Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.

The Biblical lifespan is 70-80 years. Some spend this time in a constant dash for all that this world has to offer. They delight in stacking up possessions, awards, trophies, and recognition. Fame and fortune are their goals. We all know people for whom this has become an obsession. They sacrifice relationships, family, and even their health in the quest for more. Frankly, some do very well indeed, acquiring multiple millions in net worth and enjoying a lifestyle that’s the envy of most.

But on the day they die it all stops. Gone are their possessions, their bank accounts and their trophies, and as they are called to give account for their lives they’ll discover that they’re about to be judged according to standards they never paid much attention to. In their quest to become life’s winners, they focused exclusively on the rules of this world, chasing their goals with all the energy they had.

Now, they’ll discover that they’ve actually become its biggest losers, because while they lived an enviable life according to world standards, that won’t be the case in eternity. In the first 80 years of their eternal existence they’ll have gotten all the happiness and joy they will ever receive. Ever. The rest of their eternity will be spent regretting that they didn’t pay more attention when the eternal rules were explained to them.

Because they were. The first things they’ll be shown after they die are the times when they were confronted with the Gospel and brushed it off. Then they’ll realize that they’re without excuse and without hope. Not even by paying over every one of the millions of dollars they acquired in life can they modify even an instant of the eternal regret they’ll be starting to feel in death.

The tragedy is that most of these guys and gals could have had it all, and come out winners in both time and eternity. The Bible doesn’t prevent such achievement; in fact it encourages it. But they were too smart for their own good. With out investing a moment’s time for research, they rejected the Gospel out of hand, something they would never have done with a new idea on how to make more money. Although they claimed to be wise they became fools, as Paul put it in Romans 1:22, accepting unsubstantiated opinion about things of eternal significance instead of doing their own due diligence in search of the truth. Had they treated one of their financial transactions in such a cavalier fashion, their stockholders would have fired them forth with.

So if their life looks better to you than yours, take heart. Soon their time in the sun will be over forever while yours will be just beginning. And theirs will have lasted only a few years while yours will last through all of eternity. Having followed one of their axioms, you’ve done first things first, you’ve sought His Kingdom and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33 ) and now your light and momentary troubles are achieving for you an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Cor. 4:17)

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

I am a wife and mother, and am completely surrounded by family members who do not know the Lord.  I’m sensing the Lord telling me my service to Him involves praying for and ministering to my family who don’t know Him.  I’m not sure of the best way to do that aside from prayer and would love to have your wisdom in this situation.  I know time is very short, and I don’t want to spend what’s left of my earthly life envying someone else’s walk and miss what God intends for me.  What do you think?

A. The best way to tell if it’s the Lord asking you to pray for and minister to your family is to start doing it.  Study and pray over  Romans 12:1-2 and 1 Peter 3:1-6 to get a clearer sense of what the Lord is saying to you.  (I think it’s appropriate to expand Peter’s message  to include your whole family.)  It makes sense to me that He could be calling you to this, and if so it’s one of the most important things a mother could ever do.

A. When we’re children our father’s influence in our lives is positional. He’s responsible for teaching and nurturing us and we’re called to be obedient to him. (Col. 3:20) When we become adults it’s relational, and he can only function in an advisory capacity. How much influence he retains with us when we’re adults depends primarily on the relationship he built with us while we were young. (Col. 3:21)

A. Like everyone else in the world, your wife is responsible for her own salvation.  Rejecting the pardon the Lord has offered her because she doesn’t like the behavior of others is an excuse, not a reason.  It’s like turning down a free car because you don’t like the way some people drive. It’s completely illogical.  God knows this, and at some level she does too.

You will not be held accountable for her refusal to believe in the face of overwhelming evidence of God’s existence. Many of us have friends and loved ones who simply won’t “get it” and we all have lapses in our prayers for them.  But not even God can force a person to believe in Him, or to accept the only remedy He’s provided for our sins.  It’s a choice He’s given to each of us, and we have to make it ourselves.  No one can do it for us.

