Colossians 1:5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel

Sometimes it is rather easy to get caught up in the fallen world’s troubles. Finances, relationships, politics, etc can be a temptation to make one believe that this is all there is. It is the devil’s joy when we give up hope on heaven.

Heaven isn’t a temporary place, it is eternal. There is no disease, there are no deadly storms, there is no 401K which is failing, no car accidents, no hospitals, there is no murder, rape, theft, adultery, lying, cheating, slandering, maligning, depression, anxiety, nor is there anger. Heaven is a total peace and joy one will never experience here on earth.

There are times I believe God gives us a mere glimpse of heaven, when we realize a total peace and rest for a small time, by which many have said “this is heaven on earth”. But we really won’t know the enormity of that peace and rest until we reach heaven, and those days where we said this will not even come close.

If you do believe in God and His promises, He said He will “wipe every tear away”, meaning you will never feel sad about anything again nor will you regret. How He does this? Well that is His counsel, not ours. But be prepared to be completely blown away! This is the hope for heaven, every Christian has, as we will see our Savior Jesus Christ face to face. And how JOYFUL that day will be! To see the One who died for us in person! It will be overwhelming!

If you do not have a hope for heaven, you are lost and blind. You are stuck in this fallen place and hell is your end. And like heaven, hell on earth will not even come close to the actual hell. All those things I mentioned, storms and sins will never cease and will be amplified to a never ending agony. There is no hope, no joy, no peace, and certainly NO rest as you are tormented day and night.

God doesn’t given second chances, once we perish it is either heaven or hell. And since we all have SINNED against Him, there is just one destination we are born with, that is hell. But because He is merciful, He provided a Savior Jesus Christ who can save you from His wrath. By placing your faith alone in Him for the forgiveness of your sins, the only hope you are granted with is eternal life with Him! An awesome HOPE!

Acts 17:24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

Every person no matter their position, belief, religion, age, gender, race, has a god in their life. The question is who is that god. Is it the Almighty God, or an invented god which is often times that person who looks themselves in the mirror.

The vast majority of the fallen world has a god unto themselves. This god is subjective, has an unstable moral compass, and whether you believe he exists or not is guided by none other than Satan himself. This fictional god’s doctrines are “you be you”, “be your own truth”, “you only live once”, “be your best you”, “believe in yourself” as each doctrine will focus on self. You see this with famous people, politicians, common people, and even those who call themselves “Christian”.

Go to any bookstore, if they still exist, and in the self-help section you will see book after book, teaching this secular self god doctrine. What are the fruits of this religion? Narcissism, selfishness, deadly pride, bitterness, loneliness, depression, anxiety, stress, anger, and vast ignorance. With each of its doctrines producing another deathly fruit.

The fact is, if you are a god unto yourself, you have no real moral compass, you are unstable in every way. Now you might be able to give the impression by worldly success that this fallen religion is making you happy, but internally you know it is fleeting. Some really do stupidly believe they beat the Almighty God at His own sovereignty. That they cured their own cancer, they achieved their success by their self driven motivation, they have a great family because they worked harder than most. Only then to realize in the end, darkness and torment in a place called hell.

Some who do believe in a higher power, the actual God, believe He can be harnessed and controlled. We see this in world religions where they attempt to say God ONLY dwells in temples made by humans. So outside that “church”, they believe they are free of Him never realizing that God is everywhere all at once. No one is outside of His sovereignty. Yes, even in evil circumstances, God is in control in that He is restraining a even worse evil which could take place. Some have this notion that evil in effect controls God? That is not the God of Scripture!

And once you get to this understanding, a real healthy fear of God should be realized. That in every aspect of human life, God is in control, completely sovereign. Now I am not saying He is responsible or that He causes evil which is the ignorant strawman used against His sovereignty. The premise is that humans born after Adam are totally rotten in sin, and evil/lust is their natural desire. God doesn’t have to make one do evil, you desire is evil. NOW see it as God restraining what you are actually capable of, and you might just understand His mercy and grace.

So who is your God? Again, everyone has a god, the question is who that god is. Because the truth is, there is an Almighty God, sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent who will never be defeated. His ways are not human ways. His justice is perfect, His mercy and grace are never-ending, He never breaks a promise, never changes a promise, never will be defeated by evil, the God who can snuff you out in second if it was His will to do so. Lastly He is a God of pure LOVE, not human type of love, but His love is perfect, it never changes, it holds no grudge, it is always unconditional. A love SO GREAT that He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for YOU if you so believe in Him, so that you could live eternally with Him. A pure sacrifice for you! He created the whole universe with just one spoken word.

Or will you continue to believe you are the god of your life? Compare what I said about the actual Almighty God to yourself, what do you see?

