“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Not everyone who dies goes to heaven.
Not everyone who dies goes to a better place.
And no one who dies becomes an angel.

None of these are true. None of these are biblical. Only those who have been saved by Jesus go to heaven. Only those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior go to a better place. The rest receive judgment and damnation. Hebrews 9:27-28 tells us, “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Everyone will die. And, everyone will face judgment. But for those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior, we will be saved from judgment and damnation because Christ paid the debt of sin on our behalf.

Now, some people may say that this is harsh, that this is so exclusive. I am not sure about the harsh part. It is merely the truth. But as far as the exclusive part goes, I know without a shadow of doubt that that is a false statement. There is nothing more inclusive than the invitation to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. This invitation to receive eternal life and salvation is open to ALL. How much more inclusive can you get than that?

As far as uncle John who is up in heaven looking down on us as one of God’s angels. That’s totally false. Angels are created beings. They were there with God even before creation. Human beings DO NOT become angels. We remain human, just the way God created us, even after death.

God loves sinners. God could not imagine a world without you and me in it. So he died to transform sinners into children of God. But the way we become God’s sons and daughters is to receive God’s plan for salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Got it?

“But now, this is what the LORD says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze'” (Isaiah 43:1-2).

Pretty sure God didn’t get the memo. You see, when I signed up for this Christian life thing I am pretty sure I didn’t check the “Trials and Tribulations” package. I am pretty sure I signed up for the “Easy Street” package. I mean, who in their right mind would choose the “Trials and Tribulations” package? Right?

I love verse one of Isaiah 43. It tells that God created and formed us. Because God is our Creator we have nothing to fear for God has redeemed us. God summons us by name for we are his.

Wow! That’s good stuff. That’s exactly what I’m talking about!

It’s verse two. That’s what makes me think God didn’t get my memo about “Easy Street.”

Verse two says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

TIME OUT!!!!! SAY WHAT?!?!?!

The “Easy Street” package avoids the waters, avoids the rivers, and avoids the fires. But what God promises is not that God will take us out of the waters, out of the rivers, and out of the fire but that he will be with us in the waters, rivers, and fire.

God doesn’t promise to take us out of troubles and tribulations, but that he will be present with us through troubles and tribulations. And the reason why God doesn’t take us out of troubles and tribulations is because there are lessons that can only learned in troubles and tribulations that we cannot learn anywhere else. God takes us through our troubles and tribulations because God’s goal isn’t to make our lives comfortable, but to make us more like his Son.

God didn’t get my memo. But that’s okay. I am finally starting to understand his.

“Do you know know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).

Training is hard.

Discipleship is hard.

Becoming like Christ is hard.

Because Godly training and Christ-like discipleship is difficult it is easy to get discouraged. The reality is that no matter how much we improve, we will never be like Christ. No matter how much we try to live the perfect life, we can’t do it.

But, here’s the secret to discipleship. God knows all this. The goal of spiritual training is not perfection but progress. The main question to consider is whether you are making progress. Are you better today than you were a year ago? Congratulations! Way to go! Keep at it!

If you’re not better today than you were a year ago, let’s get back to training. Let’s get back to working on progress.

You can do it. You will be so much happier a year from now.

This is what spiritual training looks like:

1. Read God’s word every day
2. Pray. Set aside a time to pray every day
3. Worship. Make worshiping God on God’s day non-negotiable. You can do it in person and you can worship online. Just make sure you worship
4. Serve. Find a way to make a difference

Let’s get training!