Archive for the ‘Heaven Bound’ Category

Heavenly Deposit

Posted: November 16, 2025 in Heaven Bound
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I had the opportunity to spend some time with an old work friend recently who I hadn’t seen for a long time. At one point, we had worked together every day for two years but after I left that company, I lost touch with him. But as luck would have it, I had the chance to re-connect with him over some dinner so I took advantage. 

As you can imagine, we talked about the usual work stuff and family stuff but somehow the topic bent toward him planning to win the lottery. 

To be clear, in MY mind, that topic was mentally wasting energy because the chances of winning are not worth spending the time thinking about what you would do with all that money. But as I sat there and listened to my friend talk, I realized he had taken this lottery-planning topic to a whole new level. 

Honestly, the amount of detail he had already planned out was utterly amazing. He knew what businesses and stocks he would invest in, who he planned to give money to, and how much. He knew what upgrades he would make to his home, where he would take his first vacation, how he would quit his job, and the list went on and on. 

He even worked out a plan to help his kids pay off their student loans, buy his parents, sister, and nephews new homes…and guys, I could keep going. I finally interrupted him and asked him why? Why would you invest so much of your time and brainpower on a topic that will most likely NEVER happen? 

He replied simply, “ah, but it could, and I want to be prepared”

“Prepared”, I thought. “That is an Interesting concept.”

From your perspective, what does it really take to be prepared for anything? Investing your time and brain power towards something helps one be prepared. However, from a Christian persepctive, Christ told us to prepare by storing up for ourselves, treasures in Heaven. 

In other words, preparation for eternity…not preparation for winning the lottery, or for that matter, anything else here on earth. Besides, like my Dad always used to say, “you can’t take it with you”.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can consume, and where thieves can neither break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt. 6:20-21

So what is a treasure in heaven? How can I have any connection with heaven while I am still here and living on this earth? 

Here is how I look at this; my friend was investing huge amounts of his physical time thinking about a fantasy event rather than thinking about how to make a difference now. 

For example, how about spending more time with his kids, or his wife, or both? What about focusing on or engaging with a particular subject that might make him better or even the people around him better? 

The way I see it, all of these suggestions are treasures that are being stored in heaven for him. It truly is like making a deposit in a bank or better yet, it’s an investment in your heavenly eternal future.

Jesus said, “How will they know me? By how YOU love one another”

Pretty simple actually. If we take the time to be kind to someone, anyone…when you aren’t required to do so… it helps them, but believe it or not, that is also a treasure YOU have stored in heaven. 

What you do here on earth is preparation for your eternal future…and it is SAFE

You see…everything we store up in heaven is safe…forever. There are not any malware or viruses that can wipe out your deposits in Heaven. Christ said in that same verse above, where neither moth nor rust can consume, and where thieves can neither break through nor steal.

NOTHING can destroy what you have stored there…It is safe for all eternity

My simple advice:

Why don’t we try to get out of our own way and focus on each other for a change, and watch what happens…

What I think you will find is a far happier group of family and friends because you aren’t 100% solely focused on you…or like my friend at the beginning of this post, who simply spent too much time planning for something that would never happen

So as you begin to look and plan for this next year, 2026…my recommendation is to start making your own heavenly deposits sooner rather than later…

Honestly, your future depends on it…

Until next time Guys…

Salvation isn’t Easy

Posted: January 19, 2025 in Heaven Bound
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You may be stunned slightly by the title of this post but I needed to get your attention. I found myself in the book of Matthew recently where Jesus was finishing up His famous Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon, He literally blew listeners’ minds that day due to the power and authority that He spoke with. But that isn’t why I call your attention to that message today, instead, this is when He talks about the wide and narrow gates. Have you heard of this before?

Let me quote what He said for you so we are on the same page.

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. Matthew 7:13-14

Simply put, Jesse points out the two choices you and I have in life; the wide gate and the narrow one.

