Strong Not Strongest: Death + Judgement

   Two nights ago, I had a dream. I'm not quite sure what the circumstances were exactly , but for some reason everybody had to go to the authorities. They were handed a sheet of paper - there were two different kinds, and I can't remember what they said but they looked like newspapers - and then when their name was called, that person had to come to the front (there was a whole crowd of people in the room waiting) and whatever their paper said was done to them. So my family and I are right in the front, so we can see the whole view and everything that's going on. Well, they start, and this person gets called up to the front. The soldiers in authority (I don't think it was police; it might've been some group that had taken over, I never knew) then grabbed the person's paper and read it. Seconds later, that person was dead - shot in the head with some fancy, noiseless gun that seemed futuristic. This horrific event then proceeded to repeat itself, until half the people were no longer living. A few had been spared, but I didn't realize why until the "next day" (in the dream). Thankfully, none of my family were called up that first day. During that whole thing, I'm just shaking and breathing unevenly, as I say over and over, "Here I come, Lord…" But at the same time, I'm hoping against hope that my name won't be called, ever, that'll I'll be spared and get to live another day.
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   At the end of the day, after watching all those poor, helpless people get shot down mercilessly, the lady in charge (who surprisingly seems to be nice) announces that it would continue tomorrow. We all head home for a sleepless night, and the next morning, we all obediently stumble back to he (basically) slaughter house. For some reason, no one else is there yet except for that woman who seemed nice. Seeing all those papers that had determined the fate of the others the day before, I eagerly asked if I could chose the one I would receive (the day before, they were passed out randomly). I had discovered that those with a certain paper were set free and allowed to live, and I quickly grabbed those kinds for me and my family as soon as she gave permission (I guess she really was nice). The woman, seeing me so excitedly grabbing those papers, asked me, "Why don't you want to die?" I replied,

   "Only because there are so many people around the world who don't know about Jesus!! They need someone to share the gospel with them - if I don't, who will?!"

   She shrugged and turned away, as the rest of the people came flooding in. I don't remember much afterwards, except that we were spared and able to return home, alive and safe.

   That morning after waking up (in real life), something struck me: why was I so afraid to die in my dream? Why was I so against it - so against going home early to our God and our Savior? Why was I afraid of leaving earth when I knew where I was going?

  As I thought about it,  I realized that not only was I afraid of dying, but many, many other people were. For some of them, it's because they have no idea what comes after death, but for others, it's because they're unsure what Heaven will be like - or if Heaven is real - and whether or not they'll be "good enough" to get there. They don't want to leave the earth, which seems so good to them. But for those of you who do believe, why are you afraid? Heaven is going to be so amazing, but not because there will be no more sin, or pain, or sickness, or evil -although that is absolutely amazing - but because will be with our God. I can only imagine what it'll be like when all I can do is worship Him!! When the lion lies down next to the lamb…my goodness, I am sooo excited, you don't even know!! It will be ten billion million times greater than your happiest moment on earth - our joy will truly be complete!

   But at the same time, I pray that God would give me more years on this earth. While I am scared about what living forever will be like, I pray this primarily because of the strong passion God has placed in me for those who are lost. I've just begun to realize just how strong His fire in me is, as revealed further to me by my dream. But seriously, all I want to do is be a tool that the Lord uses to bring people to Christ. It brings me so much joy to encourage, pray and love on people who are hurting, and there is a huge need! There are around seven billion people in this world - but only one third of those people are Christians, which means that four billion, six million people don't know Jesus. That's a loot of people!

   Think of the person you love the most. Can you imagine what it would like to watch that person go to eternal suffering because you didn't share the gospel with them? (I'm not saying this is necessarily true for you) You should feel the same for every non-Christian. The Bible says to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…" - Matthew 28:19. All nations. Not just America. Not just Mexico, Canada, China. All nations. Can you imagine what it's going to be like when, in Heaven, we are worshipping the Lord with people from every single nation in the world? 2 Corinthians 5:11-14 says that, "We work hard to persuade others…Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all..." Every single person deserves the chance to know about Jesus and His free gift to us!

   We need to be sharing the gospel today. Tomorrow is never guaranteed - it has never been and it never will be. We can't put it off any longer. I admit, I am certainly at fault at this! I speak, I share, I motivate others, but what am I doing? I see the need but I don't try to fill it - what good is that? And we don’t have to go out of the country to do this: there are people just down the street who need food, clothing, love! What can you do about it? For them, for those who don't know the Lord and also for Christians - after death comes judgement. Then there are two and only two places you can go: heaven -eternity with God- or hell - eternity without God. Death shouldn't be something we're afraid of, but something we need to be aware of. We need to be aware of the people who are dying every day without knowing Jesus, without ever having the chance to accept, and who are going to eternal anguish, punishment - hell.

   And we also need to be aware that death often comes when we least expect it - in the midst of prosperity, good health, and everything - and boom, just like that, someone dies. Do you want to look back at your life and have regrets? Do you want to look back and regret that you never reached out to those down the street who you ignored when they needed you the most? Don't let the devil entice you and trick you into thinking there's nothing more to life than making good money, finding love and popularity. There are people's souls and eternal destiny on the line. Don't delay this. Just simply invite your neighbor to church. Text "SHARE" to 52525, and it'll send you a link that, in a way, shares the gospel for you that you just have to text to your friend or whoever you're sending it to. You can also download an app, called Gospel Central (gospelcentral.us) that is a tool you can use to share your story online so others can see it. It's really easy and simple to do, but it could change someone's life forever! Or invite your friend to church! Invite them over for lunch, and share the gospel with them! I pray that you would do at least one of the above, if not all of them! God bless you all!

   What are you going to do about it?