by anonymous

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill.

When the funds are low and the debts are high,And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.

When care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must; but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As everyone of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow;

You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer thanIt seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor’s cup.

And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit;

It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

As Holy Scripture tells us: And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. – HEB 4:13

Mankind can be awfully bold and even brash in the face of God… that is, while they don’t have to face Him. But Scripture says one day we will all see Him, and face to face. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. – 1 Cor 13:12

On that day, what will you say? If the Lord says you’re guilty of sinning against Him (and you are according to Holy Scripture, i.e. ROM 3:10,23), and then He asks you how you’ll pay for your sins against Him, Your Creator, what will you say?!

Will you have any valid argument to make?

More importantly, will you have any way to pay the debt you owe God?

How could you if you are naked, with no remaining power or riches, while standing before Him?

On your own, in your own wisdom, you will be at a loss for words, and much more.

You will have no leg to stand on because everything you relied on for security and power on earth was left behind. The money, the sex, the power, the earthly reputation… they will all have disappeared.

And now here you are.You will have nothing to cover you up, and your sins are glaring before your Holy God. You don’t even have a fig leaf at your disposal to cover your nakedness and shame.

You might be bold and brash towards God now, but I hope you reconsider your position today, before it’s too late and you are face to face with Him.

Scripture tells us it’s appointed for every man to die once, and then the judgment. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. – HEB 9:27-28

But to be clear: salvation is only brought to those who are “waiting for Him”, for those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus as their Savior, before their number is called.

When you are asked by God how you will pay the debt you owe Him, you will either have no valid answer nor hope, OR you will be able to say the Lord Jesus, His Precious Son, paid for all of your sins at the Cross.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. – 1 JOH 2:1-2

But the second answer will only be valid if you repent and turn to Christ in your heart BEFORE YOU DIE, humbly trusting in Christ as your Lord and Savior.

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” – ROM 10:9-11

How can you cover the shame of your nakedness? The guilt of your sin? Only by accepting Jesus Christ as your God and Savior. He is the only One who was perfectly pure to please God the Father, and the only One who died for your sins.

Our days are just like a mist, here today and gone tomorrow. Do not think you are owed or guaranteed any amount of days.What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. – James 4:14

Turn to the Lord TODAY. Don’t be so sure tomorrow will be there for you to make this decision, because one day it won’t be.

– 2 Cor 6:1-2

If you humbly turn to the Lord, He will help you believe. We will all be naked before the Lord one day soon. Are you ready to see Him face to face?

Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. – Acts 16:31

As Jesus Himself said; Repent and believe the good news! – MAR 1:15

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.

Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

– ACT 2:42-47

There is a story about a man who went down to the slave block to buy a slave girl.

As she looked at the rich man bidding on her, she figured he was another rich man going to buy her and then abuse her.

He won the bid, and as he was walking away with his property, he said, “Young lady, you are free.”

She said, “What does that mean?”

“It means you are free.”

“Does that mean,” she said, “that I can say whatever I want to say?”

The gentleman said, ” Yes, my dear, you can say whatever you want to say.”

“Does that mean,” she said, “that I can be whatever I want to be?”

He said, “Yes, you can be whatever you want to be.”

“Does that mean that I can go wherever I want to go?”

He said, “Yes, you can go wherever you want to go.”

The girl, with tears streaming down her face, said “Then I will go with you.”

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you.Be honest anyway.If you find happiness, people may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.

Give your best anyway.For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.

It never was between you and them anyway.

St. Peter says, “Here’s how it works: You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was.

When you reach 100 points, you get in.””Okay,” the man says, “I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.””That’s wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth three points!”

“Three points?” he says. “Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.””Terrific!” says St.Peter.

“That’s certainly worth a point.””One point!?!!””I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.””Fantastic, that’s good for two more points,” he says.”Two points!?!!”

Exasperated, the man cries, “At this rate the only way I’ll get into heaven is by the grace of God!”

“Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!”We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and duct tape. God did it with a nail.

Not by the beauty of it all, nor the lights or its decor,

But it was the folks in Heaven who made me sputter and gasp,

The thieves, the liars, the sinners, the alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade who swiped my lunch money twice.

Next to him was my old neighbor who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought was rotting away in hell, was sitting pretty on cloud nine, looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, what’s the deal?

I would love to hear your take how’d all these sinners get up here?

God must’ve made a mistake.

And why is everyone so quiet, so somber, give me a clue?

Hush, child! He said, they’re all in shock, ’cause no one thought they’d be seeing you.

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go….hmm…where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think ‘where are my priorities?

And no dropped calls!When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!

Now we get the chance to think of Him each day, through our Bibles.