The Preparation for Eternity - Episode 11

"Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless."
- Bertrand Russell 

"He who lays up treasure on earth, spends his life backing away from his treasure.  To him, death is loss.  He who lays up treasure in heaven, looks forward to eternity; he's moving daily toward his treasures.  To him death is gain.  He who spends his life moving toward his treasures has reason to rejoice.  Are you despairing or rejoicing?"
- Randy Alcorn

Eternity is a hard concept to grasp.  Thankfully, we have our entire lives to prepare for it.   What is considered a lifetime to us is only a temporary assignment. 

In this episode, Don and Justin get into what it is that is waiting for us on the other side, how to understand the troubles in our life, and the specific steps we can take to guide us through our journey of preparation. 

No matter where you are at in life, it is never too late to start. You are on the path to the beginning of a new forever. 

Transcript

The Preparation for Eternity
[00:00:00] Justin: Hi everyone, this is Justin Olbrantz and this is Don Schaefer, and you are listening to the Wise and the Wandering podcast for those who know the way and for those who are led astray. And if you feel like you fall into either of those categories, Then you're in the right place. So let's dive in

[00:00:31] Justin: So don what are we going to talk about today? 

[00:00:35] Don: I think we're going to talk about being prepared for eternity. Justin. Wow for eternity Yes, because this I think is a topic that a lot of people don't like to listen to but I think it's probably the most Important topic for everyone. 

[00:00:49] Justin: Yeah, I think that's a word in general that people just avoid Yes, I think people of all age groups, I think maybe people of people who are in the older category, I would say maybe think about this [00:01:00] stuff more, but I'd say people of my age and even younger people, they want nothing to do with eternity.

[00:01:06] Justin: I know. 

[00:01:06] Don: I know. Yeah. And, and it's probably the most important concept because I know, , the Bible talks a little bit about eternity be in our hearts. You know, God is basically, uh, I know I tell people all the time that it's like having an appointment for something in life, Like say you got to have a root canal or or whatever it is.

[00:01:26] Don: You set a date for it It's an appointment time and in our life Eternity is an appointment for every person Someday, we're gonna reach the point of eternity and to learn how to be prepared for it I think is absolutely Utmost important. That's where I think this session here, this, this podcast that we got here, it's going to be very, very important because we're going to be talking about some good stuff as far as being prepared.

[00:01:51] Don: Areas that sometimes people, I don't know, they don't want to think about. You know, a lot of times people just try to push all this off. They roll the dice. They say, [00:02:00] well, you know what? I'm going to live my life just like everybody else. And I'll be just with the same group and all this sort. But you know, I think God has got a specific plan for all of us.

[00:02:09] Don: And the times we're living in right now are Ever so valuable every moment, you know, even the time we're taking for this right now. Huge. It really is because these are keys myself. I don't want to miss anything. You know, if there's something that needs of me or whatever it needs to be, because I realize that I'm given a certain amount of time to live life.

[00:02:32] Don: But once I pass over into a place we call eternity or God Eternity there is no time because there is no end of it It's just from that time on so I have to realize that you know Maybe there's something of me that I need to be knowing doing or being a part of right now to get myself Prepared for crossing that line because once I cross that line, I'm done According to scripture, there's no coming back, you know, this [00:03:00] isn't a dress rehearsal that we're going to be playing over again But this is something that we really need to take serious and really need to take a good look at it That's where just and i'm hoping today we can do some of that Take a look at some of the points that people need to see and understand.

[00:03:16] Justin: Yeah, because preparation is key And there's a lot that goes into the preparation and I would Say that eternity is something that it's hard to talk about because we don't fully understand it because we haven't experienced it We're not able to experience it. Like you said according to scripture. We can't We can't experience it and come back No, and in there's cases where I got somebody, you know, they they die and and they have out of body Experiences and maybe they go to places but they're not going to eternity because Eternity to us.

[00:03:47] Justin: I mean in the last episode I looked up definition for confidence and eternity, it's rather vague, you know, it says the Seemingly endless or immeasurable time. Yeah, okay, [00:04:00]or the state after death in other words Immortality, right basically, right which is you know, kind of a bittersweet thing But to know that I guess we're gonna be immortal or we are immortal and we're we're And this is just a temporary place before , we live in a complete state of eternity.

[00:04:20] Justin: What that is? Is to be determined, but I think the preparation is key. Yes, because we have our whole Lives to prepare our whole lives here our mortal lives, whatever you want to call it We have our mortal lives on this earth to figure it out to prepare. That's right How do you think people? Properly prepare for eternity.

[00:04:45] Don: Well, I first I you know, like we mentioned in the beginning here that we have to realize There is such a thing as eternity and a lot of people, you know, they just don't think about it Do you think that the end of life is the end of everything which is not, you know The Bible says [00:05:00] the soul never dies.

[00:05:01] Don: So our thought process our mind all that We've fleshly body to the spirit That we can live with and walk around in and do things with or whatever But we've been given a mind a soul And I just want 

[00:05:14] Justin: to stop you because just to say that because you talk about the fleshly body I truly do believe that we are spiritual beings In a physical body right rather than the opposite.

[00:05:25] Justin: Yeah. 

[00:05:25] Don: Yep. This is true This is true and and we manifest we manifest, you know, uh the spiritual side of things and it can be good or bad You know, I mean we've got uh The spiritual side if we allow our adversary we say some say is the devil will manifest itself in anger, bitterness, you know, all this ugly stuff, but God himself manifests himself also.

[00:05:48] Don: So a lot of times you can see, cause I think, , we were designed in, , sculptured for eternity. God had a plan for us to be with him forever. Forever. 

[00:05:57] Justin: Sometimes doesn't really seem like he's , like he's [00:06:00] sculpting us. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well just chipping away, you know at our lives. All right, this is this right here.

