Feeling Kind of Inadequate? Good!

Posted on March 3, 2011 by russellmckinney

My wife, Tonya, is a middle-school math teacher, which means that she is good at math. She isn’t nearly as good, however, in the areas of grammar and spelling. Being polar opposites, I am good at grammar and spelling but not much at math. So, would Tonya be quicker to seek God’s help concerning a situation that involved math or one that involved grammar? Obviously, she would run to Him more quickly for help with grammar. I, on the other hand, would run to Him more quickly for help with math.

The point is that none of us typically asks for the Lord’s help unless we really think we need it. In light of this fact, can you see how God would work against Himself if He made us all supremely talented and gifted in every area of life? I mean, if we could expertly handle everything that came our way, would we ever look to Him for guidance and strength? I think we know the answer to that.

Therefore, rather than cursing your inadequacies and physical shortcomings, you should learn to see them as pathways to God. Instead of being angry at Him for not making you “perfect,” you should hear Him calling you to Himself by way of your limitations. I don’t want to sound corny here, but God wants to show off for you. He wants you to see what He can do when you admit your inability and ask for His help. You say that you are struggling with a problem right now, one that is out of your skill set? Okay, that makes you NORMAL. Now take that problem to a loving, all-powerful God and let Him help you. And don’t feel shame for acknowledging your weakness. Instead, feel the joy that comes with working hand in hand with the One who created you and longs to share your life.

Posted in God's Love, God's Omnipotence, God's Omniscience, God's Provision, Individuality, Needs, Personal, Problems, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Properly Appreciate Heaven

Posted on March 2, 2011 by russellmckinney

Charles Spurgeon, Victorian England’s most famous preacher, wrote the following concerning why the Christian has difficulties in this life:

We would never know the music of the harp if the strings were left untouched or enjoy the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the winepress. We would never discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten or feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed. The wisdom and power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which His vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. There must be shades in the picture to bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be so supremely blessed in heaven if we had not known the curse of sin and the sorrow of earth? Peace will be sweeter after conflict and rest more welcome after toil. The recollection of past sufferings will enhance the bliss of the glorified.

Think about it, Christian. Who desires heaven more? Is it the person who has never known anything but health, comfort, and ease? Or is it the person who is acquainted with sickness, hardship, and struggle? Show me a Christian who has mourned the loss of a loved one in Christ and I’ll show you a Christian who will enjoy heaven all the more because of the reunion. Show me a Christian who has never known the wealth of this world and I’ll show you a Christian who will truly appreciate the inheritance Peter spoke of in 1 Peter 1:4, an inheritance “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”

Perhaps, right now, you feel like you are being trodden in a winepress, pressed and beaten, or consumed in a fire. Well, Christian, just keep in mind that such grueling experiences do indeed produce their crop. It is a two-fold crop. First, it creates in you a sincere longing for heaven. Second, it grants you the background to be able to properly appreciate heaven when you get there. Are your grueling experiences easy to live through? No, they aren’t. But you can get through them if you will just keep your eyes focused on this two-fold crop and the blessings it brings.

Posted in Adversity, Comfort, Encouragement, Eternity, Heaven, Perseverance, Problems, Reward | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Looking for Something?

Posted on February 28, 2011 by russellmckinney

Late one night, drunken Sam was down on all fours under a streetlight. He was groping around on the ground, obviously looking for something. A friend drove up and said, “Sam, what are you doing over there?” With slurred speech, Sam answered, “I lost my wallet.” So, the friend got out of the car, walked over, got down on his knees, and started helping Sam look. Finally, after a few minutes of unsuccessful searching, the friend said, “Are you sure you lost the wallet here?” Sam replied, “No, I dropped it a half a block over there.” “Then why are we looking for it here?” asked the friend. The answer came back, “Because there’s no streetlight over there.”

