Howard Storm's Near Death Experince-An Invitation To Hell by Strange Beings

1. An Invitation to Hell from Strange Beings

[Howard Storm was in intense agony and dying.] Struggling to say goodbye to my wife, I wrestled with my emotions. Telling her that I loved her very much was as much of a goodbye as I could utter because of my emotional distress. Sort of relaxing and closing my eyes, I waited for the end. This was it, I felt. This was the big nothing, the big blackout, the one you never wake up from, the end of existence. I had absolute certainty that there was nothing beyond this life – because that was how really smart people understood it. While I was undergoing this stress, prayer or anything like that never occurred to me. I never once thought about it. If I mentioned God's name at all it was only as a profanity. For a time there was a sense of being unconscious or asleep. I'm not sure how long it lasted, but I felt really strange, and I opened my eyes. To my surprise I was standing up next to the bed, and I was looking at my body laying in the bed. My first reaction was, "This is crazy! I can't be standing here looking down at myself. That's not possible." This wasn't what I expected, this wasn't right. Why was I still alive? I wanted oblivion. Yet I was looking at a thing that was my body, and it just didn't have that much meaning to me. Now knowing what was happening, I became upset. I started yelling and screaming at my wife, and she just sat there like a stone. She didn't look at me, she didn't move – and I kept screaming profanities to get her to pay attention. Being confused, upset, and angry, I tried to get the attention of my room-mate, with the same result. He didn't react. I wanted this to be a dream, and I kept saying to myself, "This has got to be a dream." But I knew that it wasn't a dream. I became aware that strangely I felt more alert, more aware, more alive than I had ever felt in my entire life. All my senses were extremely acute. Everything felt tingly and alive. The floor was cool and my bare feet felt moist and clammy. This had to be real. I squeezed my fists and was amazed at how much I was feeling in my hands just by making a fist. Then I heard my name. I heard, "Howard, Howard - come here." Wondering, at first, where it was coming from, I discovered that it was originating in the doorway. There were different voices calling me. I asked who they were, and they said, "We are here to take care of you. We will fix you up. Come with us." Asking, again, who they were, I asked them if they were doctors and nurses. They responded, "Quick, come see. You'll find out." As I asked them questions they gave evasive answers. They kept giving me a sense of urgency, insisting that I should step through the doorway. With some reluctance I stepped into the hallway, and in the hallway I was in a fog, or a haze. It was a light-colored haze. It wasn't a heavy haze. I could see my hand, for example, but the people who were calling me were 15 or 20 feet ahead, and I couldn't see them clearly. They were more like silhouettes, or shapes, and as I moved toward them they backed off into the haze. As I tried to get close to them to identify them, they quickly withdrew deeper into the fog. So I had to follow into the fog deeper and deeper. These strange beings kept urging me to come with them. I repeatedly asked them where we were going, and they responded, "Hurry up, you'll find out." They wouldn't answer anything. The only response was insisting that I hurry up and follow them. They told me repeatedly that my pain was meaningless and unnecessary. "Pain is bullshit," they said. I knew that we had been traveling for miles, but I occasionally had the strange ability to look back and see the hospital room. My body was still there lying motionless on the bed. My perspective at these times was as if I were floating above the room looking down. It seemed millions and millions of miles away. Looking back into the room, I saw my wife and my room-mate, and I decided they had not been able to help me so I would go with these people. Walking for what seemed to be a considerable distance, these beings were all around me. They were leading me through the haze. I don't know how long. There was a real sense of timelessness about the experience. In a real sense I am unaware of how long it was, but it felt like a long time - maybe even days or weeks. As we traveled, the fog got thicker and darker, and the people began to change. At first they seemed rather playful and happy, but when we had covered some distance, a few of them began to get aggressive. The more questioning and suspicious I was, the more antagonistic and rude and authoritarian they became. They began to make jokes about my bare rear end which wasn't covered by my hospital dicky and about how pathetic I was. I knew they were talking about me, but when I tried to find out exactly what they were saying they would say, "Shhhhh, he can hear you, he can hear you." Then, others would seem to caution the aggressive ones. It seemed that I could hear them warn the aggressive ones to be careful or I would be frightened away. Wondering what was happening, I continued to ask questions, and they repeatedly urged me to hurry and to stop asking questions. Feeling uneasy, especially since they continued to get aggressive, I considered returning, but I didn't know how to get