“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”²

Years ago, soon after my first son was born, my mother came to help with the new baby. On one occasion I left her to “baby-sit” with him in a beautiful downtown park in Adelaide, South Australia (where we were living at the time), while I did some shopping.

When I returned, mother and baby were missing. I panicked! My heart pounded. Minutes seemed like hours. I asked strangers passing by if they had seen an older woman with a baby. I searched for a policeman. I prayed furiously.

Imagine the relief when I found them. Actually, the problem was mine. I went back to the wrong part of the park!

I’ve read about others, too, who lost a child and how they panicked, and never rested until their child was found. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for parents whose child is lost—and never found. It would be unthinkable—a never-ending nightmare.

Would to God that we Christians were just as concerned about people who don’t know the Savior and are lost without hope for all eternity.

As Jesus said in today’s Bible passage, he is coming again and will be taking his true followers to be with him forever in Heaven. What a wonderful hope for his true followers. But think of the tragedy of those who are still lost and don’t know that their Heavenly Father is looking for them.

Here in ACTS International we are totally committed to telling people all around the world about Jesus’ message of salvation—people who without Christ will be lost for all eternity. Will you please help us to do this? You can do so at http://actscom.com and by becoming a People Power for Jesus Partner. For more information go to: www.actsweb.org/people_power/about_people_power.php

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be as concerned about people who are spiritually lost as I would be if my own child were lost. I’m available and ask that you use me to be ‘as Christ’ to every life I touch today, and please use me to help bring the lost to you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Jesus in Matthew 25:31-34(NIV).

2. Matthew 25:41 (NIV).

A troubled Daily Encounter reader writes: “The circumstances of my birth were not good. My mother, newly wedded to her husband, had me by another man. Ever since I found this out in my teenage years (when my parents finally got divorced after a horrible marriage), I have felt like an outcast, as if I were cursed because I was born in a sinful manner. I know a child of God cannot be cursed because Jesus hung on a tree for us, but it’s very difficult to overcome this feeling at times. I often feel as if God has rejected me. Is this possible?”

Dear Michael (name changed), even though you may not feel it right now, let me assure you that you are not rejected by God. He loves you and me regardless of our feelings and no matter what we have ever done or have failed to do—or whatever anyone has ever done to us. God loves us all with an everlasting love. If truth be known, there must be millions of people who were never planned or even wanted, but are still loved and accepted by God no matter what.

Some years ago when my youngest son was still a teen, he was very angry at me about something that I have long since forgotten, but I will never forget what he said. He blurted out in a very angry manner, “Well, why did you have me anyhow?”

I immediately replied (and genuinely meant it), “Because you are a part of God’s eternal plan!”

And Michael, this is also true of you and every child that was ever born. All are known by God from the foundation of the world. You, too, are a part of God’s eternal plan. God loves you eternally. Jesus died on the cross for YOU. And if you have never accepted God’s gift of forgiveness and salvation by receiving Jesus as your Savior, I urge you to do that today. For help, please read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” online at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

Also, at the beginning of every day I encourage you to pray the following prayer:

“Dear God, again today I commit and trust my life and way to you. Please guide me in the way that I should go, and help me to become the person you want me to be. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: And, Dear Reader, I encourage you to do the same as I have been doing pretty much every day since my youth and plan on praying this prayer every day until the day I go to be with the Lord.

1. John 3:16 (NKJV).

The following warning is attributed to an 18th-century Scottish writer who said: “The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.”

I wonder in what stage we are in the U.S.A., Australia, Europe, New Zealand and the Western World? Could it be apathy? Very likely. Do we, as churches, care enough to do anything about the ever accelerating moral decline and do what we can to help make an impact on our societies? Do we, as individuals as well as churches, care enough to do everything we can to help spread the saving gospel of Jesus Christ across the street and around the world? For without Jesus, people are lost—forever.

Thank God that he cared enough to send his only Son, Jesus Christ, to give his life to die in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins so that we could receive God’s forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. And thank Jesus Christ that he cared enough for us to die for us. And because Jesus cared enough to give his life to die for us, do we care enough to give our life to live for and to serve him?

