How Can I Blame God?

If I Miss Heaven, How Can I Blame God? by Gene Poore Every person who has lived or is alive is destined for everlasting reality. Scripture calls it everlasting life or everlasting punishment, or, simply, Heaven or Hell. However, to rationalize against going to Hell, many quote scripture saying, “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish. . . .” (2 Peter 3:9.) That verse, they contend, predestines all humanity to Heaven. That untruth misleads souls weak in scripture knowledge, because the rest of that verse reflects God’s real wish: “All should come to repentance.” Thus, if I don’t repent, and I miss Heaven, how can I blame God? Repentance leavens me to Heaven’s gate. When I refuse to repent, I lock Heaven’s latch against my entry. When I repent, Hell loses power over my soul. If I don’t repent, how can I blame God? God tells me in His Instruction Book how to repent. God’s inspired Book has endured persecution and false witnesses. God’s Book has been profaned, cursed, burned, spit on, and ripped apart. God’s Tome has experienced misinterpretation, misuse, abuse, and proliferated for selfish gain. However, when rightly divided, God’s Book is the road map to Heaven. God’s Spirit Inspired Literature relates the Way to Heaven, the Truth about Heaven, and the Life in Heaven. Holy Writ reveals God’s prerequisite for strolling Golden Streets in that far country called Heaven. If I don’t read God’s Instruction Book, and I miss that far country called Heaven, how can I blame God? Since no one has returned from that far country to provide directions, we who are left behind remain unsure of its location. We have no idea of the transport needed nor what provisions to make before departure. When we seek proper counsel, we discover no one knows all the answers; many know some answers; others refer us to God’s Instruction Book. As a seeker, can I refuse to read God’s Instruction Book? When I read God’s instructions, do I read only the parts that agree with preconceived ideas of how to reach that far country called Heaven? Do I ignore that Jesus is the means of transport to that far country called Heaven? Do I ignore planning for the trip? Do I believe others who say the far country will accept me regardless of my preparations? Yet, what if the keeper of the gate blocks my entrance into that far country? Whom do I blame? That far country? Other people? God’s Instruction Book? God? If I miss Heaven, how can I blame God? God’s Book provides roadmap guidance to that far country called Heaven. If I follow the roadmap, God promised a reward of everlasting life at the end of my journey. However, if I ignore the roadmap in God’s Book, the punishment is also everlasting. Therefore, I must read God’s Book to find the Way, the Truth, and that Life everlasting. Thus, if I miss Heaven, how can I blame God? God formed His Church, a body of believers who assemble in an identifiable building. God’s structure stands as a beacon in a dark storm, a place of refuge from troubled waters, a sanctuary for prayer, worship, and the reading of God’s Instruction Book, which, like a twoedged sword, separates carnal from spiritual. God’s building is where believers gather to preach and teach from God’s Instruction Book to touch every conscience. God implanted my conscience to point at misdirection. If I ignore my conscience, I allow society to guide my tendencies. If I ignore my conscience, I allow a progressive creep of profanity and vulgarity to overcome my sensitivity to wrongdoing. My God given conscience, although buried under society’s carnal filth, jabs convicting fingers into my heart. My conscience glares red lights against wrongdoing. If I run through my conscience’s stoplight, how can I blame God? If I miss Heaven, how can I blame God? God formed His Church--spiritual and material. God implanted my conscience that I must feed with spiritual stimuli to starve carnal corruption. However, if I ignore my conscience, God listens to prayer. When others pray for me, their prayer helps strengthen my conscience.

Prayer is a weapon from God’s love. I can say truthfully that loved ones and friends have lifted me in prayer, a prayer for my repentance, or a prayer for my salvation. I, in turn, identify others to God, or collectively consider others when I ask God to touch hardhearted communities and neighborhoods. If I miss Heaven, clearly, I can’t blame anyone who uplifts me in prayer or collectively considers me in their prayers to God. If I miss Heaven, I can’t blame God if I ignore God’s Church. I can’t blame God if I ignore my screaming conscience. Neither can I blame God if I ignore God’s gift of sorrow. Sorrow might seem like a strange gift from God, but, if not for sorrow, how can I regret actions in my life? How can I sense my sinful state? Because of sorrow, I understand my need to repent, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. . . .” (Romans 3:23.) When I repent, and ask God into my life, God sends His Spirit. Then when I examine God’s Instruction Book, God’s convicting Spirit enlightens me to that not known, but now seen in scripture and sensed in my heart. God’s Spirit unwraps society’s transparent misconception of good versus evil. God’s Spirit touches my heart with recognition of sin, and then nudges me toward another of God’s gifts-the Remedy for sin. God’s Remedy for sin is the Cross of Calvary. The Cross of Calvary is the redemption promised in Genesis 3:15 and the salvation announced in the Four Gospels. Christ completed this Remedy when Jesus proclaimed from the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:30.) Yes, Jesus finished God’s salvation work. I can accept or I can reject God’s Remedy, because “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13.) Yet, merely speaking the Lord’s name is not salvation. Scripture tells me I must confess with my “mouth the Lord Jesus,” and then believe in my heart that “God hath raised him from the dead. . . .” (Romans 10:9.) That is my salvation. Thus, I ponder. If I miss Heaven, how can I blame God? God inspired the Bible to tell about Heaven and Hell. God formed His Church to stress Heaven over Hell. God embedded a conscience to prod me toward Heaven and away from Hell. God answers Prayer to redirect me away from Hell. God allows sorrow to remind me daily of Hell. God’s Holy Spirit convicts me away from Hell. God’s Son shed blood on the Cross as a Remedy for the disease of Hell. With all that help, if I miss Heaven, how can I blame God? I can only blame me. God gave me every tool. All God asks in return for my salvation is that I repent and accept His Son Jesus as my personal Savior. Therefore, if I miss Heaven, how can I blame God?