout the whole world.

And we see that beginning to be fulfilled and confirmed even from the very moment that the Holy Spirit is first poured out on people, because as soon as those first disciples received the Holy Spirit, they all started speaking supernaturally in languages from various nations all around the world. All the people who hear them say, What is going on? We hear people speaking in our native languages the wonderful works of God!

Listen, this is not just God showing off; it is meant to show His heart for the whole world getting saved. The reason the Holy Spirit comes is because we can't accomplish the task Jesus has given us in our own strength. But God is showing us here what we can do together with Him. There are no limits to what we can do or where we can go; God can help us no matter what in bringing this world to a saving knowledge of His love.

So as I'm studying this, I'm just reminded that this is why we're here. This is what we're to be about. And then I start praying for my neighbors, If they don't know You, Lord, I pray they'd come to know You. I start praying for countries. I start praying for heads of state and leaders and different parts of the world.

Then I start asking myself questions like this: Am I holding back the Holy Spirit? Who's controlling whom? Am I controlling Him? Or is He controlling me? Who's following whom? Am I still living in the comfort zone of my own environment? Or am I living wherever He sends me?

I hope you know that the Holy Spirit lives in you. I hope even more that you know why He lives in you, and that you then live for His purposes in and through you.

Prayer Holy Spirit,

Thank You for living inside of me! Please lead me and guide me, use me however You desire to reach this world for You and lead people to Jesus!

Amen

What Nothing Tells Us About God

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.' Exodus 34:6-7

If you knew nothing about God, our verses today just might be the best place to start.

In these verses, we learn that God is merciful, gracious, patient, abounding in goodness and truth, faithful, keeping mercy for thousands of generations. He is forgiving of iniquity and transgression and sin.

Now, this is not some blanket statement that God is making here to say that He's forgiv-

ing. Actually, iniquity, transgression, and sin are three separate things, and God forgives all of them.

Iniquity, in the Hebrew, is literally the word avon, which means perversities or depravities. I always think that's absolutely hilarious. I grew up in a culture where every once in a while the doorbell would ring and there she would be. The Avon lady. Yet avon literally in the Hebrew means iniquity. Oh, that's great.

But isn't that quite interesting that oftentimes we will manufacture things to cover the stench and mess that we've made? Man thinks he is able to cover up his perversity and depravity with some sweet-smelling fragrance of a candle or cologne, but God says it can only truly be taken away by His forgiveness.

Secondly, transgression in the Hebrew is the word pasha, which means rebellion. Moses certainly could relate with that, considering all Israel had done. They've been complaining since the get-go. We've parted the Red Sea. We've seen the manna fall. We've seen God provide quail every night. But it was still never enough; this rebellious, stiff-necked people continued to transgress. And the only cure-the only cure for a pasha heart, a heart that continues to trespass when it's been clearly posted, No trespassing-is the forgiveness of God.

Thirdly, who forgives us of our sin, the word chattah in Hebrew. It means the punishment for our rebellion, perversity, and depravity. And we know that all sin certainly does have punishment, right?

Listen, if sin requires punishment, then what's our only way out? It's God's forgiveness. We need Him to forgive our iniquity, transgressions, and sin, taking hold through repentance and faith His attributes of mercy, grace, goodness, and love.

Have you turned to God for forgiveness yet?

Prayer Lord God,

Thank You for being rich in mercy and grace for me today! I'm sorry for the wrong things in my life and I ask You to forgive me for them today. Please come into my life and make me a new person in You today!

Amen