Not Too Late
Hi Friends,
I hope you all are doing well. It is good to be alive in Christ! His promises are yes and amen! His mercies are new every morning. There is much to be thankful for. God is so good!
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24
I have two visions to share with you today. These are very serious, so please do not be put off by the content. These messages from the Lord are a wake up call to all people both inside and outside the church.
The Visions
The Mat Knife
I saw a yellow mat knife with a retractable blade fall to the floor. The blade was extended and it must have dropped from someone’s hand during use. The scripture that came to mind immediately was this:
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
When I saw the blade drop onto the ground, I knew that it must have either accidentally fallen or that it dropped from someone’s hand. For no one purposefully drops a knife with its blade exposed. I believe that the Lord brought this scripture to mind, for both the scripture and the vision speak of sudden death.
The scripture speaks of remembering God before it’s too late, “before the silver cord is severed.” Death can come unexpectedly, as in an accident. It can come upon someone as they are doing their daily routines, as a heart attack or a brain aneurysm. The scripture describes someone carrying a bowl and drops it along the way. A pitcher is shattered as someone falls over and lies unconscious. The wheel breaks at the well as another collapses to the ground. It is too late for these people to get right with God. Death has overtaken them, and there is no further opportunity. The time to seek God is today. Not tomorrow, for tomorrow may be too late.
Once the spirit leaves the body, there are only two destinations: heaven or hell.
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9:27-28
This is a very serious vision about a very serious topic. Too many people think that they have all the time in the world. They think that they can do as they please now, and someday far into the future, they will get right with God. This is foolishness; it is premeditated sin. My son told me as a teenager that he was planning to “sow his wild oats now and get right with God when he was older.” What a terrible idea!
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.” Ecclesiastes 12:1
It is better to live for God now, than to wait and have regrets for all eternity. When you give yourself fully to him, you will find your joy in him, and you will live with no regrets. He is faithful and will never leave you nor forsake you. Putting down your own desires and surrendering your will to his, may seem like a greater commitment than you want to make right now. But don’t wait— give yourself to Jesus. Follow him and he will direct your life. It is a good thing to be loved by your creator for he has given his very life for you.
I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. Revelation 1:18
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, Deuteronomy 30:19
The Lord gives us freewill, so the ball is in our court. If we choose to follow him, and hold fast to his ways, until our last breath, he will give us eternal life. These are the words Jesus spoke to churches in the Book of Revelation, to encourage them to persevere in their faith:
To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7
He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” Revelation 2:11
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.” Revelation 3:21
Eternal life is peace with God. It is a dwelling place where “every tear is dried,” (Rev 21:4) Hell on the other hand is a place of torment: “where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched,” (Mark 9:48) Why can’t we all make the proper choice? Is submitting to the will of God that difficult that we choose to go our own way instead? Jesus tells of a parable about living for oneself rather than for God.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-21
What is needed is a sense of urgency, and a desire to get right with God now. One of the two thieves that were crucified with Jesus asked the Lord in the last hours of his life, for Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. This man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:39-43
What about us? Will we come to the Lord at the very last minute of our lives? On our deathbed? Could we be so moved by His love for us that we choose to repent today and get right with him? We do not know the day or the hour that God has set for our death. It certainly behooves us to get right with him now.
There are many scriptures that do not mince words about the certainty of heaven and hell. Jesus speaks about this in the book of Revelation:
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Revelation 21:6-8
Jesus did not beg people, nor placate them, nor cajoled them into believing in him. Jesus instead spoke some very hard messages and often in parables so that only those who had a hunger for God would hear and understand.
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled:
‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” Matthew 13:11-17
A Prayer for Salvation
If you have understood this message, and would like to give yourself to the Lord, and ask him to forgive you of your sins and put you in right standing with the Father, then pray with me:
Dear Jesus,
You alone are God. You are a triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I acknowledge that you died on the cross as payment for my sins. I ask that you forgive me for the things I have said, and done and even the thoughts that were sinful. Please forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I acknowledge that you are sovereign, that you are the creator of all the universe, and all things rest in your hands. I ask that you write my name in the Book of Life, and that you send your Holy Spirit to dwell within me, to lead me into all truth. I renounce all the wicked ways of my past and that I choose to walk in your ways and follow your commands and teachings. I commit my ways to yours and surrender my will to yours. I ask that you heal me of any shameful memories and give me a new spirit. I declare that this day I am yours and you are mine. I thank you that you remove my sins as far as the east is from the west, and that you choose to remember them no more. By my commitment to you, I have become a new creation, born of the Spirit of God. Thank you Jesus that I will spend all eternity with you, and I will remember this day and the commitment that I have made to you. The past is gone and all things have become new. I choose this day to follow you wherever you lead! Amen!
Thank you for reading. Please share with loved ones and friends. God bless you in your walk with Him!
