Church

Church. It's not about the building. Its about the people. Saved and unsaved alike.

Church is called to be a place where saint and sinner can both seek forgiveness and the face of God. God promises us that He is not a respecter of persons. Roman's 2:11. That means God judges each person without favoritism based on their background, such as ethnicity, gender or social status.

This verse emphasizes God's judgment is fair and that everyone is held accountable for their own actions.

Salvation is a free gift to the entire world that cost Jesus Christ every drop of blood in His body. He was tortured, mutilated (means to inflict a severe and disfiguring wound on a person or a part of the body) rejected and despised by the very ones He would give up His life for - you and I). He hung, bled and died with the sins of the world - every single sin committed after creation to every sin that has not yet been committed into the end of the age. He took sin & death to hell with Him for three days and rose again to life as a victorious Savior! (He was a risen conqueror over death, hell and the grave meaning death has no sting for the believer!)

But, there was deep loss on the cross for Him before His triumphant resurrection.

He cried out on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?"

For the first time in creation, suddenly the eyes of God turned away from His Son. The Word of God says that God cannot look on sin.

Habakkuk 1:13, "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrongdoing."

The cross is where our sins were covered under the blood of the Lamb. But in taking on all our sins, Jesus paid the price of separation from His Father, something that had never happened in all of eternity.

Think of your closest friend, your Momma, your Daddy, your spouse... Now, imagine they have completely turned their back on you with no thought to ever see you again, behaving as though you never even existed, much less wanting to return to the relationship you once had.

The devastation of that betrayal, of the absolute physical sickness you feel as the horrible aching that cannot be quenched in your spirit takes your very breath away, leaves you with an empty shell of your former self.

Imagine the overwhelming stench of fear of not being connected to that person again.

The hopelessness as empty as the void in your life in which only that person could fill.

Imagine never laughing with that person again, going to them with whatever is on your mind and heart, rejoicing with them and weeping with them, being encouraged and restored by them, living your best and worst life with them.

To never feel their smile upon your face, to never hold their hand or receive that hug that feels like a welcome home hug.

Now, imagine God turning His back on Jesus again. Jesus was as an innocent lamb led to slaughter who did not lift up His voice to call down angels to help Him. In fact, the Word of God says in Revelation 13:8 that Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. His sacrifice to redeem humanity was determined by God in eternity, before time and creation began! Think of the enormity of that statement- God knew man would fall from grace and need redemption by His only Son before He ever created the first human and still He created us. His love and grace calling out for mercy and salvation in the portals of heaven before we were formed!

Jesus only cried out in torment because His Father had suddenly been ripped from His very being and that separation was a huge, self-inflicted gaping wound.

All of the Godhead had been torn apart like a hurricane tearing a mansion from its foundation, leaving nothing in its wake.

Now imagine that you are standing at the Great White Throne Judgment (judgment for the unbeliever) and you hear the voice of the Lord say, "Depart from me you worker of iniquity, for I never knew you."

The shock of that statement will reverberate in your hearing forever and throughout all of eternity. Imagine yearning so longingly for the grace, mercy, love, salvation and faithfulness of Christ that you dismissed everytime the Holy Spirit visited you with conviction from heaven. You will be reliving with vivid detail each time the Holy Spirit warned you, tried too woo you or made you so uneasy, sometimes He actually terrifying you, doing all that He could to get through to you before you shot that last hit of your drug of choice, or try to slow you down before you end up doing a barrel roll down an embankment or into a tree...

The emptiness of hearing "Depart from Me. I never knew you." Matthew 7:23

Make no mistake, He knew you while you were here on this earth. He loved you desperately. He longed to have fellowship with you, and to have an intimate relationship with you. He wanted to draw you into His family, to crown you as a royal priesthood, to afford you the protection of heaven.

He desired above all to hear you say, whisper or scream, "Jesus, save me!"

He doesn't know you at the Great White Throne Judgment because of your sins He atoned for by the blood of His body, His ultimate sacrifice, was not received by you, but was rejected time after time as God Himself ran after you, desiring that in all of creation you would turn back to Him and run back into His arms.

But, you kept putting it off. You believed the devil's lies that you had plenty of time, you could make things right between you and God on your deathbed or when you got old and started to settle down. Telling yourself you are having too much fun to stop now.

Who wouldn't want to lay on a nasty toilet, putting their face on the unclean porcelain for the coolness you are searching for when it feels like hell's flames are reaching for you? Guess what, my friend? They are.

Isaiah 5:14 says, " Hell has enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure to receive them.

That means you and me if we haven't given our hearts and lives over to Jesus.

The Bible says that, "Today is the day of salvation."

2 Corinthians 6:2.

1 Corinthians 6:19 says that "You are the temple of the Holy Spirit". God dwells within believers, making their bodies sacred spaces where God's Spirit resides. That is why we are to treat our bodies with reverence and to honor God with it, as it is considered a sanctuary.

Beloved, imagine being wrapped in the strong arms of the Father, where Jesus said in John 10:28, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand." Verse 29 goes on to say, "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of the Father's hand."

What a blessed promise!

We have a definite plan of salvation given out of the unconditional love of our Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer, the Lover of your soul!

Man has no business or place in a devil's hell except that which he dug out for himself by denying the call of Christ.

You must determine to push past the outstretched arms of Christ in order to enter into hell's gates.

You have to stumble over His sacrifice time and time again, crucifying Him anew and afresh (Hebrews 6:6) as you deny His existence, His sovereignty, His authority as you fall into eternal darkness "where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Weeping because you realize exactly what you rejected and that it was your own choice that brought you into the depths and torments of hell.

Gnashing of teeth means the rage, anger and frustration at the helplessness of an eternity of that godforsaken torment, all because you had forsaken Him.

But wait.

There is an incredible hope we have because of His steadfast love. There is a way of escape for you and for me!

Once you feel the calling and conviction of the Holy Spirit leading you to Jesus, respond with your heart wide open to receive Jesus and all of God's righteousness and become a born again believer in the family of God!

John 3:16, "For God so loved YOU that He freely gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life!"

We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Roman's 2:23)

Roman's 6:23 says," For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

You only need to confess your sins to God, believe that Jesus, the Son of God, was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25), that He hung on a beautiful, terrible cross and died for your sins, that He rose to life again on the third day as a triumphant and victorious King and is now seated at the right hand of God forever making intercession (praying) for you and YOU WILL BE SAVED!

Rejoice! Your name has been written in the Lamb's Book of Life! You will not see the Great White Throne Judgment or hell, but you will receive a crown of righteousness that is laid up for you in heaven, and you will be seated in heavenly places on the throne of Jesus at the right hand of God!

Your eternity is now a hope that will come to pass.

Peace is now yours. The grace, mercy and unconditional love of Jesus is waiting to envelop you within His arms.

Read His Word. Talk to Him in prayer as you do your best friend. Sing and give Him worship and praise for He is worthy!

Find a Bible believing church where you can meet the family of God and become a part of them.

Always put Him first above all others and He will always be with you.

Hebrews 13:5-6 tells of His constant presence and unfailing support for Christians.

Now you are one!

Welcome to the

Family of God!!!

All My Love, Donna

October 19, 2025