Laugh all you want, but Sam’s “searching” makes about as much sense as searching for sexual satisfaction at a pornographic web site, searching for happiness in a drug needle, searching for fulfillment in a financial report, or searching for joy in a bottle of liquor. And yet plenty of people go on these types of searches every day. Yes, such things might seem to offer some “light,” but I promise you that no one will ever truly find what they’re looking for under such light.

So what about you? What are you searching for these days? And just exactly where are you searching for it? You know, if you aren’t finding what you’re looking for, you need to start looking in a spot that makes more sense. Even if that spot is darker right now and makes for harder searching, that’s where you’ll find your “keys.”

Posted in Change, Choices, Desires, God's Will, Needs, Personal Holiness, Sin, Temptation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Does God Love You? Yes!

Posted on February 25, 2011 by russellmckinney

Consider a father holding his beautiful baby. Which person in the scene loves the other more? Obviously, the father loves the baby more than the baby loves the father. If the baby is stricken with pain one night, the father won’t sleep a wink. But what if the father is the one stricken? The baby will keep right on sleeping. If the baby somehow finds itself in a potentially dangerous situation, the father will risk life and limb to come to the rescue. But what if the father ends up in such a situation? The baby won’t even notice. If the father suddenly dies of a heart attack, the baby will forget him in a few hours. But what if the baby tragically dies? For all of the father’s days, he will never forget the child.

You see, the father does not withhold his love until the baby does something worthy of that love. To the contrary, the father loves the baby even when the child can in no way either earn the love or repay it. The father loves the baby for who the child is, not for what the child does. That makes the love unconditional.

In 1 John 4:9-10, the Bible says:

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (N.I.V.)

Remember this verse the next time you begin to question whether or not you are worthy of God’s love. You are no more worthy of God’s love than a baby is worthy of its father’s love. But does that father still love that baby? Of course. So, stop trying to earn God’s love. You’ve already got it. Instead, focus all your energy on being the kind of child of which He can be proud.

Posted in Children, Fatherhood, God's Love, Grace, Love, Parenting | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Illegitimate Praying

Posted on February 24, 2011 by russellmckinney

“These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.” (Matthew 15:8-9, N.L.T.)

The Bible speaks of many different people praying to many different gods. Here are a few examples:

  • The Jews from the Old Testament and the Christians from the New Testament prayed to the “LORD” (Yahweh, Jehovah).
  • The false prophets of Elijah’s day prayed to Baal.
  • The Philistines prayed to Dagon.
  • The Moabites prayed to their false gods.
  • The people of Ur prayed to their false gods.
  • The Egyptians prayed to a pantheon of false gods.
  • The book of Jonah says of Jonah’s fellow sailors “and every man cried out to his god.”

All of this praying to all of these various gods proves how naturally religious humans are. You see, innately, we understand that creation’s mere existence proves that there must be a Creator God (Romans 1:20; Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1). Since nothing will continue to be nothing endlessly, a creation, especially one as intricately designed and detailed as ours, can’t just burst forth from nothing. Therefore, the fact that we have a creation at all proves that there must be a Creator God. As the old line goes, you can’t have a clock without a clock builder.

From time immemorial, this commonsense fact has driven people to attempt to worship the Creator God and offer up prayers to Him. But the problem has historically been that man’s nature of sin has corrupted these attempts at worship and prayer. Whereas the human race started out with a knowledge of the one true God and how to worship Him, idolatry ultimately became a staple of the race in the wake of Adam and Eve’s sin (Romans 1:20-23).

And so, in the midst of all the praying that is done to all the gods via all the religions, we are left to figure out who is praying legitimate prayers to the legitimate God. Someone says, “Well, I think that any prayer that is prayed in sincerity to any god must be classified as legitimate.” Certainly that idea sounds very sweet in an “I’m okay, you’re okay” kind of way, but it simply isn’t Biblical. Much to the contrary, the Bible says that sacrifices, and by implication prayers, that are offered to idols are, in actuality, offered to demons (fallen angels, the spirits associated with the idols). You’ll find that teaching in 1 Corinthians 10:19-21, Deuteronomy 32:15-18, and Revelation 9:20. Obviously, then, such prayers are a far cry from being legitimate!

