Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

That is one of my favorite pieces of Scripture from the Gospels. Why? Because it reminds me that all I think, do and say in the name of Jesus Christ is not in vain. That there is a purpose, and a reason for my strong faith. That there is a reason, a purpose and reward for every Christian's strong faith. God told us specifically that faith in Jesus Christ leads to salvation and everlasting life. The most famous line of the Bible says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Now much of the time I'm deciphering prophecy or digging into the parables or memorizing Scripture, so I don't often take time to pause and reflect on parts of the Bible like that. But today is one of those days where I really need to read them, and then re-read them. Why? Because they offer hope for people like me. And why do I need hope, you ask?

Because once in a while I get a glimpse of what Jesus had been talking about. Every now and then, I understand what the Scriptures are trying to say about faith and truth. I know that there are 6 billion people on this earth, and many, many of them don't care one iota about God or religion. And I know that many more don't believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the specific and only way to be with God and have eternal life in Heaven. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, those people who are truly faithful and trusting in Christ are a very small group.

But just because there is a small group of people around the world who completely, absolutely believe in Christ and trust in God... who have repented from their sins and dove headfirst into their faith... does that mean that they're crazy? Long ago when I first started this blog, I remember one reader saying, "You're nuts. There is no way that God is going to let billions and billions of good people perish in hell just because they didn't believe in Christ." My reaction was, "How do YOU know what God is and isn't going to do?"

The good LORD gave us instructions on how to live, and what to do. In a nutshell, we just have to believe and have faith in Him, and in His son Jesus Christ. We have to recognize our sins, and accept His gift of salvation so that we can have eternal life with Him in Heaven. That's it. That's all. We're not required to devote our lives to ministry, although some do. We're not required to go off and fight in wars, although some do. We don't have to give up our hobbies... our loves... our family -- although some do. All we have to do is have faith.

Think of it this way: Take life in America. Pretty much, you have free reign to do whatever the heck you want in this country. The government really doesn't care how you live as long as you obey the laws and pay your taxes. And for the most part, with the exception of some thieves, criminals and degenerates, we all do that. Some might grumble about it (especially how much in taxes we have to pay). But really, we all recognize that we only really have to do those two things in order to live how we want and enjoy life in America. That's it, and that's all.

And so God says to us that we can have ETERNAL LIFE -- meaning for all the infinity of time -- in a really good place in Heaven with Him. All we have to do is have faith and belief in His son Jesus, and accept the gift of salvation while repenting from our sins.

Yet, people fight that one as hard as they can. They simply will not give into it. If you didn't catch it, I had an anonymous poster give several comments to my last entry. Allow me to bring his/her final comment to the surface, and paste it here. I'm not angry or upset or anything. I just want to pick it apart. It's what I do best. :o)

RELIGIONS don't claim anything at all, only the people who profess them do. Now, if you're talking about religious texts, sure they mention peoples and places all the time. But, you're making the mistake that the Islamic tradition started with a single text: the Qur'an, which was written down in 633 AD. This is not true. In fact, the first prophet of Islam is Adam, yes that Adam, and then it's Abraham...So, if you believe the Bible to be non-fiction, I guess that pushes the start of Islam back pretty much to the beginning of things. Indeed all three religious texts claim these men (retroactively, of course). One of these days you religious people will come to the realization that your traditions are founded on many of the same events, people, places, and yes, god(s). At which point there will truly be a jubilee on earth.

1) "Religions don't claim anything at all, only the people who profess them do." That is absolutely not true. The Bible comes from God. Personally, I don't feel there is any doubt about that. There are too many consistencies, prophecies, similarities with other historical records and factual back-up to imply that this is just a "fictional" story that a bunch of dudes over the years made up. I'm not saying that God specifically wrote it. But I do believe 100% that these men had the Holy Spirit within them, and the Holy Spirit guided them on what to write. Sounds crazy? No way. Check out my "most popular posts" over to the right. Sometimes I go back and read those and think, "Wow. How on earth did I come up with all of that? I couldn't go back and write that again if I tried." And the truth is, I didn't REALLY write it. Sure, I physically wrote it. But something inside of me guided me on what to write. Before I sit down to write, I always pray that the Holy Spirit will guide me in typing out the exact message that God wants me to put out there. And I whole-heartedly believe that's exactly what He does. Therefore, I believe the Bible to be "God-breathed" and true. And with that being said, the "religion" of Christianity absolutely does claim things and offer promises. It claims that there is only one-true God, and that God is the Father of our Savior Jesus Christ. Our religion also "claims" and promises that by having faith in that God and His son, we are to be given the reward of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

