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How to Know For Certain You’ll Go to Heaven – Discovering God’s Love and Amazing Grace

I want to talk with you about something important.

In fact, it’s the most important thing you will ever consider and choose in your entire life.

These are strange and unusual times for all of us. The coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading across our globe like a tsunami. There is a feeling of uncertainty, anxiety and fear about this pandemic as people of all ages are wondering:

• Will I be safe from this virus? Will my loved ones be safe?
• What will happen to my job? The economy?
• When will this pandemic end?

While no one knows the exact answers to these crucial questions, we can have certainty about some things.

We can have certainty that God is in control—even when we cannot see it or feel it.

We can have certainty that all things work together for the good—even when we do not understand or like it.

We can know for certain that God loves each one of us. He is merciful and good, during the happy times and in the challenging times in life.

Most importantly, we can have certainty about where we will go when we pass from this Earth.

Ask yourself this question: Do you know with certainty that if you died today that you would go to heaven?

What was your answer? Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t know.

That, my friend, is the most important question you will ever answer in your lifetime.

Listen, I’m not trying to incite fear. My aim is to provide peace by pointing to God’s truths.

Realistically, while many people will recover from this virus, sadly some people will succumb to it. Thousands already have.

As of this writing, more than 90,000 people worldwide (14,000 in the United States) have died from COVID-19. And people die every day from other diseases and causes.

No matter the reason, each of us will pass from this Earth one day. The mortality rate for human beings is 100%. Meaning, that everyone who has ever lived will one day die.

But here’s the Good News.

You can know with certainty that you will go to heaven. Because the One who loves you most, Jesus Christ, made a way for you. For me. And for all who choose to follow Him.

Tell Me More Good News

The Good News is that you can have a meaningful and personal relationship with God. You can be assured of heaven, experience the peace that passes understanding, and find help and hope here and now in this hard and messy world.

This relationship comes through faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

Jesus himself said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)

Here’s the thing. You can’t get into heaven by being a “good person” or doing good deeds. Because what we call “good” will never be good enough by God’s holy standards.

You can’t earn salvation through performance, and you can’t buy a ticket to Paradise with money.

Instead, salvation is a gift from God for all who will receive it. It’s an amazing gift of grace, mercy and love, one that each person receives for himself or herself through faith in Jesus Christ.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8-9)

Sin Separates; Christ Connects

As human beings, we have a natural tendency to want to control our lives, to “do our own thing,” and not live by God’s ways. We may be selfish or rebellious. We do things wrong. We mess up. Or we may be ignorant; we simply don’t know God’s ways.

When we don’t put God first—when we live our own way and reject His principles—it’s called sin.

Sin keeps us separated from God. We’re not right with Him. We’re disconnected from the very source of life and power for living.

Bottom line: All of us have sinned. And a payment for sin needs to be made.

“For everyone has sinned;
we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
Romans 3:23 (NLT)

In The Message version, Romans 3:23-24 reads,
“God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.”

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NLT)

“Wages” are payment. If you work at a job, your employer pays you a salary or wages. The payment for sin is death, hell and separation from God. (Yes, sadly hell is real, even though we don’t hear much about it these days.)

Thankfully, God stepped in and made the payment for us.

Because He loved us so much, He paid the price for our sins. How? By Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on a cross, His shed blood was the payment.

But Jesus didn’t stay in the grave. No, He miraculously rose from the dead! Death could not hold Him. He’s alive! Resurrected. And He is coming again.

Jesus Christ paid a debt He didn’t owe. We owed a debt we could not pay. His death and resurrection covered the sins of the world.

Once. And for all.

Here’s another way to look at it.

Imagine you received a bill in the mail that said you owed one hundred trillion dollars. A gigantic amount of money. You know you’ll never be able to pay the bill, and you’re beside yourself wondering what to do.

Then imagine a kind person pays that exorbitant bill for you and you receive a statement that now reads, “PAID IN FULL.” Wow! What a relief! Who would pay such a debt?

While that’s just an example, it can help us to comprehend on a small level what Christ did for us. There is no way we could pay our “sin debt” on our own, Jesus Christ paid the price for us.

His death brought us LIFE. His pain brought us PEACE.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Just as sin separated us from God, now Christ connects us.

We need to repent (to turn away from our sins and wrongdoings) and turn to the One who bore our sins, Jesus Christ. It is a change of heart, and a change of actions.

Knowing About God vs. Knowing God

Many people know about God, but they don’t know that they can have a personal relationship with Him.

I didn’t know that for many years.

I grew up going to church every Sunday in a traditional denomination. I tried to be a “good person” and learned the basics of right and wrong.