[00:06:06] Justin: You want me to change it? Okay, i'm gonna chisel that off right here. 

[00:06:10] Don: Yeah, it's just like michelangelo. Yeah. Yeah, you know he He could see a block of stone, a block of marble, and he could see a David inside that, you know, and sculpture. And that's where I think God looks at each of one of us and realizes the possibilities.

[00:06:24] Don: He has placed all the possibilities inside of us, you know, and he's trying to sculpture us to make us, uh, Possession because I know the Bible talks about the glory of God and the glory of any buddy that does anything is in the product that they have created now if I was an artist and I painted a picture my Glory would be in the picture.

[00:06:48] Don: I I one time down in Florida here I went and painted a picture and I had a motorhome and I was inside the motorhome and I painted this picture. All the neighbors knew I was doing it, but I wouldn't show anybody. [00:07:00] And I had an art show. So Shirley and I, we put on an art show and I had this, this picture covered up sitting outside my motorhome. We had tables, we had a nice dinner, we had drinks, all this stuff for, for an art show. Then I uncovered it, and I think I called it the passions of Arizona or something like that. It was a mountain scene. Everybody's sitting there, Ooh, I don't know.

[00:07:23] Don: It wasn't all that great, but, but that was my glory. And then I also had everyone come up next to me and they all got a picture with the artist. So, but we made a game out of it, but you know, you find your glory in what you produce. And, uh, I think God, his production is each one of us. And someday it's going to be a product in eternity of what he has produced on earth.

[00:07:47] Don: If we allow him to do that. To sculpt us as you're saying to chip away to chip the stuff off of us that he doesn't want of us That can be uh perfect so we can be perfected and the perfect piece for him 

[00:07:59] Justin: [00:08:00] Okay, so an answer to my question is basically you're saying that to be prepared we allow him to work His way in our lives.

[00:08:07] Justin: Yes as the sculptor. Yes, and we kind of let him take control We do and I think you touched on and I agree with that and you touched on something about You know things can manifest themselves in your life in good or bad ways, right? And I really do believe that and I think it's okay. Yeah, I think it's okay I think that the perspective the reason I'm kind of doing this episode and the reason I Chose this topic is so that we can get a conversation going about eternity Yeah because it's something that we often do not want to talk about because we live in a world of Now we live in a world of now In the present, and the present is very important.

[00:08:49] Justin: I understand, but we are Often distracted by what's going on in the world so much That we can't think about things like eternity because everything is [00:09:00] about now now now what is happening now, you know, you don't see You see videos on youtube's five ways ten ways to stop Overthinking whatever in the moment.

[00:09:12] Justin: You don't see videos saying, you know ten ways to prepare for eternity Too often so someone's got to make that video right or someone's got to say it So that's the point of this. The purpose of this episode is really to get that conversation going because there is good. In bad moments all throughout your life.

[00:09:34] Justin: Mm-Hmm. . But the good news, honestly, the good news is that you do have your whole life to prepare. Yeah. So if, I mean, the message is for somebody who's maybe in their seventies or their eighties and they feel like they wasted most of their life and they didn't do enough, and therefore it just doesn't mean anything.

[00:09:52] Justin: Well, that's not the case because as long as you're still here, as long as you're a sculptor, you know, like you said, you're, he's [00:10:00] still working on you, then you still have time. You still have time to prepare. That preparation is key. Or if you're someone who's young, if you're someone who's just getting started, maybe you're a teenager, maybe even younger, you know, you, Really have the opportunity.

[00:10:15] Justin: Yeah, as long as you're here you have this mortal life Whatever you want to call it to really prepare we do and we'll talk more about what preparation means But to really prepare for an eternal life, 

[00:10:26] Don: right? Yeah, and that's important to realize and so many times people look at Jesus coming to this world to take the record book of all the wrongs we've done and to erase it You know, so that we our record is clean, you know, and then we can say, you know, yeah, I did what I needed to do I you know, I come to Jesus and all this stuff, but we fail to realize that Yeah, he does want to change the record book a little bit, but he wants to change us Yeah, yeah, he wants to change our attitude our ways how we handle ourselves, you know [00:11:00] how we treat people People, you know, it's a process of change that we're living in.

[00:11:04] Don: And like you're saying, Justin, it doesn't matter what age, you know, a lot of times people will struggle. I know I like to tell people it's not about the past. It's about what's in front of us. And right now, right now, this moment right now is, is so important because we make decisions. We make decision. I know the word decision means that the cutoff means that never go back.

[00:11:27] Don: You know, and that's where we make decisions. Decisions and I know my life 

[00:11:31] Justin: I had it's like the latin roots, right? They say it's actually to cut off like a physical part of your body or one arm over the other you're making a decision 

[00:11:38] Don: Incision decision. It's something like it's got scission in it, 

[00:11:43] but but 

[00:11:45] Don: No, yeah, you know and that's where we make a decision and I remember, you know my time in life You know, I heard a lot about god and stuff.

[00:11:53] Don: See I was fortunate enough to be raised You In a, , school, sent to schools where they taught God, they [00:12:00] talked a little bit about God and had an understanding and stuff. I know today a lot of our young people don't have that opportunity. Schools do not talk about God, they don't teach religion classes.

[00:12:10] Don: And a lot of times parents don't take their kids to churches that do that. You have a younger generation right now that have no concept of God, so for them to prepare for eternity, that's a big question mark. Because they have no concept of eternity or God or any of that sort. I did. I had an understanding, but there was a time where First believed where someone shared with the fact that God is real and he's present everywhere He's got a plan for each and every one of us and I remember sitting there thinking my goodness God sees everything, you know, God is I went home that night It's just like everything started to change because I started to believe a different way I started to realize that God was real, you know, and once I realized that I, then I started to believe everything.