back. I was lost. There were no features that I could relate to. There was just the fog and a wet, clammy ground, and I had no sense of direction. All my communication with them took place verbally just as ordinary human communication occurs. They didn't appear to know what I was thinking, and I didn't know what they were thinking. What was increasingly obvious was that they were liars and help was farther away the more I stayed with them. Hours ago, I had hoped to die and end the torment of life. Now things were worse as I was forced by a mob of unfriendly and cruel people toward some unknown destination in the darkness. They began shouting and hurling insults at me, demanding that I hurry along. And they refused to answer any question. Finally, I told them that I wouldn't go any farther. At that time they changed completely. They became much more aggressive and insisted that I was going with them. A number of them began to push and shove me, and I responded by hitting back at them. A wild orgy of frenzied taunting, screaming and hitting ensued. I fought like a wild man. All the while it was obvious that they were having great fun. It seemed to be, almost, a game for them, with me as the center-piece of their amusement. My pain became their pleasure. They seemed to want to make me hurt by clawing at me and biting me. Whenever I would get one off me, there were five more to replace the one. By this time it was almost complete darkness, and I had the sense that instead of there being twenty or thirty, there were an innumerable host of them. Each one seemed set on coming in for the sport they got from hurting me. My attempts to fight back only provoked greater merriment. They began to physically humiliate me in the most degrading ways. As I continued to fight on and on, I was aware that they weren't in any hurry to win. They were playing with me just as a cat plays with a mouse. Every new assault brought howls of cacophony. Then at some point, they began to tear off pieces of my flesh. To my horror I realized I was being taken apart and eaten alive, slowly, so that their entertainment would last as long a possible. At no time did I ever have any sense that the beings who seduced and attacked me were anything other than human beings. The best way I can describe them is to think of the worst imaginable person stripped of every impulse to do good. Some of them seemed to be able to tell others what to do, but I had no sense of any structure or hierarchy in an organizational sense. They didn't appear to be controlled or directed by anyone. Basically they were a mob of beings totally driven by unbridled cruelty and passions. During our struggle I noticed that they seemed to feel no pain. Other than that they appeared to possess no special non-human or super-human abilities. Although during my initial experience with them I assumed that they were clothed, in our intimate physical contact I never felt any clothing whatsoever. Fighting well and hard for a long time, ultimately I was spent. Lying there exhausted amongst them, they began to calm down since I was no longer the amusement that I had been. Most of the beings gave up in disappointment because I was no longer amusing, but a few still picked and gnawed at me and ridiculed me for no longer being any fun. By this time I had been pretty much taken apart. People were still picking at me, occasionally, and I just lay there all torn up, unable to resist. Exactly what happened was ... and I'm not going to try and explain this. From inside of me I felt a voice, my voice, say, "Pray to God." My mind responded to that, "I don't pray. I don't know how to pray." This is a guy lying on the ground in the darkness surrounded by what appeared to be dozens if not hundreds and hundreds of vicious creatures who had just torn him up. The situation seemed utterly hopeless, and I seemed beyond any possible help whether I believed in God or not. The voice again told me to pray to God. It was a dilemma since I didn't know how. The voice told me a third time to pray to God. I started saying things like, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ... God bless America" and anything else that seemed to have a religious connotation. And these people went into a frenzy, as if I had thrown boiling oil all over them. They began yelling and screaming at me, telling me to quit, that there was no God, and no one could hear me. While they screamed and yelled obscenities, they also began backing away from me as if I were poison. As they were retreating, they became more rabid, cursing and screaming that what I was saying was worthless and that I was a coward. I screamed back at them, "Our Father who art in heaven," and similar ideas. This continued for some time until, suddenly, I was aware that they had left. It was dark, and I was alone yelling things that sounded churchy. It was pleasing to me that these churchy sayings had such an effect on those awful beings. Lying there for a long time, I was in such a state of hopelessness, and blackness, and despair, that I had no way of measuring how long it was. I was just lying there in an unknown place all torn and ripped. And I had no strength; it was all gone. It seemed as if I were sort of fading out, that any effort on my part would expend the last energy I had. My conscious sense was that I was perishing, or just sinking into the darkness.

