Heaven or Hell?

October 13, 2020October 13, 2020 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

My friend and I were riding the commuter train, from Chicago, home after a long day. Somehow, the conversation turned to God and each of us shared our beliefs on what happens to us when we die.

He said he was convinced, after we die, we are reincarnated.

Then I shared my belief that if we have accepted Jesus Christ, as God’s son, and have invited him to forgive us of our sin, wrong doing, then when we die we spend eternity in heaven. If we don’t accept Jesus Christ, then we spend eternity in hell.

We were able to listen to each other, with respect, but then I told my friend this; “If you are right, then I have nothing to be concerned about. If I am correct, you may have a long time to regret it.

We exited the train, and before heading to our cars, he said, “You sure have given me something to think about.” I hope and pray he has now accepted Jesus, but on that day, he wasn’t ready.

You have to choose one or the other. There is no way around it. There are no excuses for not selecting. You can’t say it is impossible to know, for God reveals himself to everyone.

Romans 1:19-25 (TPT)

¹⁹In reality, the truth of God is known instinctively, for God has embedded this knowledge inside every human heart. ²⁰Opposition to truth cannot be excused on the basis of ignorance because from the creation of the world, the invisible qualities of God’s nature have been made visible, such as his eternal power and transcendence. He has made his wonderful attributes easily perceived, for seeing the visible makes us understand the invisible. So then, this leaves everyone without excuse.

²¹Throughout human history the fingerprints of God were upon them,yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness. Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like. This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness. ²²Although claiming to be super-intelligent, they were in fact shallow fools. ²³For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of the immortal God to worship the fading image of other humans, idols made to look like people, animals, birds, and even creeping reptiles!

²⁴This is why God lifted off his restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires. They were given over to moral depravity, dishonoring their bodies by sexual perversion among themselves— ²⁵all because they traded the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served the things God made rather than the God who made all things—glory and praises to him for eternity of eternities! Amen!

Choose God before it is too late. He has already chosen you, and He loves you more than you will ever know.

The Other Tree

July 14, 2020July 13, 2020 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

071420 3 Most people recall Adam and Eve ate of the, Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil, but there was another tree. It was the Tree-of-Life.

^“God said, “The Man has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never—this cannot happen!”

So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they’d been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.” Genesis 22-24 (MSG)

The garden disappeared, and so did the Tree-of-Life, but because mankind disobeyed God, and sinned when he dies he would be dead for eternity. This was never what God intended, so He knew a sacrifice needed to be provided, so man could live for ever with him.

Because of this, Jesus is now, The Tree of Life, and we can partake of him after accepting his free gift of salvation. His love for us lead him to the cross and because he was without sin, his death became the sacrifice, or payment for our sins.

So what God wouldn’t let us have in a sinful state, eternal life, he now freely gives us through his son, who became the Tree of Life.

How Much More?

May 26, 2020May 25, 2020 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

052620 How do you convince someone you love them? You could tell them over and over perhaps. You could show them in every way possible. You could do everything you can think of. You could even learn their love language, and speak it fluently. After all the effort you would expect them to accept you, to accept your love, but what if they don’t? Can you imagine the frustration you would feel? Then, what if you told them, “In order to prove how much I love you, I’ll die for you.” They might still reject your offer, and even say, “You’re crazy!”

Choose Love!

The truth is, God did this very thing, but He even went one step further. He gave us his only son to die for us. It is never right for a child to die before the parent. It’s not natural. To think this was God’s plan, ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed him in the Garden of Eden. I mean, how much more can God do to prove how much He loves us?

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.” John 3:16-18 (MSG)

In these days we are living in, everyone who hasn’t, should run to God and accept his free gift. Are you afraid of being obligated of loving God back? Are you concerned you might have to live in a way you would rather not? You know it doesn’t matter what you have done in your past, his forgiveness will cover it. If you disagree then you are listening to the one, Satan, who wants you to die for eternity. Living for eternity is better, and there is only one way, God’s. How much more can He do?

If the Dead Could Speak, Would You Listen?

