Tag: how to go to heaven

The Biggest Mistake of a Lifetime
Eternity · Life

The Biggest Mistake of a Lifetime

RefreshHerLeave a comment

I recently watched a decorating video entitled, The Biggest Decorating Mistake We All Make. The title drew me in! I mean, who wants to make a BIG mistake in their home decor? While watching, I found that I, too, am guilty of making this “Huge blunder!” The good news is, it’s fixable! (Read on and I’ll tell you what was shared as the biggest decor faux pas.)

The video didn’t just make me want to go take care of the problem areas in my home, it also got me thinking about BIG MISTAKES we make in other areas of our lives – things that could be avoided.

Let’s start today with the one that is the most detrimental. I’m calling it The Biggest Mistake of a Lifetime.

Before I watched the decorating video, I was trying to anticipate what the decorating mistake was. It was all about perspective – too small a picture over a sofa, or too large a television for the small table, for example. Maybe you’re doing that same kind of guessing right now with my statement. What comes to your mind when you consider The Biggest Mistake of a Lifetime? Some may say…

  • Marrying the wrong person!
  • Not following your dreams! One blogger put it this way,
    “Not doing the inner work to create the outer life you dream of.”
  • Not saving for retirement!
  • Not believing in yourself!
  • Not getting more education!
  • Not completing a personal goal!

The list could go and on…but these are all incorrect.

For the answer of life’s biggest mistake, we’re not opening up a popular blog. We’re not listening to a dynamic motivational speaker, we’re going to the One Who gave us life – our great God.

In Luke 12, Jesus speaks to a group of people who had gathered around Him. Listen to His warning to them and to us ~

And He spoke a parable unto them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.

17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, because I have no room to store my fruits?’

18 And he said, ‘This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I store all my fruits and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’

20 But God said unto him, ‘Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?’

21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

This man planned out his business,

“I’ll get more!”.

He planned out his life,

“I’ll build barns to store everything!“,

but he had no control over his death.

Jesus called this man a fool, not because he was rich, but because he put all his value in the things of this life with no consideration of where he would spend eternity. His soul was the most valuable possession, but he made no provision for it.

People of this world would look at this rich man and think he was successful, but God says this is foolishness. One author said,

It isn’t only sin to give material things too high a place in your life – it is also stupid.

If that seems too blunt for you, stop and consider the weight of this parable. Eternity banks on it! The mistake of a lifetime is to pour our best efforts into the temporal things of this life and never think about where we will spend eternity. Jesus is giving a warning to not be foolish like this man. In a moment, this life is ended. None of us knows when that moment will be, so we must not delay considering that Christ has made the provision for us to have a relationship with Him now, and then a home with Him forever when this life is ended.

The Biggest Mistake of a Lifetime would be to pour all our time and efforts into this world and miss out on the blessing of knowing Christ, both now and after our death. The Biggest Mistake of a Lifetime is to think that accumulating more stuff and climbing higher and higher on the ladder of success is where real life is. Friend, that’s a lie from the pit of hell. Christ came to give us real life through Himself.

If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior for your sin and you’re wondering why you’re feeling empty and unsatisfied, even though you have lots of worldly possessions, it’s because your heart is craving what God created you for – a personal relationship with Him. To know Him is to truly be rich in this life and in the next.

Don’t make the biggest mistake and miss it. Just like the decorating mistake, this is fixable. Just don’t be like the man in the parable and wait too long.

If you want to read more about how to know Christ as your Savior, I invite you to go here. Feel free to email me at Refreshherblog@gmail.com. with any questions you may have.

Heaven · salvation

Sweet Assurance

RefreshHer2 Comments

camp.jpg

Yesterday I watched a video from The Wilds Christian camp in New England.  My heart was so touched by the testimony of how many lives have been reached through its ministry in the nine years of its existence.  But the most compelling part of the video came at about a minute and 45 seconds in when I heard several testimonies from campers from this past summer.

My name is Abby and this week I got assured of my salvation.

My entire life, I considered myself a Christian, but this week God showed me I wasn’t, and I got truly saved.

On Tuesday I got saved because I realized that I needed Jesus and that I couldn’t do it without Him..

In all this world there are many things that we can know about, but the most important truth is to know where you will spend eternity when you die.  These young people made that decision based on God’s Word, and now they have the peace in their heart that when they die, or when Christ comes, they will spend eternity in heaven. I love hearing how the one young man thought he’d been saved, but then he learned the truth about what salvation really is and found out he wasn’t saved the Bible way!

The last testimony shared something that many people don’t understand.  Going to heaven isn’t based on our goodness, our works, or our ability to save ourselves.  It’s all based on what Christ did on the cross.

That is so opposite of a testimony I heard several months ago as I was listening to a Christian radio station.  The broadcaster had her grandson, around eleven or twelve on the air with her.  She asked him to share about a decision he’d made recently.  Here’s what he said,

Well, my grandpa died and I was really sad.  I know my grandpa is in heaven.  I figured the only way I’d ever see him again was to be saved, so I got saved, and now I know I’ll see Grandpa again.

Does that testimony make your jaw drop?  It should, because that is not true salvation.  The radio announcer/grandmother gushed and praised him for his decision.  But I cried out loud, “What decision?!  You see, being saved isn’t a form of escape or a shrugging of our shoulders to get a front row seat to a heavenly ball game we’re sure Grandpa is playing “up there.”

Making the decision to “be saved” is to be rescued by Christ’s death on the cross from the fate of our sin – which is eternal death and separation from God.  When we realize that we are sinners and there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves, we understand that our sin was transferred to Jesus when He took our punishment and He died on the cross to pay the penalty. He took our place to make us right before God that we could have eternal life with Him in heaven.  It’s with a broken and a contrite heart that we come to God to receive what Jesus did for us.  We don’t sign our names to join a church, or do as the radio testimony did and figure heaven is the better option.  We bow before a holy God, turn our back on our sin and receive His Son.

If the camera at that camp was on you, could you give testimony to the fact that you have received Christ as your personal Savior and you’re sure you’re on your way to heaven?  It’s the sweetest assurance to have in this life, because it will determine your eternal destiny.

If you’ve never trusted Christ, why not stop now and pray a prayer something like this,

God, I know that I’m a sinner and I deserve hell, but I believe that you sent Jesus to die in my place.  I repent of my sin and accept what Christ did for me on the cross.  Come into my life and save me.  I fully trust in You to cleanse my sin.  Help me to live for You and to have the courage to tell someone of this decision I’ve made today.  In Jesus name, Amen.

I’d sure love to rejoice with you if you accept Christ as your Savior!  Would you contact me using the email info in my Contact section here?  Don’t allow yourself to go through this life without this sweet assurance!

Lovingly,

Denise Signature 150 px