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2. A Rescue from Hell by Jesus Christ

Howard Storm Near Death Experience- Rescued from Hell by Jesus

2. A Rescue from Hell by Jesus Christ

Now I didn't know if I was even in the world. But I did know that I was here. I was real, all my senses worked too painfully well. I didn't know how I had arrived here. There was no direction to follow even if I had been physically able to move. The agony that I had suffered during the day was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. I knew then that this was the absolute end of my existence, and it was more horrible than anything I could possibly have imagined.   Then a most unusual thing happened. I heard very clearly, once again in my own voice, something that I had learned in nursery Sunday School. It was the little song, "Jesus loves me, yes I know ..." and it kept repeating. I don't know why, but all of a sudden I wanted to believe that. Not having anything left, I wanted to cling to that thought. And I, inside, screamed, "Jesus, please save me." That thought was screamed with every ounce of strength and feeling left in me. When I did that, I saw, off in the darkness somewhere, the tiniest little star. Not knowing what it was, I presumed it must be a comet or a meteor, because it was moving rapidly. Then I realized it was coming toward me. It was getting very bright, rapidly. When the light came near, its radiance spilled over me, and I just rose up - not with my effort - I just lifted up. Then I saw - and I saw this very plainly - I saw all my wounds, all my tears, all my brokenness, melt away. And I became whole in this radiance. What I did was to cry uncontrollably. I was crying, not out of sadness, but because I was feeling things that I had never felt before in my life. Another thing happened. Suddenly I knew a whole bunch of things. I knew things ... I knew that this light, this radiance, knew me. I don't know how to explain to you that I knew it knew me, I just did. As a matter of fact, I understood that it knew me better than my mother or father did. The luminous entity that embraced me knew me intimately and began to communicate a tremendous sense of knowledge. I knew that he knew everything about me and I was being unconditionally loved and accepted.   The light conveyed to me that it loved me in a way that I can't begin to express. It loved me in a way that I had never known that love could possibly be. He was a concentrated field of energy, radiant in splendor indescribable, except to say goodness and love. This was more loving than one can imagine. I knew that this radiant being was powerful. It was making me feel so good all over. I could feel its light on me - like very gentle hands around me. And I could feel it holding me. But it was loving me with overwhelming power. After what I had been through, to be completely known, accepted, and intensely loved by this Being of Light surpassed anything I had known or could have imagined. I began to cry and the tears kept coming and coming. And we, I and this light, went up and out of there.   We started going faster and faster, out of the darkness. Embraced by the light, feeling wonderful and crying, I saw off in the distance something that looked like the picture of a galaxy, except that it was larger and there were more stars than I had seen on Earth. There was a great center of brilliance. In the center there was an enormously bright concentration. Outside the center countless millions of spheres of light were flying about entering and leaving what was a great being-ness at the center. It was off in the distance. Then I ... I didn't say it, I thought it. I said, "Put me back."   What I meant by telling the light to put me back, was to put me back into the pit. I was so ashamed of who I was, and what I had been all of my life, that all I wanted to do was hide in the darkness. I didn't want to go toward the light anymore - I did; yet I didn't. How many times in my life had I denied and scoffed at the reality before me, and how many thousands of times had I used it as a curse. What incredible intellectual arrogance to use the name as an insult. I was afraid to go closer. I was also aware that the incredible intensity of the emanations might disintegrate what I still experienced as my intact physical body. The being who was supporting me, my friend, was aware of my fear and reluctance and shame. For the first time he spoke to my mind in a male voice and told me that if I was uncomfortable we didn't have to go closer. So we stopped where we were, still countless miles away from the Great being. For the first time, my friend, and I will refer to him in that context hereafter, said to me, "You belong here." [Webmaster Note: Howard believes his friend was Jesus Christ.]   Facing all the splendor made me acutely aware of my lowly condition. My response was: "No, you've made a mistake, put me back." And he said, "We don't make mistakes. You belong."   Then he called out in a musical tone to the luminous entities who surrounded the great center. Several came and circled around us. During what follows some came and went but normally there were five or six and sometimes as many as eight with us. I was still crying. One of the first things these marvelous beings did was to ask, all with thought, "Are you afraid of us?" I told them I wasn't. They said that they could turn their brilliance down and appear as people, and I told them to stay as they were. They were the most beautiful, the most ...   As an aside, I'm an artist. There are three primary, three secondary, and six tertiary colors in the visible light spectrum. Here, I was seeing a visible light spectrum with at least 80 new primary colors. I was also seeing this brilliance. It's disappointing for me to try and describe, because I can't - I was seeing colors that I had never seen before. What these beings were showing me was their glory. I wasn't really seeing them. And I was perfectly content. Having come from a world of shapes and forms, I was delighted with this new, formless, world. These beings were giving me what I needed at that time. To my surprise, and also distress, they seemed to be capable of knowing everything I was thinking. I didn't know whether I would be capable of controlling my thoughts and keeping anything secret. We began to engage in thought exchange, conversation that was very natural, very easy and casual. I heard their voices clearly and individually. They each had a distinct personality with a voice, but they spoke directly to my mind, not my ears. And they used normal, colloquial English. Everything I thought, they knew. They all seemed to know and understand me very well and to be completely familiar with my thoughts and my past. I didn't feel any desire to ask for someone I had known because they all knew me. Nobody could know me any better. It also didn't occur to me to try to identify them as uncle or grandfather. It was like going to a large gathering of relatives at Christmas and not being quite able to remember their names or who they are married to or how they are connected to you. But you do know that you are with your family. I don't know if they were related to me or not. It felt like they were closer to me than anyone I had ever known.   Throughout my conversation with the luminous beings, which lasted for what seemed like a very long time, I was being physically supported by the being in whom I had been engulfed. We were in a sense completely stationary yet hanging in space. Everywhere around us were countless radiant beings, like stars in the sky, coming and going. It was like a super magnified view of a galaxy super packed with stars. And in the giant radiance of the center they were packed so densely together that individuals could not be identified. Their selves were in such harmony with the Creator that they were really just one. One of the reasons, I was told, that all the countless beings had to go back to their source was to become invigorated with this sense of harmony and oneness. Being apart for too long a time diminished them and made them feel separate. Their greatest pleasure was to go back to the sources of all life.   Our initial conversation involved them simply trying to comfort me. Something that disturbed me was that I was naked. Somewhere in the darkness I'd lost my hospital gown. I was a human being. I had a body. They told me this was okay. They were quite familiar with my anatomy. Gradually I relaxed and stopped trying to cover my privates with my hands.

