One Year Bible Reading Plan and Devotional
Today’s Bible Reading: April 18
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Clicking on the Scripture links above will open a new window where you can read the scripture from the Holman Christian Standard Bible at Biblegateway.com or choose the Bible version you prefer to read. Check back each day to get the Scripture to read in the One Year Bible Reading Plan.
Hell is Real!
Heaven and Hell are Real Places
Hell is real. Not many people want to talk about it. It doesn’t make for a pleasant conversation. We’d rather talk about how nice heaven is and how “God is love.” And He is. And heaven is just as real as hell. But while in heaven, there is no more sorrow, no more sickness, and there are streets of gold and spending eternity with Jesus, Matthew 13:50 describes hell as a “blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
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Hell – the eternal abode for Satan and his followers
Hell was originally for Satan and the fallen angels that followed him in the revolt against God. Jesus says in Matthew 25:41 that hell is an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Those who reject Jesus as Savior with share Hell with Satan
Revelation 20:15 says that anyone whose name is not found in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 21:8 says that the unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will share hell with Satan and his demons. This verse calls this the second death and says that hell is a lake that burns with fire and sulfur.
2 Peter 2:4-21 says:
For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment; and if He didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to ruin, making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the unrestrained behavior of the immoral (for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones; however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. But these people, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed—speak blasphemies about things they don’t understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed, suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions as they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery and are always looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse! They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness but received a rebuke for his transgression: A donkey that could not talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s irrationality. These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them.
What is Hell like?
Revelation 20:10 says that those in hell will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 says that those in hell will be shut out from the presence of the Lord. Mark 9:48 says that in hell the worm never dies and the flame is not quenched. Revelation 14:11 says, And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.
Does God send people to hell?
Some might ask, “If God is love, why does he send people to hell?” But the answer to that is — He doesn’t. We choose heaven or hell based on whether you choose Christ as your Savior or Satan as your master. And you don’t get to stand in eternity and make the choice – you make it now in this life. Once death comes in this life, its too late to choose.
Lazarus carried to heaven by angels and the Rich Man found himself in hell
In Luke 16, we find Jesus telling the story about the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man had every luxury in life, while Lazarus was poor and sick, a beggar who laid at the gate of the rich man covered in sores and begged for the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. When they both died, the rich man found himself in hell and Lazarus was carried by the angels into heaven. Each man chose for himself his eternal destination.
What does the Bible tell us about Heaven?
God gave John a glimpse of heaven and we can find John’s descripting in Revelation. He wrote:
River of life, tree of life, throne of God, no more night
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:1-5)
Tears wiped away
John also wrote in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Gates of pearl, no need of sun, moon, or stars
Then in verses 21-25, “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.”
One way to heaven and one way to hell
There is only one way into hell and one way into heaven. The entrance to hell is rejecting Christ as Savior. The entrance to heaven is by faith placing your trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It begins with recognizing what sin is and that we are all sinners in need of a Savior. We must understand that salvation is about what God has done for us. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation. It is God’s gift to us. However, in order for gift to because ours, we must reach out and accept it.
God’s plan to redeem us and save us from eternity in hell
We were the ones that failed God when we sin, yet God is the one who made a plan to redeem us by sending His only Son to earth to take our punishment in our place. Each and every one of us are sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It is sin that makes us in need of a Savior. It is sin that separates us from God.
Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. That wage or penalty is what we earned because of sin – but it was paid for us when Jesus came to earth, died on a cross, was buried in a tomb and then three days later rose from the dead. He bore our sins and accepted the consequences that we deserve. In order for us to be saved, we must “believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31).
God has already done all the work. All we have to do is receive, by faith, the gift of salvation that God offers. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell
God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. If a person ends up there, they do so by rejecting God’s grace and gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Today, God is offering you salvation as a gift – all you have to do is reach out and accept it. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
When we believe in the Lord Jesus it means that we put our faith and trust in what He did to provide our way of salvation as he paid the price for our sin through his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. Therefore, it is more than just knowing about Jesus. Satan and all his demons know all about Jesus. But they will still end up in hell. We must also act on the knowledge through our faith and trust in Him to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and sin through the blood He shed.
Prayer of Salvation
If you are ready to accept Him as your Savior, then pray right now:
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. Jesus, I choose to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.
If you prayed that prayer and meant it with all your heart, then you have been saved and are now a child of God and your eternal destination is heaven. Follow up with a pastor at a local evangelical church and he can help you take the next steps in your Christian journey and help you grow in your new faith. Welcome to the family of God!
God, thank you for your free gift of salvation that gives us eternal life in heaven with you. We pray for those who are lost that they may choose to place their faith in Jesus. We thank you for those who just prayed and asked Christ to forgiven and save them.
#ReadYourBible #1Samuel #Luke #hellisreal
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Week 16: April 18-24, 2022
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Three nails that make a cross tells the true story of Jesus’ unfailing love for us and that true story is summed up in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
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God, Love, and Marshmallow Wars
by Julia M. Bruce
What’s Inside God, Love, and Marshmallow Wars?
This book includes 365 daily activities and takes you on a guided journey through Biblical principles about Godly marriage that you can then apply to your marriage, as well as helping you talk through concepts that can help you develop a solid relationship. Inside you will find simple, quick activities that include:
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