Of course, now that God the Son (Jesus) has left heaven, been born to the virgin Mary, lived 33 sinless years upon the earth, evidenced His divinity by way of His miracles, left us with His teachings, died on the cross as the potential payment for the sins of every individual, resurrected, ascended back to heaven, and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father, there is no question what legitimate praying sounds like. It is praying done to God the Father, by way of the High Priestly intercessory ministry of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. And what all is involved with praying in Jesus’ name? To authentically pray in Jesus’ name, you must believe in Jesus as your personal Savior, pray the type of prayers that He would pray, and submit to God the Father’s will in regards to your prayer requests. The fact is, anything less than that, and you get into the realm of illegitimate praying.

Posted in Christ's Birth, Christ's Death, Christ's Miracles, Creation, Demons, God's Will, Idolatry, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Let Me Tell You About My Better Half…”

Posted on February 23, 2011 by russellmckinney

In volume 4 of his commentary set on Romans, the noted preacher Donald Barnhouse tells the following story:

A man I knew through my ministry was going with a girl who, some of us thought, was not at all worthy of him. We breathed a sigh of relief when he went away into the army for two or three years (this was during the war). The girl drifted around with other fellows, and, most happily, the young man met a worthy girl in a distant city. He fell in love with her and married her.

When the war was over and he had returned to his home with his bride, the first girl drove by the house one evening and dropped in to see her old flame and meet his wife. But the wife was not there. The first girl made no attempt to hide her affection and moved in such a voluptuous way that the young man realized he had but to reach out his hand and she was his. He told me about it afterwards.

There was within him all that goes with male desire. There was something much more within and he began to talk about what a wonderful girl he had married. He showed the pictures of his wife to the first girl and praised his wife to the skies, acting as though he did not understand her obvious advances. It was not long before she left, saying as she went, “Yes, she must be quite a girl if she can keep you from reaching.”

I wonder how many affairs could be prevented, how many temptresses and tempters defanged, if only spouses would start bragging on their better halves the way the fellow in Barnhouse’s story did. After all, happy homes certainly make poor soil for sexual sin. So, are you married? Then get in the habit of singing the praises of your spouse to others. That’s a great way to keep potential home-wreckers at bay!

Posted in Adultery, Character, Choices, Desires, Husbands, Marriage, Personal Holiness, Temptation, Wives | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Faithful Over a Few Things

Posted on February 22, 2011 by russellmckinney

“His lord said to him, ‘Well done good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'” (Matthew 25:23, N.K.J.V.)

George Matheson was a blind Scottish pastor in the late 1800s. While he was serving as the pastor of a church in Innellan, he preached to a mere handful of worshipers one stormy winter’s Sunday. He left that service discouraged because he felt that his sermon had been especially good and he wished that more people had heard it. But what he didn’t know was that one stranger in the congregation that day would never forget the sermon or the blind preacher who delivered it. Seven years later that man would recommend Matheson to become the pastor of St. Bernard’s Church in Edinburgh, a call that would lead to thirteen years of highly fruitful service for Matheson at that church.

In the parable of the talents, Jesus taught that the one who is faithful over a few things will be made ruler over many things (Matthew 25:14-30). While He gave this parable within the context of a teaching on prophecy and rewards in the afterlife, the basic principle can apply in this life. As proof of that, He gave another parable, one known as “the parable of the faithful steward” (Luke 12:42-48), which isn’t found within the context of a prophetic teaching.

Yes, God is always on the lookout for good stewardship, and He always takes special notice of a George Matheson who will faithfully preach to the best of his ability for a poorly attended Sunday service. That’s why you should never take lightly any opportunity that comes your way to do something in service to Christ. Remember that no job is too small for a servant who is big enough to do it well.

