GOD PROTECTS AND PROVIDES

Another memory of my early childhood took place when I was somewhere between three and five years old. My sister and I live with our grandmother in a small house in Theo, Mississippi. We didn’t have running water, but God had put a spring in the woods behind the house. I don’t remember me and my sister going there many times, though. It was a good distance from the house and down a steep hill. 

I remember a man in an old green car bringing us water in glass orange juice jugs. His name was Jimbo. We helped our grandmother carry those jugs of water, that God had provided for us, into the house, and into the kitchen, where she put them on the counter, beside the sink. 

At some point, we got a water faucet outside, by the front porch. Then we didn’t have to carry water from the spring or have someone else bring us water. We were living the life then. It reminds me of the time God made water come out of a rock, to provide for his people in the wilderness.

One day I went to get some water from the faucet and saw a spider hanging there. When it saw me it quickly climbed up its web and went inside the faucet. I had my own “Itsy, Bitsy Spider.” At least that’s what I thought at the time. I was quite a bit older before I realized that a water spout and a faucet were two different things.

I remember a lot that happened while we lived there, in that little house in Theo. I remember my Aunt and uncle, and cousins coming to visit. Our cousins were older than us, but they would always make a mess in our kitchen, and leave without cleaning it up. After they would leave, we would help our grandmother clean up, and get the place back like it was before they came. We loved our home that God had provided for us.

One time, while our uncle and his family were visiting, my sister ran into his open car door and cut the corner of her eye. She did the same thing with our dad’s car door. I don’t remember which one happened first, but she ended up with almost identical scars on both eyes. She was blessed that her eyes were not badly damaged.

My grandmother kept food beside the bed for us in case we woke up hungry, and I remember waking up and eating in bed. I never remember going hungry. God has always provided food for us as far back as I can remember. 

Our neighbor would get drunk some nights and would be mean to his wife, and son. I remember waking up on more than one occasion and seeing them sitting in our living room in the middle of the night. God provided a safe place for them while that man was drunk.

Another time, a man was mowing our yard, and my grandmother was outside doing something. The mower hit a wire clothes hanger and flung it right into her leg. It made a big bloody mess. She came in with the wire sticking out of her leg, and if I remember correctly, she had to get some pliers to pull it out. She bled like a stuck hog, but thankfully, it didn’t do any real damage.

A few years before that, when my sister was two years old, she had a bad accident. It was winter, and we had a wood heater. Somehow she fell over on it, and just laid there screaming, with her head touching the heater, for what seemed like forever. I don’t even think she went to the doctor, though. They just put something in a tube on it and fixed her right up. To this day, though, there is a spot on my sister’s head where no hair will grow, but thankfully, it’s only about the size of a quarter, and her other hair covers it. 

We were in the garden one day, and my aunt screamed, grabbed me, and pulled me back. She saw the snake just before I stepped on it. I could have been bitten, but thank God I wasn’t.

Another time, when I was five years old, I was on the front porch, and a hornet stung me right between the eyes. I was allergic to bee stings, and I started swelling fast. There was a house church in our neighborhood, and they happened to be having service. My grandmother, and my mother, took me there for prayer. I remember everybody praying, and all the while, my eyes were swelling tighter, and tighter, until I couldn’t see anymore. I must have passed out because that’s the last I remember about that. 

For years, I thought God didn’t answer their prayer, but he did. They were praying for me to be okay, and not die. I did tell you I was allergic to bee stings, didn’t I? As a matter of fact, I was stung several more times over the years, and now I’m barely allergic at all. I guess my body has built up an immunity to the toxin. God knows what he’s doing. We can trust him, and as we look back at our past, we can see many times when God took care of us, protected us, and even though we may have suffered pain, he often saved us from something much worse.

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WHEEL OF MISFORTUNE

I believe I was four, or five years old at the time. My sister was sixteen months younger than me. We were playing outside by a tree in the sideyard of our humble little home in the small town of Theo. The same place we lived when my sister rode The Horse That Almost Reached The Sky. All of a sudden we heard a faint noise coming from somewhere up the road. It sounded a bit like a helicopter, but not exactly. It sounded somewhat like the wings of a thousand hummingbirds, but we knew that wasn’t what it was. All we could do was wondered what could it be.