Howard Storm before His Near-Death Experience

HOWARD STORM BEFORE HIS NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

By Kevin Williams

 

Before his near-death experience, Howard Storm at www.howardstorm.com was a Professor of Art at Northern Kentucky University, was not a very pleasant man by his own admission. He was an avowed atheist and was hostile to every form of religion and those who practiced it. He often would use rage to control everyone around him and he didn’t find joy in anything. Anything that wasn’t seen, touched or felt, he had no faith in. He knew with certainty that the material world was the full extent of everything that was. He considered all belief systems associated with religion to be fantasies for people to deceive themselves with. Beyond what science said, there was nothing else. But then on June 1, 1985, at the age of 38, Howard Storm’s had a near-death experience due to a perforation of the stomach and his life was since forever changed. His near-death experience is one of the most profound, if not the most profound, afterlife experience I have ever documented. His life was so immensely changed after his near-death experience, he resigned as a professor and devoted his time attending the United Theological Seminary to become a United Church of Christ minister. Today, Howard Storm is presently happily married to his wife Marcia and is Pastor of the Covington United Church of Christ in Covington, Ohio. During his past time he has maintained his passion for painting but now, unlike in his past, he paints with a God state of mind which raises his paintings to a whole other level. On this website Pastor Storm shares a unique look at his paintings and the effect Jesus Christ has on his daily life and on his paintings. The following is the account of Pastor Howard Storm's near-death experience reprinted by permission.  

ANG HULING RITUAL

 

ANG KABAYARAN NG KASALANAN AY KAMATAYAN

SINO ANG HINDI NAGKAKASALA?  

May kilala ka bang taong walang nagawang kasalanan sa  boung buhay nya?

ANG LAHAT NG TAO AY MAKASALANAN

Ayon sa Bibliya, ang lahat ay makasalanan at ang hindi mo paggawa ng mabuti ay kasalanan din kahit pa na hindi ka gumagawa ng masama.

Roma 3:10. 10 Gaya ng nasusulat, Walang matuwid, wala, wala kahit isa

Santiago 4:17. 17 Sa nakakaalam nga ng paggawa ng mabuti, at hindi ginagawa, ito'y kasalanan sa kaniya

ANO ANG KABAYARAN NG KASALANAN?

ANG KABAYARAN NG KASALANAN AY KAMATAYAN

ROMA 5:12

12Ang kasalanan ay pumasok sa sanlibutan sa pamamagitan ng isang tao, at ang kamatayan ay pumasok sa pamamagitan ng kasalanan. Dahil dito, lumaganap ang kamatayan sa lahat ng tao dahil ang lahat ay nagkasala.

ROMA 6:23

23Sapagkat kamatayan ang kabayaran ng kasalanan

DAPAT NGA BANG BAYARAN NG KAMATAYAN ANG KASALANAN?

Hebreo 9:27

27 At kung paanong itinakda sa mga tao ang mamatay na minsan, at pagkatapos nito ay ang paghuhukom;

Hebreo 9:22

22 At yaon sa kautusan, ay halos masasabi kong lahat ng mga bagay ay nililinis ng dugo, at maliban na sa pagkabuhos ng dugo ay walang kapatawaran.

