Posted by soon2bmrsVPT
Wheres Jess-AugOFC 0-something..Lol
shes the inspiring one
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here I am (with the cr@ppy LIW name no one can remember!
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Thx for the sweet compliment, Heather. And for sharing your story.
So, I'll share my piece. If you're not interested, feel free to skip along.
ANY question that I ever had about the afterlife, I went straight to the Bible. Who better to consult with on this topic than the creator Himself?
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And if anyone feels confused, Id encourage them to seek answers for themselves! (And not just accept whatever comes to our mind, whatever we'd like to imagine, or whatever others will tell you).
...I believe that there is a heaven and a hell. Those who are saved, who know Jesus for who he was (he came as man and died for our sins and accomplished salvation), who repent and choose the Lord as their savior, (faith alone, bc just acts/'trying to be a good person' alone does not save people), are forgiven of their sins and spend eternity in heaven which is to be in the presence of God, to have the joy of praising and worshiping him for eternity. I can not even come close to fathoming how amazing that will be, to know God like that...to have that close personal relationship with him without any barrier. Beyond words!
I believe Hell is the worst thing any of us could possibly imagine! That is, to be kept from the presence of God for eternity.
I also believe, as the Bible says, that the Lord gives people SOOOOOOOOO many chances to turn to him before He comes in judgment at the end of times. And yet, still, sadly, many will deny him repeatedly. But he's a loving God and so he tries again and again in so many ways to have us come to Him. I pray daily for those who don't know the Lord. I pray that the Lord works in their lives and on their hearts. And I don't pray it for any bad reason or because I think Im better than anyone, regardless of how this all may sound to people. I pray it simply because I can only hope that other people come to know the hope and joy I feel in knowing God. And in seeing the amazing ways He works in your life when you live for Him and trust in Him. I feel his presence daily and receive so many big and small signs that He is there, watching over and guiding, opening up doors for us to learn certain lessons, waiting with open arms for us to turn to him, protecting us, etc. But its our choice whether or not we accept the Lord as our savior, and therefore how we spend eternity. Of course we'd all like to think that it has something to do with us and us being nice people! But...really we were saved when we didn't even deserve it, we are saved as sinners, solely because of what Christ did and nothing that we can do can add to that. Overwhelming to think of.
I have had many ups and downs in my life, as almost all of us have here Im sure. I live with a chronic illness- Muscular Dystrophy. I lost my dad to brain cancer in 2004. Plenty of other small struggles, again like most of us have had. But my struggles were even MORE reason to cleave closer to and to BELIEVE in the Lord. Not a reason to turn my back. Not to say my walk in faith wasn't quite a journey. Sometimes things do happen in our lives for that very purpose...the blessing of coming to rely on and know Him. I would never have been able to get through any of it without Him. So he blessed me amazingly in giving me a reason to want to know Him better. So Im livin for Him...or trying everyday! FARRRRR far far from perfect, a sinner like the rest, but Im trying. And theres nothing in this whole world that comes remotely close to the joy I feel in knowing who Jesus was and is, and that I will be able to spend eternity worshiping and loving God!
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ETA: As for psychics or mediums, after I lost my dad, I put faith in them for comfort. I saw John Edwards a few times hoping to hear something, I read a book of his, etc. I never saw it as problematic. It took me a long time to let go of that and realize that I was to be hoping and trusting in the Lord that my loved one was safe, watching over me and knew what was going on in my life, and not to rely on a medium or psychic for that. Its alot harder to do the former, but I've found it much more rewarding....God was always letting me know in SO many amazing ways that my dad is around me...but I was so focused on hearing something concrete and loud, relying on someone else at times, that I missed so much or didn't appreciate it as much. Of course we all want something concrete!! So I cant judge anyone else who seeks that type of comfort, because I felt that desire too. We feel like we need proof. I think thats just human nature. But that isn't true faith...as someone else on here said, it is believing in the unseen. Although John Edwards didn't speak to me personally, he did to many other grieving people there and I saw how much it comforted them so I totally get it. But in my walk of faith, when I was trying to place the Bible above everything else in my life, a part of that was realizing what the Bible says about mediums and psychics. It is undeniable that a medium may say something that seems/is spot on or that it can truly comfort people, but as to where the Bible says that kind of information comes from...not a good place, thats the troublesome part. Because, essentially, God asks of us to live on faith, not on the words of intermediary. Again, that was a HARD one for me to get, but Im glad that after praying on it, God helped to answer the question for me and he helps me to realize that the only comfort I need is in Him.
