["Turtle Beach" Or Laniakea Beach, North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii]
I was very inspired this morning by sermon videos on You Tube, and felt an urgency, even, to make a new post here immediately.
If you have family members who are not saved, as is the case with me, then you realize the urgency that they come to a saving faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ - and pronto ! Because Jesus' return is imminent, folks ! Following is a short 5 minute clip on salvation by Pastor Charles Lawson titled: "There is forgiveness at the Cross." You might want to share this with unsaved family members or anyone else as well.
Pastor Lawson gave a fantastic 45 minute sermon earlier this month titled: "How To Get Right With God". He touches on many, many pertinent subjects and Scriptures. He discusses Job and his ordeal with suffering and tremendous loss, as well as king David and his sins and how he suffered because of his errors. He mentions that in both Job's and David's case, they both repented. He clarifies that repentance is MORE than just a change of mind. This sermon on getting right with God is right to the point and not "sugar-coated." Pastor Lawson says that if you have had an encounter with God, that you "will tremble."
In the above sermon, much about how the devil is after true believers is discussed, and all the suffering we endure because of the evil brought upon us by that deceiver and slanderer, satan.
A wonderful Scripture that Christians can take comfort in is found at 1 John 4:4 which follows:
"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world."
If you are currently enduring many trials, take heart. You must be doing something right ! Otherwise, the evil one would not be after you. Remember what Jesus told His followers:
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you." - John 15:18-19
And, oftentimes God will let us be tried by unbearable circumstances, not only to test our faith, but also to "prune" us, "strengthen" us, and to make us more Christ-like.
We all realize, as well, that sometimes circumstances just happen out of the blue that bring suffering and trials, such as ill health, etc. And as crazy as this world has become in these prophesied end times, just about anything you can imagine could knock us off our feet.
But as believers, we should not stay down long ! We have the good Lord to look to in faith!
Did you realize that Jesus considers us His friends if we obey and keep His commandments?
"Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." - John 15:14
This blog has often stressed that God and Jesus desire to fellowship with true believers. The following 27 minute sermon by Pastor Charles Lawson discusses that very subject. The sermon title is "To Know Him is to Fellowship with Him." Please watch. We all need this reminder.
Just a note: In this sermon, it is brought out that God "despised" the ancient Israelites for their stubbornness and rebellion and sin.
[Turtle Beach - Laniakea Beach - North Shore, Oahu]
"The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to Him." - Dwight L. Moody
"True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie." - A.W. Tozer
"God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves." - A.W. Tozer
"He who kneels before God can stand before anyone." - unknown
"If you live for people's acceptance, you'll die from their rejection." - Lecrae
"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the one who is leading." - Oswald Chambers
"Exercise daily - Walk with the LORD." - unknown
Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend -- and life !!
The Bird of Paradise flowers are found almost everywhere in the Hawaiian Islands, as landscape plantings for businesses and parks as well as for private homes. I imagine there will probably be various flowers in heaven as well. In the Bible book of Revelation, it speaks of "the Tree of Life": which follows:
"In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." - Revelation 22:2
But the main thing to consider about heaven is: God and Jesus will be there! And you too, if you are a true believer in the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His shed blood to redeem us and make a way for us to be with Him for all eternity - if we believe He is the Savior, the Son of God, and believe also in His death and resurrection. (Romans 10:9,10,13). And this belief in Jesus is not just intellectual belief - It is a deep, abiding, heartfelt belief that involves a person's entire being.... heart, soul, mind, spirit!
Let's start with a beautiful old hymn that the older generation of today will remember. Hope you younger ones enjoy it as well. It is titled "I'll Be There (When the Roll is Called Up Yonder)"
Many persons (myself included) have always believed that Matthew 24 and 25 pertains to the church, being raptured when the end times signs occur (or begin to occur) in those chapters of Matthew. Actually, I personally believed part of Matthew 24 was for the Gentile Church (Christians) and part was for the Jews, Israel. However, some scholars, including Dr. Tommy Ice in the following 2 videos, stress that Jesus was speaking there concerning Israel only. Tommy Ice in the following video tells us that the Rapture is not in Matthew 24. This 29 minute video is the most recent of the two shared here: it was published by ProphecyWatchers.com on October 10, 2020:
The next video by prophecywatchers.com was published in June of 2020, featuring Tommy Ice again where he discusses 2 Thessalonians 2 and 1 Thessalonians 4 - specifically about the Rapture taking only the Church Age believers, and also about "the apostacy" (or is it the "departure"?). Dr. Ice shows a chart of various Bible translations (of other centuries) and how most of them translated "falling away" - as in the King James Version - as "departure" instead. Interesting and quite informing and eye-opening information in the following 29 minute video!