SINO ANG NAGBAYAD PARA SA KASALANAN NG TAO?

SI JESUKRISTO ANG NAGBAYAD NG ATING KASALANAN KAYA SIYA NAMATAY SA KRUS.

ROMA 5:8

8Ngunit ipinadama ng Diyos ang kanyang pag-ibig sa atin nang mamatay si Cristo para sa atin noong tayo’y makasalanan pa.

1 PEDRO 2:24

24Sa kanyang pagkamatay sa krus, pinasan niya ang bigat ng ating mga kasalanan upang tayo’y mamatay na sa kasalanan at mamuhay ayon sa kalooban ng Diyos. Kayo’y pinagaling na sa pamamagitan ng kanyang mga sugat.

IBIG BA SABIHIN NANG DAHIL NAMATAY SI JESUKRISTO SA KRUS AY LIGTAS NA TAYO?

ANG SAGOT AY HINDI….KAILANGAN MUNA NATING PAGSISIHAN ANG ATING MGA KASALANAN AT HUMINGI TAYO NG KAPATAWARAN NG ATING KASALANAN SA PANGINOON AT TANGGAPIN NATIN SI JESUKRISTO BILANG ATING DIYOS AT TAGAPAGLIGTAS.

JUAN 3:16

16Sapagkat gayon na lamang ang pag-ibig ng Diyos sa sangkatauhan, kaya’t ibinigay niya ang kanyang kaisa-isang Anak, upang ang sinumang sumampalataya sa kanya ay hindi mapahamak, kundi magkaroon ng buhay na walang hanggan.

PWEDE KA BANG MALIGTAS SA KAMATAYAN SA IMPYERNO KUNG IKAW AY GAGAWA NG KABUTIHAN AT MAPAGBIGAY SA MAHIHIRAP, PERO HINDI MO TINANGGAP SI JESUKRISTO SA BUHAY MO?

ANG SAGOT AY HINDI…DAHIL KUNG ANG KABUTIHAN ANG BATAYAN NG KALIGTASAN MADAMI ANG MAGMAMAYABANG NA SABIHIN NILA NA SILA AY NALIGTAS DAHIL SA KANILANG SARILING PARAAN.

EPHESIANS 2:8-9

8Sapagka't sa biyaya kayo'y nangaligtas sa pamamagitan ng pananampalataya; at ito'y hindi sa inyong sarili, ito'y kaloob ng Dios; 9Hindi sa pamamagitan ng mga gawa, upang ang sinoman ay huwag magmapuri.

KUNG GANUN, ANO ANG GAGAWIN KO PARA AKO AY MALIGTAS MULA SA WALANG HANGGANG KAMATAYAN SA IMPIYERNO AT NANG AKO AY MAPUNTA SA LANGIT?

NAPAKADALI LANG KAPATID…. PAGSISIHAN MO ANG IYONG MGA KASALANAN AT HUMINGI KA NG KAPATAWARAN NG IYONG MGA KASALANAN SA PANGINOON AT TANGGAPIN MO SI JESUKRISTO BILANG IYONG DIYOS AT TAGAPAGLIGTAS.

Ako ngayon ay sumampalataya na kay Hesus… ano ngayon?

Ako ngayon ay sumampalataya na kay Hesus… ano ngayon?

Ako ngayon ay sumampalataya na kay Hesus… ano ngayon?

Binabati kita! Gumawa ka ng isang kapasiyahan na babago sa iyong buhay. Baka mayroon kang mga tanong kung paano ka magsisimula sa iyong pamumuhay na kasama ang Diyos, narito ang limang panuntunan upang magsilbing patnubay mula sa Salita ng Diyos. Kung may iba ka pang katanungan sa iyong buhay Kristyano, sumulat sa http://www.gotquestions.org/Tagalog

1. Tiyakin mo kung nauunawaan mo ang tungkol sa kaligtasan.

Sinasabi sa atin ng 1 Juan 5:13, “Isinusulat ko ito sa inyo, kayong nananalig sa Anak ng Diyos, para malaman ninyo na may buhay kayo na walang hanggan.” Nais ng Diyos na maunawaan natin ang kaligtasan. Nais niyang lubos ang ating paniniwala na nakatitiyak tayo na tayo ay ligtas na. Balikan natin ang mga mahalagang bagay tungkol sa kaligtasan:

a. Lahat tayo ay nagkasala. Lahat ay nakagawa ng mga bagay na hindi nais ng Diyos (Roma 3:23).

