Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 14 – No. 1412 April 07, 2012
Thought for the week: "GOD can turn a MESS into a MESSage, a TEST into a TESTimony, a TRIal into a TRIumph, a VICTim into a VICTory. GOD is GOOD!" – Unknown
"It's not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it. So it's not the Christian in the world, but the world in the Christian that constitutes the danger." – J. Wilbur Chapman
"Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life." – Herbert Henry Asquith
"We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress." – Will Rogers
"It often happens that I lie half awake at night and begin to think about a serious problem. I remind myself that I must consult the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely, and remember, I am the Pope!" – JXXIII
"We shall have to repent in this generation, not so much for the evil deeds of the wicked people, but for the appalling silence of the good people." – Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things that you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails, explore and dream...." – Mark Twain
My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo and I said, "No, how are we alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.
Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it.
From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing. Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him.
This alone is amazing.
If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field.
Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell. It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow. As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse, and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, trusting that he will not be led astray.
When the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, it stops occasionally and looks back, making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.
Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need. Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way.
Good friends are like that. You may not always see them, but you know they are always there. Please listen for my bell, and I'll listen for yours.
Be kinder than necessary—every one you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, for we walk by faith and not by sight!
"You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change."
Jim Rohn, Source: Insight of the Day by Bob Proctor
As the nasty rhetoric of the upcoming presidential campaign sends the message that leadership must be aggressive and confrontive, consider this parable about leadership.
A student assigned to write an essay about an effective leader wrote this story:
"I've been taking a bus to school for years. Most passengers keep to themselves and no one ever talks to anyone else.
"About a year ago, an elderly man got on the bus and said loudly to the driver, 'Good morning!' Most people looked up, annoyed, and the bus driver just grunted. The next day the man got on at the same stop and again he said loudly, 'Good morning!' to the driver. Another grunt. By the fifth day, the driver relented and greeted the man with a semi-cheerful 'Good morning!' The man announced, 'My name is Benny,' and asked the driver, 'What's yours?' The driver said his name was Ralph.
"That was the first time any of us heard the driver's name and soon people began to talk to each other and say hello to Ralph and Benny. Soon Benny extended his cheerful 'Good morning!' to the whole bus. Within a few days his 'Good morning!' was returned by a whole bunch of 'Good mornings' and the entire bus seemed to be friendlier. People got to know each other.
"If a leader is someone who makes something happen, Benny was our leader in friendliness.
"A month ago, Benny didn't get on the bus and we haven't seen him since. Everyone began to ask about Benny and lots of people said he may have died. No one knew what to do and the bus got awful quiet again.
"So last week, I started to act like Benny and say, 'Good morning!' to everyone and they cheered up again. I guess I'm the leader now. I hope Benny comes back to see what he started."
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
7. Hell: What Will It Be Like and Who Will Be There?
A sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes
Warning: Danger Ahead! What if you noticed that a bridge had collapsed—a bridge that was around a bend on a high speed highway, the danger of which was out of sight to oncoming traffic—and you were the first to notice it? Would you call/phone 911 (emergency) immediately to send for urgent help? And would you do everything you could to warn oncoming motorists of the danger ahead? Or would you reason that it wasn't your responsibility to do this, and turn around and be on your way? How cruel, irresponsible, and murderous that would be!
So what if hell is real and I do absolutely nothing to warn people of the impending doom ahead? I would not only be a false witness, I would be an insensitive, uncaring, unloving self-centered person and, consequently, would be contributing to the damning of untold numbers to hell.
When writing on subjects such as hell—considered by many today as being out of step with the times—I have been accused of frightening people and told that I needed to be like Jesus and always be positive. They forget that Jesus blasted the false teachers of his day and repeatedly warned people about the impending dangers of hell, and the tragic consequences ahead for all who fail to heed God's warnings about the future life.
So, Is Hell Real?
