cannyben

Things that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. This is why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen." 2 Corinthians 4:18 (CEV) Everything you see around you is temporary. It’s what you can’t see that will last forever. And those eternal, spiritual realities are what truly matter. The truth is, spiritual realities are just as real as physical realities. And you need to focus on the spiritual ones because they are part of reality. Here are five spiritual realities you need to understand: God made you to love you. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (NIV). God created you to love you, and he wants you to learn to love him back. This is the most important reality of life. You were made to last forever. The Bible says, “He has . . . set eternity in the human heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV). The evangelist Billy Graham talked about death this way: “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you ...

“He has planted eternity in the human heart.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT) Heaven and hell are real. God wants you to understand this eternal reality and all the realities of life that are found in his Word, the Bible. The first reality of life is that God made you to love you, and he wants you to learn to love him back. The Great Commandment says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 NIV). The second reality of life is this: You were made to last forever. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has planted eternity in the human heart” (NLT). No matter how good things are on this planet, at some point in your life you’ll think, “There’s got to be more than this.” And there is! You’re going to spend far more time on the other side of death than on this side. This life is preparation for your life in eternity. Because of that, you have the third reality of life: God has prepared two eternal places, heaven and hell. God has been preparin...

“I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God’s blessing and God’s curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life.” Deuteronomy 30:19 (GNT) People ask all the time, “How could a loving God send people to hell?” Then someone comes along and says, “Let me help you out. I will take you to my house and help you get cleaned up and give you a new set of clothes and a good meal. And you can live at my house. You can become part of my family. In fact, I’m going to adopt you. You can take my name! I’m going to pay off all your debts. You can even have my credit card and access to the entire resources of my family. You don’t have to earn it or work for it. I’m doing this simply because I love you and want to show you grace. “However, if you live in my house as a part of my family, there are some house rules that you have to follow. We respect each other and help out with responsibilities around the house. You may choose to say, “Thank you, ...

“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8 (NKJV) It is eternal reality you need to know: There is no second chance after you die. You get to choose where you’re going to spend eternity. But you have to choose now while you’re alive, not after you’re dead. There is no going back! God gives you an entire lifetime to make the right decision. If you keep putting it off, then there will be no second chance to get it right once you have died. There is no halfway house between heaven and hell. When Jesus was dying on the cross, there was a man next to him who had been a criminal his entire life. In his last seconds, the man surrendered his life to Jesus and said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42 NKJV). All he knew about salvation was that Jesus could save him. He didn’t know all the doctrines or theology. He didn’t know all the “right” words. He just said “yes” to Jesus. Because o...

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV) Many think that people are basically good and by nature unselfish and that they naturally put the needs of others before their own. The world is filled with broken relationships, broken promises, and sin. Evil is all around you—from world politics to local conflicts you can see hatred, bitterness, and corruption. And because sin and evil exist, hell also exists. What was true in Noah’s day is still true today: “The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness . . . and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart” (Genesis 6:5-6 NLT). When God looks at all the wrong, evil things that are done in the world, it breaks his heart because he loves everyone and wants us to learn to love one another. But God is also holy...

"I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:13 (NLT) You probably have a picture that comes to mind when you think about what hell must be like. Your image likely has some red and black tones in it, a lot of fire, and maybe the devil looming over everything. Hell is described in the Bible as a place of torment. Matthew 13:42 says it is a “blazing furnace, where the people will cry and grind their teeth with pain” (NCV). That description sounds terrible, but do you know what the worst part of hell is? Hell is total separation from God, which means hell is the exact opposite of everything God is. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (NIV). The opposite of love is fear. Living without love means you’re scared to death all the time. That’s hell. God is love, so there is no love in hell. God is light, so hell is complete darkness. God is good, so ther...

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 (NIV) When you’re faced with evil, don’t return it. Overcome it. This is opposite of human nature and what the world condones. When somebody hurts you, you want to hurt them back, right? When somebody hits you, you want to hit them back. But God says that is not the way you’re going to win the battle against evil. Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (NIV). That is God’s way of winning the battle. Jesus Christ came to Earth to show that you don’t destroy evil by retaliating; you destroy it by overcoming it with good. The Bible says, “The Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8 NLT). Jesus came to obliterate evil. He came to wipe it out. Evil is going to end one day. It is not going to exist forever. One day God is going to close the books. He’s going to settle the score. He’s going to end history and take his family into eternity with him. If you want...