The wide gate is the natural choice from a human point of view. Why? Because mankind gravitates towards sin. Our raw nature prefers darkness and falling in step with what is going on around us. Unfortunately, many of us have chosen this wide gate because it is the path of least resistance. This path doesn’t ask you to limit yourself because there are no boundaries. There is even tolerance for sin just as long as you say you love Jesus.

One of my favorite authors, John MacArthur, describes the wide gate this way, “And, if you insist on taking luggage, the wide gate may be more appealing. It is marked “Heaven…it may even be marked “Jesus “…but it is not going to Heaven and it has nothing to do with Jesus. It is the gate for the religion of the masses, a wide open gate through which anyone can pass without jettisoning self-righteousness, pride, material possessions, or even sin. But there is no salvation for those who choose this gate”

Where does entering the wide gate take you?

Read Matthew 7:21-23

Alternatively, Jesus also talks about the narrow gate, but, more importantly, “few are those who find it”.

Why do so few people find the narrow gate? Because you have to look for it. Jeremiah 29:13 is clear when it says, You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all of your heart. The message of Christ does not conform to what we need but rather WE are required to do the changing. MacArthur also tells us “Jesus did not want casual followers,  but people willing to give their lives for Him.”

Guys, the bottom line for you and me, God intentionally makes the narrow path difficult. He demands that those who REALLY want to follow Him step out of the crowd and pick up His cross.

Like I said, Salvation isn’t easy. But His plan is for you to become a changed person inside your heart along your journey. What does “changed” mean to you and me? One who does the “will of the Father”. Remember, the test of true faith is whether or not it produces obedience…and that is what validates your Salvation.

What is your reward for living a life like this?

Eternal life with the Savior who made it all possible for all of us.

Until next time Guys,

MacArthur, John. The Gospel According to Jesus. Michigan: Zondervan, 2008

Getting Back to the Basics

Posted: July 20, 2024 in Heaven Bound
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I have always enjoyed the carefully worded answers that new coaches give when speaking to the media about how they plan on turning around a poorly performing football program; “We are going back to the basics” or “We are starting again with the fundamentals of this game, blocking and tackling, etc.” They always say the same thing because they want their players to forget about the past and focus on the present. New coaches don’t want memories of bad seasons to haunt their message of a new beginning. I completely understand why coaches speak this way, which is why I think this same method can work for this blog post. 

I believe we need to get back to the fundamentals of how God intended our relationship to be with Him because I know God had a different plan for interacting with us than what is going on in our world today…So let’s start there…

I have always been fascinated by the dozens of times the phrase “Fear of God” or “Fear of the Lord” is mentioned in the Bible. I think it is very obvious that if the Bible mentions the same subject repeatedly, you might want to pay attention because it’s probably important. As is the case here, the Bible tells us:

The Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom…(Proverbs 9:10)

The Lord has compassion on those who fear Him (Psalms 103:13)

Moses even told us in Psalms “Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is a great as the fear that is due you.” (Psalms 90:11)

Now I think it is safe to assume that the wrath of God is beyond anything we can imagine because none of us have seen His wrath personally. So if Moses tells us His wrath is as great as the fear due Him? then, I think we are extremely “out-of-balance” in our relationship with the Almighty. 

In other words, do you ever think about fearing God as a part of your daily life? Has that thought ever crossed your mind before? If it hasn’t, I’m not surprised because that lack of understanding of who God is, to me, is the core problem and why I am writing this post now. This is what I meant earlier about returning to the fundamentals of our faith because I believe this society is lacking a healthy “reverent fear of God” (1 Peter 1:17).

I am suggesting that we either have forgotten who God is or we never really understood our relationship with Him in the first place. Unfortunately, I think the latter is more accurate. 

To take this thought a step further, when the idea of God is lowered to our human level, then life becomes very hard to live out the way He intended because how do we “Fear Him” if we think we are on the same level with Him?… As if He is our “buddy”.

A.W. Tozer, the theologian said, It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. He also said It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the 20th century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute for professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity.

