I Hate To Break It To You, But One Day We Are All Going To Die, But Heres Something You May Not Of Thought

I hate to break it to you, but one day we are all going to die, but here’s something you may not of thought of before.

When you come into this world, your SOUL is united with your BODY and after living a (hopefully long life) one day your body will die and at that point your soul will then be separated from your body. This physical death is what the Bible calls 'The First Death,' but the question is - what THEN happens to your SOUL?

The Bible teaches at death that your soul will go one of two places. If you are “in Christ” it will go directly to be with God, and you will not die again or face condemnation. However if you are NOT in Christ, your soul will be separated from God and you will wait in hell until the end of time, and at that point will be judged for your sins and faced a self-imposed condemnation where you will go into “..the Lake of Fire.” This is the SECOND DEATH - the death of your soul - but a death that will never end and continue for all eternity.

Wow!! That message is really brutal! ... and YES it is, and perhaps the most harsh word I have ever written, but before you get angry at me, THIS IS WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS, but here is the GOOD NEWS and the Truth!

You have been offered an acquittal - a full pardon for everything you’ve ever done wrong or evil in your life. There is no reason why you or anyone should experience a 'Second Death!' It is entirely up to you to believe or NOT BELIEVE what the Bible says, so if you have read this far, here is the conclusion of the matter.

Either: A) You will believe God’s offer of forgiveness, believe what His Word says in the Bible about avoiding this second death and take His offer of deliverance from this Second Death -or- B)You will come to your own conclusion that this is some stupid, superstitious, imaginary religious fairy tale not worth your consideration.

It is going to be one or another, but either way it is YOUR CHOICE.

Friend, THIS IS SERIOUS. You really do have a soul that will live forever, and YOU have a CHOICE how many DEATHS you believe you’ll have.

WILL IT BE ONE DEATH OR TWO?

God Bless Your Day, Jesus Loves You

Pastor-Teacher Wayne Estrada

NotesOnLife.org/archive

My first job out of the Navy was working for a fine men’s store in San Francisco, and while our suits were  definitely of a very high quality and not inexpensive, they were not on the same level as the world-class couturier design houses of the ultra rich.

One of my favorite suits was a grey three piece that one of our tailors custom fitted to perfection for me, and although inexpensive compared to the best of Paris or Milan, it wasn’t inexpensive nor in the same league of Seville Row, London  — yet still looked terrific.

After college, I was a software engineer at AT&T and one of the great benefits of that job was traveling to take engineering classes. One of them happened to be in New York City, and being a 'clothes guy' I had always wanted to go into the famous men’s store at BARNEYS NYC.

On my lunch hour I walked in wearing my fabulous three-piece suit, shoes polished to the nines and even a stick pin in my lapel (hey…this was the 80’s!) and while browsing through the men’s clothing area, curiously, three nearby salesmen never approached to ask if they could serve me.  I thought that odd as that is what I would have done in their position, but shortly after this, two things hit me.

First, I got the nerve to turn over some price tags and was shocked! Compared to my old store in San Francisco where the average suit was $250 to $500, their suits started at $2,000 and went UP! I guess they sized me up in my $350 suit and looked down on me as someone that was definitely outside of their league, and I embarrassingly made a hasty retreat under their scorning eyes.

Today’s Bible verse speaks precisely to this judgment of appearances. People do indeed 'judge a book by it’s cover' — but that is not how God sees YOU. No matter where you are, what you do, what kind of car you drive, neighborhood you live in, how rich or poor or talented or good  (or not good looking) you are the LORD sees you for WHO YOU ARE and loves and accepts exactly as you are. Period.

Friend, it is easy to get caught up in the sin of comparison that either you place on others or they place on you, but in the grand scheme of things, it is how and where your heart is as a human being — and more importantly — how your heart attitude is towards God.

God sees the true you. See that in yourself and also see that in others, because that is all who all of us really are.

God Bless Your Day, Jesus Loves You

NotesOnLife.org

Ask people about whether they believe that “Jesus is the (only) way, the (only) truth, and the (only) life,” and most will reply with a resounding “NO I don’t believe that.” After all, there must be more than one way that leads up to a higher truth, not just one, right?!?

If you are in that camp, You Are Not Alone! The way 'UP' logically must have many paths, and besides… can anyone really KNOW if there is just one?? If not the answer must be NO.

While what you may hear about Christ being “The Way” may be said with honest sincerity by the person sharing it (like me as you read this) it is more often than not rejected out of hand as being too fantastic, far-fetched, or feasible to be believable — or more precisely — KNOWABLE. In our natural reasoning, Jesus is not, nor can he be the only possible way to eternal life...and that is precisely the point of today’s scripture verse.

You see, the Bible says that “the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:10) and without that light bulb of the illumination of God’s Spirit, you will continue to say and think NO, and KNOW will not be possible.