[00:12:58] Don: And when he talks about eternity, I [00:13:00] said, boy, you know, he's, you know, I don't think he's joking about that. You know, I think there really is a place. When Jesus even said, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, you will be also. So I'm saying, He's 

[00:13:13] Justin: almost, that's like you said, he's basically He's preparing eternity in your heart.

[00:13:17] Justin: Oh, yeah 

[00:13:18] Don: And and a place for us beyond beyond this life called time that we're living in right now He's got a place where we will dwell and be with him forever and I know uh myself i've shared the story before but I know I i've talked to my Grandchildren and you know talked about Eternity and stuff, and I'd ask them, Who do you want to live with you?

[00:13:42] Don: If you had to invite somebody into your home, would you want somebody that's bitter, angry, jealous, cursing all the time, and all kinds of bad habits? Or would you want somebody that's loving, kind, peaceful, you know, that can handle it, very patient with you and all that? Well, yeah, Grandpa, you know, we would like those people that are [00:14:00] loving.

[00:14:00] Don: And I said, Who do you think God is wanting to spend eternity with? , and I know myself, when I look at eternity, I always look at two sections. It's those that are going to be with God and those without God. Because we have a choice in this world, either we can live a life with God and seeking after God and desiring after God, or we can say, you know what, I don't want God to have any part of my life.

[00:14:23] Don: And usually the people that don't want God a part of their life are having very miserable lives right now. Yeah. And I think in the future, future. I would agree with that. It's going to be very similar to that. 

[00:14:34] Justin: Yeah, I think so. You know, and I think that the word eternity is almost impossible for the average person to grasp because the world is so 

[00:14:46] Justin: everything is constructed by worldly terms. We only know of things based on what exists in the world. Our belief systems they're all comprised of things that are [00:15:00] So it's hard to think of something that's like a non worldly concept. And I think that, you know, when it comes to the process of regeneration, do not be conformed.

[00:15:12] Justin: of the things in the world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind and I think that you have to get to a point of you have to get to that renewal process You have to renew your mind to be able to even understand Eternity. Yeah, because otherwise It really doesn't make any sense because there is just we're in a world where there's times 24 hours in a day Every single thing we do or is built around time our whole lives or our stress everything The things that we do the things that we plan is all built around time so therefore to to accept something to accept a place a state of mind Or a state of being or existence where time doesn't exist is almost impossible to [00:16:00] us.

[00:16:00] Justin: It doesn't even make sense. So, so it's almost, , it really comes down to, I think what you believe, and if you really, believe in something, if you really believe that there is an eternity, then you can start to prepare for it. Because if you can't, I think that first step is kind of acceptance, right?

[00:16:18] Justin: Is understanding, accepting that there, there is something called eternity. And what that looks like, nobody can tell you here. Yeah, and that's that's kind of the hard part is like you can't really explain it and that's where belief is so important That's where faith is so important because you have to have that belief and then You have to have that faith because If you really believe in eternity, then you believe in god.

[00:16:43] Justin: Yeah, those things are very congruent, right? So Yeah, if you believe in God, then you have to have faith, right? Because that allows you to be obedient and that allows you to do the will of God and that allows you to Please them and it's a without having [00:17:00] faith. It's impossible to please God Yes, because you have to believe that It is going to work out you have to believe that there is going to be an eternity at the end You have to believe that when you pass away It's not just nothing you don't just go into nothingness or whatever You know all the different explanations are out there.

[00:17:23] Justin: You have to believe that there is an eternity and you're gonna you're going to be Reunited with your creator. 

[00:17:30] Don: Yeah, that's that's good. Justin. Yeah I know though like Justin is saying here like the word eternity is so foreign to us Because everything we deal with has a beginning and an end, you know, I mean everything in life You know, it has its beginnings and its end but like eternity There is no end.

[00:17:47] Don: And I had one guy explain this to me a while back. He says, eternity is like taking a sparrow and taking a giant stainless steel ball the size of the moon and having [00:18:00] that sparrow come every Thousand years and brush its wing up against that stainless steel ball. Yeah. He says when that stainless steel ball is worn out completely eternity is just begun.

[00:18:13] Don: Yeah. , you know, because there is no end. Yeah. To eternity. So that's where it makes it such a precious thing to look forward to. And I know the Bible says in like Justin's saying, we really don't know exactly the things that are gonna take place. We have to have faith that's gonna be good. And I know I live my life believing that, you know, God is good.

[00:18:32] Don: And everything he created was good, and he's got good things for those who seek after him and desire after him. But the Bible says, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered the hearts of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love him. So, we can't even imagine, you know, whatever is good in your mind right now, It's better than that.

[00:18:52] Don: The Bible tells us it's better than that. So it's a whole different way of looking at things, but it takes a whole lot of [00:19:00] pressure off the individual. I myself, you know, I take care of myself, but I'm not going to worry about a lot of things. Cause it's God's business. You know, I'm not going to get myself all bent out of shape.

[00:19:11] Don: You see, I'm going to prepare myself. And I think part of that preparation is having faith and trust in him. That's going

[00:19:17] Justin: to be good. The faith is important. The belief is important. The trust, I would say is definitely important because you have to be able to. Trust that you're going to receive that outcome.

[00:19:29] Justin: You have to be able to, because there's no evidence there that it's going to happen. So the trust is really all you have. The belief is really all you have. Kind of the faith is really all you have. And I think that the preparation happens when you know, when you're, when you're confident, right? We go back to the last episode, when you're confident and you know, because you're seeing things change in your life, you're seeing things change in other people's lives, when you're seeing what God is doing through you, you can understand [00:20:00] that, okay, because this is spoken, because it's written, because it's in the Word, 

[00:20:04] Don: Yes, 

[00:20:05] yes.