As the noise came closer, we ran to the front porch where our grandmother was sitting with our aunt. Soon we found out what was making that awful noise. It was a gang of bikers on their motorcycles. There must have been a hundred, or more. As they came closer, the noise got louder, and soon all we could see was dust on the road. We lived on a gravel road, and our house was pretty close to it. We only had a small front yard. Thinking about it now, those motorcycles remind me of a cattle stampede.

After what seemed like forever, the noise started to fade, and soon the dust began to settle. In a few minutes, we began to be able to see the road again. Wow! It was kind of exciting, but scary at the same time. Kind of like watching a wild animal in the open woods. You want to keep watching to see what it does, but at the same time, you want to run for your life.

After a while, we went back to whatever we were playing out in the yard by the tree. We had forgotten about the motorcycles. We were engrossed in our childhood fun, when our aunt called out to us, and said, “Y’all come back to the porch, I hear them cranking up. They’re coming back.”

With that, we ran back to the porch. It wasn’t long until we saw the bikers coming around the curve bringing a cloud of dust with them. It was basically the same scene all over again as far as we could tell. We couldn’t see much farther than the edge of our porch. We couldn’t see the road at all. Then all of a sudden, out of the cloud of dust we saw a scary sight. A lone motorcycle wheel sped past the porch and smacked right into the very tree where we had been playing only a few minutes earlier.

I don’t remember if the guy whose motorcycle lost the wheel was hurt or not, but I do remember telling my kids that story when teaching them about obeying their parents. My grandmother raised us, so she was our parent. God tells us to obey our parents (Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:20, Exodus 20:12). Our aunt, our grandmother’s sister, helped her in our raising as well. Plus, we were taught back then to respect our elders.

If we had not listened and gotten away from that tree, we might have gotten hurt. Maybe pretty bad. That was a big wheel, and it smacked that tree pretty hard. I miss being a kid. I miss living in that little house, and I miss my grandmother. I’m looking forward to that day when Jesus comes to restore everything back to the perfect condition he created it in, In The Beginning. My anticipation grows stronger every day.

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WHEN DADDY CAME TO VISIT

I was somewhere between three, and five years old, and it was early Autumn. It was cloudy, and dreary outside, so my sister and I were playing inside when we heard a knock on the door. As we wondered who it could be, our grandmother went to see. When she opened the door, there stood our dad. He came in and we ran over to greet him. We asked him where our mother was, and he said, “She’s at home. She don’t know I’m here.” He said, “Get ready, and we’ll go surprise her.” He told my grandmother to get ready, and we would all go to his house for a few days. She quickly gathered everything she thought we would need, and we were ready to go. We all crammed into his black, 1953 Dodge truck, and we were on our way.

When we arrived, my sister and I got out as quickly as we could and ran inside to see our mother and our little sister. Our mom was happy to see us and was glad to hear we were staying a few days. We asked her if she was surprised, and she said yes, and that it was a great surprise.

My dad and uncle went hunting, and we spent some time with our little sister, while our mom and grandmother spent some time together, cooking and talking. Later that evening, after dark, the hunters returned with a dead raccoon. They skinned it and made some sausages. I remember seeing my uncle wearing a Coonskin Cap that night. He probably had it already, but for years, I thought he made the cap that night from that raccoon. That would have been pretty nasty, I’m sure.

In my parent’s house, breakfast always consisted of mackerels, boiled in a bit of water, and biscuits to sop up the soup. It was pretty good. Then there was the “Thickened Gravy” made with chicken-flavored bullion cubes. It was always good, too. Mom and dad would take turns making the Chocolate Gravy, but, no matter which one made it, it was always delicious.

For lunch that day, we got to try the sausages. They tasted pretty good, but I don’t recommend it, since raccoons are scavengers. They’ll eat anything.