When I was 17, I met a friend, Dan, who told me about “being saved” and “knowing Jesus personally.” I had no idea what he was talking about. He invited me to church, so I went to check it out.

My friend even bought me a Bible. I’d never had my own Bible. In fact, I didn’t even know they made them in portable sizes. (I’m embarrassed to say that we had a gigantic-sized Bible at home, but we only used it to press leaves. We didn’t read it.)

Then, I met a new friend, Lisa, and she began sharing with me about who God was and how much He loved me. In fact, her whole family modeled love to me. It was an eye-opening experience for a 17-year-old kid who felt lost from her parents’ recent divorce and was living in a new town where she didn’t know anyone.

I learned about God’s love revealed to us through Jesus Christ. I also learned that:

• God is not distant, he is near.
• God is loving, kind and compassionate. God is also just.
• God is sovereign and in control.
• God is powerful and almighty. He can do anything!
• God is all about grace and mercy, love and forgiveness.
• He is our healer—for our bodies and our broken relationships.
• He is our protector, provider and our peace.
• And so much more.

A few months later, Lisa invited me to a youth rally with more than 18,000 high school kids. Josh McDowell was speaking. At the end of his talk, he gave an altar call (where people can come to the front of the stage and pray to accept Christ as their personal Savior). I had never seen that before and stayed in the stands while my friend Lisa took some other girls up to the stage.

As I sat there, alone in a crowd of thousands, a woman I’d never met tapped me on the shoulder. She asked if I knew Jesus and I said I didn’t know.

For months, I had been going to this new church, asking questions and learning about God. But I was still uncertain.

Then, in about five minutes, this kind woman clearly explained to me the Good News, that I could know Jesus Christ personally and know for certain that I would go to heaven.

I finally understood that I needed to make a decision. So I chose to pray with this nameless woman in Illinois to receive Jesus Christ as my Savior. Not because of what my parents believed, but what I believed. Not because of the good deeds I did, but because of God’s grace.

I made a decision that changed my life forever in positively amazing ways.

Believe and Receive

So, what about you? What will you decide?

Will you choose to believe God’s truths and accept Jesus Christ into your own heart?

Remember, becoming a Christian isn’t about a set of rules, it’s about a relationship. It’s a one-on-one connection with the One who created you, the One who loves you most.

God wants you to know Him, to love Him, to believe Him and to serve Him. He wants you to be with Him forever. God wants to give you joy and peace like you’ve never known before, forgiven and free from guilt and shame.

You don’t have to be uncertain; you can know for sure that you are going to heaven, and have the help and hope of Christ here on Earth.

“If you confess that Jesus is your Lord,
and you believe in your heart that
God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 (NIV)

What to Do Next?

Take a moment now to pray a simple prayer of commitment to God:

Lord, thank you for Your love for me. I humbly bow before You and confess my sins. I am sorry and I ask for Your forgiveness. I choose to turn from my wrong ways and follow You. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died on a cross, and rose from the dead victorious and alive—so that I might truly live—in power and purpose here on earth, and in heaven forever with God. I ask you to come into my heart. I accept your gift of salvation. Guide my life and help me to grow in my faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, I am so happy for you!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17)

Jesus is your Savior and your Lord. Your Savior, in that He has saved you and forgiven your sins, and Lord, as you choose to follow God’s ways every day. You choose to live what you believe.

Jesus calls us to follow Him. We live with Him and for Him, and in the strength and power He generously gives us. When you “follow the leader,” you are reorienting your life from selfish ways to God’s ways. And you can follow knowing that God is loving, sovereign and wise. He knows all things and He is good. God knows best. And we can trust Him with every area of our lives.

Grow in Your Faith

I encourage you to begin the process of growing in your faith.

Just like an apple seed planted in the soil becomes a tree with a harvest of fruit, your faith journey can grow and you will “bear fruit” in your life.

Growth happens as you get to know God better by reading the Bible (which is God’s Word to us), through prayer (talking to God and sharing your heart as you would talk with a close friend), finding a Bible-believing church to attend and getting connected with other believers.

While church attendance in-person is not possible right now as most of the U.S. and the world are under “stay at home” orders because of the virus, there are many churches you can watch online.

As you live out your faith every day you will find hope and joy, peace and strength. The power of God’s Holy Spirit will help you do what you cannot do in your own human effort.

Faith in Christ leads to transformation. I’ve experienced it myself and seen it in others.

God has good plans for you, too, and He will be with you every step of the way.

