Life And Death Are Not What's Important!
Pastor J. R. Wilhite, author
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Some of you may find this hard to believe but Life nor death is what is important. It is where your heart is at that counts. If you spend 100 years doing good and appearing to be good, unless your heart is right as well, that will only get you a reward in the "here and now" and a reserved ticket to Hell.
My prayer for you is: 3 John 1 2.
Matthew 6
1. Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Here it is from the Literal version:
Matthew 6
1.
|4337| Watch out
|9999| {that}
|3588| the
|1654| righteousness
|5216| of you
|3361| not
|4160| to do
|1715| in front
|3588| of
|0444| men,
|4314| in order
|3588| to
|2300| be seen
|0846| by them.
|1490| if But not,
|3408| reward
|3756| not
|2192| you have
|3844| from
|3588| the
|3962| Father
|5216| of you
|1722| in
|3588| the
|3772| heavens.
2.
|3752| when
|3767| Then
|4160| you do
|1654| merciful deeds,
|3361| not
|4537| do trumpet
|1715| ahead of
|4675| you,
|5618| as
|3588| the
|5273| hypocrites
|4160| do
|1722| in
|3588| the
|4864| synagogues
|2532| and
|1722| in
|3588| the
|4505| streets,
|3704| so that
|1392| they may be
|5259| glorified
|5259| by
|3588| -
|0444| people.
|0281| Truly,
|3004| I say
|5213| to you,
|0568| they have
|3588| the
|3408| reward
|0846| of them.
3.
|4675| you
|1161| But
|4160| doing
|1654| merciful deeds,
|3361| not
|1097| do let know
|3588| the
|0710| left
|9999| {hand}
|4675| of you
|5101| what
|4160| does
|3588| the
|1188| right
|4675| of you,
4.
|3704| so
|5600| that
|4675| of you
|3588| the
|1654| merciful deeds
|1722| in
|3588| -
|2927| secret,
|2532| and
|3588| the
|3962| Father
|4675| of you
|3588| the {One}
|0991| who sees
|1722| in
|3588| -
|2927| secret
|0846| Him{self}
|0591| will repay
|4671| you
|1722| in
|5318| the open.
So what ever you do before mankind you get the reward of it from them knowing and treating you based on it. Now some may say, "I need no reward." That is great, but remember part of the reward is answer to your prayers.
Hebrews 11
5. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Matthew 6
33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
I say to you now that you have no idea of how much longer you will live. It could be a few seconds or it could be decades. Not knowing means you should not wait to be sure your heart is right so you know you will make it to the right place.
What is Hell?
Imagine eternity without your loved ones, or eternity with those you could have helped make it to heaven if you weren't to busy, did not care, or did not believe. Now you have to spend eternity watching them suffer, or be alone suffering.It is where God is not, so there is nothing to restrain those who are truly evil from tormenting you day and night. I imagine it like the part below your head is hanging over a fire always hot and burning while the head sticks through the ground for others to walk on.Or it is nothing at all, and all of this is for nothing. How about we keep coming back until we get it right?
Reincarnation sounds like Hell to me. There are those out there who believe that, so they believe in Hell. How can they not believe in heaven? Easy.Because too many have made it unbelievable with their wrong ideas.For instance some believe that we become angels when we die. That is like saying dogs and cats are the same. Angels and humans are as much different as dogs and cats.Or we will love everything you hated here; like if you hate to iron, you will iron and iron and iron and enjoy it. That is how my aunt (God bless her soul) told me it would be. Or we will float on clouds plucking on harps. These are just a few, I am sure you can think of some more.
The next life is like this one, but without sin, death, Hell, or the grave. Without sin it has no hate, strife, offense, jealousy, envy, etc. It is not limited to time; there is no time. We are not going to grow old, get sick, hurt, or be sad. More like the first life.
Yes, this is the second life. As a baby in the womb goes through 3 trimesters of life in the womb we also go through three. One is to be born of the flesh, two is to be born of good or evil, and the third is the final. Like in the womb we have a hard time imagining the next life. In the womb we have 9 months, here 80-90-100 years or so. In the womb our universe is dark wet and very small. Compared to the next life this
universe is very small, and compared to eternity this life is short.So as you can see the comparisons (and face it, it makes sense) when you read Revelation you see references to the next life the new Jerusalem and the new earth.Now imagine if the new earth is as big in comparison to this earth as the New Jerusalem is to the old, then the new earth is huge maybe as much as 10 million times the size.
