What do you really want out of life?
And what will happen to you after this life ends?
Most people never give too much thought to such questions. Sadly, most of us just sort of drift through life being pulled from one distraction to another.
But the truth is that this life is very short, and we should want to make the most of the time that we have been given.
Because for many of you that are reading this, the cold, hard reality of the matter is that your lives are going to be a whole lot shorter than you ever imagined.
We have already seen millions of people unexpectedly die over the past couple of years, and we will soon enter a time when billions will die.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the people that are living on this planet today will not live to a ripe old age. Most of them will die very suddenly and very unexpectedly, and vast multitudes of them will not be prepared to face God when it happens.
If you died right now, what would you tell God?
You might want to think about that, because even now we are seeing way too many people suddenly drop dead all around us. In fact, the vast majority of the people that will read this book will personally know someone that has recently died.
Death is in the air.
In what follows, I am going to share with you the most important thing that you need to know before you die.
And for a lot of you, that may be very soon.
Without God, we have no hope.
But with God all things are possible.
If you don’t believe in God, how in the world do you think that we got here?
In a single human cell, which is a thousandth of an inch in diameter, there is enough information to fill a thousand books of six hundred pages each.
Do you actually believe that somehow happened by accident?
The human brain alone contains approximately 100 billion cells, and they work together to form a “central processing unit” that is vastly superior to anything that man has ever created.
If I showed you the computer that I was writing this book on and I told you that it came together spontaneously, you would laugh at me.
That is because something so complex had to have been designed.
Well, the same thing is true for the human body. Our bodies are far more complex than anything our best scientists have ever created, and so for anyone to suggest that we are the result of a long series of “accidents” is absolutely laughable.
Just by looking at the world around you, it should be exceedingly obvious that there was a Creator.
But who did the creating?
Today, the fact that there are so many religions in the world has created a great deal of confusion. With so many faiths to choose from, how can we possibly know which one to follow?
It isn’t actually that complicated. The vast majority of the religious traditions on the planet can be traced back to one of two sources.
Either they originally evolved from the mystery religion of ancient Babylon, or they can trace their roots back to the God of the Bible.
Of course some traditions actually mix elements of the mystery religion of ancient Babylon with the worship of the one true God of the Bible, and that is a grave error.
All of the major pagan religions that sprang up in the Middle East and ultimately spread all over the globe have remarkable similarities, and that is because they all came from the same source.
On the other hand, the God of the Bible is not represented by the sun, moon, stars or idols made by human hands, because He is the unseen God that made everything around us.
The Bible tells us the story of human history.
It is the best selling book of all time, and no other book even comes close.
God has laid everything out for us. He has told us the end from the beginning, and your future is in the Bible too.
The good news is that you get to choose which ending you want.
Either you will choose God and spend eternity with Him, or you will reject God and be permanently separated from Him.
God gives us just enough space to make this a legitimate choice.
If you want to ignore God and embrace evil, you have been given enough room to do that.
But if you want to find God, evidence for Him is all around us.
And He has made it really easy for you to reach out to Him.
God loves you with a love that is so great that I could never possibly come up with words that are sufficient to describe how great that love is.
God created you, He specifically placed you at this moment in human history, and He has been watching over you throughout your entire life.
He wants to have a relationship with you, but you have also got to be willing to have a relationship with Him.
God isn’t going to force you to do anything. Each one of us gets to make a choice, and I am praying that you will make the right one.
Sadly, right now most of the world has turned away from the one true God. The Scriptures warn us that evil will be greatly embraced in the end times, and that is precisely what we are witnessing at this moment. Just about every form of evil that you can possibly imagine is absolutely exploding all around us, and it is getting worse with each passing day.
Because evil is growing all over the globe, our world is full of suffering, violence, depression, despair, anger, frustration and very deep pain. Even formerly Christian nations such as the United States have almost entirely abandoned God, and the consequences for doing that have been extremely bitter.
God always gives us choices, but it is also imperative to understand that there are consequences for those choices.
If we choose what is right, we will walk in His blessing.
But if we choose what is evil, things will not go well for us.
In our time, there is so much confusion about what is right and what is wrong. In fact, what is good is often called “evil”, and what is evil is often called “good”. But there shouldn’t be confusion, because all throughout human history God has made what He expects of us very clear.
Just like every governmental entity on the entire planet, God also has laws, and perhaps the best known of those laws are the “Ten Commandments”. If you are not familiar with them, you can find them in Exodus chapter 20…
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
God’s laws are not complicated.
The first four commandments in that list are about how we are to love God, and the last six in the list are about how we are to love others.
And that is what our lives are supposed to be all about.
We are supposed to love God greatly, and we are supposed to love others greatly.
When Jesus was asked which commandment is the greatest, He responded with a very straight answer. We read the following in Matthew chapter 22…
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
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 commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Wouldn’t our world be such a beautiful place if everyone was deeply focused on loving God and deeply focused on loving others?
Unfortunately, most people on this planet don’t want anything to do with God or His commandments. So they are running the other direction as fast as they can, and as a result our world is a giant mess.
