SelahV Today

Win A Copy of HEAVEN IS FOR REAL by Todd Burpo

In honor of my hubby's April Fool's Day Birthday, I'm having a contest.

Would you like to win a FREE copy of HEAVEN IS FOR REAL by Todd Burpo?

TO ENTER THE CONTEST SIMPLY: 

Write the most descriptive acrostic using the letters that spell heaven:

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Then write your acrostic in the COMMENT BOX below this post.  KEEP READING >>>

When Love Can't Win

Love does not win us all.  Love is poured out upon us with unmeasurable reward.  Yet, we all won't receive it or accept it.  We won't all respond with eagerness.  Some will reject it.

It won't matter how you wrap it up.  Or how often you leave it on the doorway.  Some people will not accept charity.  Why?  Pride. 

My husband tells a story of a man who was near death.  He asked the man if he knew where he would spend eternity if he died that night.  The man said, "in hell".  My husband asked if could share the way to escape that fate and the man allowed him to share Jesus and His attoning grace.  Yet, when my husband asked him if he wanted to accept this priceless free gift of God's saving love, the man said no.  Tears of remorse trickled down his aged face.  He told my husband, he just couldn't do that.  He carried a burden too deep--a sin he believed unforgiveable.  He couldn't accept the grace and mercy God offered him.

My husband was heartbroken.  It didn't matter that God loved that old man.  The man would not give his heart and soul into the nail-scarred hands of freedom and peace.  Love did not fail...it stayed at the door knocking.  The old man just wouldn't open the door.

Do you know someone who believes their sin is too black to be forgiven, their past too filled with blackness to ever be cleansed?  I pray you are able to share God's love in such a way they understand His goodness and mercy. May God so pierce their pride, that humility pours forth in tears of gratitude and praise.  May they let go and let God do the work in them they cannot do themselves.  selahV

There Is Coming A Time

...when we can no longer go and tell.

Our loved ones, the kind-hearted neighbor, the generous boss, the diligent co-worker--each will have a day when they face death.  We who are saved will find peace and abundance in the arms of God in heaven.  But there will be a chasm between we who trust in the Lord, and those who do not.  When that time comes, we will no longer tell others of the hope they could have in Jesus.  Their hope is gone.  Even if we want to go to the others and offer comfort, we will not be able to.  We know this because Jesus admonished the Pharisees:

"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.

"But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us." Luke 16:22-26

Now is the time.  Today is the day of salvation.  Today may be the only day we have to share our faith and the promise of eternal life.  It's so hard to comprehend the idea that people we know who aren't willing to listen today will someday be eternally separated from us and God and will live in eternal torment.  But that is truth as written in God's Word.  I think of myself with the pain I go through with various things in life.  Nothing compares to the pain and heartache a person will experience who does not know God.  For again it is written as Jesus spoke:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.  And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’  Everyone will be salted with fire." Mark 9:42-48

Some folks scoff and say that they are living in hell on earth.  However that is not Biblical.  Hell is a real place.  Just like Heaven is for real.  And there is coming a day when we will no longer be able to proclaim the Everlasting Life people can have in Jesus.  They will have made their choice as surely as they choose to brush or not to brush their teeth. 

Lord, give us hearts on fire to share Jesus, the anecdote for sin and escape from everlasting torment.  You stand at the door and knock and whoever opens the door, You will go in and dwell with them and give them eternal life in Your presence.  Help all those who proclaim Your salvation be heard, Oh Lord.  Let people hear now, while there is still time. selahV

RELATED POSTS:  Heaven Is For Real , How To Come To Jesus , When Heaven Is Home

HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, Book Review by Hariette Petersen

Imagine, if you will, a weeklong ordeal of your child's health deteriorating to the point of death. When he is ushered into emergency surgery for something you had earlier suggested was wrong to the doctors, how would you feel? Angry? Afraid? Desperate?

What would you do if your child woke up from surgery and told you he'd been to heaven?  What would you think?  How would you handle it?

Todd Burpo, pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church, in small-town Imperial, Nebraska, found himself in that very position a few years ago.

I just finished reading, "HEAVEN IS FOR REAL", a gripping true story of four-year-old Colton Burpo's visit to Heaven and back.  Colton awoke after surgery to clean up the poisonous explosion of his appendix inside his tiny 40-pound body, to relate stories of seeing angels, Jesus, God, and deceased family members he didn't even know he had.  He describes details about leaving his body and seeing his father praying as the doctors operated on him.  He relates facts that astound his parents, Todd and Sonja Burpo.

Todd, along with author, Lynn Vincent, share Colton's memories as they unfold in the Burpo's lives after Colton recovers.  Little Colton periodically mentions people he saw in heaven while he was there--with child-like innocence and certainty, he relates things Jesus told him.  Over and over his parents are amazed at the factual accounts he shares--things he could not possibly know, like his mother's miscarriage before he was born.   

Through this poignant account of parents living with the greatest terror of their lives--a child on the verge of death, we find inspiration and hope.  In an era when werewolves and wizards dominate booksales and movie screens, this book is a timely and refreshing peek into the mysterious reality of heaven. The reader is left to decide whether he wants to believe or not.  For Christians, it may solidify the faith they already have in an eternal home, and give them greater peace about the unknown.  To those who doubt, it opens the door to believe in a loving God who sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die so people on earth could see His Father in heaven.

Colton's story is heart-warming, and as others have written: "compelling, convincing, and beautifully written".  Colton is absolutely adorable; his confidence coupled with his child-like innocence, makes this book all the more credible and real.  Definitely well-worth the read.

I want to thank Jeff Loper for the opportunity to review this book for Thomas Nelson Publishers.  For more information you can visit HeavenIsForReal.net or Facebook.com/HeavenIsForReal.

If you have any thoughts on heaven, Jeff suggests you make a video and upload it to their page located at YouTube.com/users/HeavenIsForReal so others can hear your story.

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FOR MORE THOUGHTS ON HEAVEN:

WHAT ABOUT HELL?  IS HELL REALLY REAL?

HOW CHRISTIANS KNOW THEY WILL GO TO HEAVEN 

 

I AM ASSURED

I HAVE A DWELLING PLACE

"You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand." Psalm 16:11

The Lord has made known to me the path of life...it is through Jesus Christ the Lord.  There is no other way but through Him that I can go to meet the Father above.  He will fill me with greater joy than I have ever known upon this old earth, just by being in His presence.  I will have constant eternal pleasures as I stand before my Lord, My Redeemer, and King.

Oh, my friend, that you would stand next to me that day!

What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see.  What a day, glorious day, that will be! selahV

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET JESUS?  Click here.]