What happens to your spirit when you die?

Wow, what an awesome question! And it’s also a very difficult question to answer because so many Bible scholars have different opinions on it. The truth is that no one knows for sure what happens the moment we die and I think that God had a good reason for keeping us wondering about the mysteries of heaven. Perhaps our brains just couldn’t grasp the realities of eternity.

BUT, the Holy Bible does reveal the following truth about the afterlife. We know that while our earthly bodies will die, our spirit will continue on for eternity. The million dollar question then becomes, where are you going to spend eternity? And there are only two choices there; you can spend eternity with God or apart from God.

You see, the choice is really yours. God gave you free will to either choose Him or reject Him. If you choose to follow God and accept Jesus as your Savior, you will spend eternity with God in Heaven. If you choose to reject God, then you will spend eternity separated from God in a place that God never meant for you. The Bible even says this place, Hell, is a place that God “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

Remember when I said earlier that no one knows for sure what happens the moment we die? Well, there are many Bible scholars who believe your spirit goes somewhere else before you get to Heaven and that you’ll only get to Heaven once Jesus returns. However, there are other Bible scholars that believe you enter God’s presence at death. We just don’t know.

Here’s what I’m confident of: If you believe that Jesus is who He says He is and you’ve received Him as your Lord and Savior, you will be with God forever (Psalm 23:6) and that Jesus is preparing a special place for all us believers in Heaven! (John 14:1-3) Not only are you with God forever, you will never die again (Revelation 21:1-4).

Why does God let us do things he knows we will do?

Wow, that is an awesome question! Let me start by answering your question with a question. Why does God let us do things that He knows are bad? Here’s why: Because God gives us “free will.” God could easily control every aspect of our lives, if He wanted. He could have created a world without sin, wars, sickness or death and made a world where everyone was blissfully happy without having a care in the world.

But, if that were the case, what meaning would love have? If God “made” us love Him then what value is there in being in love? If God forced us to think or act only the way He wanted, what sort of life would we have? How good would we know something is good if we didn’t have a “bad” to contrast it with?

God gave us the ability to make our own choices even though He knows every choice we’ve made and will make. And, He gives us the ability to make both good and bad choices. Think about it, by giving us this “free will” it gives so much more value to love! The reason is because it’s now a choice instead of being forced on us.

Also, when you make a bad choice, there are consequences to that choice. God wants you to recognize those consequences and then make that conscious decision to not make that bad choice again. As you grow and mature and begin making wise choices, you will become more like the person God wants you to be because you will be more of a representation of God’s character.

If you ever want to know what God’s character is, look no further than the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)

When you do things freely, that honor God, and mirror God’s character, He will honor and bless you!

What does a ouija board do? What does it look like?

The board is spelled “ouija” and is often pronounced “wee gee.” The name of the board comes when you take the French word for “yes” (which is “oui”) and the German word for “yes” (which is “ja”) and put them together. The people who came up with this name was the toy company Parker Brothers (they make a lot of board games) back in the 1920s. Do you wonder what a toy company is doing messing around with witchcraft for kids??!! Read on ...

The real name for this board is called a “talking board” and in witchcraft it is used to contact the dead (I’ll tell you how it works in a second …). I don’t know what a “real” one looks like – at this point I know enough about ouija boards to stay away from them – no matter what they look like. I think its important to know just enough about this stuff so we can stay away AND explain to our friends (like for you at sleep-overs) why not to mess around with it.

Here’s how they work. The board has a bunch of letters and numbers printed on it. Then there is a pointer that can move around on the board, kind of like a computer mouse. Somehow the dead person communicates to the person working the mouse and the mouse begins to point to the letters, which of course eventually form the words that the dead dude is trying to say.

I want to encourage you to be wise about this stuff – because witchcraft is bad stuff! I am teaching you about this because I want you to be wise about the choices you make. There are a lot of bad choices we can make that end up hurting us and the people around us. There are also a lot of great choices we can make concerning what we do with our time and our energy and our hearts that will really honor God. Let’s ALWAYS choose to honor God, OK?

Why did Satan and some of God's angels leave him?

The Bible doesn’t clearly – like without a doubt – answer why Satan and some of God’s angels left God. There are some verses in the Book of Isaiah that start to give us a clue, but honestly, we probably won’t know that answer until we get to heaven.

Isaiah 14:12-15 says this -

"How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit."

When Satan says he “will ascend to heaven and … make myself like the Most High” it is believed that he sought to rule heaven himself.

These verses are still a little confusing though because Isaiah was speaking specifically about a corrupt nation called Babylon, and not specifically about Satan. He is just making a comparison.

Anyway, Isaiah says God threw (or cast) Satan and the angels that followed him down to the earth! This is probably because Satan chose to do evil rather than worship & serve God. So they didn’t leave heaven as much as God threw them out! Do you see the difference?

Here’s the key - God gives each of his created beings a choice to follow him or to not follow him. If you choose to, you can be with God always – both now when you are alive, and forever. If you chose not to follow him, God allows you to be separated from him always – both now and forever. That’s the kind of love God has for us – he gives us that choice. Believe me, though, he wants you to choose to follow him because he created you, loves you, and wants a relationship with you.