Rev. 7: 13-17  “And one of the elders answered, saying to me, who are these which are clothed in white robes? And where did they come from? And I said to him, sir, you know.  And he said to me, they came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  Therefore they stand before the throne of God, and serve Him day & night in His temple: and He that sits on the throne will live among them.  They will hunger no more. Neither thirst any more; neither will the sun light on them, nor any heat.  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

 Where are we on the road from “hell” to “Heaven”?  Are we so close to the enemy that all we can hear are his lies?

Are we so far from Jesus that we have to strain to hear Him?  Are there so many obstacles in our way?  Who do we listen to?   The enemy strikes dedicated Christians all the time, but don’t you think it’s easier for us to live for Jesus the closer we are to Him?  Instead of being one step away from serving satan?

See the fence in the middle of this road? Sitting on the fence hurts.  It hurts us, and it hurts others.  We can’t help or disciple people from the fence.  Satan keeps us bound to it.  We can only help others from a position of total freedom, of true liberty in Jesus from a position at the foot of the Cross.

Our position, young or old, is to be as close as we can be to God through Jesus, then we’ll never leave people un-discipled & lost to satan.  Are we playing too close to the fence?  Are we too eager to climb over the fence to get to hell?  Or, are we too complacent to make an effort to get off the fence?

What separates us from Jesus?

Rebellion?  Lack of commitment?  The way we dress? Our language?  Our attitude?  Our friends? Our heart?  Our mind?  Lack of prayer?  Lack of Bible reading?  Lack of obedience?  Bad habits?  Disinterest?  Spending too much time on ourselves?  Laziness?  Lack of dedication?  Lust?  Immorality?

Lack of focus on Jesus?  Is it always about us!??????

Do we ask Him for help??

How can we get closer to Heaven?

We need to care enough to get into the right position.  We all know people around us in our schools, at our jobs, and in our neighborhoods, who have left the path to Heaven and taken a detour!  Do we care?  Satan is laughing…does that bother us?

There‘s a battle for our soul & the souls of our friends!  Do we hunger and thirst for more of Jesus!!  Do we cry out to Him to help them…to help us help them?

How can we help/disciple others?

We need to be spotless by being covered with the blood of Jesus.  Are we stained with the dirt of this world?  How?

And how can we get clean?  Here’s the answer!   A sin stained person, needs to be covered by Jesus’ blood and receive His pure white robe of righteousness.  Move closer to God…where nothing separates you from His glory.

What does it take to move us closer to God?

More church programs?  More fun activities?  More food, snacks, candy, and ice cream?  More “Slurpies!!?”  More people?  More leaders?  A new pastor?  More pot-luck dinners?  A new gym?  Or, do we agree that what the church really needs is more of God…more focus on Jesus!!

Coming to Jesus, repenting, changing, being filled with His Holy Spirit, and moving into the right position in Christ.  Where we kneel at the foot of the Cross, admit we’re a sinner, so Jesus will cover us with His blood, cleanse us, forgive us, & forget all our sins.  Then, our Almighty God sees only the blood of Jesus when He sees us with Jesus’ robe of righteousness on us.  Then He says, “Stand up My child, I have Kingdom work for you to do.”

“Me?  But…”

“Yes, you!!”  He will say,  “Go!  And I will go before you.  Then, people will see only Me and hear Me when you speak!”

Isn’t that awesome!!  What a relief…it’s not what we do, but what Jesus already did for us!  It’s not us people see, but Jesus in us!!  That’s liberating!!  That’s freedom!

What are we waiting for?  For people to force us to serve Jesus?  For God to make us love Him & serve Him?

We know it doesn’t work that way, right?!  It’s got to be our decision…our free-will choice!  Our hunger!!  Our thirst for Christ, and our relationship with Him personally!

How can we disciple others when we’re struggling ourselves?  How can we show Christ to others when He’s not visible in us?

Is it all about us?  God has this idea that it’s all about Him…it is!!!   Where’s our focus?  Are we preoccupied?  Thinking of other things?

Are our thoughts on yourselves?  On our friends?  Girlfriends or boyfriends?  On money?  On computers?  On games?  On fun?  On getting away with things?  On Facebook?  On texting?  Stay focused on God!!

Are we properly positioned?  Is our prayer to the Lord…”Position me, Lord!!”?  Are we reflecting Jesus to others?  Are we pointing the way to Heaven?  Do we shout that Jesus is the Way?

Only satan should be in hell!!  He’s there…and he’s having a party.  He’s invited everyone he knows.  Are we at his party?  Let’s leave his party!!  And take everyone we know with us.  Pulling them out of the fiery pit!!  Lead the way to the 180 degree turn around.  So they’re facing Heaven and not hell.

Jesus whispers…start a youth band…join the drama team…ask someone to church… pray for someone’s healing…show love, show compassion…can you hear Him?  Do you obey?

Encourage people to get off the fence.  Help them see Jesus’ glorious face at the gate ahead in Heaven.  Show them His love in you. Point them to Heaven, so they can turn their back on hell.  It’s the right direction for the abundant blessings of our Lord and Savior.

Ask for more from Jesus…get quieter…get closer to the Lord.  Stay on the path—“straight to the gate.”  of Heaven.  Bring as many people with you that you can.  Don’t compromise.  It leads you to satan’s lair.  Where he’s celebrating every lost soul that wandered off the path..  Gently  encourage others to follow the path with you, fervently pray.  Intercede.  Help them endure.  Help them recognize all the enemy’s tricks.  Ask God to respond from His throne, and to step into every situation.  The lost only need one glimpse of Him.  One whisper from Jesus changes their entire situation!  It changes their whole life!!

Christ is pushing us to new levels.  He’s encouraging our obedience, He’s encouraging us to trust Him and His plan for our lives each moment of every day.   He’s asking us to reach up to Him, and to reach out to others.

To be purified. We can’t show someone else how to live for God, if we’re not clean enough to reflect Him!  Are we a ROCK…a Reflection Of Christ your King?

Live to glorify Him, and Him only!.  It’s all about Jesus.  Get what we need from God…and be free to come and go to the fountain He provides!  Get God’s joy, then splash joy on someone else!  It’s fun!  It’s joyful!

Where were we two years ago on this road?  Where do we want to be two years from now?  We’re in this picture of the road from hell to Heaven, even if we’re sitting on the sidelines. Don’t just sit on the sidelines.  Let’s immerse ourselves in His Love.  Be in love. Crazy in love with Jesus!

If not…we won’t come out unscathed in the judgement.  Maybe we just serve God because our parents make us!  Or it’s expected of us. That’s not good enough!

Jesus is here, seeking, and saving the lost.   But satan sees us also, and he’s out to steal, kill, & destroy.  Are we just going to stand back and let satan destroy our lives?  Our dreams?  Our families?  Our friends?

If we’re not where we should be, or want to be…Jesus is right here…tell Him…we need to ask Him to help us and to strengthen us.  To make us more determined to stay focused on Him!!

Don’t take a detour.  A detour takes us away from God back through satan’s territory.  And when we finally “come to ourselves” and get back on the right road, we will be farther away from God than when we left.   Is that really where we want to be??

Pray more about what God wants us to do, think less about what we want to do…more about what’s right in our life, less about what’s wrong.  Look for more good in others, instead of pointing out what’s bad. There’s so much potential in all of us…not because we’re good, but because God is good!!

Please, I ask you to consider what God wants to do in your life!!  Where God wants you to be on this road…

Always facing Jesus and walking “straight to the gate.”

Proverbs 4: 14 & 15 “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men.  Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.”

Proverbs 4: 25-27 “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.  Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.  Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”