Posted in Attitude, Character, Church, Church Attendance, Doing Good, Faithfulness, God's Omnipresence, God's Omniscience, God's Work, Humility, Influence, Leadership, Ministry, Obedience, Pastors, Preaching, Prosperity, Reward, Service, Stewardship, Trusting In God, Weather, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

You Just Never Know

Posted on February 21, 2011 by russellmckinney

The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. (Luke 16:10, New American Standard Version)

Lyman Beecher was one of the most famous Presbyterian preachers of the 1800s. Early in his ministry, he once exchanged pulpits for a Sunday with the pastor of a small country church. It was in the middle of winter, with snow piled up along the road, and it was all that Beecher could do to maneuver his horse through the drifts and get to the church.

Once he arrived he found that he was the only one in attendance that morning. Not knowing exactly what to do about the situation, he went into the pulpit and began to pray silently. Finally, one man entered the church and Beecher proceeded to preach an impassioned, fervent message to him. At the sermon’s close, Beecher hurried down from the pulpit to greet the lone worshiper, but the man made his way out the door before Beecher could approach him.

Twenty years passed, and one day, as Beecher was boarding a train, a pleasant looking gentleman approached him and asked, “Do you remember me, Dr. Beecher?” Beecher answered, “I don’t believe I do.” “Why, we once spent an hour together in a storm!” said the man. “I don’t recall it,” said Beecher, “where was it?” The man asked, “Do you remember preaching in a small country church to an audience of one man twenty years ago?” Beecher smiled and said, “Yes sir I do, and if you are the man, I’ve been wanting to see you ever since.” “I am the man,” said the fellow, “and the sermon you preached that Sunday morning led to my salvation, made a minister of me, and yonder is my church! And the converts from that sermon, sir, are all over Ohio!”

Christian, be faithful in whatever your duty is today, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential. You just never know how God might use it. Even if you don’t see any immediate results, the results might very well crop up long after you have left the scene.

Posted in Church, Church Attendance, Commitment, God's Work, Obedience, Preaching, Reward, Salvation, Sowing and Reaping | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Man’s Body

Posted on February 18, 2011 by russellmckinney

“The Spirit, The Soul, & The Body” series: (post #3)

This will be the last post in our little three-part series on man’s spirit, soul, and body. This time we’ll deal with man’s body. I’ll grant you that the body is more easily understood than the spirit or the soul, but my guess is that there are still some important things that you need to learn about it.

The best way to describe yourself is like this: You are a soul; you possess a spirit; and you live in a body. Really, the only thing that others see of you is your body. Furthermore, whatever you get done in this world, you’ll do it via your body. As mysterious and wonderful as the spirit and soul are, they aren’t much for mowing the yard, cooking a meal, holding down a job, reading the Bible, going to church, witnessing, etc. You need body parts (eyes, ears, arms, legs, feet, a brain, etc.) to get those things done.

This is why, at the moment of a person’s salvation, God the Holy Spirit comes to indwell the person’s body, not the person’s spirit or soul (Romans 5:5; Romans 8:5-11; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 5:5). Just as a pilot flies an airplane, a captain steers a ship, or a driver drives a car, the indwelling Holy Spirit wants to be at the controls of the person’s body. Also, having God the Holy Spirit inside your body automatically turns your body into a temple. Please understand that everyone’s body is not a temple. That honor is reserved exclusively for the Spirit-indwelt believer (the genuine Christian). The body-builder, the yoga instructor, the fitness guru, and the health-food advocate may all have bodies that are in peak condition, but if these people don’t know Christ as Savior, their bodies aren’t temples. Only Christians have “temple bodies.”

Still, though, just because a Christian’s body is a temple and the indwelling Holy Spirit is in there, that doesn’t mean that the Christian has handed over the controls to the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul understood this and said to the Christians of the city of Rome:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1, N.K.J.V.)