My mom always made T-Cakes when we would visit. She would mix it all up, and get it ready to make into cakes, then she would give us a little to eat before she cooked them. It was pretty good, but nothing compared to how good they were after twenty minutes in the oven at three hundred and fifty degrees. She was a pretty good cook, and she made the best iced-tea in the world.

That night, a torrential downpour came. It rained for the longest time. The roof was covered with tin, and we could hear every drop that fell on it. I remember Daddy coming in, soaking wet. As he took off his coat, he said there were small fish falling from the sky. I had no reason to disbelieve him at the time, but when I was older and got to know him better, I thought he might have been joking, when I would think about that night. I never thought to ask him if it really happened, but I do know there have been recorded reports of “Raining Fish” as far back as the 1600s, so I guess it’s possible.

Well, soon the time came to go back home. We were sad we had to leave, but our home was with our grandmother. She was a pretty awesome cook herself. We went back home to our quaint, little house, and resumed life as usual.

I’ve always been thankful for those few days, and for all the other times we got to spend with our parents. Those memories will always be dear to my heart, but I’m so grateful to my grandmother for raising us and taking such good care of us. Our mom and dad were not yet Christians at the time, but our grandmother was. I’m so thankful for the values she taught us, and for introducing us to Jesus. I’m looking forward to the day when Jesus comes and gathers the dead and the living believers, and we can all be together as a family once again. Until then I have my memories.

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A MAN ON THE EDGE

It’s one fifteen in the morning. Chris is startled from sleep by a blood-chilling scream. By the time he gathers his senses, he realizes the scream came from his own mouth. The dream again. The same dream, over and over, for years. A better description would be a nightmare. This one is not as bad as some of the others he has, almost nightly, but this one keeps coming back. The sweat burns his eyes as he tries to catch his breath, and he wonders, “What’s going on with me?” He won’t get much sleep for the rest of the morning. Six a.m. will come, and he will be so tired he won’t be able to function properly all day.

That’s the way it’s been for several years now. The meaning of many of his nightmares is perfectly clear to Chris, but he doesn’t have a clue about this one. Maybe that’s why it haunts him. Maybe he needs to understand. He just doesn’t know. What he does know is that it’s not normal. He knows that everybody doesn’t dream the same dream over and over, again and again, year after year. He wishes to be normal. He wishes he could get some sleep.

The lack of sleep, and the pressures of work, along with a thousand other problems, have led to anxiety and depression, which have given rise to other problems, both physical and emotional. All this is having a negative effect on his relationships with his family and friends, and it’s affecting his performance at his job, as well.

Now, he lies in bed, tossing and turning, trying desperately to get back to sleep. His mind just won’t rest. It won’t even slow down. One thought jumps to another, and another, and then another until they all run together. Finally, after hours of restlessness, Chris finally falls asleep. Less than an hour later his alarm goes off. He hits the snooze to rest a few more minutes. By the time he gets awake enough to move, he realizes he has overslept.

Running late again, he fights his way through the thick rush of morning traffic. Finally, he makes it to work. The morning wears on slowly, and he is bombarded with paperwork. He has several moments where he almost walks out, never to return, but he perseveres, and lunchtime finally arrives. Exhausted from lack of sleep, and drained from the morning’s toil, the last thing on his mind is food. All he can think about is closing his eyes and never opening them again. He goes to his car, sets the alarm on his watch for one hour, and quickly falls asleep.

An hour passes, and when the alarm on Chris’ watch startles him awake, he feels as though he had only just closed his eyes a minute ago. He drags himself out of his car and back to work for two more terribly long, agonizing hours. Quitting time finally arrives, bringing with it a breath of fresh air, and a sigh of relief. Still, Chris feels overwhelmed and drained of all his energy, so he drags himself to his car, and heads home for the day.

As he drives home, he thinks to himself, “There’s gotta be more to life than this. If not, why even go on living?” Just then, he looks up at the sky, and says out loud, “Why don’t you help me, God?” He spends the rest of the ride home talking to Jesus and hoping for some kind of answer, some way to feel better, some peace, some closure. “It has to get better,” he says, “It has to.”

