It is so good to have neighbors like this. It is truly nice to live in a neighborhood where people are respected, and we are really, really blessed to have our very special neighbours. They are really good friends.
What is sad, though, is that no matter how nice you are and whatever you do or give away, if you don't give your life to Jesus and ask Him to come into your life to lead you along life's pathway, then your Heaven means nothing or equates to nothing when time comes for us to leave this place called earth.
If you ask anyone what you have to do to get to heaven, that is, of course, if they believe in some sort of afterlife, the main response you will get will be "I've got to be a good person".
Mostly, a lot of what the world teaches, in a roundabout way and, if you like, ethically (if I can call it that), is that if you want to get to heaven when you die, it is a matter of being a good person. That is sticking to the 'Golden Rule" and the ten commandments in the Bible, and unfortunately, so many people believe that is exactly how to get to heaven - it is definitely not!
It's interesting to read in the book of Matthew, chapter 19, about what the Bible describes as a rich young ruler. Here we have the young guy, living a pretty nice life, probably has heaps of money, and is living pretty comfortably. He's probably being pretty good with the people around him, obviously friendly and willing to help out as much as possible.
He comes to Jesus and asks him what good thing should I do to get to heaven? It's exactly the same today. A lot of people think that all they have to do is lots of nice and good things for people. There are so many nice people just like this in my life. Often so much nicer than me in so many ways.
Jesus pretty much tells this nice young man to live for others and put them before himself. Giving to the poor and actually not worrying about how you are faring with what you have in the bank, because where that can be really useful, God comes before everything.
The young guy, after Jesus responds to his questions, sadly walks away, thinking that he has to give everything away. Jesus actually said to the young man to give God the number one place in his life, and not to spend so much time thinking about money.
Making God number one in our lives puts everything else into perspective. Yes, we need money to live, and we need to work, and if possible, everything else in life takes a real meaning, but when it comes to making God number one in our life, all these things miraculously take a real second place.
If it were left up to all of us here on earth, then none of us would ever be saved. None of us would ever be eligible to get to heaven. Why? Because we live in a world of sin, and we are all contaminated with sin. In Romans chapter 3, the Bible tells us that we all have sinned and that the wages or the penalty of that sin is death.
Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, and lived and died cruelly on a vicious cross, and rose again after three days to show the world that all we have to do is to accept His offer of salvation. Jesus died and rose again to pay the penalty for our sins, and all we have to do is accept his loving and gracious offer.
The message of the Bible is clear - very clear; We don't get saved because we are good and kind and generous, but we are saved solely by trusting and giving our lives over to God. In the Bible, in Romans chapter 10, it says, "If we confess that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved". Isn't it amazing that our very salvation, which is going to be with God after we die, is a very precious, unearned gift.
If we don't give our lives to Christ, we will never ever get to heaven on our own! We will never be good enough, and we will never earn any sort of place there at all, no matter how good we are here on earth. Just like that rich young man mentioned in the bible or just how nice and friendly we are here on earth, or just how much we give to others.
We can give and give and keep on giving. We can be super nice to everyone and never ever lose our tempers. Which actually is really super nice and something we all should strive to do, BUT it will never earn us a place in heaven after we die.
Hell is also mentioned in the Bible as somewhere where the alternative is other than Heaven. Jesus himself mentions Hell. In Matthew chapter 5 and lots of other places, Hell is mentioned, for example, Jesus said, "Anyone who says 'you fool!' will be in danger of the fire of Hell". So yes! Hell is there, as is also Heaven.
The Bible states that lots of things, like unchecked anger and insults, are really dangerous and tells us to make sure we put others way ahead of ourselves.
As mentioned, we are all sinners and we all never ever measure up to get God's amazing glory shown to us. The only way we can do this is by obeying the command of God and saying, "I'm really sorry for my sins, and I truly and honestly repent of them," and then after that, we put all of our trust in Jesus Christ in everything we do.
We will still make mistakes, but straight away we will be reminded of those mistakes, and we can ask God's forgiveness, and he will give it.
God loves you, and He loves me, and He really wants you to ask Him to take number one position in your life. If you do this, things may not change straight away, but then they may, but regardless, God will take residence in your life and will change you so much.
He will remind you often when you make mistakes, and you will be able to come to Him all the time. He will be there for you, come what may.
May God bless you this week. Hope to see you next time
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