There are a lot of lonely people in this world, adults and children alike. Have you ever been lonely? I mean, really lonely. Maybe you’re lonely now.

Lonely people aren’t necessarily all by themselves when not in the company of others. Sometimes they are shut off by themselves, and sometimes they may be in a surrounding with hundreds of others in the same location. There’s nothing like being in a restaurant, for example, watching others socialize, not being a part of it, and feeling a deep-seated loneliness. I’m familiar with that, as I’m sure others are too.

There are times when being alone is desired, such as when Jesus would go off by Himself to be alone. What did He do during that time though? I believe He spent most of His time, if not all of it, in prayer talking to the Father. We all need to have those times of just being alone with God. When you think about it though, we’re really not alone. We’re with God.

Unfortunately, thousands of people experience times of mild to excruciating loneliness, thinking not even God is there for them. Many are in prisons. Many are in, what seems to be, hopeless situations. Many are dying. Many are children, shunned or abused by others. Many may be experiencing the heartbreak of a shattered romance. Sometimes we aren’t as alone though as we think, and sometimes it’s very real.

Let’s face it loneliness is something we have all faced at one time or another, to varying degrees. Regardless of our feelings of despair in these situations, a peace beyond human understanding can be found in Jesus Christ.

One obvious fact comes to light; loneliness is a state of mind. It has nothing to do with being “alone,” or being in a crowd. Another fact has already been brought to light in the previous paragraph; there is a peace that only Jesus Christ can give.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

We adults sometimes laugh off the loneliness of a teenager who is experiencing being shunned by their peers. Maybe they weren’t invited to a party, or they got dumped by their “love” at that moment. It may seem like nothing to us, but it is very real to them. Their loneliness hurts just as much as ours when we are in a more serious situation. If you as a teenager feel like your life is over because of your circumstances, know this; God cares. We older adults should care, and most of us do, but I guarantee you, God does care about you and your feelings. He wants you to have peace in your heart, and you can by knowing His Son Jesus. Read the life of Joseph in Genesis.

If you are on a hospital bed dying, no one else can walk down that road with you. You must travel it alone. Even though your family and the hospital staff are around you, you may be afraid. Jesus has already traveled that road and has conquered death and the grave. He wants you to take His hand (figuratively) and trust Him.

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)

“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:18)

Maybe you’re confined to a prison cell. Guilty or innocent, you too can have peace in this dark hour by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. He knows your plight, and wants you to have peace in Him.

“Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?” (Matthew 25:44)

Your world is falling apart. You lost your job, your home, and even your spouse turned against you and left with the children. The street is your home. The soup kitchen is your dinner table. Just as the previous verse says (Matthew 25:44), Jesus Christ wants you to reach out to Him. Maybe you, as the prisoner above, needed to come to the point in your life that there was nowhere else to turn, but to God.

The peace God gives cannot be explained, but it is real. Those who have it know it is real. It is as real as the hurt, anguish, worry and fear Satan has dumped on us, but get this; it is much more powerful. It overrides all the garbage Satan has used to bring us down. God’s peace will lift us up, but it can only be had by placing our complete trust in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Jesus took Joseph from a hole in the ground and a prison to the throne of Egypt. He transferred the Apostle Paul from a murderer to the greatest Apostle and the greatest missionary of all times. He allowed the Apostle John, a quick-tempered hot-head, to see the future and write it all down for us. He changed Mary Magdalene from a woman possessed with seven devils to a saintly woman and the first person to see Him after He had risen from the grave. He took a small shepherd boy and made him a king.

What could he do with us, if we just gave ourselves totally to Him? The worries of life buckle our knees, but Jesus can pour strength in our souls.

Jesus experienced more loneliness than any of us will ever know. He faced the cross on our behalf, but overcame by constant communication with the Father. Regardless of what we are going through, and the absolute loneliness we feel, we are never alone when Jesus is in our heart. He wants us to call on the Father as often as possible and read what He has to say in His Word, the Bible.

Once we know Jesus, it is prayer and the Word that chases away those feelings of being alone. It is in Him we have comfort and find joy, even in the darkest hour. Don’t allow Satan to block you from the joy God wants to give you. Regardless of the circumstances, God is always there. You are not alone, and you are not forgotten.

Grant Phillips

Previously I wrote about “The Judge,” the Judge who has provided a way of total pardon for all mankind who will accept His conditions.