By Jackie M. Johnson

Single on Valentine’s Day? 5 Ways to Be Happy Despite Circumstances

Single on Valentine’s Day? For some, the February 14 heart holiday celebrating all things love and romance, can be challenging if you don’t have a special someone in your life right now.

I know people in the “uncoupled” stage of life who bemoan their single status and gripe to just about anyone who will listen about what they don’t have:

“I just want a boyfriend. I just want to be married. Why does she get a second husband when I haven’t had one at all?”

You probably know single people like that.

I know I do.

Then there are the cynical singles who mock the red heart holiday with snide remarks like, “Who cares? It’s just a Hallmark holiday anyway.”

On a positive note, I know a bunch of interesting and intelligent single women who celebrate Valentine’s Day with friends—they throw a party and just have fun.

Indeed, singles look at this romantic holiday with very different attitudes.

So if you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, and you want to not only endure but enjoy Valentine’s Day, you have some choices to make about your perspective and your attitude.

Finding Hope

So here’s some hope–and five (5) helpful ways singles can find more joy on the love holiday—and throughout the year:

1. Know and believe the truth. It’s OK to feel discouraged when you don’t have someone special to love (or like). But don’t set up camp there. Move forward with hope by telling yourself the truth about your identity and your single status.

• God’s Word says you are dearly loved, the “apple of His eye.” He is with you; He is for you. He cares about every area of your life, even your love life.

• Don’t allow one day of the year, February 14, define your identity. Whether you have a significant other or not, you are still worthy of love.

• Being single doesn’t mean that you are “less than” or “not good enough.” It’s simply not true.

• And here’s a fact: You are not alone. Nearly 50.2 percent of us (or 124.6 million) American adults are single.

2. Surrender. Sometimes we hold on so tightly to what we think we want and how the whole dating/marriage thing is supposed to play out.

I have learned that the way to find peace is to surrender, to yield, to the One who loves me most, and allow God to reign in this area of my life. Knowing that God wants the very best for me allows me to trust Him.

In my book When Love Ends and the Ice Cream Carton Is Empty I talk about the fact that God is all about love and relationships. But sometimes we try to fill that desire for lasting love with other things, or people, and they leave us feeling empty and alone.

“Often we try to load up our heart and fill the holes with what another person thinks, says, or does when it was meant to be filled by God. He won’t let anyone be our total fulfillment, otherwise we wouldn’t need Him.

It’s not wrong to want a relationship. God is all about relationships…As we put God first in our heart affections, He fills up the emptiness and we are able to receive the love of others, retain it, and give it away.

Perhaps you think because God hasn’t given you someone to love, that He doesn’t care or that He’s forgotten about your desires. God is not forgetful or uncaring. He is constantly at work in the lives of His children, and everything God does is for a reason—even His divine delays.” (When Love Ends and the Ice Cream Carton Is Empty, by Jackie M. Johnson)

3. Prepare. Are you ready to be in a relationship? Maybe it’s time to think about getting rid of the garbage in your head and your heart—the stuff that no longer belongs—like bad attitudes about the opposite sex or a critical spirit.

Think about what you really want in your next relationship and how things can be different next time. Was the last guy you dated too serious and you want someone more playful? Did you have a hard time getting your previous boyfriend or girlfriend to attend church with you when that’s an important part of your life?

4. Pray. Ask God to show you what needs to change in your own life to prepare for your next relationship.

What areas of your life need changes—your spiritual life, physical, social, financial and the like.

Also, pray for your future husband or wife. Prayer is talking to God and listening. And He loves talking to His kids. We can come confidently and boldly to Him and ask for our heart’s desire.

5. Choose joy now. Don’t wait to have a man in your life or a woman on your arm to be happy.

Sure, it’s Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. But you, single friend, can choose to have peace and joy in your life despite your circumstances. If you get invited to a pity party, don’t RSVP!

Make a plan to get together with other single friends. Celebrate love of all kinds and send a card (yep, snail mail) to family members or friends to show you care.

Choosing Joy

Instead of drowning your sorrows in massive amounts of chocolate this Valentine’s Day, rejoice in who you are—dearly loved, special and chosen by God.

Despite your feelings, you can choose joy today.

Don’t let one candy-infused, heart holiday hijack your hope.

I, for one, choose to be confident and hopeful—on Valentine’s Day and every day of the year.

By Jackie M. Johnson

7 Powerful Dating Secrets for Christian Women

Dating and relationships shouldn’t have to be so difficult.

I mean, all you have to do is find someone amazing who thinks you’re amazing too.

You meet. You connect. You keep on connecting. He likes you. You like him. You commit. How hard can it be?

Well, for some of my married friends, it seems like a walk in the park.