[00:20:05] Justin: That it's true. Yes, and that it's something that I believe in the way we're living in this life way. We're on this world. This is all a test Yeah, I really think in preparing for eternity We're being tested in this world And I think that to those who diligently seek God and those who are obedience But those who are diligently seeking him like he is a rewarder and he's gonna reward you and I do believe that our rewards are Waiting for us after we pass from this life, and this is all a test, how we help people, what we do in this world, how we walk, how we inspire people, how we get people to move towards God and away from the world and away from the things, away from the lies and closer to the truth.

[00:20:56] Justin: The closer we get people to the truth, I feel like , we're [00:21:00] being closer. To righteousness and we're closer to walking in righteousness and therefore there, there are rewards that are waiting for us on the other side, and I truly believe that. 

[00:21:11] Don: Oh, yeah, I do too. You know, and that's where I know the Bible talks about Jesus said that we are the light of the world, you know, and he talks about darkness.

[00:21:19] Don: And the Bible talks about darkness and talks about the God of this world and a small g you know, we call him the devil or whatever. Yes. And how he puts people in a darkness. And I know, uh, there's periods of time which is interesting. We talk about time. Everything is based about around Jesus Christ. You know, it's so many years before Jesus was born and so many years.

[00:21:41] Don: After Jesus was born. So all of our time is based on Jesus Christ right now. We're in 2024 After Jesus Christ, Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Yeah, you know, so it's it's all about and like a lot of times people question Well, is there a God or isn't there a God I always tell I [00:22:00]says there isn't A God, and if there isn't an eternity or place to go to, this is insanity.

[00:22:06] Don: This is, you're being born in a world, this is the greatest curse we could ever have, to be born to have to die, to have to suffer and die. What is that? You know, if there wasn't something beyond all this, and that's where I think Jesus came to give us some new hope and show us, yeah, there is something. And then there's a process as far as preparing.

[00:22:25] Don: There's what the Bible calls being born again. It's taking, , because we're born into this world with a natural nature to sin and do wrong. We do this stuff. You can't take a child and expect them not to ever do anything wrong. They will do this all by themselves, no matter how much you try to keep it from them.

[00:22:44] Don: They will do this. They'll learn. They will learn the word no real quick. You know, they learn all this stuff because they have a nature to sin. But what happens when we allow Jesus into our life? He changes a nature inside of us, and it's a belief process. Because we live in a fallen world. That's right.

[00:22:59] Don: [00:23:00] And all of a sudden he changes inside of us, and actually what Jesus was on this earth is what we become. And the Bible calls it Christ in us, our only hope of glory. We have to have him living inside of us. And that's the preparation period of getting ourselves prepared for an eternal life to be with God forever.

[00:23:20] Don: Because I 

[00:23:21] Justin: think the things that we experience from being, it's. Born again. It's also called being born from above. Yeah, because we live in a fallen world and we were born from above that heavenly realm enters into us. Oh, yeah, that Holy Spirit that heavenly realm and I think when we experience the fruits of the Spirit and we experience the fruits of God working in our life, that's like a glimpse of what eternity looks like.

[00:23:44] Justin: Those feelings of like you said those Peace that surpasses all understanding because it surpasses what we know of understanding what we were taught in the world that understanding is what we can think of in terms of our thoughts and emotions and feelings. It surpasses all that because [00:24:00] it's greater than that because it's not of this world.

[00:24:02] Justin: It's from, in my opinion, a different dimension. You know, it's from something we can't fully understand. We can through the spirit, but we can't in our Our worldly experiences and our worldly thoughts and feelings and stuff like that. We can't just like we can't understand Eternity because of our worldly opinions and you know experiences and thoughts of man made time.

[00:24:24] Justin: Yeah, right Yeah, in my opinion the time, you know, it doesn't really exist It's you know, it's it's something that we didn't create but I think everything happens in seasons just like we have our four seasons. I think that Life itself is very cyclical and we've got ourselves so distracted, but we got ourselves so thrown off from the way things really are supposed to work by By being caught up in time all the time and being caught up in the pressures of life and stuff like that like you were saying worrying and doubting and and getting into these things that Keep us from [00:25:00]understanding what our true purpose is, but where we really come from Yeah, where we really come from and I think it is when we Like you were saying, we go through that born again experience.

[00:25:12] Justin: That's a requirement for preparation. Yeah, because if the earlier you can do this, the better. That's right. You know, I've learned this in my life. Honestly, , I'm, do not take back. I don't want to , I don't want to go back and redo anything that I've experienced in my life Um, I don't regret any of the decisions that i've made because I have to be accountable for everything, right?

[00:25:36] Justin: Yeah, but I also Don't think it's necessary For you to go through Hard times and for you to actually have to go through Addictions and all this stuff. I don't I don't think that's necessary. I think Some people say that. Some people say, Oh, yes, it's all these past experiences that teach you and make you stronger.

[00:25:59] Justin: And that [00:26:00] is true. And I understand, but a lot of people do not make it through those situations. A lot of people do not make it through those experiences. And we're seeing that with all of these, , different metrics that are just shooting way up in terms of, suicides and all this stuff. But I think that.

[00:26:19] Justin: Because because you don't have to experience all of this stuff. You don't have to go through Alcoholism, you don't have to go through drug addictions. You don't have to go through these bitter breakups and these Toxic relationships. I I know what happens but you don't have to do that And you can actually go through life the sooner that you understand this the sooner that you can get this groundwork down and start preparing Yeah, yeah That preparation can come early and you can get all these things.