Collectively, God’s commandments are known as “the law”, and in 1 John 3:4 sin is defined as “the transgression of the law”…
4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Have you ever broken God’s commandments?
Of course.
All of us have.
In fact, all of us have broken God’s commandments over and over again.
That is what a “sinner” is. It is simply someone that has repeatedly broken God’s commandments.
If you look back through your entire lifetime, without a doubt there are many things that you are deeply ashamed of doing. Some of those things others may know about, and there are probably others that you hope that nobody ever finds out about.
But God knows everything.
And just like in every other legal system on the entire planet, when God’s laws are broken there is a penalty to be paid.
Just think about it. If you went out today and committed murder and the police caught you, would you expect to go free?
Of course not. Instead, you would probably expect to spend most of the rest of your life behind bars in some nightmarish prison somewhere.
Well, God is the perfect judge, and He knows every single evil thing that you have ever done.
Someday you will stand before Him, and none of your secrets will be hidden.
That thought should chill you to the core.
If you suddenly died, are you ready to be held fully accountable for all of the evil things that you have ever done?
I know that isn’t a pleasant question to think about.
But I strongly urge you to do so.
There will come a day when you stand before God, and that clock is ticking.
At some point there won’t be any time left, and that day will have arrived.
The good news is that someone else has already paid the price for every sin that you have ever committed.
God loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of the entire world.
You are probably already familiar with what John 3:16 says…
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This is the heart of the gospel message.
When Jesus came to this world the first time, it was a rescue mission. He willingly allowed Himself to be nailed to a wooden cross to pay the penalty for all of our sins.
It was an act of love that changed all of human history.
As it says in Romans 5:8, Jesus laid down his life for us even though we did not deserve it…
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
All of us were stone cold guilty, but the Son of God died in our place.
He was mocked, He was beaten, He was ruthlessly scourged and He was nailed to a wooden cross. He was totally innocent, but He was willing to suffer and die because He loved all of us that much.
Three days and three nights after He died, Jesus proved that He is the Son of God by rising from the dead.
In fact, Jesus specifically warned His followers that this would happen. This is what Matthew 12:40 says in the Modern English Version…
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
If there was any other possible way for us to be reconciled to God, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. He could have just told us to follow one of the other ways to get to heaven. But there was no other way. The death of Jesus on the cross is the only payment for our sins and He is the only way that we are going to have eternal life. In John 14:6, Jesus put it this way…
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus made a way when there was no way.
Without His sacrifice, we would have absolutely no hope. But now we can have life that never ends if we will choose to embrace what He has done for us.
It is not enough just to intellectually understand that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins.
The Bible tells us that we must individually commit our lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord. When we give our lives to Jesus, our sins are forgiven, we become children of God, and we are given eternal life…
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9).
So exactly how does someone do this?
It is actually very simple.
The Bible tells us that it is through faith that we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is what Ephesians 2:8-9 says…
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Entering into a relationship with the Lord Jesus is an act of faith. It means renouncing all of your sins and making Him your Savior and Lord. Intellectually understanding that Jesus died on the cross and that He rose from the dead is not enough to become a Christian. Having a deep emotional experience is not enough to become a Christian either.
You become a Christian by faith. It is an act of your will.
And if you are ready, you can do that right now.
It is the most important commitment that you could ever make, and it is not something that should be done lightly.
If you are ready to invite Jesus into your life, it is not a complicated process.
Just tell Him.
Don’t worry if your words aren’t perfect. What really matters is the attitude of your heart.
If you are ready to become a Christian right now, the following is a prayer that can help you express that desire to Him…
“Lord Jesus, I want to become a Christian. I know that I am a sinner, and I thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I believe that you are the Son of God and that you rose from the dead. I repent of my sins and I open the door of my life and ask You to be my Savior and Lord. At this moment, I commit my life to You. Thank You for forgiving all of my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life and make me the kind of person that You want me to be. From this point on, I will live my life for You. Amen.”
If you are ready to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then I invite you to pray this prayer right now. Jesus will come into your life, just as He has promised to do.
If you have invited Jesus to come into your life, you can know with 100 percent certainty that you have become a Christian and that you will be with Him for eternity. In 1 John 5:11-13, the Bible tells us the following…
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life”.
Do you understand what this means?
If you have invited Jesus Christ into your life, your sins are forgiven and you now have eternal life.
In other words, you will live forever.
Our society has trained us not to think much about what happens to us after we die, but the truth is that we are all going somewhere. In John 3:36, Jesus made this exceedingly clear…
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Is there anything that you currently have that is so valuable that you wouldn’t be willing to give it up for the opportunity to live forever?
Imagine drawing a line from one large dot to another large dot on a piece of paper. The first dot represents your birth, the second dot represents your death, and the line in between the dots represents your lifespan.
For most people, that is all that they think they have.
But now I want you to imagine an arrow going beyond the dot that represents your death.
Imagine it going to the end of the paper and beyond. Then imagine it leaving your house and going down the street and getting on the highway. Finally, imagine it circling the entire globe over and over and over.
