What Happens When We Die?

Do you ponder the question what happens when you die? Today, I am diving into answering this question. If you are a regular reader of my posts, or a listener to my podcast, you know I have been doing a series on Mindset Shifts from a Christian perspective. With Easter in mind, I wanted to stop and share with you why I believe the most important decision we will make in our life is the decision to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. I may offend some people with what I share. I’m ok with that. I have really prayed about this topic and know this is what the Lord has put on my heart to share.

Do you know what is going to happen to you when you die? What do you believe? Do you ponder this question? I was faced with this question when I was 10 years old. My father committed suicide, which left my mom to raise four kids on her own—all of us under the age of 11. This was a very dark time in my life. I was asking the question, what happens when someone dies? This is when God put this loving woman in my life who shared with me, that the Bible had the answers.

She showed me the verses in the Bible that explained that people are sinners and need a savior. She showed me where God is the father of the fatherless. I made the decision that day, so many years ago, to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior. To be truthful, I wanted to spend eternity in heaven and not hell. I didn’t understand all that that decision would encompass. However, this was the best decision I have ever made in my life.

I’m not talking about religion here. I have attended many churches and studied different religions. Asking Jesus in my life was just the beginning. For most of my life, I have been on a pursuit to understand what I believe and why I believe what I believe.

I have not lived a perfect life. I have strayed from my faith at times. God has brought me back time and time again. And that is what is so beautiful about being a Christian. God is loving and he gives us grace. God has brought me through many trials. My late 20’s was a difficult time. I became pregnant, I was not married, and I had a very high-profile job. God brought me through it, and I had this beautiful baby girl, and experienced a love I had never felt before. But this was also a fearful time. I was uncertain if someone would marry me.  How I was going to do this by myself. God took care of that and brought me a Christian husband. And he gave us two more beautiful children. You know, if your married and have had children, it is not a fairytale. Marriage is hard. Raising kids is hard. God brought me through it. I contemplated divorce several times through those years of marriage. God was there! At this time of my life, I’ve never been happier than I am right now in my 34 years of marriage.

Several years ago, my faith and my relationship with Christ brought me through another really rough time: burying my mom, my mother-in-law, and sister-in-law in a 5-month period of time was really challenging. While experiencing so much death in such a short period of time, the glaring question of life, that we all ponder, was again at the forefront of my mind: what happens when a person dies?  

I believe we are all called to answer this question. I don’t know what your life experiences have been, but I know life is full of ups and downs. I just know for myself that I am forever grateful for my relationship with the Lord. Through the years, I have been in so many Bible studies I can’t even count. In fact, right now I’m studying the book of Revelation at Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)—a non-denominational bible study. This Bible study is like taking a college course on the Bible. This study is probably a big reason why I am so bold right now in sharing my faith. You want to see a glimpse of the end of the world? Study Revelation some time. God wins and those in opposition to God lose. The times we are living feels filled with so much evil. Studying Revelation, none of this surprises God. Reading and studying the last book of the Bible is an awakening experience. It tells us one day we will all stand before the Lord. We will not be judged by our works. It comes down to do you believe the Bible or you don’t. You either accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior by faith or you don’t. We will all answer to God one day. 

I may be saying some things that offend you, and I’m ok with that. I challenge you to get into God’s word and do your own research and prove me wrong. I mean that sincerely. 

A lot of people confuse going to church with being a Christian.

They are not the same thing! Why do I believe this, because the Bible tells us this. The Bible tells us that each person will stand before God in judgement when they die. They will either spend eternity in heaven or will spend eternity in hell. The Bible never says: “Because you went to church I will let you in heaven.” Don’t get me wrong, the Bible encourages Christian’s to gather and study his word and be the hands and feet of Christ. I’m not taking about that! But going to church does not save you! 

Here are some scriptures that back up all the things I am telling you. I believe the Bible in its entirety. I believe the scripture 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I believe the entire Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament.

There is only one way to heaven and we must first acknowledge Romans 3:23 (NIV), it reads: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and realize we need a savior! All people.

And you must accept John 3:16, “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.” Another important scripture I want to share addresses the one way to heaven. It’s found in John 14:6, which states: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

Romans 10:9 (NIV), reads: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” That’s it!

This is the verse that sets Christianity apart from religion. It clearly states that salvation is not by works,  Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

There it is. It’s not going to church, It’s not by works, it’s not believing in the Universe or whatever you want ever you’ve decided to believe. The Bible is God’s Truth! It’s about believing the book of Genesis. That we are created by God in his image. That once Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden we were separated from God by sin. And God sent his son to die for our sins. He gave us a way to be reunited with him. The Bible is his living truth! There are so many people that don’t know what they believe.

I feel this is the most important decision we can make in our lives. Once we make this decision, he gives us the Holy Spirit that lives within us to enable us to read and understand the Bible. I know, I have thrown out a lot. But it’s all straight from God’s word. The Bible is God’s way of communicating with us. God loves us. He knows we are born with a sin nature, we cannot live a life worthy of him without believing and accepting his son as our Lord and Savior, that he came to earth lived a sinless life and died for our sins.

This is God’s truth. I’m praying for you. If you have never made this decision, I’m praying you are feeling God calling you to him. We are all called to make this decision. But, God has given us free will. Making this decision will determine where you will spend eternity. We are all going to die one day!

One last thing, if you are a follower of Christ, my hope is you are spending time in his word. That you are involved in a local church that teaches the entire Bible. I feel very strongly that God has given us the playbook of life: the Bible. It answers every question we can have. I’m very passionate about all that I have shared with you today. I hope that I’ve challenged you!

Thank you for allowing me to share my faith. I encourage you to share this with that friend that may be unsure of what they believe!  Or they don’t know why they believe what they believe. I appreciate that you following me each and every week and coming on this journey with me.  Go ahead and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

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Monette hosts a weekly podcast: Mornings with Monette. She has been a lifelong learner and and appreciates the opportunity to share what she has learned–both through her podcast and here at The Best-Life Project (based on the content of her weekly podcast). Her messages are raw, honest and straight from the heart. She lives in Albuquerque, NM with her husband Leland. They have three adult children and are enjoying living their best lives filled with travel and adventure.