October 26, 2019October 25, 2019 / Mark Brady / 4 Comments

Charlie 666 If death somehow gave us truths we didn’t have or didn’t believe while living what would we do with it? Most, would probably want to come back to life to tell those they love and others what they now know. One thing is for sure, when a person dies, they know in an instant there is a God, and there is judgement for how they lived and best, or worst of all, that there is indeed a heaven, and a hell.

Jesus told a true story about such a request from a dead man:

“There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.

“Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I’m in agony in this fire.’

“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It’s not like that here. Here he’s consoled and you’re tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.’

“The rich man said, ‘Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won’t end up here in this place of torment.’

“Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’

“‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’

“Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31 (MSG)

Jesus told the people straight up, believe me, believe the Word of God (Bible), believe the many ministers, evangelist, missionaries, family members, friends, co-workers, and yes, bloggers that I have sent to tell you the Good News of the Gospel while you are living. That is; accept Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, wrong doing. After you die, and see these truths for yourself, it will be too late for you to choose God. You say, it’s too hard to believe in something, or someone you can’t see, yet you believe in gravity, and the wind! It takes faith, and God gave everyone a measure of faith to get you started. Please act on it. Don’t live, or should I say die, to regret your decision.

One last thing; “Thank you,” to everyone who reads this blog regularly, or once in a while. Each post starts with prayer, asking God what He wants to say to you. I do my best to transmit his words to your hearts. I pray for you as I write, “Words, inspiring you to grow in God”.

Life Changing Love

October 5, 2019October 4, 2019 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Charlie 1.png There is this unbelievable feeling when you are in love with someone. You think about them all the time. You can’t wait to see, talk, or be with them again. There is nothing else that feels the same way. This is how I feel about my wife. Ok, I know some of you, who know us, will say, “Yeah, but you two have only been married 7 months!” This may be true, but you see I have purposed in my heart to never fall “out” of love with her. I have this desire to forever find another way, to make her feel loved.

Which is a nice segue into my second point. A greater feeling than loving someone else is knowing that you are loved by them. Again, I have to point to my wife. She is so understanding, patient, and forgiving. Knowing I am loved by her will cause me to smile for no particular reason.

But even greater than her love, is God’s love. His love is perfect, and again I will smile when I sense his love come over me in waves. Not because He just did something for me, but because I am his child. God can’t help but love us because, after all, He is love. (1 John 4:8)

Ways to experience this kind of love:

This kind of love is recognized when you spend time with God.
This kind of love is known after spending time reading the Bible, and learning how He has loved others.
This kind of love is solidified by loving God back. You do that by praising him, and worshipping him. When you are confident, knowing how much God loves you, nothing that happens to you in life can threaten your relationship with God.

Be love to others:

In the current condition of our world, we, who know, have, and trust in God’s love need more now than ever to share that kind of love with others, who may be lost, confused, or scared. God’s love through you, might just be the very thing that saves their life now and for eternity!

The Account of Your Life

July 27, 2019July 17, 2019 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

Charlie 89 The truth about the bottom line of your life is this:

Whether you choose of your own will, to accept God now, or after you die, is up to you. God has given you that freewill! When you die:

You will stand before Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:10
You will confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Philippians 2:11
Then God will open a book. This one will be a “Life Ledger” giving an account of how you spent your time on earth. Revelation 20:12

Did you reject God, and only live for yourself? Or did you live for God, and help others? Possibly you accepted God, but never learned to love. You thought, “I don’t sin too much!” Then there will be those who do well for others, but never accepted God. The level of punishment in hell will be based on the bottom line of your “Life Ledger”. Or, the amount of reward in heaven will be based on the bottom line of your “Life Ledger”. If your wrong doing (sin) here on earth has been paid for, by Jesus’ death on the cross, then the only thing left to your account is good.

Then God will look in the Lambs Book of Life to see if your name is indeed recorded in it, or if it has been blotted out. Revelation 20:15

Think about “blotted out”. That indicates your name was in the book to begin with! Then who took it out? YOU! If your name has not been blotted out, you will be allowed to enter heaven. Otherwise, you will be sent to hell. You will be in either place for eternity. As my cousin once said, “Eternity? That’s like, a very long time!” In fact, “time” will cease because wherever we are, we won’t need it.

So take an account of your life now. Today, before it is too late. What’s your bottom line?