Also imagine it containing every animal that ever lived, and as many of us as there will be, it would have to be huge. Where do I come up with the animals? When it states that they will lay down together as they never had before, that could only refer to those which have lived, not new ones, or they could just be from the beginning of their existence this way.
Now take a new earth that would take all of eternity to walk and see all the beautiful scenery, sunsets, (yes, there will be sunsets, only in the New Jerusalem will it always be light, no shadows; there is no reference to the new earth as being that way) all the rivers, mountains and so on, all the animals, living as we were meant to live in the beginning. I mean why would God go through all of this if not to complete what He started? If He were to start anew, He would start without us.
So as you see there is plenty to look forward to. The main thing is where is your heart?
Matthew 22
37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38. This is the first and great comandment.
39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40. On these two comandments hang all the law and the prophets.
How can you love God with all that you are and hate others, think wrong of others, judge or not forgive others? And as far as it goes for the second, it is the same how can you love others if you judge, hate, envy them, or do not forgive them?
When Jesus said turn the cheek and if hit there, to turn the other as well to be hit, He was referring to us showing that love, forgiveness, and a lack of hate exist to the point that we could be beaten and still we would love them, forgive them, and not judge them. He knew if we did this the person would admire us and finally be changed and not hit anymore and most would even convert. This is us showing our love, not revenge.
It is easier to judge, not forgive, hate, get into strife, or offense than to forgive and not judge others.Yes. I know, it is so easy to write and so hard to do. If you start at one point in your life and set your mind to change this area, then when that area is changed you can go to the next. No you are not perfect, and most likely will never be, but you will be trying and changing. If more tried to do what is right instead of giving in to emotions we would live in a better world.
Ask yourself these questions:
Do I judge others?
Have I forgiven all?
Do I get offended easily?
Does strife enter my life too often?
Am I jealous of others and what they have?
Do I allow by circumstances to dictate the way I act?
If you answered more than one no, you need to look again and re-examine yourself. If you answered 4 out 5 yes, then you are human needing to change and try it one step at a time. If you answered 3 out of 5 yes, then you are on the road to changing your life and getting your heart right.If you answered 2 out of 5 yes, then you need to help the rest of us to change.
And the big 3 questions:
#1 Do I spend enough time every day with God?
Less than 1 hour
1 - 3 hours
3 - 5 hours
5 - 8 hours
9 or more hours
#2 Do I daily forgive others?
#3 Do I listen to God?
Less than 1 hour
1 - 3 hours
3 - 5 hours
5 - 8 hours
9 or more hours.
On Question #1
If you answered yes, then you should be spending more than 9 hours a day listening to Him. If you listen less than 1 hour, you need to work it up to 1 hour, then 2 and allow it to go to where God tells you it should be, some it may be only 1 hour while others it can be 10 or more hours. Some days I spend less than an hour (Very few) but most I spend hours a day listening, and on an average I spend about 8 hours a day.
OnQuestion #2
If you stated no, then you need to start here on changing.
On Question #3
If you do not hear from God or listen to Him this is where you need to start to change, nothing else will matter. You will not be able to be changed right until you change this one. This is the one that is the most important.If you listen less than 1 hour, you need to work it up to 1 hour, then 2, and allow it to go to where God tells you it should be. Some it may be only 1 hour while others it can be 10 or more hours. Some days I spend less than an hour (Very few) but most I spend hours a day listening, and on an average I spend about 8 hours a day.
So first thing of all is you need to decide whether or not you want to go with us to the next life and not to hell.If the answer is yes, you want to go with us, you must start by listening and hearing God on a daily basis.
Remember if you are truly following God, (meaning listening and doing as He directs and make sure it is not some evil spirit) it means you have given yourself to change, first to hear and follow God only not even man.
I John 2:27
27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
When you do this, all the rest will change as long as you follow His direction.Peace, Love and Joy are not just the first 3 fruits of the Spirit; they are the way to live fully, here and in the next life.
Remember to show faith when you pray, then praise and give thanks.
God Bless You as you hear His words and follow His leading.
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