Now I understand that times have changed even from when he wrote these words in 1961 and I agree our society is completely different from what it was back then, but I think Tozer’s point still resonates. 

We have drifted our focus from Him…to all the important “things” we deal with every day. Remember, when we are absent from Him, we are not close to Him so what I am suggesting to you today is going back to the fundamentals. 

Take a few quiet minutes each day to pause, pray, and reflect on God and who he is. The impact of this time will be mind-blowing and LIFE CHANGING…

You probably think I’m nuts because seriously, how could anyone take the time and do what I am suggesting? I mean who has the time? My answer is this; if you can just slow down long enough to grasp even a microscopic understanding of the Almighty God, how HUGE He is and how small we are…and yet He cares for you, He loves you because you’re YOU.

This concept is so very hard to get our minds around because it is NOT what we hear in the world but I assure you, IT will change your life forever…

The overwhelming impact of this knowledge is we realize how selfish we have been for not enjoying our time with Him regularly…the Magnificent Creator who simply wants to hear from us…

I challenge you! Take the baton from me and run with it!

I have never been more sure of anything in my life…Getting back to the basics works.

Until next time guys…

Pride or Humility…It is your Choice

Posted: April 22, 2024 in Heaven Bound
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If you’re like me, the older I get, the more I learn, and the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know…but that is a whole other blog. This post is about my continuing revelation of how God constructed this whole “personal relationship with Jesus” idea and why I think its so hard for men to stay consistent. 

News Flash, yours (and mines) personal relationship with Christ must begin with humility.

Yes, I said Humility. But the problem is that “being humble” works directly against how we feel about ourselves while we live on earth. 

Face it guys, it is HARD to be humble when all we see is ego exhibited everyday of our lives. It seems like very athlete just seems to call attention to themselves. Not everyone…but a lot of them. A baseball player hits a monster home run and he just stands there and admires it as it leaves the ballpark…A body builder stands in front of the mirror and just stares and stares…

We live in such a “Me ONLY” focused world that as Christian men, its so easy to assimilate into that culture. Look at it this way, if you get up each day and don’t think about your relationship with Christ and just start your day with you driving, I can easily say that over time, you will find yourself moving towards prideful behavior. The influence is that strong.

Listen to how The Message translation of the Bible talks about this in Proverbs 16:18, First pride, then the crash – the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. That is pretty self explanatory isn’t it? God doesn’t have any place for pride or egos in His Kingdom. Its all about HIM, not us.

What you and I see around us here on earth was NOT the plan God had in mind. Rather, sin got in the way and it corrupted everything (Genesis 3 to be exact). As hard as this may be to grasp, pride is NOT from God. It was NOT created by God but rather it is from Satan and he is the one selling that crap to all of us through television, or online, or at the gym…

It is everywhere and conditioning you slowly.

Pride IS a wall keeping you from a relationship with God and it blocks your ability to communicate with Him. Once you reach a point that you are so full of yourself that you don’t think you need God, then the enemy has you where he wants you.


Remember the Bible also tells us in James 4:10 to Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. As I have told you before, NOW IS THE TIME to get right with God Guys! You can see the signs all around you just as easily as I can. 

Satan is working overtime to pull as many men and their families down as he can. 

Where do you plan on spending eternity?

My “ask” of you today is don’t let your ego be the reason you walk away from God. You might be very good at something…your job, or a sport, or something else…but remember that skill is a gift from Him and if you thank Him for it rather than act like it came from you, who knows, we just might be playing a pick up game on that Heavenly court in the sky.

I’ll meet you there…

Until next time Guys-

Sin is Crouching AT THE DOOR

Posted: February 25, 2024 in Heaven Bound
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Today, I want to go back to the very beginning of mankind for this post. Literally back to the beginning when Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel walked the earth. I imagine that almost everyone has heard of Adam and Eve sometime in their life. They are the first people created by God when he formed and made the earth and everything in it. They were technically not born, they were both created. God then put them in a place called Eden, which I think we can say was probably the most beautiful place that ever existed on this earth.