God would rather be our Father than our Judge. He has provided one, and only one, way for this to be possible. Now the choice is ours. Will we stand before Him as our Judge, or will we stand by Him as our Savior and Lord?

The state of man is:

“For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 NIV)

“For the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23a NIV)

The hope of man is:

“but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b NIV)

“And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24 NIV)

The remedy provided is:

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:25 NIV)

Only by trusting in the Son:

“Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law,” (Romans 3:27-28 NIV)

Our salvation comes via:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV)

God’s love and condition:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18 NIV)

For those who accept:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2 NIV)

There is nothing but eternal happiness ahead for those who rest their faith in Jesus Christ, a happiness that we cannot comprehend while in these earthly bodies. However, for those who will not accept God’s most precious sacrifice for us, there is nothing but unbelievable eternal terror in the final sentencing at the Great White Throne judgment.

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” (Revelation 20:11 NIV)

Hell is a reality for all who reject God’s only way of salvation. Judgment is assured and the sentence will be for eternity in the Lake of Fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. This is not a pleasant subject to write, but it needs to be said.

Unfortunately, most pastors and evangelists today shun this topic. They want to say only the words that will keep the people coming to their assemblies and, of course, keep the money flowing in. Their minds are not on saving souls, but instead it is on their continued popularity and especially their bank account. God help them.

Jesus had more to say about hell than He did Heaven, and He was, and is, God in the flesh. If the one and only true God desires to warn us of the realities of hell, who are we to ignore this subject.

We all see in our mind’s eye the murderers, rapists, child molesters, etc. deserving of an eternal hell, but hell is for anyone who refuses the only Door into Heaven; i.e. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They may be the nicest people we could ever meet, kind-hearted to a fault, always helping others, but if they do not know Jesus as their own personal Savior and Lord, they will spend an eternity exiled from Him in hell.

By the way, when I use the term “hell” in this article, I am referring to the eventual Lake of Fire that all the lost will be cast in at the Judgment.

Hell will not be a luxury prison, as many in America have morphed into. There will be no libraries, television sets, exercise yards, lush lawns, basketball courts, doctors, nurses, dentists, beds, showers, meals, etc. There will only be eternal darkness, fire, terror, pain, regret, and loneliness. The worse part, in my opinion, will be separation from God, separation from all that is good, and knowing that they could have had unspeakable joy, but through every fault of their own, they rejected it for an eternal nightmare. In my opinion, they may remember, for all eternity, every instance they had a chance to be saved but rejected it.

I was watching a movie not long ago, and one person tells another, “Go to hell.” The other responded with, “You first.” I heard another respond another time, “I’ll meet you there.” Folks, hell is real, and it is nothing to be flippant about.

It seems to me there is a new religion coming upon the scene today, and that is the religion of “no religion.” Some religions believe in many gods. Some believe in their own false god. Others are appearing, however, who believe in nothing.

Let me insert that Christianity is not a religion, even though many claim it is. Religion is actually mankind trying to earn his way to whatever he believes in. Christianity is God reaching down to man via His only begotten Son to save those who will come to Him through His Son.

Many claim to be Christians today, but are only christians of a religion they have devised in their own minds. In other words, they are not true Christians, but only part of a large group who claim the “religion” of christianity. True Christians come from all walks of life, and are not members of a religion, but children of the most- high God. Many religious christians will spend eternity in hell, but true Christians will spend an eternity in Heaven with God.

Let us understand, there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ. It is not by our works, but only by His grace. The church, denomination, sect, etc. we belong to means nothing. We may give thousands or even millions of dollars to help those in need, but it will mean nothing on Judgment Day. We may have a school or hospital named after us, but it means nothing. We may be world famous and have the accolades of thousands of people at our funeral, but it means nothing. We may have books written about us, even songs to commemorate our life, but it means nothing.

The only thing that will matter when we breathe our last breath, is did we place our trust in Jesus Christ to save us before we died? Period. Otherwise, at the Great White Throne we will be judged and sentenced to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. On that day Jesus will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me.”

However, if we know Jesus as our Savior, death is nothing to fear. It is instead a joyful passing into Heaven and a face-to-face reunion with our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. All Heaven will rejoice because we made the correct decision before we died.

Don’t put off today what may cost you an eternity of hell.

Grant Phillips