[00:26:47] Justin: You can get this peace, right? This peace that we're talking about, but you can get this, this life that we're talking about from above, you can get this into your life at an early age, and you can start preparing in this world, in this life, you can start [00:27:00] preparing 

[00:27:00] Don: much earlier. Oh, yeah.

[00:27:01] Don: Yeah, and that's where you get it. What you have with God is a whole new perspective And I I didn't finish this before I was talking about the times and stuff But we went through a time called the dark ages And it was a time where the bible where the word of god was not in the hands of people And , so oh, is that true?

[00:27:19] Don: Yeah, it wasn't beyond all that they started getting into a period where the word of god started reaching the people Okay, and the message started changing but there was what they call the dark ages. So just quick question So when did the bible when was it in the hands of people? Well, it was first printed In, uh, 1400s.

[00:27:39] Don: That's when it was first printed. I think Gutenberg or something like that. So A. D. 1400. Yeah, but it was written and handed down. I mean, it would cost huge money to get the word. It was interesting back in those days because they had to handwrite these Bibles on scripts and stuff. So the wealthy and stuff could get the word.

[00:27:57] Don: Manuscripts and stuff. Gradually [00:28:00] they started getting it. You know, King James, they got Different guys, they put pieces of the Bible together. So the word of God was being passed down. Sometimes people had pieces of it, a chapter or whatever, and they pass it amongst each other and stuff, but it was such a valuable thing because it, it opened up an understanding of who Jesus Christ, and that's where even like there was a period where, there was a, , protesting period where they started to realize that people were saved by faith because for a good period of time The religious people back then it was all works.

[00:28:30] Don: You had to work your way Like working your way to the kingdom of god, you know So preparing for eternity was working your way to prepare. No, the bible doesn't tell us that it's a faith Faith in Jesus Christ. He does the work. You know, once we give our life over to him, he starts to change us. Starts to operation of, yeah, because they had 

[00:28:49] Justin: all these offerings and they had these like burnt offerings, brain offerings, the whole system they had.

[00:28:56] Don: Yeah. And it was a, it was a type and a figure before Jesus came. [00:29:00] Right. Cause the perfect sacrifice was going to be Jesus himself. You know, so this is all type and figure coming up to that period of time. But after that, it was all faith in Jesus Christ. And I know in the beginning, there was an explosion.

[00:29:12] Don: I mean, they talk about the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost fell on people, 3, 000 people came to the Lord because this stuff was real. They started to realize that by placing their faith in Him, their whole perspective changed. They seen things differently. You talk about, , you don't have to be a drug addict and all this sort of thing.

[00:29:30] Don: Yeah, you don't have to be, you know, they make good testimonies, you know, and God delivers you from that. Cause I know in the Bible, Paul was a murderer. You know, he killed Christians. He was Saul. He was Saul. Yeah. He became Paul. He was a murderer. But he changed. That's crazy. But, but, you know, he was a.

[00:29:46] Don: Powerhouse and the things of God because he realized it was Christ living in him, you know, so he could handle situations No matter what the circumstances were around him. He didn't worry about none of that stuff You know, I look at today and I chuckle to myself, but [00:30:00] it's kind of sad It's kind of sad when people are worried about the the things of God The conditions of the world or the climate of the world and stuff like that.

[00:30:07] Don: Who's in charge of all that stuff? You know, god's in charge of all that. But yet we get ourselves in a big with the big g not the small g with the big g. That's right You know So I don't have anything to be concerned about that because I know the bible says that our life right now is but a mist It's just a short period of time, you 60, 80, 130 or whatever it might be You It's just a small piece of time.

[00:30:31] Don: But the thing I should be putting in front of me is for eternity, what do I need as far as my trust in Him and belief in Him and allowing my will and all this? Because there's been many people, if you get into the Bible and into history, who have died for this message. You know, and that's where the, even scripture itself, people were, died having it because there's power in that stuff.

[00:30:54] Don: Today, I'm going to talk about it. I go to Goodwill, I go to thrift stores, there's Bibles all over the place, you know, [00:31:00] everybody's got these things, but not a lot of people read them and believe what the message is, you know, and that's where like the gospel itself means good news. It doesn't mean bad news.

[00:31:10] Don: It's so many people think, I don't want to read that because it's bad news. You know, it talks about, bad things, but it talks about people who are not seeking after him, you know, and, and the effects of that. But the actual message there is good news because God will make your life a whole lot better.

[00:31:26] Justin: Eternity can be like any, so you can look at eternity in two different ways. And I think that a lot of the times in religion, just to be honest, religion is brought, 

[00:31:36] the 

[00:31:37] Justin: way that religion talks to people about eternity is they're going to live in eternal hell. Yeah. If they just continue in their ways. And it's more of like a condemnation.

[00:31:45] Justin: Yeah. That really turns people away from the concept of eternity because they think they're just Going to be judged and condemned and I think we really need to read frame and a reposition the way [00:32:00] that we have an approach to talk to people about eternity. And it's, it's the goodness. Like you said, it's the good news.

[00:32:07] Justin: It's the love. It's, , it's all the positive things. It's not being judged and condemned. It's being accepted. Right. Being accepted for eternity. All right. Let's go back to what you were saying, though, about like the Dark Ages and stuff like that. So, so what you're saying is the Bible didn't come out until the 1400s, so all this stuff that was happening in the Dark Ages and that, that Includes like the crusades and stuff like that, right?

[00:32:30] Justin: So this was happening pre bible. 

[00:32:33] Don: Well, I mean, they had the word of God, but it wasn't like in written books and this and that. Yeah. Like we have it today. Okay. It was ministered by mouth. Okay. I got you. Yeah, and that's, and that's where organizations would control the people. Sure. Because they didn't know.

