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Key Bible Verse: They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. (2 Thessalonians 1:9) Bonus Reading: Luke 16:19-31

[In today's Key Bible Verse,] Paul points out that there are two parts to suffering in hell. Hell is not just a place of torment; additionally, it's a place of separation from God. This means separation from everything that's right, true, and wonderful; God is the source of all that is good. Eternity without him means exposure only to what is wrong, false, and horrible.

Imagine stepping out of your house one morning only to discover that all that makes life worth living has disappeared. All that's left is the hideous and the obscene. Mortified, you realize you could have kept this from happening by making one important decision, but you didn't think it was important. And/or you didn't believe the truth about it. You see now what's happening, but it's too late to change things. You're stuck—no way out.

The absence of God, of goodness and light, means being forever in the presence of evil and darkness. We weren't created for that destiny—he made us to be with him.

God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. But he is utter goodness—absolute holiness—and evil cannot be in his presence. And without Christ, our goodness isn't good enough.

—Jim Garlow with Keith Wall in Heaven and the Afterlife

My Response: How do I feel about today's devotional reading? Why do I feel this way?

Thought to Apply: I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.—C. S. Lewis (British scholar, Christian writer)

Adapted from Heaven and the Afterlife (Bethany House, 2009) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.

Copyright © 2010 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Prayer for the Week

Dear heavenly Father, help me to not only reflect on heaven and the afterlife but to also consider what eternity has to do with how I live in the here and now.

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