Take my friends Luke and Becca (not their real names), for example. They met in our church singles group, got married a year later, and had two beautiful children.

Easy.

But not for everyone.

While I am truly joyful for my happily married friends, I also wonder why it’s so hard for the rest of us to find the person who is the best fit and build a life with him.

Maybe they know something I don’t.

Maybe, like me, you want to find “the real thing.” You’re tired of players, users, and “catfishers” on social media who pretend to be someone they are not. You’re confused because the lines between dating and just friends are blurred beyond recognition.

Or, you’re frustrated because you’re not dating at all.

Whatever the case, I choose to believe there are awesome, godly men out there who would love to find lasting love with someone like you or me.

So, here’s what I’ve learned over many years of dating.

You can’t change anyone else, but you can change how you approach dating and relationships. Maybe it’s time for a new perspective.

If I could go back in time and tell my younger self some foundational and important truths about dating and relationships, here’s what I’d say to pave the way for better relationships.

These seven (7) secrets–things I wish I would have known sooner–could very well make your dating life more positive, healthy and joyful.

1. You deserve to be loved well. You, my friend, deserved to be loved—and to be loved well. Don’t let a guy toy with your emotions or take up your time if he has no intention of dating you. Don’t settle for players. Don’t let yourself be used or abused just because you want someone to love you. That’s not love. No 2:00 AM calls or texts to come over and “hang out.” No. You deserve to be treated better and with respect.

What are the other dating “secrets”?

Read the entire post here: 7 Powerful Dating Secrets for Christian Women Who Want True Love.

By Jackie M. Johnson

How to Get Over a Breakup – Part 1 (Stabilize the Situation)

Years ago, I was talking with a guy friend (let’s call him Mitch). I was going through a heart-wrenching breakup at the time and I decided to ask him for his best advice on how to deal with it.

“So, how do you get over a breakup?” I asked my friend.

“You just do,” he replied nonchalantly.

“What do you mean? ‘You just do,’ I questioned, “How do you get over it?”

I was bewildered. I wanted action steps, a practical “how to” approach. Something.

But he had nothing to give me.

Thankfully, over the months that followed my baffling conversation with Mitch, I was able to find other avenues for healing my breakup blues.

I scoured the Bible, God’s words of life and wisdom, to find out about comfort and heart healing. I camped in the Psalms for a while and found in David a comrade. He poured his heart out to God about his trials and then looked up and worshipped Him.

Often during that tough time, I would say, “I do not understand, Lord, but I will trust you.”

I talked to my female friends. I went to a Christian counselor. I listened to praise music and went for walks in the woods talking with the Lord.

And…I found answers.

The good news is that God redeems loss and pain and heals the heart to love again.

It takes time to get over a breakup, to be sure. It also takes lots of prayer and telling yourself the truth—about your situation, about the other person, and about yourself, but healing eventually comes.

Sure, it’s not easy to deal with rejection and other myriad emotions that come from being dumped—or dumping someone else—but it is possible.

After all of my own horrible breakups, I’ve learned some helpful wisdom and was able to heal and move forward, In the process, I wrote a book called “When Love Ends and the Ice Cream Carton Is Empty” (Moody Publishers) that helps you through all of the stages of breakup pain. It also gives you what you need to know for your new beginning.

This hard-won wisdom, forged in the dark times of emotional pain, will help to lead you back into the light. The book follows the cycle of a day—twilight, night, dawn and day—as a metaphor for the healing process.

Twilight is a time of endings. The sun is setting on your hopes and dreams of a future with this person. Yet how you deal with endings (or don’t) will determine the quality of your future love relationships.

Night is the dark time; you are grieving your losses. You’ve lost love, friendship, physical touch, and more. Thankfully, God provides “night lights” in the darkness, like His comfort, wisdom and love to guide the way back to joy and new beginnings.

Dawn is symbolic of awakening. Just as the first fingers of morning inch across the horizon shining sunlight on a new day, hope awakens in your heart healing journey. You begin to learn how God redeems losses and restores brokenness. You discover your true identity as a dearly-loved child of God. You regain confidence. You start to wake up again.

Day is your path to a new beginning. You find that letting go of the past is truly possible. It’s time to move forward into your future. You come alive and remember things you’ve forgotten or put aside like: gratitude, friendships and maybe even living your dreams. Radiance has returned, and with the light of Christ in you, you are ready to be a light to the world.

I will share with you inspiration from each of those four sections in four blog posts this week. Each post will be a different aspect on the “how to get over a breakup” topic.

So, let’s get started…

In the first days and weeks after a breakup, it’s important to stabilize the situation, get the comfort and support you need and begin to grieve your losses.