[00:32:49] Don: And without God, what is life like? That's where we Kind of like 

[00:32:52] Justin: organizations control the people today. 

[00:32:54] Don: That's right. And, and what is a life without God? We look at our world today and the corruption. We look [00:33:00] at the, the corruption. The nasty stuff that's being done all this stuff, you know, this is all working its way to society without God And because people aren't being taught about God, you know God is not a element that you should be when you're young You should be raised to know that God is there and that and all the principles the fact that you need God in your life And to be able to pray learn how to pray all this sort of thing Because god has got some great stuff.

[00:33:27] Don: He wants to do in our lives and Individuals who have upbringings like that are powerful, you know in wherever they're at They make tremendous leaders because they are inspired by the things that god has instilled inside of them But we live in a world today where they're open They're open vessels.

[00:33:46] Don: Like you say, we manifest as spiritual beings that live inside of us. Okay, we can either have God living inside of us, or we can have the other side living and working inside of us, you know, and a lot of times, you know, when you see [00:34:00] attitudes and characteristics, this isn't God, you know, the Bible tells us one thing that I like to share with people is the fact that the Bible says God can't lie.

[00:34:09] Don: You know, there is no lies in him. Right? And, and yet Jesus talked about our devil or Satan or whatever the father of lies. Mm-Hmm. . There is no truth in him. Mm-Hmm. . So everything that is not untruthful, that is a lie. That's what he said to the Pharisees, right? . And he said, you speak just like your father.

[00:34:24] Don: That is right. That is right. You know, so we live in a world now. We, we can actually judge a little bit, you know? I mean, what is truth? You know, I mean, and that's where if the Bible, if the things of God are all truth, I need this because this is the stuff that's preparing me for something that's going to be forever.

[00:34:42] Don: And that's where I believe. And I tell people a lot of times is what you develop of your life in this world, the greatness and whatever it might be, whatever it is. The call is on your life. This is not something that's going to disappear. We are going to cross over and this is going to be something God is going to be using for the [00:35:00] rest of time.

[00:35:01] Don: You know, so we're either going to be so grateful or we are going to be so upset at ourselves that we did not take the time. And there's so many people that do not hear this message. And that's a problem too. And I know Jesus talked about the commission. He said go and preach the gospel unto all the world.

[00:35:19] Don: You know until the ends of time 

[00:35:21] Justin: disciples of all nations 

[00:35:23] Don: Yeah, all doing all of that sort of thing, you know So this should be the job of every individual in some way 

[00:35:32] Justin: And I agree. And I just want to say this because he said, go make disciples of all nations of the world.

[00:35:37] Justin: But I think when we talk about eternity and damnation and stuff like that, I think what we're doing is we're making detractors of all nations in the world. We're making detractors. We're doing the opposite is we're not preaching the good news to people. When I think of the clear instructions that we're given, okay, so now going in a timeline, I think.

[00:35:57] Justin: Prayer needs to be part of your [00:36:00] preparation. I think getting the Bible, you just spent a good time talking about the Bible. The Bible is very important to preparing for eternity. Because if you're preparing to be with your Maker, your Creator, you have to understand your Creator. You have to understand the Word of God.

[00:36:15] Justin: You have to understand Which is also known as the Bible, which, which was finally printed. I just learned in the 1400s, when you understand the Bible, you have to understand that it's God's redemptive plan for his people, for his creation. Right. That's right. And you have to read the Bible for the context of what God did for his people.

[00:36:41] Justin: And I think a lot of people just, you know, They just open the Bible and they just flip open to a page and they say, okay, whatever I open to, let this just speak to what I'm going through. And I don't think that's the way the Bible was meant to be read. I don't think that that's the way the Bible was meant to be interpreted.[00:37:00]

[00:37:00] Justin: open it up and by chance, you know, that's divine intervention or, you know what I mean? There's that's supernatural that I'm supposed to be looking into, you know, Daniel or whatever the case, I think it's important to fully understand that. context of the Bible and what God was doing through those different seasons, through those different people.

[00:37:22] Justin: Right. And when you understand that, you can really understand how God works over time. And then it starts to make sense. Eternity starts to kind of make sense to you because you can see that he's the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Right. And But no matter what happens in time and what we like to call time and what we get caught up in this world over time, no matter what happens, he's always the same God and he'll always be the same God.

[00:37:52] Justin: So seeking to, to really understand about him is going to be, , I would say very important for [00:38:00] your preparation. For your, your life. 

[00:38:03] Don: Oh, it is. And if I could share a story, I don't know if I ever told you this one, Justin, or not, but this is a good story. But, um, I know, um,, the word of God has to be imparted, you know, it's a spiritual thing.

[00:38:13] Don: And I, I've had people to say that the Bible is a bunch of junk and you can't believe it and all that stuff. And it was man made and stuff like that. And I tell them it's spiritually discerned. What happens when you study the Bible and get into the word of God gradually puts it into you. Well, my neighbor, this is.

[00:38:29] Don: Long time ago, but her name was Mrs. Kip and when she was young, she was a missionary lady in India And her job as a missionary lady was to get the lepers They had leper colonies and he had treatment for them. They would come in for treatment So could I just stop you? What what was leprosy exactly?

[00:38:48] Don: Oh, it was a disease on On the skin. I don't know. Okay. It, it consume, you know, pieces of your flesh and sometimes your fingers and stuff like it, like boils and stuff like that or something, something like that. [00:39:00] It was contagious, you know? So they had colonies where they separated them. I know that Jesus healed lepers when he was on earth.

[00:39:07] Don: Yeah. And stuff. It was a great miracle and stuff, but she was, because 

[00:39:10] Justin: lepers almost sounds like people hear that term. It almost sounds like a, like a,, like a kind of people or something. Yeah. But it's just, it was a. It was a disease. It was a type of disease. They're associated with it. Yep, 

[00:39:19] Don: yep. And that's where, her job was to get these people to come back for the next treatments.