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor 15:14 that if Christ didn’t rise from the dead, faith in Him would be all for not, that any preaching about Him and faith in Him would be “empty”. Christianity worships the RISEN Christ!

But Jesus did rise from the dead! And there is clear undeniable evidence of this that even the most hardened atheist has a hard time disputing from a logic level. You see, up until Jesus incarnation, death, and His resurrection, many false Messiahs said they were the “Promised One”. The perished, they didn’t fulfill a thing, so people then looked for the next one. Now Scripture doesn’t name them specifically, but based on man’s depraved nature we can presume there were many.

All we need to do is see the televangelists today to realize that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, and we were still waiting a Messiah, one can just imagine all the “tele-Jesus” that would be out there through the centuries claiming to be Messiah. They would do this mainly for the money, the popularity, etc. And like the false Messiahs which came before Jesus, they would perish and leave their flock disappointed.

And from another logic standpoint, imagine if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. Ask yourself why those disciples would not have just left Christianity in the dust instead of marching towards their own death and constant persecution. They had nothing to gain but an ignorant suicide mission if that was the case. But they saw Jesus with their own eyes, walking with them, talking to them, eating with them.

And let’s say from a further logic standpoint, that the disciples were just delusional, they believed a lie and this Jesus was a farce, why didn’t Christianity die out then in the first or even second century? Because logic says it would have. But rather we see the Gospel stronger than ever in 2023! So again, while an atheist might externally protest the notion of Jesus, and other world religions such as Islam and Judaism denying Him as the Messiah, internally they can’t get past the fact that the Gospel is still progressing.

So the logical fact is that if Christianity was a lie, and the faith in Jesus was empty, it surely would have died out almost immediately. And consider this? Think of all those religions which OPPOSE Jesus in every respect, after 2,000 years they would have discovered a tomb with His bones, but no such discovery has ever been made, nor is there even an attempt to do so because He DID rise! My Dad used to say “if two or more people know about a crime, that eventually it will come to light”. So in the case of Jesus, if the disciples were lying, at least one would have broken and told the truth, that the story of Jesus rising was all made up.

The Resurrection by which the world celebrates “EASTER”, has never been disproven. Let that sink in! The advancements with science and technology, the fact that writings during the time all could have disproved this event all have come up empty.

Jesus sacrifice on the Cross to propitiate the sins of His children did happen and the confirmation of this was the Resurrection! Without this Resurrection, no one could be saved because Jesus would have not been who He said He was, the promised Messiah. This confirmation is the epitome of the Christian faith! This is why the Resurrection matters! Jesus rose from the dead just as He promised, He will come again but this time not to atone for sin, but to do away with it for an eternity! Those not in Him, those who fail to place their faith alone in Him with suffer an eternal torment. Those placed in Him will live with Him for an eternity in glory!

“let God be true but every man a liar” (Reference Romans 3:4)

A case for Sola Scriptura, a hard contested doctrine by Roman Catholics and all world religions whereby man is the truth by their inventions and doctrines and God is the liar. It literally flips what the Apostle Paul said on its head!

My repeated challenge for those who do not believe by the Bible alone it is the authority for faith and practice in Jesus Christ, is where else can one find the truth from God and know without any doubt that this truth is from God? Because if we use the premise that man is a natural liar, we cannot then naturally trust it as truth no matter WHO is preaching the doctrine.

Thus the only way one can determine the Gospel being preached by man is true has to come from an ultimate standard of truth which is God Himself. And where is this truth contained? Scripture! Paul reiterates this in Galatians 1:1-9 that if anyone preaches a different Gospel than what God has stated, including even from the Apostles, angels, etc. that it MUST be discarded. Very important to remember!

This is why discernment is so very important from the word of God. Anyone can preach anything, and anyone can claim to be a “Christian”. Externally they will exude a religion, piousness, gentle words, but if they are preaching against the truth found in Scripture, they must be called out as false.

The premise is “every man is a liar” and “God is true”, so if you always use this as your standard, discernment then comes easy. You will not take at face value what man has told you, you will TEST this teaching by the truth, and again that truth was revealed from ONE JUST SOURCE, Scripture!

If you are not trusting in God, or you really don’t believe He exists or that His word is much too convicting, you will be then trusting man, habitual and natural liars. I mentioned this long ago about my own posts, don’t trust me, rather TEST me by the word of God to know what I am saying is the truth. Trust God instead! He will lead you into all truth and supplies vasts amount of wisdom to do so to the WILLING.

You will be always led astray if you are not discerning by the ultimate truth contained in the very word of God. So whenever one is fighting against His word as the only truth revealed, ask yourself why they would be doing this. Most likely because they would rather trust man as that truth!