I think we can also say the same thing about Adam and Eve because they came directly from the mind and the power of God. Think about that for a second, they were the only perfect examples of humans that ever existed. Between physical characteristics, which I am sure was amazing, and their intelligence…literally the best…But I am digressing here so I need to get back on track.

So why are we talking about them today? I wanted to zero in on their 2 boys for a second, Cain and Abel who tend to be famous for the wrong reasons. If you have never heard of these guys, I will briefly recap their story so you can understand.

After Adam and Eve sinned and ate the forbidden fruit, God pushed them out of Eden into the regular world where they had to do back-breaking work every day to survive. During that next phase of their lives, Eve conceived and bore Adam 2 sons, the older one was Cain and the younger one was Abel. Cain was the farmer and made his living from the soil and Abel was the rancher who made his living with livestock. In the course of time, each of them brought an offering to the Lord from their production. The Bible says Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil and Abel brought the fatted portions, or in other words, the best of what he had, and gave as an offering to God.

It turns out, that God frowns on gifts that are NOT the best of what we can give. If we hold back our best, God will not look at us with favor and that is what happened to Cain. Worse yet, Cain became very angry at God and his brother and the Bible says, his face was downcast. The next 2 verses below are what I want you to see and hear today.

Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. Genesis 4:6-7 NIV

Think about this guys, the creator of Heaven had a conversation with Cain about what was happening inside of him. At this point, Satan is pushing Cain hard towards this anger and as we see very soon, Cain is unable to control it and he kills his brother Abel. God tried to step in and tell Cain directly and personally that SIN IS CROUCHING AT YOUR DOOR and…It desires to have you. He tried to prevent him from doing what came next. Cain chose the wrong path.

Guys, here is my newsflash to you…NOTHING has changed for any of us. Sin continues to crouch at all of our doors and it continues to desire to have you, me, all of us. 

BUT…if you take charge and resist and, as the Bible says in the same verse, RULE OVER IT, you can have success with overcoming the evil one at your door. 

If something or someone came after your family, what would you do? I know exactly what you would do…you would do anything to protect them and keep them safe from harm because that is what you are supposed to do. 

This situation is no different. Satan is coming after you because he desires to have you. Will you just roll over like Cain did and give in to anger? Or are you going to Rule over it as God himself told Cain to do and as He tells us to do?

THAT is my challenge to you today, Guys…RESIST and then RULE

Until next time Guys-

Eternal Life – What is it?

Posted: February 3, 2024 in Heaven Bound
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The Bible talks plainly about eternal life, which is, simply put, living forever with God as His saved people. This means that only those who have a saving relationship with God; meaning one that is active and fruitful, are identified as people who will receive eternal life.

Humanity, of course, has taken the concept of eternal life and added its dose of limited understanding to bring it down to a level where they can understand it in their terms and not in Gods. They have watered eternal life down to a point where either the concept is so ridiculous that they do not believe it, or they adjust what is required to get there so that they can live their life as they want to. Kind of the “have your cake and eat it too” mentality. I have seen this and I am sure you have as well.

Maybe you don’t believe in Eternal Life yourself…

I will be honest with you, Eternal life, without faith, is hard to understand. The idea of living forever is something we only see in the movies. Our collective reality is we are surrounded by death and even though living forever sounds amazing, it is hard to think that could happen. When your loved one passes, they are physically gone and until you die yourself and find out where they went by then it is too late.

Guys, I want to give you some help with this topic so we can better understand…but I have to warn you…this topic does require faith in what you cannot see. Remember, the author of Hebrews said it this way,

        Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

First of all, eternal life is more than some endless existence floating around somewhere. I am sure you have seen the cartoon of the guy floating around on a cloud playing the harp…that is NOT eternal life.