Does that sound familiar in any way? It’s sad that, so often, we have to reach our lowest point before we call on God for help. He wants to be our friend and constant companion in all situations. In the good times as well as the bad. Many times a situation would have been resolved long before it escalated into something unbearable if we would only stay in constant communication with God, as Jesus did when he was on earth.

In today’s world, a close relationship with Jesus is what we all need to stay on the right track. We are being attacked on every side. We need his help to remain strong in the face of opposition. Christian persecution may not have affected you yet, but Christians around the world are being persecuted and killed every day. None of us can stand for God in the face of such evil acts unless we spend time, daily, in his presence.

Trust him (Psalm 9:10). Obey him (Luke 11:28). Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Give him all your burdens (1 Peter 5:7), and he will give you strength to face anything, and still be able to stand up for him and his truth. ---

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Adapted for the book “Inspiration For The Journey” by Teddy Lynn © 2012-2016 All Rights Reserved

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LESSONS ON THE JOURNEY - PART 2

Two months ago, Herbert Brown and his family moved from the city of River Port, Mississippi to the quiet peaceful little town of Cedar Creek. It’s the 16th day of January, and everyone is in the living room enjoying the warm fire and some hot cocoa.

Charlotte is preparing lunch for her family, and Herbert is keeping the fire going. Mark, the youngest, is staring at the fire dancing in the fireplace, as daddy puts more wood in.

Billy and Cindy are looking out the window, hoping the snow that the weatherman predicted will come soon, so they may get to go out, and play in it today. With joy in their eyes, they recalled all the fun they had playing in the snow the previous winter in River Port, and how they had made snow cream, snow angels, and built a snowman...

Suddenly, the snow began to fall and they both shout at the same time, “It’s snowing.” With excitement in his voice, Billy asked, “Mom, can we go out, and play in the snow?” “Not right now,” came the reply from Mother. “It’s almost time to eat. Go wash up.”

“Can we go out after we eat?” Cindy asked as she ran from the window. We’ll see,” Mother said. “OK,” Cindy groaned, with disappointment in her voice. Then Mark asked, “Mommy, what does WILSIE mean?” Before Charlotte could answer, Billy spoke up and said, “It means, no.” Neither Herbert nor Charlotte could keep from laughing. “I guess it does seem like that sometimes, but it simply means we’ll have to wait, and see what’s going on later. You may be able to, and you may not. It’s not YES, and it's not NO.” I guess it means the same thing as, maybe.

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ARE YOU BEING DECEIVED?

No one wants to believe they are deceived. No one wants to believe they could ever be deceived. Because of this fact, many are deceived and don’t even have a clue. There’s a song that says “them that don’t know, don’t know they don’t know.” Do you get it? If you don’t know something, then you’re not aware that you don’t know it. If a person is deceived they don’t know they are deceived.

With so many different denominations and religious movements teaching so many different doctrines, it’s difficult to know what the truth is. Difficult, but not impossible. There are those who study the Bible to understand for themselves what it teaches, then there are those who don’t. Those who don’t have set themselves up to be deceived.

In the book of Acts, Paul, and Silas went to the city of Berea and went into the synagogue of the Jews. The Bible says the people of Berea received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures DAILY, to see if what they were being taught was true.

If you don’t want to be deceived concerning the Bible, then you need to read and study it for yourself. Even then you have to be careful and allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you to the truth. We can deceive ourselves if we don’t understand a few things first.

We put ourselves into everything we do in life. It’s impossible not to. Have you ever heard the expression, “Wherever You Go, There You Are?” Well, that’s true. Whatever we do, whatever we say, or write, comes from what we have seen, heard, or experienced. It’s no different when it comes to studying the Bible.

When we read something, we understand it based on how we think, and what we have learned. Even our understanding of word definitions color our thought process. That’s one reason there are so many different variations of the same doctrines and so many different denominations.

