Hell’s True Horror

Hell’s True Horror: Separation From God

Here’s an interesting question that people often ask on social media.

Is hell “hot?”

In fact, a simple google search pulls up over 500 million results for that very same query.

My question is: why does the “temperature” even matter?

Hell = Separation

I thought I knew what “hot” was.

Living in Texas for so many years, eating spicy hot food is a regular thing.

It all changed one evening when we went to dinner with friends to an acclaimed, James Beard-nominated, restaurant.

I ordered the dinner special inspired by famed TV chef, Bobby Flay.

Little did I know that the colorful pepper on my plate would pack such a devilishly powerful assault on my tastebuds.

The Scotch Bonnet pepper

It looked good to eat so I took a big bite.

Too late!

The scorching began immediately, reaching new heights of extreme.

My eyes started to water, my face turned red, and nothing (and I mean nothing) would quelch the intense burning.

What was that spawn of Satan that made the inside of my mouth go numb with pain?

A deceptively cheerful-sounding name – the Scotch Bonnet, which is a chile pepper often used in Caribbean cooking.

Thanks for the warning, Bobby.

According to the research, many hot jalapeños have a heat rating up to 10,000 Scoville heat units.

The heat rating of “the Scotch bonnet pepper is about 445,000 SHU.”1

It was “hot” in every sense of the word.

Hell’s True Horror: There’s No Going Back

You already know that some people describe Hell using the same word: “hot.”

You may have even heard someone say on a hot day, “It’s hotter than hell out here.”

All colloquialisms aside, the actual place called hell is not a subject to be taken lightly.

It’s real, and the eternal dwelling place for lost souls.

You don’t want to go there.

Hell’s true horror is not the heat – it’s separation from God forever.

There’s no going back.

Nothing will compare to the extremes of suffering experienced by lost souls in hell.

Hell's true horror

Hell’s True Horror: It’s Not the Temperature

In the Bible, there are several descriptions of hell including Gehenna, Hades, and Sheol.

When Jesus spoke of Gehenna hell, He was speaking of the city dump of all eternity. Yes, fire was part of it, but the purposeful casting away—the separation and loss—was all of it.got questions.org.2

Other references to take note of:

“The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever”  (Rev. 14:11)

“The eternal fire”  (Matt 25:41)

Even acknowledging these references to a fiery-hot place, the “temperature” is the last thing an unrepentant sinner needs to worry about.

The True Horror of Hell – It’s No Joke

The torment of eternal separation from God is far worse than any physical suffering that is inflicted.

The lake of fire, mentioned only in Revelation 19:20 and 20:1014-15, is the final hell, the place of eternal punishment for all unrepentant rebels, both angelic and human (Matthew 25:41). It is described as a place of burning sulfur, and those in it experience eternal, unspeakable agony of an unrelenting nature (Luke 16:24Mark 9:45-46). Those who have rejected Christ and are in the temporary abode of the dead in hades/sheol have the lake of fire as their final destination. – got questions.org.3

Sadly, some people joke about this.

Can you imagine the pain of being denied His presence – our loving Father who created you out of nothing?

Intense sorrow and regret are the least of it.

If they must be doomed to such a state of endless misery, yet may they not have some good company there? No, none but the devil and his angels, their sworn enemies, that helped to bring them to this misery, and will triumph over them in it. They served the devil while they lived, and therefore are justly sentenced to be where he is, as those that served Christ, are taken to be with Him where He is. – studylight.org.4

It’s Important to Tell Others About Hell’s True Horror

By God’s grace, He sent us His Son, Jesus.

And, by our faith, we have an escape available to us from the eternal torment.

God desires for all of His children to be saved and to spend eternity with Him.

So, why do Christians have to talk about hell?

It certainly seems like, in today’s world, no one wants to hear about it.

Even so, it’s a much needed wake-up call for those who have not yet accepted Christ as their Savior.

There are eternal consequences for unrepentant sin.

Have you read the news headlines?

The world appears to be spiraling out of control.

But actually it’s not.

God is in control.

Bad leaders or good leaders in the political spotlight, God is still in control.

Until Jesus comes again, we should aim to live out our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him.

The Good News of Salvation

It’s never too late for the lost people in our lives to turn to God and seek His forgiveness and mercy.

We have the good news of salvation to share, and it’s our responsibility to let the world know.

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1 Scotch Bonnet citation [June 2015] Courtesy of bostonjerkfest.com, “The Tale of Two Peppers: Scotch Bonnet and Habenero” Web. Accessed 20 April, 2024.

2 Quotation from gotquestions.org, from “Is hell literally a place of fire and brimstone? n.d., para. 2. Web. Accessed April19, 2024. Fire and brimstone

3 Quotation from gotquestions.org, from “What is the difference between Sheol, Hades, Hell, the lake of fire, Paradise, and Abraham’s bosom?” n.d., para. 6. Web. Accessed April19, 2024. Sheol, Hades, Hell

4 Quotation from studylight.org, from “Matthew 25: Henry’s Complete Commentary on the Bible” n.d., para.118. Web. Accessed April19, 2024. Endless misery

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Facing Your Giants

Facing Your Giants

Why do Cicada killers have to be so darn big?

Research has it that these wasps can grow up to two inches long!

The stuff of nightmares.

giant cicada killers

Because it’s the cicada killers’ favorite time of year, I think I’ll stay out of the backyard for a while.

