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You may not want to look at what will happen when you die, but why not be ready for it, just in case it happens to you? (BTW, the odds are 100%!) And, let's face it, all of us have come short of moral perfection. Because of this, we are going to look at the three main reasons why everybody needs to be rescued by God. Number One: Conscience and Right Living Let's be perfectly honest with ourselves here -- we are not even living up to our own moral standards, let alone the ones that God requires. However, we all carry something called conscience. We can think of it as God's homing beacon, directing us towards Him. Our conscience acts as an alarm, notifying us when we act wrong. This is the first reason we need to be saved---we need help from Someone to live as we were meant to live. Number Two: We Will All Die One Day Death is inevitable. This a common fact. People prefer to change the subject when it comes to this matter, but the truth is that one day you are going to die. Are you prepared for what may happen next? Human beings have come up with four crafty scenarios to shroud our moral failure: Endless Hibernation. You die and that's the end of it. Only the memory of you remains in the minds of others, until they also pass out of conscious existence. You're simply in a state of deep sleep, without any joy, but without pain and suffering as well. You won't need to worry about answering for your immorality---unless you wake up to some other Reality.Recycle with Reincarnation. You never truly die, you simply continue to exist in another body, although without remembering your past. (How crazy is that?) There is no hell or endless torment, so you shouldn't worry about your moral failures. You won't remember anything! All that you should care about is battling with the present misfortunes that result from a previous (but unknown) life of yours.Ally, Ally, Come in Free. When you die, you go to this wonderful place of perfection called heaven. In fact, everyone does. No matter what you do, you'll go to heaven -- no need to fear hell, no need to avoid any sins. God wouldn't let anyone suffer because He loves us so much. Sounds too good to be true? It is. Your conscience informs you that right will be rewarded and wrong won't be. It never lies, so why not listen to it? Eternal One-Note Harmony. After you die, you become a part of god's "cosmic" consciousness. At first glance it sounds like a good deal. There's no punishment for your immorality or misdeeds. You become a piece of un-thinking, un-suffering energy, but you cease to exist as an individual, as a person. You are consumed by the Eternal Mind. Good for the Mind, too bad for you. The symphony of real life that once was your life has melded into a single boring note. While you may be perfectly okay with such theories, you probably aren't too keen on the idea about being punished. That's the real problem, isn't it? But what if there really is another possibility? What if we really are going to face God after we die? A God that cares how we live. A God for whom moral failure is not a laughing matter, even if He is a loving God. And what if a place of eternal torment really does exist? Why not be ready for that, just for good measure? Heaven & Hell. This life right now is a drop in the ocean, compared to what comes after that. How would you rather spend eternity---rejoicing in holy comfort or suffering unending punishment? Maybe you're relying on one of the previous scenarios, but what if they all prove be wrong? The vast majority of people who have ever lived believed in reward and punishment in the afterlife. Where did they get that? They didn't make it up out of thin air! Deeply rooted inside us is conscience---the moral law within our hearts. All around us in an immense and glorious creation. Creation speaks of a Creator God. Conscience tells us we are accountable to Him. This is the second reason why we need to be saved---to come out on the side of reward, rather than punishment when we die. BONUS: Go now to receive a totally free download, "The 2 Facts of the Resurrection," at our website for salvation questions, new life in the Spirit and Last Days concerns: forerunners4him.org. Number Three: Ending the Greatest Robbery of All The two primary reasons for wanting to be saved (as we have seen) are one, that we might live this life the way it was meant to be, and two, so we can find ourselves in the right place in the next life. But the most fundamental reason for wanting to be saved is the all-too-easily overlooked fact that we are separated from the One who created us! The startling thing about this dreadful catastrophe is that we seem to be okay with being cut off from our God. From birth, we don't know Him. We can't see Him. We can't hear His voice. We can't enjoy His company. We can't connect! Think of it: in relation to God, we are massively ignorant, blind, deaf, and dead. Yet, somehow this appalling state of affairs seems "normal" to those who don't know Him. Yet, our own efforts prove that it's not possible for us to reestablish the lost pathways of communication and communion on our own. If it can be done, only God is able to do it. That's where Christianity comes in. Jesus says He can do just that for anyone who chooses to believe in Him and follow Him. But it gets even better. If the Christian religion is true (as we believe that it is) then this "God that we don't know" simply happens to be the most loving, most exciting and most beautiful Person in the universe! Not knowing Him is the most horrible loss anyone can experience. Dear God, save us from not knowing You! And that is exactly what He wants to do... Prayer God, I have to be honest with You. I don't know You, but deep down I really do believe that this world has a Creator and deep down I know that I am not living with a completely clear conscience. All three of these reasons for seeking You apply to me! I don't want to have to face You at the end of my life with my moral failures hanging over me. I don't want to take a chance on those other "possible endings"---my heart is telling me that the Christian view of heaven and hell is the right one. And I don't want to go on living separated from You, if there is a way that we can be reunited. Please, calm my fears and increase my desire to know You that I may seek You with my whole heart. Reveal Yourself to me in ways that I can sense and understand. Help me want what You want and make me willing to surrender everything to You. Want to learn more? Get your free copy of "Getting to Heaven" at our website for salvation and living by faith, Forerunners4Him.org. Through Forerunners4Him Steve Evans has been showing how we can be saved for heaven and teaching the way to live a Spirit filled life on earth. Go now to receive a completely free primer, Getting to Heaven and/or an introduction to Living in the Spirit at our website.
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