The reality however is that you can KNOW... but it takes a step of faith on your part to be open to the possibility that God and The Bible says what it says and that is true. In order to get there just like stating out on a long journey, it starts with the first step ascending up the staircase of KNOWING. Everything most likely will not be perfectly clear or KNOWABLE at first but if you are open, God’s Word promises us that His Holy Spirit’s WILL lead you to KNOW this 'truth' that “Jesus is (in deed!) the WAY, The TRUTH, and the LIFE.” He is THE TRUTH that indeed “Sets You FREE” (John 8:32) and that truth is only found in Christ.

If you’ve read this far and don’t agree...I get it. For some it happens at the beginning of a lifetime, for others in their 50’s, 60’s, or even 70’s. But this fact remains -you CAN KNOW and go from NO to KNOW. Simply start by asking God to show you the first step and He will.

That first step is entirely up to you, and the end of that ascension will be UP. The question is will you take that first step, and do you want to go from NO to KNOW??

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You

NotesOnLife.org

The first lie in the Bible on the earth was from Satan to Eve, and she believed and responded to that lie based on secondhand information.

If you carefully re-read the previous chapter, this instruction to 'not eat of the tree of good and evil' was given by God directly to Adam before Eve was created. That means Eve received this instruction secondhand from Adam, not directly from God. This is like the party game 'Telephone' where one person tells another person something, and by the time the message gets to the last person it is greatly distorted.

Note in Eve’s response she changed God’s instruction received by Adam in two subtle ways.

First she did not call it 'the tree of the knowledge of good and evil' (Genesis 2:17) but instead referred to it as 'the tree in the midst of the garden' (3:3). Then she elaborated on the instruction 'thou shalt not eat of it' (again in 2:17) and added to it '...OR TOUCH IT' (lbid- 3:3 - also see Revelation 22:18!)

Satan used her secondhand understanding of God’s Word against her, which caused her to doubt, and led to her making the biggest mistake in human history.

The lesson here hopefully is obvious. If you are depending to understand what God is saying to you in your life through what other people are telling or teaching you, you are making the same grevious mistake as Eve! Instead get it first from God directly through His Word the Bible, through prayer, and listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to your heart. As useful as going to church, hearing sermons, Christian TV or YouTube videos are, reading Christian books or seeing things in email or on the Internet (just like you are reading here!!) is no substitute from reading and understanding God’s Word FOR YOURSELF.

Do not make the same mistake as Eve and miss the point and remember that “no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own (or someone else’s) interpretation.” (2 Peter 1:20) The final authority is ALWAYS God’s Word, not what someone told you about it.

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You

NotesOnLife.org

While Psalm 140:10 tells us to “Be still and know that I AM God,” we are instead continually bombarded with the world’s distractions and stressed to do THIS, go THERE, and finish THAT...but our Heavenly Father wants our undivided attention, and all these things pulling on us prevent that from happening. The answer is as today’s verse simply tells us is being quiet and still as the best and only way to begin to hear His still quiet voice.

Hearing from God may not happen quickly or overnight, because it takes time to develop discipline in the stillness with God. Once you start sitting alone with Him you will long for this close, warm special time more and more until it becomes the most cherished time of your day.

I remember once when I had lost my car keys and I was frantically looking all around the house praying, 'Lord, please help me find these keys. I’ve got to find them!' Finally after frantically searching the entire house over, I heard inside me, “Look in the hall closet. They are in your green coat pocket.” Sure enough, there they were! The Holy Spirit spoke to me as clear as a bell! I was thrilled knowing how aware my Father was about my keys as God cares about everything you care about, even when you need the best parking spot! God cares about your needs, no matter how small or large it may be.

God is speaking to you and me 24/7, so pray together right now and ask Him to help us open our ears to hear His voice.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We so need to hear your voice and to know which direction is the right direction you have for us in this life. Please help us to put you first in our lives and not this world. Come and activate the Holy Spirit’s presence inside our deepest beings to hear your divine voice so that we have confidence every day that we are walking with you and making wise choices in everything we do. In your precious Son’s name, Jesus, Amen

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You

NotesOnLife.org

I opened my backdoor one morning and was startled that I had left it unlocked all night, and that got me thinking about what Jesus said about the thief entering into someone’s house. While Jesus’ parable seems to be about a physical house, He was really referring to the danger of leaving an opening in our spirit to destructive forces that can enter into our life through a hidden way that we are unaware of or have carelessly ignored.

All of us have flaws– that is just a part of being human – but some of these can be 'back doors' to the evil spiritual world of robber spirits of the soul that unless checked and secured can be an opening to temptations and weaknesses that can sneak up on us and rob and destroy our spirit. Many great men and women have been brought down because they did not check their 'unlocked spiritual backdoor' and were overcome, tricked and robbed into making tragic mistakes.

The best defense is a strong offense, so diligently practice 1 Corinthians 16:13 that commands us to “Watch, Stand Steady and...BE STRONG.” Always be vigilant and circumspect of all aspects of your life. No one will do it for you! Make sure the house of your spirit is always locked and secure and never “Give any place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27)

God Bless Your Day, Jesus Loves You

NotesOnLife.org