b. Dahil sa ating mga kasalanan, nararapat lamang na parusahan tayo ng walang hanggang pagkahiwalay sa Diyos (Roma 6:23).

c. Namatay si Hesus sa krus para sa atin upang bayaran ang parusa para sa ating mga kasalanan (Roma 5:8; 2 Corinto 5:21). Siya ang nagtiis ng parusa na nararapat sa atin. At ang kanyang muling pagkabuhay ay patunay na sapat ang kanyang ibinayad para sa ating mga kasalanan.

d. Pinatatawad ng Diyos at inililigtas ang lahat ng sumampalataya kay Hesus at nagtitiwala sa kanyang kamatayan bilang pambayad sa kanilang kasalanan (Juan 3:16; Roma 5:1; Roma 8:1).

Iyan ang mensahe ng kaligtasan! Kung tinanggap mo si Hesus na sarili mong Tagapagligtas at Panginoon o “Boss”, ikaw ay ligtas na! Ang lahat ng iyong mga kasalanan ay pinatawad na ng Diyos at ipinangako niyang hindi ka pababayaan ni iiwanan man(Roma 8:38, 39; Mateo 28:20). Alalahanin mong tiyak ang iyong kaligtasan kay Hesu Kristo (Juan 10:28, 29). Kung ikaw ay sumampalataya at nagtiwala kay Hesus bilang sarili mong Tagapagligtas at “Boss”, may katiyakan na mamumuhay ka ng walang hanggan sa langit na kasama ang Diyos.

2. Maghanap ka ng isang Iglesia na nagtuturo ng Biblia.

Nakapahalaga na ang mga nananampalataya kay Hesu Kristo ay magsama-sama. Ngayong sumasampalataya ka na kay Hesu Kristo, pinapayuhan ka naming maghanap ng simbahang naniniwala sa mga turo mula sa Biblia na nasa iyong lugar at makipag-usap ka sa Pastor doon. Sabihin mo sa kanya na ikaw ay bagong mananampalataya kay Hesu Kristo.

Ang layunin ng simbahan ay magturo ng tungkol sa Salita ng Diyos. Ang pagka-unawa sa Salita ng Diyos ang susi para makapamuhay nang matagumpay at matatag bilang isang Kristiyano. Matuto ka ring isabuhay ang mga turo ng Diyos. Sinasabi ng 2 Timoteo 3:16-17, “Lahat ng Kasulatan ay galing sa Diyos, at mapapakinabangan sa pagtuturo ng katotohanan, sa pagsaway, sa pagtutuwid, at sa pagsasanay sa matuwid na pamumuhay, upang ang naglilingkod sa Diyos ay magiging handa sa lahat ng mabubuting gawa.

Ang isa pang layunin ng simbahan ay ang pagsamba. Ang pagsamba ay ang pagpapasalamat sa Diyos sa lahat ng kanyang ginawa para sa atin! Iniligtas tayo ng Diyos. Minamahal niya tayo at ibinibigay ang ating mga pangangailangan. Pinapatnubayan din niya tayo at iniingatan araw-araw. Ang Diyos ay banal, matuwid, mapagmahal, maunawain at puno ng biyaya. Sinasabi ng Pahayag 4:11 “Karapat-dapat ka Panginoon naming Diyos na tumanggap ng parangal, papuri at kapangyarihan, sapagkat kayo ang lumalang sa lahat ng bagay. At ginawa mo ang mga ito ayon sa iyong kagustuhan.”

3. Maglaan ng panahon para sa Diyos bawat araw.

Mahalaga para sa atin ang maglaan ng panahon para sa Diyos bawat araw. Ang tawag ng iba dito ay “devotion” sapagkat ito ang panahon na inilalaan natin sa Diyos. Ang iba ay gustong gawin ito sa umaga, ang iba naman ay sa hapon. Hindi mahalaga kung ano ang tawag mo dito o kung anong oras mo gagawin. Ang mahalaga ay ginagawa mo ito para sa Diyos. Ano ang dapat nating gawin sa oras na inilaan natin para sa Diyos?

a. Manalangin. Ang panalangin ay pakikipag-usap sa Diyos. Sabihin mo sa Diyos ang iyong mga problema at mga alalahanin. Hilingin mo sa Diyos na bigyan ka ng karunungan, patnubay at lahat ng iyong mga pangangailangan. Sabihin mo rin sa Diyos kung gaano mo siya kamahal at kung gaano mo pinapahalagahan ang lahat ng ginagawa Niya para sa iyo. Ganyan ang panalangin.

b. Pagbabasa ng Biblia. Nasa Biblia ang lahat ng kailangan mong malaman para makapamuhay ka nang matagumpay bilang isang Kristyano. Naglalaman ito ng mga turo ng Diyos upang makagawa ka ng tamang kapasiyahan, upang iyong malaman ang kalooban ng Diyos, kung paano ka maglilingkod sa kapwa, at kung paano lumago sa buhay espiritwal. Ang Biblia ay Salita ng Diyos para sa atin. Ito ay naglalaman ng mga turo kung paano tayo mamumuhay nang kalugod-lugod sa Diyos.