Stabilize the situation.
Breakups are painful because something has been broken: your precious heart. Like a physical injury, an emotional wound needs care and recovery time.

You need to protect your broken heart just as you would protect a broken arm. If you broke your arm, you’d immediately rush to the hospital and get a cast. Why? Because a cast protects the area from further injury and it allows the healing and repairing process to begin.

With a broken heart, you also need protection in order to stabilize the situation. A heart boundary or healthy emotional wall is needed for a time and for a purpose.

That means, separating from the source of pain (being away from the person you just broke up with) so you can prevent further injury and begin the healing process.

It can be extremely difficult not to communicate with him or her, but it will be easier to heal in the end.

You may be tempted to reach out to him or her and connect because that’s what you’re used to—it’s comfortable and familiar—but your goal here is not connecting, it’s disconnecting. It feels awful and lonely and different. But that’s just part of the process.

Of course, every situation is different. I’m not saying that you have to cut off all contact completely or forever. Some women I know have been able to be friends with people they’ve dated, but not right away. A time of separation is essential if you are ever going to have a platonic friendship in the future.

Breakups can be complicated, and you may need to have a few talks to get to the finale. But use wisdom and discretion. Hard as it can be, I’ve found that being away from the other person completely, at least initially, was more healing in the long run than the slow hanging-on-to-fragments-of-what’s-left relationship death.

Pray about it and ask God how to best tie up the loose ends of your ending.

Here’s some good news: When a broken bone is healed, it grows back even stronger. In the same way that a cast on a broken arm is for a time and a purpose, healing the emotional wreckage of your breakup is also for a season.

You won’t be in this painful place forever.

And your heart may grow back even stronger.

As your Breakup Recovery Coach, I’m proud of you for taking the first steps in this journey from darkness to light—from sadness and anger back into freedom, peace and joy.

There are better days ahead. It’s time for your heart healing journey to begin.

By Jackie M. Johnson

Feeling Lonely? Isolated? 5 Essential Life Connections

Feeling lonely? Isolated? Too busy with work or life to have a life?

Single or married, I’ve had quite a few friends say to me lately that they feel more disconnected than ever.

Maybe it’s time to take a fresh look at our life connections—or lack of them.

The internet has radically changed how we do ‘people connection.’ From my living room in Colorado, I can email my Dad in Minnesota or Facebook with readers in Brazil.

I can check out the latest decorating ideas on Pinterest, or zip over to Instagram to see what my friends (and people I don’t even know) are up to.

However, spending too much time on technology may limit a person’s face-to-face interactions and in-person friendships.

On social media, we may go wide (have a lot of so called ‘friends’) but not go deep (as in cultivating close friendships).

We all need to connect with other people. And we can do so by building bridges. Because just as bridges provide a link from one place to another, friendships connect one isolated person to another, and soon community is built.

Getting connected
We were created to need each other, to give and receive love and friendship of all kinds, and at different levels.

Connection is vital to our emotional wellbeing.

So take some time to evaluate how you can balance your time on social media with your time building in-person connections. And find more joy and true contentment.

Here are five kinds of “community” to build into your life:

• Spiritual community with people at church, or in a small group, prayer group, missions team or one-on-one with someone like-minded.

• Social community through a bowling league, mom’s group, singles group, or coffee with friends.

• Intellectual community with people from work, joining a book group or other group with shared interests.

• Physical community in joining a sports team, dance class or getting a workout partner for the gym.

• Neighborhood or city community can be built be showing up at your local playground, a neighborhood block party, or mentoring a disadvantaged youth.

Of course, virtual community (online) is a way to connect with others, but make sure it’s not your only connection with other people.

Connecting with God
Of course, our connection with God is primary. Through prayer and our ongoing, daily relationship with Him, we have the most meaningful connection possible.

Prayer is talking with God, not at Him.

It’s a holy conversation of both speaking and listening.

Your words don’t have to be perfect or rehearsed, just real and from your heart. Tell God how you feel and what you need. Thank Him for all He has done for you and for those you love.

When you don’t know what to say, even the simple prayer of, “Help!” will reach the loving ears of God.

Ask God to make His presence real and close to you today.

Ask Him to help you have hope that things really can change in your life.

You can also ask God to give you courage to reach out to another person today, and to bring caring relationships into your life.

Building bridges to others, living connected, and living loved is truly possible.

One step at a time, walking by faith with the One who loves you most, connection is built.

We’re better together!

For more about beating loneliness and other topics from Jackie M. Johnson, click on Hope on the Go and find bite-sized encouragement for busy people. Real Hope, Real Fast!

By Jackie M. Johnson

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