Eternal life will be a special quality of life that we as believers receive when we partake of the essential life of God through Christ His Son…all this means is you have an ongoing active relationship with Christ. And that eternal life I am speaking about is a present reality while you live on Earth. Jesus said it very plainly this way,

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

As I said, the present possession of eternal life requires a living faith…meaning at your very core, you believe. I must make clear that Eternal life is not just secured and maintained merely by repenting and having faith from a long time ago. But rather it involves the present living connection with Christ…Because there is NO eternal life apart from Him.

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:12

Finally, there is our FUTURE Hope…

We have a hope that lives in us because of our salvation in Him. The bottom line for you and me is that our Eternal life is directly connected with the future coming of Christ for all of His faithful believers. We have been given hope, through many scriptures that He will return and fulfill His promises.

..which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10

How can I sum this up for you? I specifically kept this post separated from the topic of Heaven as that is the “where” and I am referring to the “what”. Eternal life can begin on Earth with a saving salvation in Christ Jesus. That is living by the Spirit daily and something that you participate in like going to the gym. Yes, it is like exercising your spiritual muscle.

That daily and faithful relationship produces eternal fruit for you. But the easiest way to understand is to use the same verse we all learned as children:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only son so that whosoever believes in Him would not die, but have eternal life. John 3:16

I know this was short, but hopefully, this helped you grasp eternal life a little bit easier. Your walk in faith takes effort and time but the relationship you develop with Christ is the beginning of eternal life and will be the most rewarding thing you have ever experienced…that I can assure you.

Until next time, guys-

Is Good Enough, Good Enough to Get into Heaven?

Posted: January 28, 2024 in Heaven Bound
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Over the last year, I have found myself in conversations with different friends discussing Heaven and the different journeys we are taking to get there. What is clear to me is each of them has a very different viewpoint on how to get there and the direction we each are going is also very different. I think the most concerning takeaway I have gleaned from these conversations is the fact that many of them have a diluted idea of what God says in His word about this very topic. They believe strongly in the idea that being Good Enough, is good enough, to get to Heaven. 

You have probably heard this a thousand times but how could God send a good person to Hell?

If you live your life well, meaning you haven’t killed anyone or you haven’t wronged anyone, and although you are apart from Christ, why would living “that kind of life” sentence you to Hell?

Let’s begin this short blog by ensuring we are all on the same page with this one fact. You, me, Billy Graham, even Mother Teresa; there is absolutely no path available for any human being to earn their way into Heaven. With ALL of the amazing things that Mother Teresa did, literally saving thousands of children’s lives through her efforts…those actions were not good enough to get her into Heaven.

Billy Graham preached for over 50 years and I would say millions of people came to know Christ through his many years of ministry. Do you think that punched his ticket into eternity?

Think of it this way…No matter how amazing of a person you are on this Earth, there is NO version of a “better me” or a “better you” where we can achieve something that earns our gift of Heaven. All of us are born into this sinful, unclean world with no way of saving ourselves, and people who rely on “goodness only” as their life plan are going to be disappointed. Trust me.

Paul said, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” He also said, the wages of sin is death” Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23

The bottom line is, that is why Christ came. God knew we couldn’t do this on our own, so He sent Christ to pay the price we couldn’t pay. When we think that just being good enough is enough, there is an arrogance to that mindset which is the opposite of what is needed. God requires humility from us. We need Him, He doesn’t need us. But, He loves us and that is the difference.

If you hear just one thing from me today, please hear this, our human version of “good enough” is NOT good enough. Being just a good person is NOT good enough.

You and I need rescuing from this world but we can’t simply go along in life thinking good enough is good enough, because it isn’t. 

You are probably NOT hearing this from many people but please hear me today-

The key is, recognizing that you can’t get to Heaven on your own and that you need to receive forgiveness from Christ first…if you do, it will help ensure your stay at God’s Heavenly Hilton…and your own eternal life. I know these are hard words, but please know they are the truth.

