Lifestyle

What Comes After This Life?

Do you ever wonder if you’ll go to Heaven when you die? Do you ever wonder where you’ll go after this life ends? 

I have a message of hope and life!  The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose on the third day.  And because of His sacrificial work of redemption, all people can be saved!

In order to be saved, you must personally receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

How do I do this?

Realize you are guilty before God, but you can be forgiven!        

  • Romans 3:10 – “There is none righteous, no, not one.”
  • Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
  • John 3:17 – Jesus came “that the world through Him might be saved.”
Romans 3:10 | lookingjoligood.blog

Realize there is a punishment for sin, but…Jesus took your place on the cross!

  • Romans 5:8 – “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 | lookingjoligood.blog

Realize you cannot earn your way to Heaven, but…God offers you the free gift of eternal life!

  • Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace are ye saved…not of works…it is the gift of God.”
  • Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (See also: Revelation 20:14; 21:8; I John 5:11-13)
Romans 6:23 | lookingjoligood.blog

Believe that He died for your sins, that He rose from the grave, and that He is the only way for salvation!

  • John 3:16 – “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Receive the gift of eternal life by calling upon Him!

  • Romans 10:13 – “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:13 | lookingjoligood.blog

If you want to call upon the Lord for His salvation, pray this prayer to Him in humble sincerity:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I admit to You that I am a guilty sinner.  I am undeserving of Heaven and I am unable to save myself.  I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sins, and that you rose from the grave.  I am completely putting my trust in You to be my personal Savior.  Please forgive my sin and help me live a life that is pleasing to You.  Amen.”

**this post is adapted from my church’s website

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Lifestyle

The Best Men Can Be

“Bullying. Harassment. Is this the best a man can get? It’s only by challenging ourselves to do more, that we can get closer to our best. To say the right thing, to act the right way.”

https://youtu.be/koPmuEyP3a0

My husband shared this and I love the message so much that I want to share it as well.

I am so thankful that my husband is a great example to our son of what a man should be like.

Just because the excuse has always been “Boys will be boys” doesn’t mean that we have to continue to let that be the case.  Stand up for what is right, teach others to do the same by your example.

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Lifestyle

It Is Well – Kristene DiMarco and Bethel Music – You Make Me Brave

Grander earth has quaked before
Moved by the sound of His voice
Seas that are shaken and stirred
Can be calmed and broken for my regard

And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And through it all, through it all
It is well

And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And it is well with me

And far be it from me to not believe
Even when my eyes can’t seeAnd this mountain that’s in front of me
Will be thrown into the midst of the sea

And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And through it all, through it all
It is well

And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And it is well
It is well

So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name
So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name
So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name
The waves and wind still know His name

And it is well with my soul
It is well with my soul
It is well with my soul
It is well 
It is well with my soul
Oh it is well with my soul (’cause of who you are)
Oh it is well with my soul
It is well with my soul
It is well 
It is well with my soul
It is well 
It is well with my soul
It is well 
It is well with my soul

And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And through it all, through it all
It is well LordAnd through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You 
And it is well with me

Songwriters: Kristene Elizabeth DimarcoIt

Is Well lyrics © Bethel Music Publishing

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

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it is well | lookingjoligood.blog
Lifestyle

The real #topnine

All around Facebook and Instagram #topnine pictures are being posted.

All the while, neither Facebook nor Instagram has any idea what events made up my 2018.
▪️
No algorithm can tell about visiting with my Grampa as he looks at me but doesn’t know who I am.
▪️
Sitting in a hospital with my beautiful grandmother hooked up to monitors and machines. She has been taking such good care of my failing Grampa for so many months that her heart is breaking in more ways than one.
▪️
Or being by my Grampa’s bedside as he takes his last breath. Instagram doesn’t know what it feels like to have to call my mom to let her know that her Dad is in Heaven.
▪️
There’s no amount of likes that can explain what it is like to hear only a few weeks later that my other grandfather has cancer. To see he has gotten so thin that he looks like a shell of himself…
Knowing exactly how to take care of him, yet having no idea how to take away the panicked looks on everyone else’s faces. Not knowing how to care for everyone else once he is gone. Needed to be taken care of myself.
▪️
No top nine can explain the knot in my throat as I watch the flag being handed over to my weeping grandmother as she is thanked for my grandfather’s service to our country. 🇺🇲
▪️
Instagram doesn’t know about the ups and downs of loving an elderly dog that has started having seizures, or that she means more to me than most people I know. No matter how much I wish, nothing that I can do will prolong her life.
▪️
Algorithms don’t keep track of what it feels like to see people that you have cared about as long as you can remember fight and tear each other apart. It doesn’t know what it feels like to be disappointed in people that have been looked up to and respected for years as they criticize the people that are closest to you.
▪️
Social media prefers the smiles, the bright colors, the happy faces. Those are going to be the pictures that get the most likes. While Instagram can come up with a #topnine based off of how many times my pictures were liked, the moments that mean the most to me, the ones that made the deepest impressions from 2018, those didn’t ever make it to social media. 
▪️
Here’s my own top nine, the good the bad. The tears, the smiles. The lessons. The losses and the gains. 

Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
Through it all, through it all
It is well
Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And it is well with me

~Kristene DiMarco and Bethel Music

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Free/Good Deals · Lifestyle · Love and Life

The Greatest Gift- Eternal Life

Today I want to share with you what I believe to be the purpose of our lives here on earth.  I believe that God gave us life so that we can love and glorify Him.

Many people believe that eternal life in Heaven is something that we earn through good works, or something we inherit because our parents are religious, or possibly we can attain it through good intentions.  While all these things sound good, the Bible tells us that eternal life is not something we can earn or buy, but instead, it is a gift.

God’s gift is eternal life with Him.

Romans 6:23 | lookingjoligood.blog

The thing about this gift is that before you can get it, you first have to realize that you need this it. Romans 3:23 tells us that “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

All of us have sinned by breaking God’s rules.  Some of the rules are broken by things that we have been doing, and some of the rules have been broken by things that we haven’t been doing.  We have all sinned in one way or another.Romans 3:23 | lookingjoligood.blog

Romans 6:23 tells us that the price for those broken rules is death.  That death isn’t just talking about our physical body dying, but about our spiritual body as well.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When our physical body dies, our spiritual body will go to one of two places, either an eternity in Heaven or an eternal death apart from God in Hell.

God doesn’t want to be separated from us! Romans 5:8 says “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Christ died for us | lookingjoligood.blog

The price of our sin is death, but Jesus Christ already paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross.

Jesus came to earth as God in the flesh. He lived a perfect life and voluntarily took our place on the cross, all because He loves us!  He took your place, He took my place, He paid your price with His life. He loves you!

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9 | lookingjoligood.blog

Any time you get a gift you have to accept it in order to own it.  It is no different with the gift of eternal life, you have to turn to Christ and place our full trust in Him alone.

Romans 10:13 tells us that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 | lookingjoligood.blog

 

If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ to be your personal savior, you can do it right now! It is as simple as believing in your heart that Christ is the only way to have eternal life in Heaven and saying a prayer that is something like this…

“Dear Lord God,
Thank you for the sacrifice you made in sending your only perfect son to die on the cross for my sins!  It should have been me sentenced to that horrible death, but you Lord, gave Jesus to save me from the punishment that I deserve.  Thank you for this free gift of salvation! Amen!”

Jesus is the greatest gift | lookingjoligood.blog

You will never regret that decision! I know how much this decision has changed my life!  If you have just trusted Christ and received the gift of eternal life, I would love for you to tell me!

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Lifestyle

Glory in the Highest by Meredith Andrews

Hear the quiet of the starry night
Scattered shepherds watch the sky
Suddenly the dark gives way to light
The angel speaks of the Messiah

Be of good courage
See the star hovering above
Today a Savior is born to us

Glory, glory in the highest
We sing glory to His name
Peace on Earth to all who come
To worship Christ the King
We sing, glory in the highest
In the highest

See the God who spoke the earth to be
Take a break as a baby
Look beyond the child and see the King
Come to rescue and redeem

Glory, glory in the highest
We sing glory to His name
Peace on Earth to all who come
To worship Christ the King
We sing, glory in the highest
In the highest

Glory in the Highest Meredith Andrews | lookingjoligood.blog

Gloria, gloria, in excelsis Deo
Gloria, gloria, in excelsis Deo

Glory, glory in the highest
We sing glory to His name
Peace on Earth to all who come
To worship Christ the King
We sing, glory…
Glory, glory in the highest
We sing glory to His name
Peace on Earth to all who come
To worship Christ the King
We sing, glory in the highest
Glory, in the highest
In the highest

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Lifestyle

Bitter Sweet

Bitter Sweet | lookingjoligod.blog

I’ve had times in my life that I have struggled with bitterness.  I can tell you that during those times I was miserable!  There was no sweetness in my life, everything was consumed with that bitterness.

I don’t want to ruin the sweetness of my life with bitterness.

Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

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Lifestyle

Reckless Love by Cory Asbury

Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ‘til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me Bridge

There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me

Reckless Love by Cory Asbury | lookingjoligood.blog

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Lifestyle

You Are Not Alone

While this is often referred to as the most wonderful time of the year and a season of holly jolliness, for many people it is a very sad time of year. If you or someone you know feels hopeless, you are not alone!  Sometimes sharing your struggle makes a world of difference!
You are Not Alone | lookingjoligood.blog
“Speaking out takes courage, and our mental health is just as important as our physical health. So support those who are open about what they’re going through. It could save a life.”
prevention | lookingjoigood.blog
We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.

Call 1-800-273-8255

Call 1-800-273-8255 | lookingjoligood.blog

The CDC states that “Suicide remains a major public health problem, one that occurs throughout the year. It is the 10th leading cause of death for all Americans. Each year, more than 36,000 people take their own lives. In addition, more than 374,000 are treated in emergency departments for self-inflicted injuries.”
Psalm 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.
Nehemiah 8:10 | lookingjoligood.blog

Nehemiah 8:10 Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him—  my father’s God, and I will exalt him!

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Lifestyle

Give And You Will Receive

1545055392293_1280x12802231913548499874779.jpg

Luke 6:38

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

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