Here it is Monday the begging of a new week. The office Christmas party that you put together was big hit. Everybody had a great time; even your boss seemed to have a good time. The only draw back was that several people went home drunk including you. But hey, who cares just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean I can’ t have a little fun. You say to yourself. As you get up for work, you think of all the things that you haft to do that day. Your mind is not on work, but the pretty secretary that you met. You remember the rude and disgusted things that you and your buddies were saying about her, and it brings a smile to your face. Lustful thoughts are going threw your mind, then something joggles your memory, I’m not supposed to think of things like that. Then another thought came up, that’s ok, and all I haft to do is ask the Lord for forgiveness and He will forgive me.

For everybody who drives, knows getting stuck in traffic can be stressful. People are cutting you off, driving real slow in the fast lane. You yell all kinds of obscenities at them. Your anger is building up, more and more obscenities are coming from your mouth. Finally you make it to work. When you are walking to your office several people pass by you saying “ Merry Christmas”. You are thinking to yourself. “Merry Christmas yea who cares, I have so many problems, I don’t need more problems thinking what to give for presents this year.” Depressing thoughts are racing threw your mind; the emptiness in you life is starting to rag on you. You feel everything is out of control, but wait. “I’m a Christian”? The thought crosses you mind...

Well, that is what you heaved told everybody... as you are thinking, being a Christian can have its advantages and disadvantages in the business world. Hanging around your friends at work can be fun and it also makes the day go by fast. Now not all of your friends know that you call yourself a Christian. Because you don’t want them to label you as some religious fanatic. So at time you compromise to the way of the world to please you so they would like you. You present yourself differently around certain people. Your Christian friends you act like a Christian, but your other friends you act just like one of them.
When it comes to reading the Bible, you read it when it is convent for you. Just like when you pray, when you want something or get yourself out of trouble. You take the Bible and praying for granted. As long as I believe in God I will go to Heaven you think to yourself. Finally the end of the day has come. You are tried and hungry, and all you want is to have something to eat and watch some TV. Your at home sitting comfortably in your favorite easy chair there is a knock at the door. You get up to answer the door and you open it. There stand two older ladies each of them holding bibles and some tracks; they say that there from the Baptist church down the street.

One of them asks you where you attend church and often you go. By now your patents is running very thing, your think to yourself, “All I want is to be alone, and get rid of these old ladies”. You start to get sarcastic at the ladies; your patents just can’t take it any more. You are about to slam the door and one of the ladies says, “By the way do you know Jesus as savior and Lord?” Too much time has been wasted talking here you think to yourself. “Jesus, yes I believe in him and I know who he is... and I must go now by”. You slam the door and walk back to your chair. ”Ah man, I missed the first ten minutes of my show”! You say in a real anger voice. As you are watching TV the hours go by one after another. Finally you get tired and get ready for bed.

You walk in you bedroom and close the door. You turn off the bedroom light and turn on the small light on the nightstand to read. You look at the alarm clock it reads 11:00. “I’ll just read for about an hour and then go to sleep”. You have been thinking about what the two ladies had to say, about Jesus and going to church. So you reach over and pick up your bible off the floor, and start flipping threw the pages. It seems that nothing is grabbing your attention while looking threw the bible. Then you say “God, if you want me to read this bible then show me what I should read.” You close your eyes flip the pages real fast, stop and pointed to the verse. You open your eyes and see that you picked John 14:6, you start reading the verse “I am the way...”, then all of the sudden their is a loud banging noise coming from you living room. You sit up real fast; you look at the clock, 12:30 am.

Your head is motionless, but your eyes are looking back in fourth in fear. You start to get up to investigate the noise. You turn off the light on your nightstand and open the bedroom door real slow. You walk gently walk slowly down the hallway; you see a silhouette of someone standing in your living room. Without a second thought you turn on the lights and jump out “What in the hell are you doing in home?” You are face to face with the armed robber. The robber pulls out a handgun from his pants and points it at you. Sweat is covering your face, you want to do something but your body is motionless. You look into the eyes of the robber and you can see nothing but cold and darkness. Then all of the sudden the robber pulls the trigger and shoots you dead.