2) "But, you're making the mistake that the Islamic tradition started with a single text: the Qur'an, which was written down in 633 AD. This is not true. In fact, the first prophet of Islam is Adam, yes that Adam, and then it's Abraham...So, if you believe the Bible to be non-fiction, I guess that pushes the start of Islam back pretty much to the beginning of things." Okay, sure. I'll bite and say that the first prophet of Islam is Adam, and then Abraham. Back as a Muslim girl going to Qur'an school, I remember learning those stories and believing them to be Holy. But now as a Christian, I recognize one very important thing -- that while those "Muslims" believed in the prophets like Adam and Abraham, they stopped believing (or never believed in the first place) in the Son of God Jesus Christ. Islam itself came about from a following of the Prophet Mohammad who began having dreams and prophecies that conflicted with Christianity. And the prophet Mohammad didn't live until centuries after Christ. Since the Gospels had long been written by that time and the Holy Scriptures of the Bible were complete and in place, all it takes is one look at the prophet Mohammad and one can recognize the numerous warnings about false prophets that Jesus talked about and that are mentioned in other parts of the Bible. Just because hundreds of millions of people believe in or have converted to the religion of Islam doesn't make it the "right" one. No other man besides Jesus Christ died and then became resurrected by God. This same man left his footprints all over Jerusalem, and this same man's teachings about God is still going strong to this day. The words about him that were written by several prophets/disciples before and after his birth and death ALL say the same thing -- that belief in Christ is the only one true path to God. And that everything else -- ANYTHING else -- is false idolatry.

Judaism, Islam and Christianity are all known as "Abrahamic religions" because they trace their history to the covenant God made with Abraham back in the Hebrew Bible (the Torah, and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible). The main difference between Islam and Christianity is that the Islamic religion believes that Jesus was only a prophet, not the Son of God. Therefore, Muslims purposely chose to IGNORE the teachings of Christ (who proclaimed many, many times that he was the son of God) and they chose to IGNORE the resurrection of Christ. They also chose to ignore the basic principal of Christian faith, which rests on this line that Jesus said in John chapter 14: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So to conclude, the fact that a group of people decided to start believing and following some other guy who taught a different message than Jesus almost 700 years after he was killed and then resurrected means nothing to me whatsoever. It's not any different than believing in Wicca or Joseph Smith or Adolph Hitler or Oprah Winfrey.

3) "One of these days you religious people will come to the realization that your traditions are founded on many of the same events, people, places, and yes, god(s). At which point there will truly be a jubilee on earth." What does that matter? So several religions had the same beginnings and recognized the same events. So what??? Then the Islamic religion took a turn and went off into a different direction after that. Does that still make it right? Does it still means that those followers of Islam are doing the same thing and ending up in the same place as Christians? If three people started out for a cross-country road trip from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, and made it all the way to the Mississippi river together, then you would say that they all three were together in doing/believing/following the same path. But then if one person began to head north... and then another person began to head south... and the middle person continued on westward in order to reach their destination... could you still really say that they are all going to end up in the same place? Nope! Those other two decided a different route looked better, and they didn't want to follow the map anymore.

In a different analogy, you could have three eggs scrambled, with a bit of milk and a bit of salt in different three bowls. In one bowl, we add mozzarella, curry, parsley and garlic powder. In another bowl, we add flour, chocolate and sugar. And in the third bowl, we add crab meat, bacon, cheddar and noodles. After cooking all three, they are distinctly different, aren't they? There's no way you can say that they are all essentially the same dish with the same purposes just because they all started out the same. It does not absolutely matter that the three religions believed in Adam and Abraham. God made promises to King David that he would have a descendant who would save mankind and be king of kings. There are prophecies throughout the entire Bible that foretell the story of Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah, who lived about 700 years before Jesus Christ was ever born, prophesied about the Messiah. He wrote:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, [a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

How is it that this man could foretell the coming of our Messiah some 700 years before he was born? And why would those who began following the prophet Mohammad choose to ignore this?

I don't have any answers for it. Over and over and over God warns us of false prophets:

This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:16)

My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. (Ezekiel 13:9)

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." (Matthew 7:15)

"...many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." (Matthew 24:11)

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. (Mark 13:22)

So friends, my point is this: Jesus talked about how "small is the gate, and narrow the road." Why? Because that's just how it is. The criteria/requirement for taking your place with God for all eternity is only one simple thing: that you have true faith in Jesus Christ as the son of God. Yet God knew (and still knows) that this just isn't the case with many people. His children here on earth refuse to do that. They look for excuses why it doesn't make sense... they believe in science over faith... they think that other religions are okay, too... they see people who do believe in Christ as "Jesus-freaks"... they're too cool and too embarrassed to profess their faith... or they simply believe that they don't need Christ. Whatever the reason, they won't be walking through that gate.

Why?

Because Jesus said: "Yes, I AM THE GATE. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures." (John 10:9)