And speaking of giants . . .

See what I did there.  😉

It’s time to get serious because it seems like everyone is facing some pretty big challenges right now.

Dealing with a trial can feel pretty lonely at times, but God’s Word reveals that the Lord is always with us

I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel better.

To think that the Creator of the entire universe is just a prayer away.

Facing Your Giants Together With God

God is sovereign and all powerful.

He is bigger than any trouble you might be facing.

There is no problem that is so big that God is not bigger. There is no difficulty that is so hard that God isn’t capable of helping us through it, or fixing it for us. – Senior Pastor James Kaddis, Calvary Chapel, Signal Hill. 1

Look, I get it.

Our impatient human minds want God to fix things “now”, right?

It doesn’t, and never has worked that way.

God is not at our beck and call.

It’s frustrating, even devastating at times while we wait.

But . . . keep . . .  praying.

What we do have is the assurance that He will be with us through our circumstances.  

Facing Your Giants With Comforting Words From Psalm 121

facing your giants

Remember these comforting words from the Psalmist regarding God as the Keeper of Israel?

Now we, as redeemed Christians through Christ’s blood, are all His people.

Psalm 121

I will raise my eyes to the mountains;
From where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who watches over you will not slumber.
Behold, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your protector;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not beat down on you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time and forever.  – Psalm 121, (NASB).2

Don’t let the evil one distract you from prayer in the midst of a trial. He is the master of delusion and distraction.

Often we become apathetic in our lives until we face a severe storm. Whether loss of a job, health crisis, loss of a loved one, or financial struggle; God often brings storms into our lives to change our perspective, to shift the focus from ourselves and our lives to Him. Paul Chappell, Senior Pastor and author.3

Regarding humility, Pastor Chappell goes on to say . . . 

Storms can bring fear, cloud judgment, and create confusion. Yet God promises that as you seek Him through prayer, He will give you wisdom to know how to proceed. The only way you will survive the storm will be on your knees.Paul Chappell, Senior Pastor and author.4

My prayer is that this blog, Delight-in-God.com, filled with articles and collected bible verses and other inspirations, will encourage you in the challenging days ahead. 

Scoffers will mock us for emphasizing prayer, but let ’em.

God is still in control.

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1 From Kaddis, Pastor James, “Big Problems??? God is Bigger!!!” Courtesy of Calvary Chapel Signal Hill. YouTube Podcast, [6:22-6:25]. July 12, 2022. Web. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBRkqaMS_QA

2 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

3-4 Quotations from Senior Pastor Paul Chappell, courtesy of Christian quotes.info.

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Where Is God?

Where is God?

Where is God?

Your heart may be breaking right now over a seemingly impossible situation.

Where is God?

You cry yourself to sleep every night, but your prayers aren’t being answered.

Where is God?

Does that question weigh on your heart?

Please know that you’re not alone.

People are searching, searching, searching all over the internet for answers that mostly fail to satisfy.

Here’s the truth:

God is still on the throne.

Skeptics would say that’s “not good enough.”

Or, “God can’t fix this.”

What they don’t want to accept is that God allows circumstances in our lives that we won’t like.

We may get hurt, ostracized, blamed for things we didn’t do, lose some friends, called names, or feel the wrath of someone else.

We can’t sugarcoat the lives of Christians. 

The fact is, all of us will experience suffering and loss at one time or another. It’s a part of life and Christians are not immune to it.

Trust His Character

One of the hardest things to go through in life is to say goodbye to a loved one. I’ve been through it way too many times.

The loss of someone special cuts through to your very soul, leaving you with a heavy heart and memories of what you should have said if you’d just had more time.

Dear Ones, God cares for the brokenhearted.

With this in mind, please don’t turn away from Him in the midst of your sorrow. Ask Him for strength and comfort and He will give those blessings to you through His Word, and sometimes, through other people in your life who have experienced the same grief that you’re going through.

Dying Words That Bring Hope

My thanks to fellow Christian writer, Ken Barnes, who captures the essence of trusting God through our grief with the article below.


God Is Still on the Throne
by Ken Barnes
12/08/2018 / Christian Living

The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. (Psalms 33:10-11 NASB)

Many things happen in this life that seems to be incomprehensible. Christians die seemingly too young in what appears to be in the midst of their usefulness. Occurrences transpire that do not look to fulfill God’s purposes, yet God is still on the throne.

I once heard a story about a Pastor in Hawaii. The Pastor’s wife fell ill and went into a coma.  After some time, she was confined to a nursing facility.  The Pastor, before he went to his church in the morning, would go by and visit with his wife.  He would comb her hair and talk to her, with no response.  In the evening after work, he sat and spoke to her, without ever even a slight reaction from her.  This went on for an extended period of time.  Suddenly, one day she regained consciousness.  It was only for a few moments.  One of the few things that his wife said in those brief seconds was, “God is still on the throne.”  God wanted this Pastor to know that he was still in control.

Things happen in this life that we may never be able to comprehend.  It is in these times that we trust in the character of God.  God is just in all his ways and kind in all his doings (Psalms 145:17). Bible tells us that the just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38).  It is in times of immense loss that by faith we remember that God is still on the throne, and at his return will restore all things.

I worked for seventeen years as a missionary with Youth With A Mission. My missionary work has taken me to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Spain, and the Ukraine. I hold a Masters of Education in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Commonwealth University.  kenbarnes737@gmail.com

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