When reading the Bible there are several things we need in order to understand it properly. One is a desire to know the truth and understand God’s word. Another is a realization that this book was written a long time ago, in a place, and about a place far away from where most of us live today. We also need to understand that there are words and phrases in the Bible that mean something different now than when they were written.

I recommend you have a Strong’s Concordance when studying the Bible. It will help you understand what certain words meant when they were written and what words the English words were translated from. I also recommend the Free computer program called e-Sword which has the Strong’s Concordance integrated and a ton of other helpful tools. e-Sword is now available for iPhones and iPads as well.

The Bible usually interprets itself, and the King James Version has a built-in dictionary that shows you the meanings of many words and phrases right in the text. The more familiar you become with the Bible, the better you’ll understand it, so read it every day.

We should always come to the Bible as little children, with humble, teachable spirits, and be willing to change our beliefs when we realize that they are different from God’s Truth. We should always pray and ask God to guide us in our understanding of scripture. Who better to help us understand the word of God than the One who inspired the men who wrote it? (2 Peter 1:21)

You must put away all preconceived ideas. This may sound radical, but try this the next time you pick up your Bible. Pray first and ask God to show you the truth, and keep you from being deceived. Then, forget everything you think you know about the Bible. Forget all you’ve heard and all you’ve been taught about the Bible. Forget what your denomination teaches, and read the Bible like it’s a brand new book you’re reading for the first time. Only then will you begin to understand the truth of God’s word. If everyone will do this, the Bible will finally become to us the book that God intended it to be from the beginning, and we will join the ranks of those who make up the true church scattered throughout the entire world. The ones who know the truth, and have been made free by it.

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GOING HOME

I’ve always found it interesting that one thing can remind us of another so much that it makes us say, Wow! That happens to me quite often. I was studying the Bible a while back and came to the story where the people of God were taken by force from their home and relocated to Babylon. Immediately I was reminded of a time in my life when I was taken by force from my home and relocated to another place.

I was eight years old when two of my sisters and I were taken from our home and put into foster care. Two of us were placed with the same family, while our youngest sister, at the time, was placed with another family on the other side of town from us. When we were older, I found out that we were there for less than two months, but back then, it had felt like an eternity.

Like the captives of King Nebuchadnezzar, we were not happy to be torn away from all we had ever known, moved to a place where we had never been, and where we knew no one.

Like those Jews, we did enjoy some freedoms, but things weren’t all roses. Everything was so different there. We were in another town. We were with people we didn’t know, and we were sent to a different school. We were totally cut off from our family and friends, just like the Children of Israel when they were taken captive.

I know some of those Jews trusted God without any doubts, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but I can imagine some of them were just as afraid as we were and felt just as helpless as we did. We were so sad. I remember crying at night and calling out to God. I prayed every day and begged Him to rescue us and take us back home.

One afternoon when we got off the school bus at our foster home, a man was waiting there for us. I’ll never forget the joy I felt when he told us he had come to take us home. We grabbed our things as quickly as we could and got in his car. We drove to the other side of town and picked up our sister, then we were on our way.

When we arrived, our grandmother was waiting for us with open arms, and she showered us with hugs and kisses. We were so happy to see her again. We were so glad to be back home.

Our world has been captured by Satan and his forces, and we are his captives. When we recognize there is hope for us to be rescued, we call out to God and he saves us. Not because we’re good, and not because we deserve anything good, but simply because he loves us. God is so good, and I look forward to the day when he comes and takes us to our heavenly home so we can truly be free. He said he would someday. In John 14:2-3, he said,

14:2 There is plenty of room in my Father’s house. If not, I would have told you. I will go and prepare a place for you.
14:3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to myself, so that wherever I am, you may be also.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says,
16 Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and those who are dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who remain alive will be taken up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever.

In verse 18, Paul tells us to comfort each other with these words. Jesus is coming back to take us home. That’s something to look forward to. I’m looking forward to that day with great anticipation, and I don’t believe we’ll have to wait much longer. Are you ready? If not, don’t wait. Get ready now. He could return at any time. As the words of the old song say, “In a little while we’re going home.”

