“For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says Adonai, plans for well-being, not for bad things; so that you can have hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
” And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened; and another book was opened, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” (Revelation 20:12)
“Yahweh has appeared to him from afar; I have loved you with an everlasting love, so I am constant in my affection for you.” (Jeremiah 31:3)
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (I Corinthians 2:9)
I was sitting before the Lord tonight pondering on different things and one thing that came to mind was my attitude about a certain person that I believe is very wicked. I felt the Lord ask me if I loved this person and I said no because of the things I’ve seen and read about this person. He said, “but I do love him.” I realized that there were probably very few of God’s people praying for this person.
My mind went to the end of days when we all stand before Him to give an account of our lives. I believe that when we are conceived God has a book of all the plans and purposes that He wants to do in our lives while we are in the earth. These plans are the filled with the destiny we are to fulfill, the people we are to touch, the exploits for God we will do. He says that these plans are for our good, to give us a good future. I believe that in this book are the things He wants to prepare for us when we come into His kingdom. Things our eye has not seen, nor that we can even imagine. He sees us in our unformed bodies, deep in our mother’s womb. He sees us from afar and He loves us with an everlasting love. He is constant in His affection towards us.
Yet there will be millions upon millions upon millions of people who never accept Jesus as their Savior, never enter the kingdom of God through the Blood of Jesus. And the book of their destiny in God remains unopened. We all have another book. It is the book of our lives lived in the earth. It is the book of every choice we made, and every word we spoke while in the earth. This book is often opened and meticulous records are kept on our lives. Our life choices are measured against His Word–the Bible.
For a follower of Jesus, when we fall short of His standard of behavior, we can repent and receive forgiveness and that page in our book is covered in His blood and the handwriting is removed–like it never happened. For those who are not following Jesus and don’t repent, the recording remains in the book. It’s there regardless of whether or not that person even acknowledges God or not. One day, everyone will stand before one of two thrones. There are two separate judgments for two different sets of people. The sheep and the goats.
The sheep are the followers of Jesus Christ. Those whose names are written in His Lamb’s Book of Life. These folks have fulfilled the plans that God had for them to do. All their books are well-worn by God. He refers to them often! The goats are the people who did not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. They chose to go another way. Their own way. We all have the freedom to choose our own way or God’s way.
That is why even though God loves everyone so much and He poured plans into each life conceived in the earth. Even though He sent His Son to die in our place. He did all these things to provide a way to reach Him for all eternity. Yet He left the decision totally up to us. He refuses to violate our will. We must follow Him willingly, we must love Him from our hearts.
That is why there are two judgments. One is called the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is where all Christians, followers of Christ, receive rewards for the exploits we did for the kingdom of God. Our books are opened. The book of our plans, the book of our exploits and we give an account of our lives to Jesus. He rewards us according to what we accomplished. There are no goats at this judgment. Only the faithful, the Bride of Christ.
At the end of time when God ends time and we all go to our eternal destinations, the second judgment will take place. This is called The Great White Throne Judgment. This judgment is for everyone who has died without Jesus Christ and for those who came to Jesus after the age of grace, during the Great Tribulation. The sheep will be welcomed into the Kingdom of God. When the books are opened, God takes the unopened book of His plans for their lives, the book of their actions and words and the Lamb’s Book of Life.
This judgment is not going to end well for the goats in attendance. Anyone whose name is not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire. It doesn’t matter how famous you were or how rich you were, or how powerful you were on earth. It doesn’t matter how philanthropic you were or how nice you were to people. The ONLY way to avoid the lake of fire is through Jesus Christ. It is the GRACE of God through Jesus Christ that saves us..nothing we can do to earn it or work for it.
The saddest moment for anyone at this second judgment is when God finally opens the book of His plans for them and they find out how awesome their lives could have been if only they would have turned to Him when they had the chance. Everyone comes across the opportunity to turn to Him at some time or another during the course of their life. He will make sure you have a chance to come to Him. He is far off loving you with an everlasting love.
You may be at the lowest point you’ve ever been in your life. Or you may be flying high with everything going great. Either way, if you have not come to God through the blood of Jesus and received Him as your Savior and Lord, then your eternal future is not looking good. God has a wonderful plan for your life if you would only turn to Him. He will open your book and your life will never be the same.
If you feel the tug at your heart, that is God reaching out to you right now, right where you are at. Come as you are and let Him transform your life into a beautiful thing. Click the link below to ask Jesus to come into your heart.
Blessings everyone…
From the Heart of God... 