That term “living sacrifice” is an odd one. How can a sacrifice survive an altar of death by living once it has become a sacrifice? The answer is: The Christian’s body remains alive, but the inner will, which is sin-tainted, corrupt, and prone to take destructive paths, dies on the altar. The body will now be used to carry out that which is “holy, acceptable to God.” The indwelling Holy Spirit will be given the controls unreservedly. He will now fly the plane, captain the ship, and drive the car.

But would you believe that even the indwelling Holy Spirit will not stop the aging process? Mark it down, the bodies of non-Christians and Christians alike wear down over time and eventually cease working. This goes back to the sin in the garden of Eden. Genesis 2:16-17 says:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (N.K.J.V.)

According to Hebrew scholars, the original Hebrew behind the words “you shall surely die” literally mean “dying you shall die.” You see, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, their bodies began the long, long process of dying, and eventually that process culminated in their physical deaths. Genesis 5:5 says that Adam actually lived 930 years, but that verse ends with the words “and he died.” And the members of his race have been dying ever since.

But did you know that when all of the various stages of God’s sweeping, eons-long, prophetic program have played themselves out, not one body will be left unresurrected? This isn’t the time or place for me to go into every last detail of that prophetic program, but concerning those resurrections, John 5:28-29 is a good summation passage. There Jesus says:

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (N.K.J.V.)

Notice that Jesus spoke of two categories of resurrection. There will be the resurrection of life and there will be the resurrection of condemnation. Scripture teaches that the saved believers from all of history will have their bodies resurrected and glorified, even though there won’t be one general “resurrection day” upon which it all happens. (As I said, there are multiple stages to God’s grand plan of prophecy.)

But what about the bodies of the lost people from all history? Well, those bodies will all be resurrected too, but for them the resurrection will not involve glorification. Also, their bodies will all be resurrected on a single day. This day will occur at the end of Christ’s millennial reign upon this earth, and it is described in Revelation 20:11-15.

You can read that passage for your homework, but I’ll go ahead and tell you that the bodies of the lost will be called forth from wherever their final resting places are (graves, the sea, etc.). Each body will then be reunited with the soul that once inhabited it, as each soul is called forth from that unimaginably horrific place we know as “hell.” And it is then that the lost person will be cast resurrected body and reunited soul into an even worse “hell” that is known as “the eternal lake of fire.” There, the souls will not be annihilated and the bodies will not be burned up. Instead, each lost person will spend all eternity — in body and soul — in that place of torment.

The Greek word for this eternal lake of fire is Gehenna, and Jesus says in Matthew 10:28:

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).” (N.K.J.V.)

The “Him” who is able to cast both soul and resurrected body into the eternal lake of fire called Gehenna is Jesus. But listen, He doesn’t want to do that to you! What He wants is for you to experience salvation by placing your belief in Him as your personal Savior.

Once you do that, you won’t have to ever worry about the eternal fate of either your soul or your body, and you’ll be able to present your body as a living sacrifice to Him in this life and enjoy the awesome rewards of the afterlife. So, if you haven’t made this decision for Christ, won’t you do so right now?

And here’s one last thing: You need to get used to that body of yours. Why? It’s because you’re going to be spending all eternity in it via one type of resurrection or the other.

Posted in Belief, Coming Judgment, Death, Dieting, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, God's Will, Heaven, Hell, Human Life, Personal Holiness, Prophecy, Reward, Salvation, Series: "The Spirit, The Soul, and The Body", Submission, The Holy Spirit | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Man’s Soul

Posted on February 17, 2011 by russellmckinney

“The Spirit, The Soul, & The Body” series: (post #2)

We’re in the middle of a series entitled “The Spirit, The Soul, & The Body.” In my last post, I talked about man’s spirit. With this post I want to say some things about his soul.

