October 10th, 2025 Devotional

🌿 Living Water Vineyard — Friday Devotion

“The Road That Ends in Fire”

Matthew 7:13–14

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🔥 One of the Hardest Truths Jesus Ever Taught

If we’re honest, hell is one of the hardest subjects in the Bible to talk about.

It’s heavy. It’s uncomfortable. It’s easier to skip over it and focus on the words that comfort instead of the ones that confront.

But Jesus didn’t avoid it.

In fact, He spoke about hell more than anyone else in Scripture — not to frighten us, but to warn us.

Because love always warns.

When Jesus spoke of two gates and two roads, He was describing two eternal destinations. One ends in life. The other ends in destruction.

And because He loves us, He tells the truth.

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📖 What Jesus Said About Hell

Jesus used the word Gehenna — translated as hell — a dozen times in the Gospels. It was the name of a real valley outside Jerusalem, once a place of idolatry, later used to burn refuse. The fire there never seemed to go out — and that image stuck in everyone’s mind.

But Jesus wasn’t talking about a dump. He was talking about eternity.

He said hell was a place of:

• Fire — “The fiery furnace… there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” — Matthew 13:42

• Darkness — “Cast into the outer darkness.” — Matthew 8:12

• Separation — “Depart from Me…” — Matthew 25:41

And the most sobering part? He said this separation is everlasting.

The same word used for eternal life in Matthew 25:46 is used for eternal punishment.

Both roads go on forever — one into the presence of God, the other apart from Him.

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💔 The Heart of Jesus’ Warnings

Jesus wasn’t cruel when He spoke of hell — He was compassionate.

He wasn’t trying to win an argument; He was pleading for souls.

Every warning came from a heart that longed to rescue people before it was too late.

When He said, “It’s better to lose your eye than to be thrown into hell,” He meant,

“It’s better to lose anything than to lose Me.”

When He said, “Fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” He was saying,

“Don’t play games with eternity.”

Hell isn’t God’s desire for anyone — the cross proves that.

But to deny hell is to deny the very reason Jesus came and died: to rescue us from it.

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🚢 A True Story: John Harper on the Titanic

On April 14, 1912, when the Titanic struck an iceberg, passengers rushed to the lifeboats in panic. Among them was a Scottish pastor named John Harper, who was traveling with his six-year-old daughter to preach at Moody Church in Chicago.

As the ship began to sink, Harper wrapped his daughter in a blanket, placed her safely in a lifeboat, and then turned back toward the hundreds still on the deck.

He began running up and down the freezing corridors, knocking on doors, shouting:

“Women, children, and the unsaved — into the lifeboats!”

As the ship tilted and chaos spread, Harper continued to cry out,

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!” — Acts 16:31

When the Titanic finally went down, he found himself in the icy Atlantic waters, clinging to a piece of debris. Nearby, another man drifted close — a young unbeliever. Harper called out,

“Do you know Jesus?”

The man said, “No.”

Harper removed his own life vest and threw it toward him:

“Then you’ll need this more than I will.”

Moments later, Harper slipped beneath the waves.

That man survived.

Later, at a church meeting in Hamilton, Ontario, he stood and told his story:

“I am the last convert of John Harper.”

He became a believer — and a pastor.

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🔥 That’s the Picture Jesus Gave Us

Two men, two roads, two destinations — and one final chance to choose.

That night in the icy Atlantic, one man was lost warning others, and one man was saved because someone refused to stay silent.

John Harper’s story is more than a tragedy — it’s a parable of eternity.

Every person we meet is either safely in the lifeboat of Christ or still clinging to a false hope that will not hold when judgment comes.

The narrow road isn’t just about how we live — it’s about who we lead.

Love doesn’t just believe; it pleads.

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🌅 The Hope We Have in Jesus

But for those who believe, the story doesn’t end in fear — it ends in forever hope.

Jesus didn’t just warn us about hell; He promised us heaven.

On the night before His crucifixion, He looked at His disciples and said:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me.

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” — John 14:1–3

What a promise — that Jesus Himself is preparing our eternal home.

And when the disciples asked what they must do to please God, Jesus answered simply:

“This is the work of God — to believe in the One He has sent.” — John 6:29

That’s the only “work” that leads to life: believing in Him.

Because of the cross, we don’t have to fear the fire.

Because of the resurrection, we know that death has been defeated.

And because of His promise, we can look forward to the day when He wipes every tear, ends every pain, and welcomes us home.

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💭 Reflection Questions

1. Have I lost the urgency of eternity in how I live and share my faith?

2. Who around me might still be standing outside the “lifeboat” of salvation — and have I warned them?

3. Do I love people enough to tell them the truth, even when it’s hard?

4. Do I live each day with the joy and hope that Jesus is preparing a place for me?

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🙏 Prayer

Lord Jesus,

You are the only Door that leads to life.

Thank You for loving me enough to warn me and for saving me through Your cross.

Thank You for the promise that You are preparing a place for me,

and that one day You will return to bring me home.

Give me courage like John Harper — to plead, to pray, and to love with urgency.

Let me not grow numb to eternity or silent about Your truth.

May my words and my life point others to the only safe place — in You.

Amen.

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🎵 Worship Song

🎶 “Living Hope” — Phil Wickham

“Then came the morning that sealed the promise,

Your buried body began to breathe.

Out of the silence, the roaring Lion

Declared the grave has no claim on me.”