One of the most famous verses in the Bible is John 3:16, which says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Do you believe that?  If so, what are you doing about it?

Maybe we should also use the next verse, which says; For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

There are waaaaaaay too many people who go around saying that God is mad at them, and He is going to judge the world of sin and send the whole world to hell, that is, except for the people who go to THEIR church….Let me set the record straight: God has already judged sin.   He placed the full punishment of ALL sins of mankind on His Son Christ Jesus (Y’shua Messiah), and Jesus paid the price with His own blood.  In FULL, I might add.  That means YOUR sins are paid for IF you believe upon Him.  And so are mine, and let me tell you, I BELIEVE!  I am not about to pass up the sacrifice Jesus made for the payment of my sins, and I hope you won’t either.  Think of it not so much as a “get out of jail free” card, but an “Avoid Hell altogether” card.  Why would Jesus do that for you?  Why don’t you ask Him for yourself: I did…

Does that mean we don’t deserve hell?  No, we DO deserve hell for what we’ve ALL done against God, but God didn’t create hell for us; He created it for the devil and his crew.  And they will be joined in the Lake of Fire by all those who refuse the gift of everlasting life that the sacrifice of Christ Jesus made available for us.  I know it’s hard to imagine, but there will be MANY who refuse His gift.   Someone point-blank asked Jesus if many would be saved.  Let’s read the account of it here in Luke 13:23-29:

Luk 13:23  Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
Luk 13:24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
Luk 13:25  When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
Luk 13:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
Luk 13:27  But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luk 13:28  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
Luk 13:29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

The point is, whether you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins and rose again or not does not change the fact that He did.  But it DOES make a HUGE difference in YOUR future.  And while we’re at it, let’s address something else here:  God does indeed chastise His children, in fact, EVERY good parent disciplines their child.  Why? So that child will not destroy himself or herself, or others.  I’ve heard some real goofy stuff in my years of ministry, such as “God gives us sickness to teach us a lesson.” Really, now!  Tell me, when you were a kid and you did something wrong, did your parents drag you over to someone’s house whose kid was sick so they could get you sick as punishment? No?  I didn’t think so.  And God, being the perfect parent, does not either.

Listen, God does not go around giving His kids cancer, or diabetes, or broken bones or killing them.  The devil is the one in that business.  Our heavenly Father sent Jesus to HEAL the sick, not make healthy people sick.  Just like YOUR parents did whatsoever they could to get YOU well when you were sick, our heavenly Father likewise cares for and loves HIS children.  So what do you want to do?  You want to make sure you are one of HIS children, right?  Sickness and disease is the result of sin passed down to us from Adam on, as well as our own sins, and/or stupid stuff we do, like abusing our body with drugs or alcohol or smoking, etc.  I say “ETC.” for there is any number of ways we do harm to our bodies, and we cannot blame God for what we do to ourselves through neglect or sin.   But knowing God is merciful, I would advise you to throw yourself upon that mercy while you’re asking God to forgive your sins and spend time thanking Him for the forgiveness and healing that Christ Jesus made available for you.

Psa_106:1  Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. You would do well to keep that verse in mind whenever the devil tries to get you to think that God is doing something bad to you to “teach you a lesson”.  God is GOOD, and the devil is BAD, and they never switch jobs.

If you EVER get a clue how very much the LORD loves you, your whole life will be changed for the good.  He is ALWAYS looking out for your eternal good.  While most of us are only concerned about the “here and now”, God is concerned about your ETERNITY, and like a child, who would live on candy and junk food if given the choice, a good parent brings them up with good, wholesome foods, and fruit and vegetables, even if the child doesn’t want them.  Well, God sometimes strongly “encourages” His kids to sample the RIGHT foods, against their whining and stubbornness, but in the end, the child is much better off for it.  Oh, and remember that when YOUR kids only want candy and pop, and you want them to eat right.  God wants YOU to eat right, as well as DO right, so you may enjoy life to the fullest, and not be sick, poor, and miserable.  That means obedience to God’s word.

Deu 30:19  I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Deu 30:20  That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Yeah, you might whine and throw your little hissy fit for a while, but when you finally come around, you’ll see God really IS trying to get your attention so He can make things GOOD for you.  Why?  Like I said in the beginning, FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD….and seeing YOU are in the world, then that means He loves YOU!