4. Makihalubilo sa mga taong makatutulong sa iyong buhay espiritwal.

Sinasabi sa atin ng 1 Corinto 15:33, “Mag-iingat kayo: ‘Ang masamang kasama’y makakasira sa magandang ugali.’ ” Maraming babala ang ating makikita sa Biblia tungkol sa panghihikayat sa atin ng mga taong masasama. Ang paggugol ng panahon na kasama ang mga taong masama ang gawain ay makatutukso sa atin para gumawa rin ng masama. Mahahawa tayo sa ugali ng mga taong lagi nating kasama. Kaya kailangan na ang palagi nating kasama ay ang mga taong tapat at nagmamahal din sa Panginoon.

Sikapin mong magkaroon ng isa o dalawang kaibigan sa simbahan na maaring makatulong at makapagpalakas sa iyo (Hebreo 3:13; 10:24). Hilingin mo sa iyong mga kaibigan na paalalahanan ka na may pananagutan ka sa Diyos sa iyong mga gawain, at sa iyong buhay bilang isang kristyano. Tanungin mo rin sila kung maaari mo rin na gawin ito sa kanila. Ito naman ay hindi nangangahulugang hindi ka makikipag-kaibigan sa mga hindi pa nakakakilala sa Panginoong Hesus bilang sarili nilang tagapagligtas. Manatili kang kaibigan nila at ipadama mong mahal mo sila. Sabihin mo sa kanila na binago na ni Hesus ang buhay mo kaya may mga bagay na dati mong ginagawa na hindi mo na gagawin ngayon. Hilingin mo sa Diyos na pagkalooban ka ng pagkakataon na maibahagi si Kristo sa iyong mga kaibigan.

5. Magpabautismo ka.

Maraming tao ang hindi makakaunawa sa bautismo. Ang salitang “bautismo” ay nangangahulugan ng paglubog sa tubig. Ang pagpapabautismo ayon sa Biblia ay isang pagpapahayag sa madla ng iyong bagong pananampalataya kay Kristo at ang pagtatalaga ng iyong sarili sa Kanya. Ang ginagawang paglubog sa iyo sa tubig ay naglalarawan ng paglibing na kasama si Kristo. At ang pag-ahon naman sa tubig ay paglalarawan sa muling pagkabuhay ni Hesu Kristo. Kaya ang pagpapabautismo ay ang pagpapakita ng iyong pag-ugnay sa iyong sarili sa kamatayan, paglibing at muling pagkabuhay ni Kristo (Roma 6:3-4). Ito’y isang hakbang ng pagsunod – ang pagpapahayag sa madla ng iyong pananampalataya kay Hesu Kristo at ng iyong pagtatalaga ng iyong sarili sa Kanya. Kung handa ka ng magpabautismo sabihin mo ito sa iyong Pastor.

Paano ako makatitiyak na pupunta ako sa langit pagkatapos kong mamatay?

                                                                                Paano ako makatitiyak na pupunta ako sa langit pagkatapos kong mamatay?

Tanong: "Paano ako makatitiyak na pupunta ako sa langit pagkatapos kong mamatay?"

Sagot: Nais ng Diyos na makatiyak tayo tungkol sa bagay na ito. Sinabi niya sa 1 Juan 5:13, “Isinusulat ko ito sa inyo upang malaman ninyo na kayong nananalig sa Anak ng Diyos ay may buhay na walang hanggan.” Kung haharap ka ngayon sa Diyos at tanungin Ka niya, “Bakit kita papapasukin sa langit?” Maaaring hindi mo alam ang iyong isasagot. Dapat nating malaman na mahal tayo ng Diyos at gumawa siya ng paraan upang magkaroon tayo ng katiyakang mamuhay ng walang hanggan sa piling Niya. Ayon sa Juan 3:16, “Sapagkat mahal na mahal ng Diyos ang mundo, kaya ibinigay niya ang kanyang kaisa-isang Anak, upang ang sinumang sumasampalataya sa kanya ay hindi mapahamak kundi magkaroon ng buhay na walang hanggan.”