[00:39:24] Don: Okay. You know, because they would go home and they wouldn't come back for the second treatment. But anyway, she was over there and, this was her mission. She was loving the Lord and all that stuff. And, uh, she said that when Gandhi, That's where in England, she had to leave. So this is where she was back in Gandhi's day.

[00:39:41] Don: But she, when I went to visit with her, and she lived down the street from me, she lifted up the Bible and she got teary eyed with me. She says, you know, this book is inexhaustible. She says, I've been in this book now for almost 80 years, and every time I go through it, I find something new. You know, and that's what the Bible is.

[00:39:58] Don: It's something that gets imparted [00:40:00] in you, and that's why the Word of God is such an important thing. It's an important part of life, because as you study it, as you hunger for the riches inside of it, it's a treasure chest. It's a treasure chest of things, but most people, they put their, the day they bought it, when they got married, maybe when they got baptized, they put their dates in there, and it sits on a shelf, and sometimes it gets a half inch of dust on it.

[00:40:22] Don: But, you know, if a person realizes how valuable that is, and I know myself, I've been, you know, Boy, it's been over, almost going on two decades that I've been going through the Bible every year because I used to teach Bible studies, but I could never say I read the whole Bible. And now what I do is I take my time and I go, I read it every day.

[00:40:42] Don: And every time I go through it, I get different things. And I know myself, we had a Bible study called your eternal life, where we went Cover to cover. It was like 24 lessons and stuff. Hope to have it out there for people somewheres down the line here But I um, but I know that when I was [00:41:00] studying that for eternal life in the word eternal All of a sudden started popping all over the place in the Bible because you start to see this stuff And that's why I think Scripture has given an opportunity for people to really liven in life and really have some hope into the future.

[00:41:18] Don: Because without that, what do you have? I mean, it doesn't matter how many jaguars you have in your garage. What do you have? You know, it's all got to go someday, you know, but what you can build is something that will last forever and be with your king, be in a place that's probably better than anything you can imagine.

[00:41:38] Don: For the rest of time you know 

[00:41:39] Justin: what I heard this phrase somewhere Um, I don't remember who said it but they said you aren't a human being you're a human becoming Yeah, that's good. That's good and if you kind of shift your perspective into that you're Looking at becoming something so the preparation is your whole life because you're constantly just [00:42:00] becoming you're not you're you're no longer Just being you know, you're no longer simply being you're becoming something there is something that you're working up to there's something that's waiting for you Yeah, and I think When you understand things that way, and you have that perspective, your story, your testimony, is never a story of failure anymore.

[00:42:23] Justin: It's about God's victory. It's about God's victory in your life. That's your story. He's gonna love you through all of your mess no matter what so if you mess up if you fall He's gonna love you through that. I say like it's important to maybe not go through those things But just know you still have the victory.

[00:42:45] Justin: You still have the authority Yeah, we have the authority over the ruler over the God of the world the small g we do Jesus told us We have the authority And if you can understand that and you can realize that you you have the authority [00:43:00] Authority, but you have the victory it makes it easy to understand that okay I'm gonna have a great life in eternity.

[00:43:08] Justin: I'm gonna have a great life here and then I'm gonna have a great life forever Yes, and you know I'll just say this because we've talked about this in a couple episodes before but I think what we know about death, and I'm not saying like all the scientific things and observations and theories to explain it, but what we just know about death is skewed.

[00:43:31] Justin: I really think so. And I think there's a, there's a deception there to make everything we know about death different from what it is. It actually is and I think just follow me here. What I'm saying is that I think that it is a temporary Separation passing in maybe from one dimension to another into a place of eternity Yeah, but that we're still living an eternal life and that maybe we're still It shouldn't be looked at [00:44:00] as, , harrowing and gruesome and as sadly as we have been.

[00:44:05] Don: It's true, Justin. Yeah. Cause I know myself looking at it, it's just the same. God is a God of love. The Bible says he loves us more than we know what love even means. And, he has prepared a place for us and we're not home yet. You know, we're just passing through. We're living in a world right now, just passing through trying to become the best Person we're trying to become the better you.

[00:44:30] Don: Yes. That's what we're trying to be And now we're living in this world doing this and we need to realize that time can't be wasted we can't waste time in life We have to continue to grow but god has is a place and I know the bible talks a little bit about that It's about, um, Oh, death, where is thy sting?

[00:44:47] Don: Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Yeah. And what, up until you really have a relationship with Jesus Christ, there's a great fear of death. You know, and the grave is,, is terrible. You know, and then you look at the world and they, oh man, this is about the worst [00:45:00] thing that can happen is to,, is to die.

[00:45:02] Don: Especially if you're young. You know, it got so much potential in front of you. But you know, and with a life with Jesus Christ, it changes everything because it doesn't matter when you pass, you know, I, I pray to God that when I do leave this world, That I can leave it with a smile on my face because I know I'm going home.

[00:45:17] Don: You know, I know I got a better place than what I have right here. And it changes the perspective. Cause I remember my mother in law, , sitting in a wheelchair and I used to, , spend weekends with her and stuff, taking care of her and stuff, uh, with, with Shirley, my wife. But, I used to prepare messages and I , used to, Practice with her saying him and stuff, but I always tell her I says, you know, Tilly was her name I said Tilly god's got a brand new body for you.

[00:45:41] Don: You know, you might be in a wheelchair right now You might be suffering or whatever it is, but all of that goes away, you know And god's got a better place for all of us. It doesn't matter what our torment is Doesn't matter what our struggle is if we can place our trust in him and reach out to him He is wanting to bring us home with him [00:46:00] and for us to understand, you know The bible talks about this being a great Mystery Christ in us, the hope of glory.