Looking down you can see your lifeless body lying on the ground; you are saying to yourself, “This is a dream, I must be dreaming!” Your soul is leaving the room. No! No!, I’m dreaming! Faster than a blink of an eye you found yourself in the presents of the Almighty Lord God. Your head is bowed down. You notice that your closes are still on, and you can see the bullet wound in your chest. You put your right index finger in the wound and pull it out with blood on it. Then you say “I must be dead!” Then there was a loud voice, a powerful voice with anger and authority. “Why should I let you into my heaven?” Says the Lord. Your head is still bowed down and you say in a soft voice, “But Lord I.” ..”Speak up louder and look at me when you talk to me”. “Lord, I have always believed in you.” “Not good enough, you did not receive my son Jesus as savior!” Says the Lord.

“I have sent you people to change your ways, but you have ignored them, you have blaspheme me for the last time.” The Lord says “I never knew you, away from me, you evildoer.” You scream out “But Lord I’m sorry, forgive me!” You find yourself falling into a black dark whole. You are screaming at the top of your lungs, “NO HELP ME!” You hear blood-curdling screams coming from all different directions, but you can’t see anything. The next thing you know you are stand in front of the gates of HELL. At the top of the giant gate is a prophetic inscription: Abandon all hope ye who enter. ‘NO, NO, NOT ME!” You start walking backwards-screaming “NO NOT ME! Then the gates open an evil demon grabs you and drags you, into hell. “NO, NO, LET ME GO!” But nothing happens.

The demons are laughing at you; they throw you into a dark pit like dungeon. Your skin is blistering from the fire all around. The fire is hotter than anything in Earth, your screams are loud and ear piercing. Every inch of your body is in excruciating pain, a pain not even man can find on Earth. You are feasted upon loathsome worms and maggots that coat the ground. But the worse pain of all is the separation from the Lord God forever and ever. A though that will never leave your mind.
Your gut reneging screams are calling “Lord forgive me!” the more you cry out the pains are more acute. From the black darkness of your dungeon appears a window. In this window you can see your love ones sinning on Earth. You franticly scream at them ‘NO CHANGE YOUR WAYS!” You try to reach out to them, but something is holding you back. As if the pain wasn’t enough the window shows you what heaven looks like. You can see love, life, beauty, light and the love of the Lord.

You scream out more and more, “This is a nightmare, I’m not dead!” An evil laughter from the darkness tells you,” You are dead, and hell is your home of torment”. Then the window disappears from the darkness.
Demons from the darkness are upon you tormenting you. Every fear that you had as a human is now tormenting you. Then all of the sudden with a thundering crash of fire and brimstone from the dark black deepest pit of hell arose the ‘Prince of Darkness’ himself, Satan. All the other demons ran in fear at his presents. Then Satan grabs you with his razor tip talons and starts slashing you. With a malevolent voice Satan says, “ You are mine forever!” You try to get lose, but you can’t. Then Satan lifts you over his head and is about to throw you into the lake of never ending fire. “Here you will never leave!” You then cry out “JESUS PLEASE SAME ME!” Then bang! You sit up very quickly from you bed your bible falls on the floor. Your heart is beating extremely fast in your chest, and you feel like your going to hyperventilate.

You look around you bedroom and as you are gasping for air you say, “It was only an nightmare, this whole thing was just a dream”. You notice that you are covered with sweat. You look over to your alarm clock; it reads 12:45 am. “But wait that can’t be... ...I was asleep longer then 15 minutes.” You mind is having all kinds of ambivalent thoughts about how long you slept. By now you have calmed and you have come to realized what you had was a very bad nightmare. You are about to reach over and turn off the light and you notice wet blood on your right index finger. Then you remembered you dream, when you were standing before the Lord. Quickly you jump out of bed. “It can’t be!” You look down at your shirt and there is a whole in it with bloodstains. You franticly rip off your shirt to see if there were any wound marks on your chest.

There is no wound marks. “My God it wasn’t a dream”! You fall to your knees crying, “Oh, dear Lord forgive me Father, I’m sorry for my evil ways”. “Please save me!” Then you feel a joy and forgiveness feeling in your heart. “Thank you Lord for showing me the way to you...” You pick up the bible off from the floor and put it on the nightstand, you get up and sit on the bed. Then you take a deep breath, then all of the sudden their is a loud crash coming from your living room.....

Keith Heffner

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