Until next time Guys-

Friendship with this World

Posted: January 6, 2024 in Heaven Bound
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Do you think it is possible for a Christian Man or Woman to “ride the fence” so to speak with their relationship to this world and then with God? Can we do what we want Monday through Saturday and then make it all up to God on Sunday? I don’t know about you, but I have a work friend that does exactly that. He knows how I feel about what he is doing and so now he just avoids me.

So I thought about this issue recently on my way home from work and I realized that all I can do for this person is to NOT judge him, but rather just be there and be me. What I mean is, to show him that I can live in this world by creating boundaries for myself that I choose not to cross. As far as our friendship goes, I can and I WILL continue to be his friend but I just don’t approve of his choices.

My dad used to tell me right before a spanking, “I love you, son, I just don’t love what you did”…and that is where I am now with my friend.

Because of this situation, however, I went back and looked at what Scripture says about a Christian’s relationship with the world, and what I found was God has a lot to say on this subject. In fact, scripture is crystal clear on how we are to cohabitate while we are here on this earth.

Without preaching to anyone, here is how God feels about our relationship with this world. Again…He does not mince words and He starts with this statement below-

Friendship with the World is hatred toward God

Secondly, James had some very strong words for his audience when he spoke these scriptures below about their friendship with this world.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity (hostile) with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?  But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.    James 4:4-8

I get it. This is STRONG scripture but I think the important points to recognize are:

  1. If we are focused on anything ELSE other than Him. 
  2. If we are spending time on something that is a distraction from our relationship with Him.
  3. If we choose to not attend church to enjoy an activity outside regularly

Guys, the list goes on and on. But the reality is that if you find yourself compromising your walk or your relationship, then these scriptures, HOPEFULLY, can help bring you back to center so you can prioritize what is really important for your eternal future.

You, me, we have to separate ourselves from this world…just like scripture says

Jesus said it this way, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”  Matthew 6:24

My intent in writing this to you today is simply a reminder that because life does indeed go on, it is VERY easy to lose focus and compromise your faith. And the reality for us is that just because we are not focused on our walk with Him…HE STILL IS… and compromise is the first step towards a fall.

I care about you guys and want each of you to experience eternal life with Christ. Let me end with what the Apostle John says-

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 

1 John 2:15-17

Please stay strong-

Until next time Guys-

My Sheep know My Voice

Posted: June 11, 2023 in Heaven Bound
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I heard a story this past weekend of a Palestinian woman who had recently lost her husband in a conflict. And it was during that conflict, that she also lost her family’s small flock of 25 sheep. Moreover, as it turned out, many of the local sheep farmers also lost their flocks during the same conflict, and eventually, all of the lost sheep were rounded up by the Israeli soldiers into one big herd and kept in a single holding area in the region. At this holding area, the Palestinian woman pleaded with the Israeli guard standing at his post at the gate of the sheep pen. She explained that she could easily separate her sheep from the others without any effort from the soldier. After a while, he was tired of listening to her so he relented and allowed her to enter the pen with her son.

After they entered, the boy lifted a small flute to his lips and played 5 notes very loudly. Immediately, some of the sheep, out of the hundreds, lifted their heads and peered in their direction. The boy played the notes again and sheep began to move in his direction and in less than 5 minutes, the woman, her son, and 25 sheep marched off down the road towards home.

Sheep are followers by nature and learn to listen to the voice of their shepherd and in this case, the sound of a flute. No matter who tries to call them, they will only come when they hear the shepherd’s voice. Jesus said it this way, “ they (sheep) will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice”. John 10:5

So why is it essential for you and me to know about sheep? Because you and I, literally every day, are being hammered by what everyone out there is calling “truth”…or their version of the truth. News media, friends, the internet, social media, and even pastors or Church leadership. Everything and everyone is overwhelming you with so MUCH information and all is being presented as TRUTH. 

With so many voices coming at you simultaneously…How do you separate all the “words” into what you should believe versus what you shouldn’t? Honestly, it isn’t easy. It takes real discernment to understand the right voice that is calling you. Not to your death, but to life, and guys I am not being melodramatic. This is the fight of our lives because it is a fight for our lives.

