Will you be Happy?

Will you be happy?

“All men are like grass, 

and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, 

because the breath of the LORD blows on them. 

Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, 

but the word of our God stands forever.”

                                                    Isaiah 40:6b

Today as part of a photographic art project I’m doing I went to take pictures in a cemetery. It’s big, holding as many residents as the city where I live. Some grave stones go back to the late eighteen hundreds.
When I was young I lived in England near an Abby. At one time the richest in England. The grave stones in its cemetery  went back to the year 1200.
Cemeteries are places we put our loved ones. It’s the place our loved ones will place us one day when we become part of the ultimate statistic. The ultimate statistic being 100% of people die.
Which begs the question dear reader do you know God?
Do you know where you will spend eternity?
For me as a Christian this is how I believe you get to heaven enter heaven.
Jesus speaking about himself said,
1/ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  John 3:16,17.
The apostle John also quotes Jesus as saying,
2 “....I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Jesus is the way to heaven.
 3/  The apostle Paul writing to the Romans said,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23,24.
Sinning is falling short of what God wants for you life. Sin separates us from God. Jesus paid the price for our sins.
4/ The apostle John noting,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 1 John 1:9,10.
5/ The apostle Paul make it clear salvation is not something we can work for. Paul writing to the Ephesians stating,

“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.”

                                                        Ephesians 2:8,9

6/ Ultimately salvation is an act of faith, Hebrews stating,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” Hebrews 11:6
Faith defined as by the writer of Hebrews as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
The American evangelist Tony Campolo made an interesting statement about death, he said,
“When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”Tony Campolo
Please think about it.
 

Will you be happy?

Will you be happy?

“When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
                                                                                                               Tony Campolo
How certain are you in your belief? If you are an atheist or a non-Christian are you certain that what you believe is true.
What Christians believe is simple. We believe Jesus as Martha did in John’s gospel.
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” 
John 11:25,26
We believe Jesus when speaking about himself he said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. 
                                                                                                               John 3:16-18.
We believe the apostle John when he wrote this about Jesus,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” 
                       John 1:12,13.
The Gospel of Luke records a conversation that happened between Jesus and the two criminals He was crucified with. Luke records,
"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” 
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
                                                                                                                          Luke 23:39-43.
The one criminal rejected Jesus and did not believe Jesus was the Son of God the Saviour of the world.
The other believed that Jesus was who He said He was. He admitted that he was a criminal deserving of his punishment. Or as Christians say, he confessed his sins to Jesus.
As a result Jesus forgave the man and told the man that, that day he would be with Jesus in paradise.
Telling a person they would be in paradise or heaven was something only God could do and Jesus did it.
It is because of the above statements and more throughout the New Testament that we Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God who came to save each and every person on the earth.
C. S. Lewis wrote about Jesus saying,
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.” 
                         C.S. Lewis.
Christians do not believe that if your good out weighs your bad you will get to heaven. Christians believe it is impossible for man to live a life good enough to stand before a holy God. That is why God in the form of His One and Only Son Jesus entered the world.
To quote C. S. Lewis Again.
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” 
                                            C.S. Lewis
The Apostle John writes,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 
1John 1:9-10.
Christians believe getting to heaven is a simple act of faith and confession.
As I quoted above the apostle John said if we confess our sin to Jesus He will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.
And the apostle Paul tells us,
“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.” 
                                                                      Ephesians 2:8,9.
Faith defined by the writer of Hebrews who said,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 
                                                                                                                            Hebrews 11:1.
The writer of Hebrews also telling us,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
                                                                                                         Hebrews 11:6.
This is what Christians believe.
So the question I ask are you sure in your beliefs?
If you were to die today are you certain where you will spend eternity?
As Tony Campolo asked,
“...when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
                                                                                                 Tony Campolo
Please think about it.

Store up

Store up
Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 
                                                                          Matthew 6:19-21.
An interesting statistic has just been published. The top sixty-two richest people in the world have more money that the bottom half of the worlds population combined.
That is an incredible statistic. Sixty-two people with more money than the poorest half of the worlds population combined!
The good new is that over one hundred billionaires have pledged to give away half their fortunes before their death or at death.
There is however an equalizer in all of this, death. When those billionaires die they will enter the next life with the same amount of money as the poorest person enters with, none.
There’s nothing wrong with being rich or poor. The apostle Paul points out,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 
                                                                                           1 Timothy 6:10.
It’s the love of money that causes problems.
Today there are many people with great wealth that are doing great things to help the poor and aid in fixing problems within our society. And these people are to be congratulated for what they are doing.
There is however a bottom line in everyone’s life. That bottom line being death.
I believe everyone has to ask themselves at some point the question “where will I spend eternity?”
There will come a time in everyone’s life when having or wanting the latest gadget will mean nothing.
Tony Campolo the American evangelist put it this way,
“When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
                                                                                                                  Tony Campolo.
People can say there is no God. That when life ends its simply oblivion, but that doesn’t mean its true. Every society in history has believed in an after life. To say they are wrong or delusional is to say the majority of people that have ever lived are believing a lie.
C. S. Lewis said,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” 
                                                                                C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.
Still the choice is up to the individual you can either believe there is a God or not. That is a persons right.
The question I would ask is, “Am I really certain about what I believe?” because the answer to the question will have eternal consequences.
Please think about it.