I probably should begin by pointing out that some people teach that the “spirit” and the “soul” are simply interchangeable terms. For you theological experts out there, this view of man is known as the dichotomist view. As I study the Bible, though, I find that scripture really does differentiate between the two. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12 both make a point of listing each one separately. Therefore, I find myself in agreement with those who hold to the trichotomist view of man.

Actually, the fact of the matter is that each person doesn’t have a soul so much as each person is a soul. Consider the following passages (all references from the N.K.J.V.):

1. Genesis 2:7 says: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living nephesh (the Hebrew word for “soul”).

2. Genesis 12:5 describes the servants that Abram had acquired in Haran as “the souls (nephesh) whom they had acquired.” This is just one of numerous places in the Old Testament where groups of people are referred to as groups of “souls.”

3. 1 Peter 3:20 says that eight “souls” were saved by way of Noah’s ark.

4. James 5:20 talks about saving a “soul” from death.

5. Romans 13:1 commands that every “soul” be subject to the governing authorities. Obviously, this means that every “person” should be subject to the governing authorities.

6. In Revelation 6:9, John sees heaven’s altar and under it the “souls” of many martyrs. Then, in 6:10, he hears those souls actually speak.

7. In Revelation 20:4, John sees the “souls” of those who had been martyred for Jesus during the Tribulation period.

When you understand that each person is a soul, you’ll understand how the Hebrew behind Amos 6:8 can rightly employ the word nephash. That verse says: “The Lord God has sworn by Himself (nephash)…” (N.K.J.V.). The point is that God Himself is a soul. Furthermore, you’ll also understand why the Bible talks about the need for the human soul to get saved. You see, the term “soul saving” is just another way of saying “person saving.” Passages that speak of “the saving of the soul” are Hebrews 10:39; James 1:21; and 1 Peter 1:9.

For the record, I should also mention that creatures and animals are also “souls” in the strictest technical sense. Verses such as Genesis 1:21,24; 2:19; and 9:10,12,15,16 all use the Hebrew word nephesh and translate it as “creatures.” Unlike man, however, this doesn’t mean that creatures go to any kind of afterlife. Believe me, I like to think of my favorite dog, Tramp, as being out there in eternity waiting for me, but the Bible really doesn’t teach that he is.

But where does the soul of the individual go in the afterlife? I mean, since the soul is eternal it must go somewhere, right? Well, first let me say that, like the spirit, the soul immediately departs from the body at death. Genesis 35:18 describes Rachel’s death in this way:

And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. (N.K.J.V.)

Likewise, 1 Kings 17:21-22 describes Elijah resurrecting the son of the widow of Zarephath as follows:

And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. (N.K.J.V.)

There is, however, a serious difference concerning the spirit’s departure and the soul’s departure. As I said in my previous post, each person’s spirit returns to God at death (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The soul, on the other hand, passes on to one of two locations. It either goes to a place of eternal salvation with God or a place of eternal damnation apart from him. The proof texts here are: Luke 16:19-31; Acts 2:27,31; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Matthew 5:11-12; Romans 8:16-18; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 25:41; and Romans 2:5-9.

And so, when everything is said and done, the main thing that you need to pull from all this is that you are a soul and you are going to spend eternity either with God in perfect bliss or separated from Him in indescribable torment. And the deciding factor on where you end up is your belief in or lack of belief in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. 1 Peter 2:24-25 says this to Christians:

who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

I’m happy to report that Jesus really is the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul. But I wonder, can the same be said of your soul? That’s a question you need to make sure you can answer in the right way because there is no more important one in all eternity. You see, your soul is the real “you,” and the real “you” is going to spend eternity either in perfect bliss with Jesus or in perfect torment without Him. That’s serious business, and you are the only person (soul) who can get it settled correctly.

Posted in Belief, Death, Heaven, Hell, Human Life, Reward, Salvation, Series: "The Spirit, The Soul, and The Body" | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment