Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

"As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."¹

The question has often been asked, "If you knew today was the last day of your life, what would you do?"

Do you have any impaired relationships you would want to resolve before you pass on? Have you left a will so your loved ones will benefit from your life's work? Most important of all, when you come to the end of life's journey and you stand before a holy God at the entrance to Heaven, if God asked you, "Why should I allow you to enter Heaven," what would you say? In other words, if you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would spend eternity in Heaven with God?

If not, I urge you to make that preparation today. Eternity is forever. As I did in younger days, many people think that if they do enough good deeds to outnumber or outweigh the wrongs (sins) they have committed, this will qualify them to enter God's heaven. Wrong.

God's Word makes it very clear that nobody enters heaven because of their good works. It is only by God's grace (unmerited favor) that we are given God's gift of forgiveness and saved for all eternity. His Word says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."²

God's Word also says, "For the wages [consequences] of sin is death [spiritual death which is eternal separation from God], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."³

Because God is a God of infinite holiness no sinner can ever survive in His presence any more than a moth can survive in a flame. Furthermore, because God is also a God of infinite justice, all sin must be judged according to God's standard of holiness and perfection, and His justice calls for death; that is, spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in the place the Bible calls hell.

Fortunately however, God is also a God of infinite love. This is why He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cruel Roman cross 2,000 years ago in your place and mine to meet the demands of God's justice so we can be forgiven of all our sins and receive God's gift of eternal life. This is the expression of His perfect love.

All you need to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died in your place to pay the penalty for all your sins, and to ask God for His forgiveness and accept His gift of eternal life. The following prayer will help you to do this.

Prayer: "Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs/sins I have committed. I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins. Please forgive me. I invite You, Jesus, to come into my heart and life to be my Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to You. Please give me the desire to be what You want me to be and to do what You want me to do. Thank You for dying for my sins, for Your free pardon, for Your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name. Amen."

NOTE: If you prayed this prayer and truly meant it, please be sure to Click HERE (http://www.actsweb.org/decision.php) to let us know you prayed this prayer, and we will send you the URL (web site address) of the free "Ten Steps to Christian Growth" which will help you to grow in your new spiritual life.

1. Hebrews 9:27, (NKJV).
2. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV).
3. Romans 6:23 (NIV).

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