[00:46:07] Don: It's a mystery to the world. People don't understand that. And as Justin said earlier, a piece that surpasses all understanding the world doesn't understand the peace that we can have. Mm-Hmm. realizing we don't have to get worried about any of this stuff. God is in control. He's in control of our tomorrows, you know, and everything that happens to us.

[00:46:23] Don: Yeah. We 

[00:46:23] Justin: are overcomers. Yeah. We overcome and we, we have to understand that. 'cause I think. We have, we have work to do. Like, in terms of preparation, we have work to do. It's not, it is about salvation. But, it's not just about getting saved and then doing nothing and then just waiting and knowing that we have a place in eternity.

[00:46:44] Justin: And I maybe, I've heard this somewhere too, but , you don't just get saved to get into heaven. You get saved so heaven can get into you. Right? So I don't, a lot of the times I think even as believers, yes, we've [00:47:00] accepted Jesus as our Savior and we kind of, it's more of an emotional thing and it's like a thing that we minister to our souls, our salvation.

[00:47:08] Justin: But we shouldn't be ministering to our souls, our feelings and our thoughts and stuff. We should be allowing our spirit, because when you've accepted the Holy Spirit into your life, into your heart, He's gonna do the work. He, he's a person, he's gonna do the work, he is going to lead you in the spirit, so you can't be just in your thoughts, in your feelings, and sometimes just even in your own logic.

[00:47:34] Justin: Logic is important, I think your mind needs to come before your thoughts and your feelings. You need to think of things critically, but you have to be led in the spirit. You've got to let that heaven get into you. And then that preparation is working that heaven into other people. That, preparation is.

[00:47:55] Justin: Making disciples of all the nations and actually doing the work [00:48:00] because I think we have a lot more work And and the earlier you can do this earlier. You can let that heaven get inside of you You can be born from above you can start to do that work. 

[00:48:11] Don: Yeah, this is really preparing. This is true. Justin Yeah, I like what you say when you brought up, uh being saved and stuff like that because I I have a perspective on that too being saved from yourself You You know, he brings us salvation, but you know, I, I say this about people that sometimes they're a little unruly and they got attitudes and people don't want to be around them and stuff.

[00:48:34] Don: I always say it's tough being who you are, you know, and sometimes, you know, depending on how you're raised and whatever, but you become a monster of a person. It's tough. It's tough. You know, so Jesus came to save the lost, but he came to bring salvation to save you from yourself. Yes. To give you an opportunity to change, to be the person that you need to be.

[00:48:56] Don: So, cause he does have a place that he's wanting to develop and keep [00:49:00] us, uh, prepared for. And that's where, it's a journey that we're in. And, um, I know, um, For a lot of people, they don't want to think about eternity, but I think eternity is part of us. You know, it's, it's should be a part of our thoughts and what we're doing, you know, and we need to become the person that we need to be.

[00:49:21] Don: We need to be overcomers. The Bible talks about how we armor ourselves up, we protect ourselves and stuff because we don't want to be damaged in our thoughts. I know I come to the Lord, I say, Lord, you know, show me, show me what I need. And I remember in the Bible, it talked about. One guy, his son was sick and Jesus said, you know, by his faith, you know, uh, by your faith, let him be, let him be healed.

[00:49:44] Don: But then he comes back to Jesus. He says, pray for me that my faith can be strong enough, you know, and that's where I pray that, our faith in him can be strong enough that he can work in our lives because I know he has to do it all. [00:50:00] You know, he gives us no ability to do none of this. He has to do all and the bible says this is a gift You know, this is a gift of god to us and that's where we try to be so smart You know, we know everything nowadays, but we will never know the total plan of god We know the bits and pieces and justin and I we talked a little bit about that, but we will never know god No matter how smart we are, we are not smarter than God.

[00:50:26] Don: And, , a lot of times people have made themselves their own God. 

[00:50:30] Justin: He says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways. Yeah, not your ways, 

[00:50:34] Don: that's right. And we make ourselves our own God. You know, we judge things. You know, I don't think God wants this or this and that. We judge ourselves. We become our own God.

[00:50:46] Don: Rather than saying, you know what? I know nothing. I know nothing. Lord, teach me, you know, I'm going to trust in you. The Bible says we need to come unto him as a child, you know, and, uh, and allow him to grow us in a proper [00:51:00] way. And in the early stages of what we're talking about here, the Bible talks about a potter's wheel.

[00:51:05] Don: We put ourselves on the potter's wheel so we can be formed. You know, we could be made into a precious vessel. That he's designed us to be. But so many times we want to jump off that wheel. We don't want to get on that wheel. We don't want to let him get his hands on us, you know, and this is tearing his heart apart because he is a God of love and he has so much potential for each one of us and so much to give us so much riches in the eternity, everything.

[00:51:33] Don: But we haven't reached out to that. 

[00:51:35] Justin: I think so. And I think just to wrap this up here, it's, it doesn't matter where you are in life because to just conclude here, your whole life here is your preparation. It doesn't matter what you've been through, what messes that you've gone through. And if you feel like you are just not worth it and you can't be saved or you can't be worked [00:52:00] on, that's not true.

[00:52:01] Justin: And. It's never too late. No, it really is. Never too late is a day and you can change things at any time But you can accept god into your life at any time because he's just waiting for you to join him in eternity Amen.

[00:52:19] Justin: Well, I think that wraps it up for today. This was a good one. Justin. I think so, too Hey, we're glad you guys found your way here today, and we hope you can join us again next week for another good word Until then, stay blessed by the best. See you guys.[00:53:00]