That is eternity.
If you know Jesus, you have millions of years ahead of you, and that will only be just the beginning.
Are you starting to understand why I am so passionate about helping others find Jesus?
If eternal life is real, and it is, then introducing people to Jesus is the greatest thing that you could possibly do for others.
If you have decided to become a Christian today, you are going to need some assistance in taking the very first steps in your new life. The following are four important keys that are critical to the spiritual growth of any Christian…
#1) The Bible – If you do not have a Bible you will need to get one and read it every day. It is God’s instruction book for your life.
#2) Prayer – Prayer does not have to be complicated. Prayer is simply talking with God, and the truth is that God wants to hear from you every day. Prayer changes things, and over time you will discover that prayer is an absolutely essential spiritual discipline.
#3) Fellowship – The Scriptures very clearly tell us that we need one another. Find a fellowship of local Christians that believe the Bible and that sincerely love one another. They will help you grow in your new faith.
#4) Witnessing – Tell others about the new life that you have found in Jesus Christ. Helping even one person find eternal life is of more value than anything else that you could ever accomplish in this world.
If you have made a decision to invite Jesus Christ to come into your life, I would love to hear from you. You can contact me at the following email address…
TheEconomicCollapseBlog @ Hotmail.com
I know that I often write about very difficult things, but I am not here to make you feel good.
I am here to tell you the truth.
Because I write about such difficult things, a lot of people assume that I must be down, depressed and defeated all the time.
Of course that is not true at all.
I am not down, I am not depressed, and I am not defeated.
In fact, my life is constantly full of joy. I know who I am, I know where I am headed, and I know how the story ends.
If I could pick any time in human history to be alive, it would be right now. The years ahead will be a period of immense darkness, but they will also be an opportunity for us to do absolutely amazing things. There has never been a time like this before, and there will never be a time like it again. All of human history has been building up to a great crescendo, and we get to be here for it.
Yes, the days ahead will be exceedingly challenging, but they will also be incredibly exciting.
Even in the midst of all the chaos and all the darkness, I believe that the greatest chapters for the people of God are still ahead.
All over the globe, God is bringing together a mighty end times army. He is raising up a Remnant that will keep His commandments, that will boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world, and that will see that message supernaturally confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit just like the very first believers in Jesus did. This Remnant is described in Revelation 12:17 and Revelation 14:12, and you can be a part of it.
What we are witnessing is the final transition of the church. God is bringing everything full circle, and nothing is going to be the same ever again.
The Remnant of the last days is going to do things the way that Christians in the first century did things. Have you ever wondered why so many Christian churches today do not resemble what you see in the Bible? Well, the sad truth is that over the centuries churches got away from doing the things that the Scriptures tell us to do, but now God is restoring all things. Without God we can do nothing, but with God all things are possible.
Right now, we have such an amazing opportunity. During the first century, there were only about 200 million people living on the entire planet. Today, the global population is estimated to be somewhere around 7.8 billion. That means that the population of the world is about 39 times larger today than it was back in the first century.
I believe that we are on the verge of the greatest move of God and the greatest harvest of souls in all of human history, and I encourage you to be a part of what is happening.
As wars, natural disasters, pandemics and economic problems shake the globe, people are going to be searching for answers, and Bible prophecy will become one of the hottest topics on the entire planet.
During the years ahead, so many will be consumed with despair as their lives are totally turned upside down by the cataclysmic events that are coming. Instead of giving in to fear like everyone else will be, it will be a great opportunity for the people of God to rise up and take the message of life to a lost and dying world.
Yes, believers will face tremendous persecution during the times that are coming. The world system absolutely hates the gospel, and the Book of Revelation tells us that many Christians will be hunted down and killed for what they believe.
But those that have read the end of the book know that we win in the end. The Bible tells us that Jesus is coming back, and He will reign forever and ever.
In these last days, those that have a passion for God and a passion for reaching the lost are going to turn this world absolutely upside down for Jesus.
The Scriptures tell us that “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.” We are in a great battle for souls, and every victory is a major victory.
As millions upon millions of precious souls are brought into the Kingdom in the years ahead, what do you think the atmosphere in heaven is going to look like?
Come and be part of something that is much bigger than yourself.
Come and be part of history.
In each one of us, there is an innate desire to experience love and to give love on a very deep level. Unfortunately, for many of us that innate desire has been almost completely destroyed by years of pain, abuse, failure and frustration. But it is still there. And no matter what you have been through, God can still take the broken pieces of your life and turn them into a beautiful thing.
Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way that you want, but you can only spend it once.
Spend your life on something that really matters.
If reading this has blessed you, I would encourage you to regularly follow my work online. I have written thousands of articles over the years, and you can find them on the following websites that I consistently update…
The Economic Collapse Blog: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/
End Of The American Dream: http://endoftheamericandream.com/
The Most Important News: http://themostimportantnews.com/
Thank you for taking the time to read this all the way to the end. I would love to hear any feedback that you may have. Just like everyone else, I am always learning.
I will be praying for you and for all of those that read this.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace.
Amen.