What Is Your Future?

Everywhere I go I pass places offering psychic readings of your future. These places are wicked and God condemns them, but sometimes I feel sorry for them because I know their future. The thought has crossed my mind to go up to one and tell them their future - even for free.

I see a Great White Throne and God is sitting on the throne. Billions of people are gathered around as you stand before the Throne. The books are opened as God searches for your name. Your name is not there. You fall down before the holy God, begging and pleading with Him because you realize what it means to not have your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You will worship Him and claim to have done many things for Him. But He will reply, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you worker of lawlessness. Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

Revelation 20:11-15; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 25:31-33,41-46

Now you can't see anything, just utter darkness.You can't even see your hand in front of your face. But it is so hot! You hear the roar of unquenchable flames. You feel unbearable pain as the flames engulf your entire body, yet it does not consume you. The strong scents of sulfur and brimstone churn your stomach and burn your eyes. Your tongue is swollen and your voice hoarse as you cry out for a drop of water to ease your unquenchable thirst. Worms crawl all over your body. Your voice joins billions of others in the wailing and gnashing of teeth against the anguish and torment. You are filled with despair and hopelessness. One thought haunts you for all eternity: "Why didn't I trust Jesus as my Savior when I had a chance?" You know that all believers are in paradise with God and you are stuck here in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. This is your eternal punishment for rejecting God. This is your future. This is the second death.

This is not my prediction of the future; it is God's. It is the future of everyone who rejects Him by not putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save them.

Outer or utter darkness: Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; 2 Peter 2:17; Jude 1:13
Eternal unquenchable fire: Isaiah 66:24; Matthew 3:12; 25:41; Mark 9:43,44,48; Jude 1:7
Sulfur and brimstone: Revelation 19:20; 20:10; 21:8
Unquenchable thirst: Luke 16:24
Worms that shall not die: Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:48
Weeping or wailing and gnashing of teeth; anguish; torment: Matthew 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28; 16:23-25,28; Revelation 20:10

I do not wish that future on anyone. Praise the Lord, you get to choose your future! God doesn't wish that future on anyone either. You don't have to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. If you would rather spend eternity in heaven with God, all you have to do is believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins then rose again three days later; repent of your sins and ask Jesus to save you. If you would like to find out how to do that, click on the link to the right, Beauty of the Heart, then the top link, Beauty in Living for God.

Since I put my faith and trust in Jesus as my Savior, I have a different future; one that I am looking forward to. I am a child of God; the bride of Christ; and I will spend eternity in God's presence, praising Him, worshipping Him, and fellowshipping with Him. It is the future you can have too. The choice is yours. Keep in mind as you make your decision that salvation is not a 'fire escape'. Your motive for getting saved should not be to escape hell, but to have a personal relationship with God. Which future do you choose?

Protector Guardian

I recently took a Myers-Briggs typology test just for fun. According to them I am a Protector Guardian. The first thing that popped into my head when I read that was an image of Mushu. Then I read the description of Protector Guardian. Some of the characteristics are: service to others, seeing to their safety and security, high developed work ethic, etc. That doesn't sound much like Mushu.

Now, I don't put a lot of stock in these tests, but it got me thinking about my personality, strengths and weaknesses, and my role as a wife, mother, and Christian. God wants me to be a protector guardian, not because some test says that's what I am, but because His Word says I should be.

Protector Guardian for my Husband:

• Protect my relationship with him by being loving, submissive, and putting him first (Eph. 5:22)
• Protect my time with him by making him my top priority and always being there for him (Phil. 2:3,4)
• Protect his happiness by not nagging or having a bad attitude (Prov. 31:26; Prov. 12:4)
• Pray for him (Col. 1:9)

Protector Guardian for my Daughter:

• Protect her spiritually by teaching her about God, salvation, and morals (Deut. 6:5-7)
• Protect her emotionally by providing a stable, safe, happy homelife (Eph. 6:4)
• Protect her future by preparing her for the real world when she grows up (3 Jn. 1:4; 2 Tim. 3:14,15)
• Protect her physically by taking care of her when she's sick or hurt and making sure she has everything she needs every day (Prov. 31:15,21)
• Pray for her (Heb. 13:18)

Protector Guardian for my Home:

• Make it a refuge where my family feels safe and are happy to come home to (Prov. 31:10-31)
• Create a pleasant atmosphere that is cheerful, comforting, warm, and positive (Prov. 14:1)
• Manage my home well and take care of it (Tit. 2:5)

Protector Guardian for my Friends:

• Be a good friend (Prov. 18:24)
• Be encouraging and honest (Prov. 12:25)
• Be there in good times and in bad (Phil. 2:4)
• Always have a listening ear, but keep confidences (Prov. 27:9)
• Be forgiving (Prov. 15:1; Eph. 4:32)
• Don't gossip or slander (Prov. 15:28)
• Pray for them (Eph. 6:18)

Protector Guardian of my Relationship with God:

• Spend time in His Word, studying it and applying it to my life (2 Tim. 2:15)
• Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17)
• Serve Him (Ps. 100:2)
• Tell others about Him (Mk. 16:15)
• Trust in Him for everything (Prov. 3:5,6)
• Be a good testimony (1Tim. 4:12)
• Do everything for His glory and to please Him (Col. 3:23)

I take my role as 'Protector Guardian' seriously. I certainly don't want to be like Mushu. His motives were all wrong. He wanted to protect Mulan so he could gain honor and glory and put himself on a pedestal. God looks at our motives and I will be held accountable in heaven for all that I do on earth, and for my motives. So instead, I want to be a servant, like Christ, doing but asking nothing in return; putting others first and giving God all the glory and honor. When others look at me I hope they never see a Mushu, but Christ.
Heb. 13:17; Col. 3:17,23-25; 2 Cor. 5:9,10

Shakespeare in the Park

Last night I went with my husband, daughter, and sister to see Shakespeare in the Park. They put on A Midsummer Night's Dream. I enjoyed it very much. It had been a long time since I had been to anything like this and I really like Shakespeare. But I think what I enjoyed the most about it was introducing my daughter to Shakespeare. She is not quite 3 years old and this is the first play of any kind that I have taken her to. She certainly didn't understand what was going on, but by the end of the night she could tell us who's picture was on the fans that were handed out when we walked into the park (Shakespeare's) and she understood that the people on the stage were acting out a story.

I didn't expect her to sit through the whole 3 hours and pay attention (and she didn't) but she behaved and enjoyed it in her own way a lot better than I expected. When she wasn't wandering around our seats or playing with the fans, she actually watched the play and asked questions. She even wanted to get involved in the play. She danced and waved her arms along with the faeries; she wanted to climb the "tree" on stage when she saw Puck the fairy climb it; she laughed whenever anyone fell down and clapped along with everyone else. She even seemed to understand some of the rivalry. Her favorite character was Puck, who was dressed in bright orange clothes and had wild orange hair. She also liked the man dressed as a lion at the end.

Overall it was a fun night and my daughter is already asking when we can go again. I guess it's not too early to introduce an almost 3-year-old to Shakespeare.