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THAT I AM

In Exodus chapter 3, we read the story of Moses and the burning bush. God told him to go to Egypt and rescue the children of Israel from slavery. Moses asked God, “when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they will say to me, What is his name? What shall I tell them?”

Exodus 3:14 
14 And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, This is what you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.

I remember reading this when I was young and thinking it just didn’t sound right. It sounded like it was written wrong. When I got older and had access to different versions of the Bible I noticed a lot of them replaced THAT with WHO so it read “I AM WHO I AM.” Well, that doesn’t sound any better to me.

At the end of verse 14, God says “Tell them I AM has sent you.” He said his name is I AM. Looking back at the first part then, we can see “I AM WHO I AM” is not a good translation. In fact, it changes the whole meaning of the verse.

He was saying, I am THAT “I AM” who your ancestors knew and served. (Exodus 3:6, 15)

Suppose there is a famous man named Rocky Alverson, and we have never seen him before, but we’ve heard a lot about him. When we meet him, and he tells us he is Rocky Alverson, we might ask him this famous question, “THE Rocky Alverson?” That’s what God was telling Moses. “I am THAT I AM who they have heard of. I AM is my name. I am That I AM, or The I AM.” That’s why we sing songs about The great I AM. That’s his name.

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ETERNAL LIFE OR ETERNAL DEATH?

Eternal Life: Have you heard of it? Sure you have. Basically, it means living forever? Does it really exist? If so, are we born with it? If not, how do we receive it?

Have you ever heard that we all have an immortal soul? Well, the bible says only God is immortal (1 Tim. 1:17), and humans are mortal, not immortal (Job 4:17). The Bible tells us in several places that we can live forever with Jesus. If God is immortal and humans are not, then how can we live forever? To answer that question we must first answer a few other questions.

1) WHAT IS DEATH?

John 11:11-14
11. …[Jesus] said to them, Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I go, that I may wake him out of sleep.
12. Then his disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he will do well.
13. But, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking of taking rest in sleep.
14. Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

Psalm 13:3
3. Consider and hear me, O Lord my God. Lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.

ANSWER:
The Bible says Death is a Sleep. The dead are asleep in their graves. So what does that do to the theory that people go to heaven, or hell, or purgatory when they die?

2) WHERE DO PEOPLE GO WHEN THEY DIE?

Job 14:10-12
10. But man dies and wastes away. Yes, man gives up the ghost (H1478), and where is he?
11. As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decays and dries up,
12. So man lies down and rises not. Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up, nor be raised out of their sleep.

Job 7:9-10
9. As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he that goes down to the grave will come up no more.
10. He will return no more to his house, neither will his place know him anymore.

Daniel 12:2
2. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will wake up, some to eternal life, and some to shame and eternal contempt.

John 5:28-29
28. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves will hear his voice,
29. And will come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.

Acts 2:29, 34
29. Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day.

34. For David is NOT ascended into the heavens:

ANSWER: 
People go to the grave at death, NOT heaven, NOT hell, NOT purgatory, NOR limbo, and they don’t come back to their homes to visit loved ones or to haunt their house. They are asleep. They are Unconscious. They are Dead.

3) WHAT ARE THE DEAD DOING RIGHT NOW?

Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
5. For the living know that they will die: but the dead do not know anything, neither do they have any more reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy have now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.

Psalm 146:3-4
3. Do not put your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no help.
4. His breath goes forth, he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish. (We stop thinking the moment we die)

Psalm 30:9
9. What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it declare your truth? (God’s Truth)

Psalm 6:5
5. For in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave who will give you thanks? (Talking to God)

Psalm 115:17
17. The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence.

ANSWER: 
The dead are not doing anything. They don’t know anything at all. The day they die, they stop thinking. They don’t remember anything. They don’t praise God. If they were in heaven, they would be thinking AND praising God. They are asleep in the grave. Unconscious. Dead.

4) KING DAVID AND THE REST OF GOD’S PEOPLE ARE ASLEEP IN THE GRAVE. WHEN WILL THEY GO TO HEAVEN?