As the first coming of Jesus Christ to earth 2,000 years ago is an indisputable fact of history. His second coming to take his true followers to be with him forever is just as certain. Jesus is coming again. Let us make sure that we are ready for and actively serving him when he comes.

If you would like to commit or re-commit your life to Jesus and daily make yourself available to serve him, please pray the following prayer: “Dear God, in gratefulness to Jesus for giving his life to pay the penalty for all my sins and for your gift of forgiveness and eternal life, I surrender, commit and trust my life and way to you. I am available. Please make me usable and use me today to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.” I encourage you to pray this prayer of commitment at the beginning of every day for the rest of your life.

Note: If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and received God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life, I urge you to do this today. For help please read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian.” Click ON www.actsweb.org/christian.

1. Mark 13:33-34 (NKJV).

I recall falling asleep in a college class on one occasion and, knowing I was sleeping, the professor called on me to answer a question. I had no idea what the question was and gave the dumbest answer. The class thought it was funny, but the professor surely didn’t. If I go to sleep in church, my wife gives me a gentle “nudge” with her elbow. I confess, too, that sometimes in bed right when I am praying with Joy, I go to sleep but my mouth keeps going. I’m dreaming and start verbalizing what I am dreaming about. Joy can tell you some good stories about the times this has happened. On one of these occasions I was praying for the garbage man. When Joy woke me out of my dream and told me who I was praying for, I said, “Well, the garbage man needs prayer too!”

It is harmless going to sleep in a safe place but not so when driving a car. That can be extremely dangerous and has been deadly for many. There’s been several times when I knew I was too sleepy to drive so exited from the highway to have a break. However, in today’s Scripture the Apostle Paul was not speaking about going to sleep physically, but spiritually. That, too, can be deadly not just for time, but for all eternity.

If we go to sleep spiritually we can easily drift far from God without even realizing it. And, tragically, at the end of life’s journey, wake up too late only to discover that we have missed the directions for God’s “highway to Heaven” and find ourselves in a lost eternity.

Whatever you do, be absolutely certain that you are awake spiritually so that you won’t miss God’s directions both for this life and the next. For help, read how to know God and his directions for life after death online at: http://tinyurl.com/8brzh.

Read also, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your Word that warns me to keep awake spiritually and that also shows me the only way to your Heaven and eternal life. Please help me to know for certain that I am safely following your directions and your way for this life and the next. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:6 (NIV).

While some things never change, we can’t say that about life in the last century. I read that if we were to put the entire world’s knowledge from the beginning of time until 1845 on a graph it would measure only 1 inch tall. From 1845 to 1945—just 100 years—the graph would measure 3 inches tall. But from 1945 until today the graph would be as tall as or even taller than the Washington monument.

Change, rapid change—some for good and some for bad—has become the order of the day. They say that today’s average worker will need to be retrained at least three times during his working career to keep up with all the changes. Changes in technology, our manner of living, relationships, beliefs, philosophy, morals, and so on are happening so fast it is difficult to keep up with it all. It can leave us reeling and stressed to the max.

And while we have learned how to put a man on the moon and talk to him while he is there, we hardly know how to communicate to one another in a meaningful manner when we are in the same room! Much of our modern education (with access to almost unlimited knowledge) has taught us how to make a living but has failed miserably in teaching us how to live.

And without an anchor for the soul we can be left floating on a restless changing sea of uncertainty and insecurity. But for those who have faith in God, of this one thing we can be absolutely sure: God changes not! His love is from everlasting to everlasting and he is still in control of the world and universe no matter what.

In the U.S. we have engraved on our coins, “In God we trust.” But until that is engraved on our hearts and we genuinely trust in the God who changes not, we will have no lasting security.