We MUST be able to separate the right words from the wrong ones not just for you, but for your family as well. Remember Christ’s words to the Pharisees, “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…” John 10:14. If you are connected with Him, and have a relationship with Him, you WILL be able to discern through the mayhem and hear the words He is speaking to you. This does require a relationship with Him which means time spent reading and praying…and you can do this-

Here is the REAL truth. The reason there are alternative options to Christ’s message is that the enemy also has a message for you. It is very simple; Follow me for your pleasure and you’ll have the time of your life.

My message back to you; Don’t listen to him. EVERYTHING he offers you is temporary and will lead you to a place that trust me… you don’t want to go.

Instead, listen to the voice of our Shepherd with the message of Good News-

Until next time guys-

Heavenly Deposits

Posted: December 26, 2020 in Heaven Bound
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I had the opportunity to spend some time with an old work friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time. At one point, we had worked together every day for two years but after I left that company, not so much anymore. But I had the chance to connect over some dinner so I took advantage of the chance to see him. As you can imagine, we talked about the usual work stuff and family stuff but somehow the topic bent toward him planning to win the lottery of all things. 

To be clear in MY mind, that topic was wasted mental energy because the chances of winning are not worth spending the time thinking about what you would do with all that money. But as I sat there and listened to my friend talk, I realized he had taken this lottery-planning topic to a whole new level. Honestly, the amount of detail he had already planned out was utterly amazing. He knew where he would invest, who he would give money to, and how much. He knew what upgrades he would make to his home, where he would take his first vacation, how he would quit his job, and the list went on and on. He even worked out a plan to help his kids pay off their student loans, and buy his parents, sister, and nephews new homes…and guys, I could keep going. I finally interrupted him and asked him why? Why would you invest so much of your time and brainpower on a topic that will most likely NEVER happen? 

He replied simply, “ah, but it could, and I want to be prepared”

“Prepared”, I thought. “Interesting concept.”

From your perspective, what does it take to be prepared for anything? Investing time, thought, and effort toward something helps you be prepared…However Christ told us to prepare by storing up for ourselves, treasures in Heaven…in other words, preparation for eternity…not preparation for a fictitious event, or for that matter, anything else here on earth.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can consume, and where thieves can neither break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt. 6:20-21

So what is a treasure in heaven? How can I have any connection with heaven while I am still here and living on this earth? 

Here is how I look at this; my friend was investing huge amounts of his time thinking about a fantasy event rather than thinking about how to make a difference now while he is here on earth. For example, how about spending more time with his kids, his wife, or both? What about focusing on or engaging with a particular subject that might make him better or even the people around him better? 

The way I see it, all of these suggestions are treasures that are being stored in heaven for him. It’s like making a deposit in a bank or maybe better yet, it’s an investment in your heavenly eternal future.

Jesus said, “How will they know me? By how YOU love one another”

Pretty simple actually. If we take the time to be kind to someone, anyone…when we aren’t required to do so…YES… it helps them, but believe it or not, that is a treasure YOU have stored in heaven. 

What you do here on earth matters for your eternal future.

You see…everything we store up in heaven is safe…forever. There are not any malware or viruses that can wipe out your deposits in Heaven. Christ said this in the verse above, where neither moth nor rust can consume, and where thieves can neither break through nor steal.

NOTHING can destroy what you have stored there…It is safe for all eternity

My simple advice:

Why don’t we try to get out of our own way, focus on each other for a change, and watch what happens…

What I think you will find is a far happier group of family and friends because you aren’t 100% solely focused on yourself…or like my friend at the beginning of this post, who simply spent too much time planning for a fantasy event.

So as you begin to look and plan for this next year, 2021…my recommendation is to start making heavenly deposits sooner rather than later…

Honestly, your future depends on it…

Until next time Guys…

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