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
51. Behold, I show you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

Job 14:13-15
13. O that you would hide me in the grave, that you would keep me secret until your wrath passes, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14. If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my appointed time I will wait until my change comes.
15. You will call, and I will answer you. You will have a desire to the work of your hands.

John 5:28-29
28. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves will hear his voice,
29. And will come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-16
15. For this, we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who are asleep.
16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first:

ANSWER: 
The dead in Christ, those who have been born again, who are asleep in the grave, will be raised from death and will meet Jesus in the air at his second coming.

5) WHAT ABOUT THE SOUL? DOESN’T THE SOUL LIVE FOREVER, EITHER IN HEAVEN OR HELL?

Ezekiel 18:20
20. The soul that sins, it will die. (A soul can die)

Ezekiel 18:4
4. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it will die.

Revelation 16:3
3. And the second angel poured out his vial on the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

Jeremiah 2:34
34. Also in your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: (A soul has blood)

Revelation 18:11-13
11. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her; for no one buys their merchandise anymore:
12. The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all kinds of vessels of ivory, and all kinds of vessels of most precious wood, and brass, and iron, and marble,
13. And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

ANSWER: 
A soul is alive. (Revelation 16:3) 
A soul can die. (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) 
A soul can be bought and sold. (Revelation 18:11-13) 
A soul has blood. (Jeremiah 2:34)
A soul is not immortal. (Job 4:17)
Only God is immortal. (1 Timothy 1:17)

6) SO WHAT EXACTLY IS A SOUL?

Genesis 2:7
7. And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. (Man IS a soul)

Psalm 104:29-30
29. You hide your face, they are troubled. You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
30. You send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.

Job 33:4 
4. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

Job 27:3 
3. All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit (breath) of God is in my nostrils; (spirit = breath in this verse)

Isaiah 2:22 
22. Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

ANSWER:
Man does not “HAVE” a soul, Man “IS” a soul. The Body plus the Breath of Life equals a LIVING SOUL. Humans are MORTAL. That means we do not have eternal life. No one will live forever unless God gives us Immortality. He only gives immortality to the faithful who have been born again, then we will live forever. That is our reward for being faithful and following him. Those who are not saved CAN NOT live forever. That brings up another question.

7) WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE UNSAVED SOULS AT THE SECOND COMING?

John 3:16
16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Romans 6:23 
23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ezekiel 18:20
20. The soul that sins, it will die.

ANSWER:
These verses tell us there are only 2 choices. LIVE FOREVER or DIE. ETERNAL LIFE or DEATH. Strong’s Concordance says the word “PERISH” means to DIE, or BE DESTROYED, TO BE NO MORE (No Longer Exist). We’ve already seen that ONLY GOD is IMMORTAL. He only gives IMMORTALITY to the righteous, not the wicked, and if our sins are not forgiven we will DIE. This death is the second death from which there is no resurrection. Not just eternal separation from God, but eternal DEATH.

8) WHAT ABOUT THE SECOND DEATH?

Revelation 2:11 
11. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He that overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.

Revelation 20:6
6. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.

Revelation 20:14 
14. And death and hell (the grave) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Revelation 21:8 
8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore-mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars will have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

ANSWER:
The Bible is clear. We are not immortal. Only God is. Eternal life is a gift from God to those who follow Him.

So, at the second coming of Jesus, the saved who have died will be resurrected with new bodies. The bodies of the saved who are still alive at that time will be changed and made new. This is the reward of the faithful. Eternal Life.

Those who are not saved will receive their reward at this time. They will DIE in hell fire. Not burn forever, as some believe, but DIE. Malachi 4:1 says they will be burned up. Destroyed. In verse 3 Malachi says they will be ashes. Jesus took the penalty for our sins. He DIED. The wages of sin is DEATH, not burning forever. Hell fire is not the penalty for sin. Death is. Hell fire is just the means that God will use to destroy sin. There are only two choices. We will either live forever, or we will be destroyed.

For more about Hell, go to http://www.helltruth.com

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