The only reliable source to answer this question is God's Word, the Bible, and his Word confirms the reality of hell repeatedly.1 For one of many instances his Word says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life [God's book] was cast into the lake of fire."1
Where Is Hell?
As the Bible doesn't tell us the physical location of heaven, neither does it tell us the physical location of hell. What the Bible does teach, however, is that hell is a literal place of torment of eternal duration. And of this we can be certain, as heaven is where God is, hell is where God and his loving presence aren't, and where Satan, the devil, and his evil demons are.
What Is Hell Like?
"The punishment of the wicked dead in hell is described throughout Scripture as 'eternal fire,'2 'unquenchable fire,'3 'shame and everlasting contempt,'4 a place where 'the fire is not quenched,'5 a place of 'torment' and 'fire,'6 'everlasting destruction,'7 a place where 'the smoke of torment rises forever and ever,'8 and a 'lake of burning sulfur' where the wicked are 'tormented day and night forever and ever.'9 The punishment of the wicked in hell is as never ending as the bliss of the righteous in heaven. Jesus Himself indicates that punishment in hell is just as everlasting as life in heaven.10, 11
Who Will Be in Hell?
Many claim, "If God is a God of love, how could he ever send anyone to hell?" We need to be clear about hell in that it was created, not for mankind, but for Satan, the devil, and his horde of evil demons. In a real sense it isn't God who sends people to hell. If we refuse or fail to accept God's pardon for all our sins, we send ourselves to hell because there is nowhere else to go after death. The only choices are either God's heaven or the devil's hell. Keep in mind that God has provided a way of escape, but it is the responsibility of each individual to accept God's way of escape.
Keep in mind that God is a God of absolute holiness, and no sin or evil can ever survive in his presence any more than a moth can survive in a flame. As sinners, in God's presence we would be consumed. God is also a God of perfect justice and, as such, all sin—the breaking of God's laws—must be judged, the penalty of which, and the natural consequences thereof, is spiritual death, which is not the cessation of life, but being dead to God and eternally separated from him. If God were not a God of infinite holiness and perfect justice, he would not be God.
The great news, however, is that God is also a God of infinite love, and out of his eternal love for mankind, he gave his only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in our place on a cruel Roman Cross to pay the just penalty for all our sins. That is, God has made a way of escape from the devastation of hell for everyone who accepts his free pardon and his gift of eternal life.12
So the people in hell are those who have refused or failed to accept God's full and free pardon. And while all who are forgiven will spend forever in heaven with God and his incredible blessings, all who have failed to acknowledge their sinfulness and accepted God's pardon will have to accept God's judgment and penalty for their sins for themselves—which is spiritual death—and spend eternity in hell with Satan and his horde of evil spirits.
The critical issue is: in which direction are you headed? Have you accepted God's forgiveness and are on your pathway to heaven—or are you headed towards hell and eternal punishment? To be absolutely certain that you are on your way to heaven, all you need to do is to confess your sinfulness to God and accept Jesus as your Savior and God's pardon. It is as simple as that.
For help here is a suggested prayer: "Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner and have fallen far short of your standard. I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son and that he died on the cross in my place to pay the penalty of death on my behalf for all my sins. Today, I invite you, Jesus Christ, to come into my heart and life as my personal Lord and Savior. Please forgive me for all my sins and grant to me your gift of eternal life to be with you for all eternity in heaven. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
If you prayed this prayer and truly meant it, please let us know by going to www.actsweb.org/decision.php and we will send you online articles without charge to help you in your Christian life.
1. Revelation 20:13-15 (KJV). 2. Matthew 25:41. 3. Matthew 3:12. 4. Daniel 12:2. 5. Mark 9:44-49. 6. Luke 16:23-24. 7. 2 Thessalonians 1:9. 8. Revelation 14:10-11. 9. Revelation 20:10. 10. Matthew 25:46. 11. From gotQuestions.org, www.gotquestions.org/hell-real-eternal.html. 12. See John 3:16.
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