Hosanna Restoration Church

No doubt the heading on this devotion caught your attention. No doubt there are various responses to it. For those who think it is about time we talk about hell, this may be a bit of a disappointment. I just hope that everyone will just go ahead and read it anyway.

You see, I have been giving some thought to this question of late. I have received a couple of emails talking about it and consequently I began to wonder if I talked about it enough. My conclusion has been that hell does not need a whole bunch of advertisement. Jesus mentioned it, but He did not preach it. He went everywhere preaching and teaching about the Kingdom of God. He also told us that we should all go and do the same thing.

As a youngster, I suspected that hell was more than a word that I was not supposed to say. I understood that it was a place bad people went, and I hoped I was not that bad. Later in life I was pretty sure that I would qualify for admittance and when I came to know Jesus I was very relieved that I had changed eternal addresses. So now, what do we do?

Well I believe that just looking at our prison population and our crime rate proves that people do not think much about punishment for their crimes. The statistics on repeat offenders adds even more proof to that. So there must be something that works more effectively. Romans 2:4 says that the goodness of God leads us to repentance.

It would seem that if we want to continue on with the Lord and advance the Kingdom of God, we will do better if we declare and reveal the goodness of God. Yes hell is a place to avoid, but what about it. There is no way that it can be adequately described and the worst of times on this earth would only be a glimpse. I just do not see how the fear of it will cause someone to grow. After all, we only grow sneakier if we want to avoid punishment for doing wrong. Only a changed heart keeps us doing right.

Let’s face it, even as Christians we try to be sneaky. We give little bit and pretend we tithe. We have bad attitudes and smile like we are thinking good things. Oh yes God sees us. We just hope it won’t matter that much. I guess only God knows about that.

Just those little thoughts kind of stir your heart don’t they? What do we do now? Well I pray that the God of all hope will fill you with joy and peace believing for one thing that you don’t have to go to hell and that you will spread that joy and peace so others can see that there is life in Christ Jesus. We should abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit so that others will want to move into our neighborhood. I am not speaking of any church here; I am speaking of the Kingdom of God. There is always something better with Jesus and that is what everyone needs to know. Too many people have been led to suspect that there is a hell, and too few know there is a kingdom of God now!