Bakit hindi maaaring makapunta ang tao sa langit? Ang dahilan, tayo‘y makasalanan. Nasira ang ating relasyon sa Diyos dahil sa ating mga kasalanan. Sinabi sa Roma 3:23, “Ang lahat ay nagkasala at walang sinumang karapat-dapat sa paningin ng Diyos.” Dahil dito, hindi natin maililigtas ang ating sarili. Hindi rin tayo maliligtas sa pamamagitan ng ating mga mabubuting gawa. Ayon sa Efeso 2:8-9, “Dahil sa biyaya ng Diyos, naligtas kayo nang sumampalataya kayo kay Kristo. Ito'y kaloob sa inyo ng Diyos, at hindi galing sa inyo. Hindi ito nakasalalay sa mabubuti ninyong gawa, upang walang maipagmalaki ang sinuman.” Ang nararapat lamang para sa atin ay ang kaparusahan sa impiyerno. “Sapagkat ang kabayaran ng kasalanan ay kamatayan.” (Roma 6:23)

Banal at makatarungan ang ating Panginoon kung kaya’t ang ating mga kasalanan ay may katapat na kaparusahan. Ngunit mahal din niya tayo, kaya gumawa siya ng paraan para mapatawad tayo sa ating mga kasalanan sa pamamagitan ni Hesus. Sinabi ni Hesus, “Ako ang daan, ang katotohanan, at ang buhay. Walang makalalapit sa Ama kung hindi sa pamamagitan ko” (Juan 14:6). Namatay sa krus si Hesus para sa atin. Sinabi sa 1 Pedro 3:18, “Sapagkat si Kristo nga'y pinatay kahit wala siyang nagawang masama. At siya'y minsan lang namatay upang mapatawad ang ating mga kasalanan. Siya na walang kasalanan ay pinatay alang-alang sa ating mga makasalanan, upang madala niya tayo sa Diyos. Pinatay siya sa laman ngunit binuhay siya sa espiritu.” Ayon din sa Roma 4:25 “Ipinapatay si Hesus dahil sa ating mga kasalanan, at muling binuhay upang tayo'y maituring ng Diyos na matuwid.”

Kaya ito ang sagot sa katanungan natin tungkol sa katiyakan ng pagpunta sa langit: “Sumampalataya ka sa Panginoong Hesus, at maliligtas ka” (Mga Gawa 16:31). “Sa lahat ng tumanggap at nanampalataya sa kanya, binigyan niya sila ng karapatang maging anak ng Diyos” (Juan 1:12). Matatanggap mo ang buhay na walang hanggan nang walang bayad. Ito’y regalo ng Diyos. “Ang kaloob ng Diyos ay buhay na walang hanggan sa pamamagitan ni Hesu Kristo na ating Panginoon” (Roma 3:23). Maari ka nang mamuhay ngayon ng isang buhay na ganap, kasiya-siya at makahulugan dahil kay Hesus (Juan 10:10). Maari ka nang mamuhay ng walang hanggan na kasama ni Hesus sa langit, sapagkat sinabi din niya, “Kapag pumunta na ako roon at naipaghanda na kayo ng lugar, babalik ako at isasama ko kayo sa aking tahanan upang kung nasaan man ako ay nandoon din kayo” (Juan 14:3).

Kung gusto mong tanggapin si Hesu Kristo bilang iyong tagapagligtas at tanggapin ang kanyang kapatawaran, maaari mo itong ipanalangin. Tandaan mo lamang na hindi ang panalanging ito ang makapagliligtas sa iyo. Tanging si Hesu Kristo lamang at ang pananampalataya sa Kanya ang makakagawa noon. “O Diyos, inaamin kong nagkasala ako laban sa iyo at nararapat lamang na parusahan. Ngunit inako ni Hesus ang aking kasalanan at tiniis ang parusang dapat sana ay sa akin, upang sa aking pagsampalataya sa kanya ay mapatawad mo ako. Tinatalikuran ko ang aking mga kasalanan at nagtitiwala ako ngayon kay Hesus para sa aking kaligtasan. Salamat po sa iyong kahanga-hangang biyaya at kapatawaran. At salamat din sa buhay na walang hanggan. Amen.”

Dahil sa iyong mga nabasa dito, ikaw ba ay nagsisisi na sa iyong mga kasalanan at gumawa ng desisyon upang tanggapin si Kristo?