But my family doubts he’ll change since we’ve been dating for 6 years already. But I believe nothing is impossible with God as I know it takes great faith for it to happen. To stay positive, I view it as a time of testing and trial from God. Having said that,I’m still rather confused and don’t know what else to do next. Will other Christians view it as a sin? Will my parents be upset? Will God be angry and punish me?

A. First of all, marrying an unbeliever isn’t a sin, it’s just something the Bible warns us about because it makes our life so difficult, as you can already see.   Second, God doesn’t punish us for our sins, He already punished Jesus for them.  You and God are at peace. (Colossians 1:19-20)  As long as you aren’t insisting on being married right now, and as long as there’s hope if you wait, then I suggest if you really love him, then wait a while longer. You’ve told him how you feel, now invest your energy in praying for him.  I suggest you study 1 Peter 3:1-6 and see what the Lord impresses upon your mind.

Technically she’s correct I guess but I did tell her that I’m just a ‘fallible man’ whereas Christ is perfect., but as she’s’ the one who’s pulling away from me I ‘hope’ that I’m still in God’s grace. I know that all of my sins have been paid for at the cross and God now sees me as ‘righteous’. I’d appreciate your thoughts on this.

A. It sounds like your wife is trying to make you solely responsible for your broken marriage.  Ephesians 5:22-28 contains responsibilities for both husband and wife because it’s a joint effort.  Unless she has always done her part, and assuming there’s been no infidelity, she has no standing in criticizing the way you’ve done yours. If you’re both born again, God’s grace will cover her sin and yours, but His desire is that you stay together and work this out.

A. I think it’s quite likely that our prayers for a friend or loved one will help them come around and ask the Lord for their salvation. Some go so far as to say that’s the only way it happens. Every person has to ask for themselves, but I think our prayers can help soften their hearts and bring them a spirit of grace, giving them the faith to ask.  I know that’s the way it happened for me and I’ll always be grateful to the person who prayed me in.  His name is Dennis and he gave me my first tapes on Bible prophecy nearly 25 years ago.   Thanks again, Dennis

A. There’s no reason for you to shoulder this burden on your own, especially since they don’t seem willing to help themselves.  Paul said, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (2 Thes. 3:10)  Assuming that the Lord called you to help your wife’s brothers out in the first place (did He?) you’ve certainly demonstrated your Christian charity by now.  If they promised to pay rent but aren’t, you’re just helping them pay for their addictions by not holding them accountable.  It’s time to point them toward the many government assistance programs that are meant for people who are suffering hard times or addictions or both so they can get the help they need, not just the support they want.

A. Jesus said that at the Resurrection, we neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels (Matt. 22:30).  Since sex is only for married couples, and since the marriage relationship terminates when either party dies, there are no ongoing marital relationships in Heaven.

What I meant to say in the MP3 on Mark was that Old Testament saints will be resurrected at the time of the 2nd Coming and will live in Israel.  They will not procreate.  Believing Tribulation survivors will go into the Kingdom in their natural states and will re-populate the Earth. The Jews among them will live in Israel and the Gentiles will go into the nations.  The Church which is neither Jew nor Gentile will live in the New Jerusalem, which will be near Earth but not on it.  We will not procreate either.

But we shouldn’t be sad about this or feel any concern about future deprivation.  In our perfected bodies our desires will be different than they are now, so we won’t experience any lack of fulfillment.  Otherwise God’s promise of no more mourning or pain (Rev. 21:4), or remembrance of former things (Isaiah 65:17), could not come true.  I hope this clears up any misunderstanding.

A. As long as neither of you has a desire for a divorce, then there’s no reason to get one. Apparently your husband has Biblical grounds (you didn’t indicate whether you do) but while divorce is authorized under those circumstances, it’s not mandatory. In 1 Cor. 7:10-11 Paul said that a woman who separates from her husband should stay unmarried unless they can be reconciled.  But this doesn’t mean “live-in” boyfriends are OK.  Although all your sins are forgiven, you did the right thing by ending that kind of relationship when you became a believer.