T.O. Chisholm wrote:

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

“Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your faithfulness and unchanging nature. Help me to trust in you no matter what, knowing that you are in control and hold the world in your hands. Please hold my life in your hands, too, as I yield the control of it to you. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Malachi 3:6 (NIV)

A Daily Encounter reader writes: “I was once a Christian with a great love for the knowledge of the Bible. I have, unfortunately, turned away from God in the last several years. Will God take me back? Will he return His Spirit to me? Please respond.”

Dear Frieda (name changed), Will God take you back? Will the sun stop shining? Will the world stop turning? Will God reject you? Never, never, never will God reject you.² He loves you with an everlasting love … not because of what you have ever done or have failed to do, but just because you are you, and because you are one of God’s children. Not one of us is worthy to come to God in our own right, but because Jesus, God’s Son, died to save us from our sins; through him even the worst of sinners can come to God. All we need to do is come to him, confess our sins and failures, and ask for his forgiveness … and THANK him for it. Don’t depend on your feelings. Depend on God’s Word which says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”³

Confess your sins and failures to God today … and accept his forgiveness. And be sure to forgive yourself. Remember, if there is one prayer God loves to hear it is, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Pour out your heart to God today. Tell him exactly how you feel. Ask for his help in every area of your life. Every day commit and trust your life and way to God. I have done this daily for many years because I know that God can make a much better job of my life than I ever could.

Also, read again “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian and be sure to read the last part about having assurance of your salvation and eternal destiny.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you are a friend of sinners—including me. Thank you for your everlasting love and for giving your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross in my place to save me from my sins. Thank you that when I confess my sins to you, you forgive me fully and freely. Thank you for your forgiveness and for the gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Luke 15:17-20 (NIV).

2. see Hebrews 13:5.

3. 1 John 1:9 (NIV).

Brett Blair writes how “on January 23, 1909, a small invention played a crucial role in the lives of 1500 people. The New York-bound ocean liner the Florida rammed into the Republic. Jack Binns, the Republic’s new wireless radio man, reassembled his contraption which had been destroyed in the collision. He sent out distress calls for the next 12 hours until the crew and passengers were rescued in the dawn light of Sunday morning. Only a few died.

“Jack Binns became a national hero. He was given a ticker tape parade. Songs were written about him. He even testified before congress on the importance of regulating wireless technology on all ships. Congress listened politely but ignored his message. Binn gave up his quest, accepted no profit from his celebrity, and went back home to England to await reassignment. Three years later he received an assignment aboard a ship that he turned down. He had fallen in love and was soon to marry. The turned down assignment? The Titanic.

“It is now felt that Binn’s message was ignored because so few lives were lost on the Republic. It took tragedy on the scale of the Titanic for the importance of wireless to be understood.”²

King Agrippa was an almost-persuaded too—but lost. Be certain not to wait until it is too late to take heed of God’s warnings in the Bible. Be sure you have accepted God’s plan of salvation from a lost eternity. Whatever you do, don’t be an almost-persuaded.

For help be sure to read, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the many warnings in your Word, the Bible, telling me that I need to prepare for eternity and how to be saved from a lost eternity. Help me to be certain that I am prepared for life after death. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 26:27-28 (NKJV).

2. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com, December, 2000

Yesterday we gave references of those who saw Jesus following his resurrection from the grave. Following are more witnesses: Eight days after his resurrection, Jesus is seen again by the disciples² and at the Lake of Tiberias by seven of the disciples—including Peter, James, and John.³

On a Galilean mountain Jesus appeared to more than 500 of his followers at one time.⁴ He also appeared to his brother, James, who prior to Christ’s resurrection totally rejected him as the Messiah.⁵ Perhaps one of the strongest evidences of the resurrection is this dramatic change in James, who became one of the chief leaders in the early Christian church.

