heaven is real...but so is hell

 Let's talk about hell, shall we? I feel led to alert you to this very real place. Remember, back in the 80's and 90's, when the "feel good" TV shows, such as "Touched by an Angel" and "Highway to Heaven" were on? Although they made you think, they also took you down a wrong path, in that everyone who is good goes to heaven. That is not the case. You don't just get an automatic ticket to heaven. Life and God are not like a game of Monopoly. You don't get a "get out of jail FREE" pass. You must accept Jesus as your Savior! Jesus told us this many times! "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life!" I AM! God...telling Moses when Moses asked Him, "Who shall I say sent me?" 

"I AM." 

And there it is.

Let me tell you a story. There was a man who was an alcoholic. Since he began drinking at about age 11 or so, it seemed that over time, the lure of booze took him down a very hard road. He got in trouble, was in treatment, had more than his fair share of DUI's, more jail time, more treatment. The lure was always there.

Then he met a woman in his 40's. At first, he didn't let on to her that he was an alcoholic. Her own past was that she had been married before to an alcoholic who abused her horribly. So, as time went on and this current man's affections for her grew, so did his fear of, "if she finds out I also am an alcoholic, will she leave me?"

But she finally did find out, only because she paid him an unexpected visit one night, only to find his apartment in such disarray she thought he had a burgular break-in! But no, she found him passed out, sprawled across his bed. And then she knew. It was after she searched high and low while she cleaned up the mess that she found his bottle, half empty. Her heart broke. She prayed about it over the next few hours and finally thought, that with God's help, she would bear this, too.

So they married. His alcoholism reared its ugly head many times. Now, keep in mind, alcoholism, drugs, smoking, lust, all these habits are from satan. They are evil. They are ways to keep a person from being near God. This is the "Higher Power" that AA stresses. You can't just give up the habit unless you have something stronger to keep you from it.

This gal had a Higher Power--God! As she watched her husband rise up and fall yet again, her heart shattered, but was never once swayed from her zeal that God would help him, if only he'd ask!

Yet satan knew that if he did seek help, if he was successful at curbing his habits, then God would be given the glory...not he.

And so, as it turned out, all those years of drinking, of smoking, took his health. He developed COPD. His doctor told him if he gave up smoking and drinking right NOW, he would have YEARS of good health before him! He still had TIME!

Well, satan hated that! Years! Ha!

As much as this wife prayed, begged, pleaded with her husband, hid his cigarettes, hid his booze, hid his car keys, his bank card and more, it didn't stop him from getting what he needed.

Sadly, what did happen was that they argued. A huge argument in which he, being somewhat drunk and taking the medications he was prescribed, in which the alcohol interacted with, he stood up and smacked her hard across her face.

She stood in shock, tears coursing down her cheeks. Her hero...what happened finally that he felt he had to hurt her?

And satan smiled. He knew. He won. Because she finally admitted to her beloved husband that she could no longer do this anymore-she couldn't control him, only her reaction to how she dealt with his drinking. She knew then it would just be a matter of time before death would take him. He refused to stop doing what he had been doing most of his life and his health quickly suffered.

And satan laughed even more.

But wait! What was this? One dark morning, she was on her knees in prayer. "Lord Jesus, I surrender myself and him to You. Do with me what You will, be it done to me according to Your Word!"

Now satan was worried. What did this mean? God would NOT win...and yet...her faith was strong!

and so, later that same morning, she went to her beloved husband. "I need to know," she said with tears thick in her thoat, "I need to know that I will see you in eternity. There is no point of my being in heaven if you won't be there!"

Satan smiled. Now she's catching on, he thought.

"Thus I ask you, have you accepted Jesus in your heart?"

Satan looked from one to the other. Waiting. Waiting.

Her husband slapped his chest. "There, he's in my heart! Are you happy?" and he stalked away. He knew he was dying, what did it matter at this point?

Satan laughed. "good job, old man," he thought.

But she was undeterred. Over and over, she prayed. Over and over she begged God..."please...I need you!"

Hospice came and administered morphine to ease his suffering. A chaplain also arrived and together, they prayed over this man. Satan began to sweat bullets now. Ugh, so CLOSE!

And the husband, as weak as he was, looked at his wife and smiled. She saw it! The Light in his eyes...Jesus was there!

He passed away early one cold, Febraury morning. Almost immediately, the miracles began. A heart on a sidwalk...where all around it was about two inches of newly fallen snow, yet it was clear to see. A flower that hadn't bloomed all week as it sat in a vase on the kitchen counter, bloomed immediately right after he passed away! A song on the radio as she sat mired in her grief, a song that said, "I love you still," by Bill Anderson, on a country music station that NEVER played old country music. And over time, other small miracles ocurred when her grief would hit hard.

What God brought together, let no man or evil source put asunder! God brought this woman into his life, to save him from hell. To bring his soul closer to heaven.

So you see, heaven isn't automatic. Heaven is a reward, a way to be closer to God, but you have to want it, you must accept Jesus and you must spread that good news to others by words and deeds. God created earth as a paradise...it was meant to be a place of Joy. God is love. Everything He made was perfect.

Then satan came along and ruined it.

But God came back and fixed it, through His Son, so that all who accept Him will have eternal life!

Satan knows his time is short...and looking around, we can see how much worse things are now than even a generation ago. 

What is your choice, who will you follow?

We all are called to be Jesus for one nother, to bring all souls to heaven, especially the ones in most need of mercy.

Is that YOU?

in memory of Robbie Baum....my heart is always with you!