Daily Devotional for Thursday June 28, 2018

Is He in Heaven or Hell

(2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Luke 16:19-31)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, I know I have only one life, one life to live for you. This is my moment in human history. Please Lord, let me make the most if it. Use my life to do great things for you as I surrender it afresh to you each morning. When I take my last breath, let there be no regrets, no sadness, that I didn't use my life fully for your Glory! In the name of Jesus I pray...AMEN!

Last week, FOX News personality Charles Krauthammer died. His death led many to email me about whether I thought Krauthammer was in heaven or in hell. The fact is, the Bible is clear that only God knows for certain a person’s heart. However, for some people, especially those in the public, we often have knowledge of where they are at when it comes to God, the Bible, and Jesus.

Krauthammer was a psychiatrist, a Pulitzer Prize winning political columnist, and a conservative political pundit on FOX News. While in his first year studying medicine at Harvard Medical School, Krauthammer became permanently paralyzed from the waist down after a diving board accident that severed his spinal cord. After spending 14 months recovering in a hospital, he returned to medical school, graduating to become a psychiatrist. He later joined the Carter administration in 1978 as a director of psychiatric research, eventually becoming the speechwriter to Vice President Walter Mondale in 1980.

Krauthammer was very respected across on both sides of the political spectrum. Despite spending his adult life in a wheelchair, by all accounts he was one of the most upbeat and positive people many ever knew. He loved his wife of 44 years, his son, loved dogs, and had a great passion for baseball, specifically the Washington Nationals.

Krauthammer found it difficult to embrace traditional religion. “I have enormous respect for it, and in some sense, I’m not a terribly religious Jew, but I follow some of the rituals, and I do attend on the important days. But when it comes to the relationship to what is out there, to me, it is rather complicated and mysterious,” he noted. He was also quoted saying, “I’m not the first to say it. I don’t believe in God, but I fear Him greatly.”

Sadly, from all of the research I did, speaking to several people who knew him well, some who actually witnessed to him over the years, Krauthammer was like many intellectuals and had a very cerebral view of God and theology. Over these past 25 years, I can attest that often people of high intelligence have great difficulty coming to that place of having what the Bible calls “childlike faith.”

The brutal Biblical truth that there is only ONE WAY to be saved, one way to Heaven, dispelling the common lie that “there are many roads to Heaven.” I am sharing this message today because the eternal souls of people are at stake. Those who reject Christ for whatever reasons will spend all of eternity separated from God their Creator in a place that was created for satan and his fallen angels, not man.

Please forward this important message to everyone that you know who is not saved, regardless of how upset they may be with you since it could be the difference in someone you know spending eternity in Heaven, or in Hell.

The Bible clearly tells us that tomorrow is promised to none of us. The fact is, the moment we take our last breath we will stand before God. At that instant, there is only one thing that will matter and that is whether you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and life by faith. At that moment, those who have accepted Him will be forever with God their Creator.

Those who have rejected Him will be forever separated from God their Creator. It is impossible for us with our finite minds to even begin to comprehend the glory of Heaven, being with God our Creator for eternity. Likewise, it is impossible for us to even begin to imagine the horrors of Hell, being separated from God our Creator for eternity.

HELL IS NOT A BAD VACATION, IT IS ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD YOUR CREATOR AND THERE ARE NO WORDS THAT COULD EVER DESCRIBE THAT HORROR!!!

The Bible, which is our final authority in ALL matters is very clear on death. It is final. There is no such thing as reincarnation, we are not coming back as a petunia. We don’t die and go to some special place where people can pray us into Heaven over time. The moment we die our body is no longer of any use and our soul lives on for eternity, either forever with God, or forever separated from Him. That eternal destination is determined by only ONE THING, our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Being a member of a certain church CANNOT save you. Being baptized as a baby CANNOT save you. The faith of your parents CANNOT save you. Good works CANNOT save you. A pastor or priest simply praying over you while you are dying CANNOT save you. The ONLY THING that can save you is putting your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. It is a choice, a conscious choice, that YOU and YOU ALONE have to make BEFORE you die.

Sadly, many buy into the lie from hell that “all good people will go to Heaven.” That lie is clearly exposed by God’s Word since we are told point blank that “there are no good people, no not one.” The Bible also tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” As wonderful as this universalistic lie is, one that millions have bought into, it conveniently leaves out one important thing . . . SIN.

You see my friend, it is our SIN that separates us from a Holy and Righteous God, and why only faith in Jesus Christ, who paid for our sins can allow us to be reconciled to God.

I am sure Charles Krauthammer did many good works throughout his life. However, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:8,9 that good works will not save you. No doubt a man as well traveled as Krauthammer, he had to come across many people over the years that shared with him that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven.

Only God knows our heart, and only God knows if at some point at the very end of his life Charles made a commitment to Christ. But let me reiterate, as great of a life as he had, as loved as he was, it all meant nothing the moment he died. If Charles Krauthammer died without confessing Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, he is lost for eternity and in Hell!

I have no doubt that somewhere in the world, within a few minutes of the passing of Charles Krauthammer, a man that had accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior also died. This man was not known by the world, he did not have great wealth, but death is the great equalizer. If Krauthammer died without Christ, this man that was known and loved by the world, this man that had all the wealth this world could offer, was instantly cast into eternal darkness. At the same time, the man who DID know Jesus, who had no fame or fortune in this life, was instantly ushered into the presence of Almighty God for eternity. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his soul?” (Luke 16:19-31)

I love you and care about you so much. Being a famous person in this life does NOT guarantee you anything when this brief journey is over. Each person is responsible for their own eternal destination by their choice in regard to Jesus Christ. You see, it was Jesus that died on a cross 2,000 years ago for your sins and mine. That is why ONLY faith in Jesus can save you.

If right now, this very moment, you do not have the assurance that when your life is over, you will be forever with God, the Bible says that TODAY is the day of salvation. You never have to doubt or wonder again. Bow your head right now, ask God to open your heart, and read the words at this following link: http://www.liveprayer.com/plan.cfm

I will be praying for you as you make the most important decision that you will make in this life, where you will spend eternity!!! If you have already made that decision, please share the link with someone you know who is lost and without the hope of Christ in their life!!!

In His love and service, Your friend, brother, and co-laborer in His work, Bill Keller