At the Mount of Olives, on the day of his return to heaven, Christ was again seen by the eleven disciples, the brothers of Jesus and several women, including his mother.⁶ Later the ascended Christ appeared in a blinding light to Paul on the road to Damascus,⁷ to Stephen when he was being stoned to death,⁸ to Paul again at the Temple,⁹ and finally to John on the Isle of Patmos.¹⁰

In about A.D. 100 Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote in his Antiquities that Jesus “appeared to them alive on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him.”¹¹ Since Josephus was a Jew writing to please the Romans, this story would not have pleased them in the slightest. He would hardly have included it if it were false.¹² Ancient men believed that there was life after death. Jesus Christ himself taught this and proved it by his own resurrection. Josephus, the Jewish historian, reported Christ’s resurrection. And now modern science seems to confirm what the Bible has been teaching for several thousand years—that there is life after death.

The crucial point, however, is to be sure that we are personally ready for life beyond the grave. We can be by confessing our sinfulness to God, by acknowledging our need of God, and by responding to Jesus Christ’s call to receive him as personal Lord and Savior. To assist you in doing this and to be sure that you are prepared for life after death, read: “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

God’s Word says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”¹³

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you again for the assurance from your Word of life after death for all your true followers. Please help me to know for certain that I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and am prepared for the life to come. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. I Corinthians 15:51,53 (TLB)(NLT).
2. John 20:26-28.
3. John 21:1-23.
4. I Corinthians 15:6
5. I Corinthians 15:7.
6. Acts 1:9-14.
7. Acts 9:3-6.
8. Acts 7:55.
9. Acts 22:11; 17-21.

10. Revelation 1:10-19.

11. Josephus, Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3, v. 3.

12. Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p.194. Campus Crusade for Christ International. Inc., Copyright 1972. Used by permission.

13. John 3:16.

Yesterday we shared the words of one person who had had a near-death experience. Another person explained, “The first thing he (the being of light) said to me was, that he kind of asked me if I was ready to die, or what I had done with my life that I wanted to show him?”²

Others experienced a deep sense of loneliness immediately after death. One person said, “I was aware the whole time of being alone—very alone—almost like I was a visitor from someplace else. It was like all relations were cut. I know—it was like there was no love or anything.”³

While these experiences are interesting, the most reliable textbook we have on life after death is God’s Word, the Bible, which says, “Yet we have this assurance: those who belong to God shall live again! Those who dwell in the dust shall awake and sing for joy! For God’s light of life will fall like dew upon them!”⁴

In the New Testament Paul wrote, “I am telling you this strange and wonderful secret: we shall not all die, but we shall all be given new bodies…. For our earthly bodies, the ones we have now that can die, must be transformed into heavenly bodies that cannot perish but will live forever.”⁵

While the most reliable textbook of life after death is the Bible, the greatest proof is Jesus Christ’s own resurrection from death. He wasn’t classified as merely “clinically dead” for a brief time. After dying on a Roman cross, he had been dead and in the grave for three days when he came back to life again.

Both the Jewish and Roman leaders hated Christianity. So all they had to do to destroy it forever was to find the body of Christ—which nobody ever did, for the Christian faith was established on the fact of his resurrection.

Christ’s disciples were so convinced of his resurrection that each one gave his life for preaching that Christ had risen from the dead. They believed this because they had seen him killed, buried and resurrected for themselves.

The morning of his resurrection, Christ was seen by Mary Magdalene⁶ and women returning from the empty tomb.⁷ That same day he was seen by Peter,⁸ later by two of his followers on the road to Emmaus,⁹ and at night by the disciples.¹⁰

To be continued . . .

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the record in your Word regarding the witnesses who saw the ‘Living Christ’ following his death, burial and resurrection. And thank you again for your promise of life after life for all your true followers. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: To be sure that you are prepared for life after death, read: “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

1. Acts 1:11 (NIV).

2. Raymond A. Moody, Jr., Life After Life, pp. 47. Mockingbird Books, Inc., Covington, GA 30209 Copyright 1975. Used by permission.

3. Ibid, P. 43.

4. Isaiah 26:19 (Living Bible)(NLT).

5. I Corinthians 15:51,53 (Living Bible)(NLT).

6. John 20:14.

7. Matthew 28:9,10.

8. Luke 24:34.

9. Luke 24:13-33.

10. Luke 24:36-43.