2 Thessalonians 2:3 (KJV) : "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." - 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 (KJV)
It would be wonderful if you read all of 1 Thessalonians, or at least all of Chapter 4 there. Following is another important "Rapture verse" or rather, verses!
"Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 15:51-58
I included all of that segment of 1 Corinthians 15 for encouragement for you ! And of great encouragement to know, if you follow Bible prophecy and how it is playing out now and coming true right before our very eyes in these last moments of these last days, .... great to know that the Rapture must be very, very soon! Many believers are growing tired and are "battle weary" from these chaotic and stressful times. But most are just longing to be with the good Lord in heaven, our true home and our blessed hope !
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." - Titus 2:13
By the way, Titus 2:13 is one of many scriptures that prove Jesus' deity. But that is a subject for another post another time. Do some research on your own as well concerning His deity.
[Islands Off Lanikai Beach, Oahu, Hawaii]
Just a short note about Dr. Thomas Ice: He is currently (last I checked) the Executive Director of the Pre-Trib Research Center in Washington, DC. He is the author of several books and articles on the subject of the Rapture, and is frequently a speaker at many and various Bible conferences around the world. There are several articles written by him at raptureready.com
The main thing to focus on is to make sure YOU are Rapture Ready! And that your family and friends are as well! Also, to share the Gospel with them and others, as that is our commission from Jesus Himself (Matthew 28:19-20).
Following is a graphic I use frequently which is known as "The Roman Road to Salvation". We have already touched upon the fact that you must have faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior -- a faith and belief that consumes your entire being - all of your heart, soul, mind ! And, if you are truly saved and born again (a spiritual rebirth), the Holy Spirit will come and indwell you and empower you to be a strong and effective follower of Jesus. You will want and desire to please Him/God and it will be as a never ending hunger and thirst for more of Him - to draw ever closer to Him in a strong, loving, trusting, personal, and enduring relationship.
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." - John 3 :36
First, you must repent, which is a complete change of mind, a change in heart, involving remorse for your sins, and praying to the heavenly Father for forgiveness.
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38
"And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."- Jesus at Mark 1:15
"Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy." - Psalm 109:26
"(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) - 2 Corinthians 6:2
"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By Whom also we have access by Faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience, experience, and experience hope." - Romans 5:1-4 (Not exactly salvation verses, but I wanted to include them for encouragement for those already saved, as well as to show unbelievers what consolation can be theirs once they accept Jesus as their Savior).
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father except by Me." - John 14:6
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
When the roll is called up yonder, will you be there?
I have been keeping up with the latest on the North Korea threat, mostly on alternative news media. This present threat is worse than the Cuban missile crisis during John Kennedy's administration in the early 1960's. Now it seems that Russia and China are a threat to the US fleet approaching North Korea as their ships are following the U.S. ships and their airplanes are flying over our ships and watching them closely. Following is a 12 minute video by Pastor Paul Begley from his You Tube channel. He gives some critical information on this North Korean threat and how Russia and China have turned against America. Please watch.
The Bible tells us that wars and rumors of wars is one of the signs of the end times before Jesus returns.
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places." - Jesus speaking at Matthew 24:6-7
Please read all of Matthew 24 for more end times signs. Also read Mark 13 and Luke 21. There are many signs Jesus gave; so we are not to point to just one or two signs, but rather, as the Lord said, to a convergence of all the signs at one time. Britt Gilette, in an informative article , tells us that the number one sign of Jesus' return is all the signs appearing together all at once like we see right now.
"So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." - Jesus at Matthew 24:33
In the above link to Mr. Gilette's article, he lists various signs with Scriptures to prove these are the last hours of the last days. The sign that began these end times was when Israel became a nation again in 1948 after about 2000 years of being scattered throughout various countries of the world. It was a miracle!
"Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once?" - Isaiah 66:8
This prophecy of Isaiah came true in May of 1948. Israel became a nation again in one day! I have mentioned previously that the church has not replaced Israel....that God still holds the nation of Israel as His special people with whom He made an everlasting covenant in ancient times. We need to keep our eyes on the Middle East and on what the Bible prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39 and many other Bible verses in other books of the Bible as well. All the enemies of Israel as spoken of in the Bible are now coming together against Israel....but God will miraculously save Israel from her enemies. I pray you will read the entire article linked above.
Speaking of convergence, the following video from prophecyinthenews.com tells us that the one world economy and the one world government spoken of in the Bible book of Revelation are already here, to some degree.
In the above video, they discuss what is more than a documentary film by Brent Miller Jr. and Sr., and show two clips from that movie. It is fascinating information. Bible prophecy is a very effective witnessing tool as it proves that the Bible is true and is from God. As Kevin Clarkson says in the above video, "faith is founded on fact."
Most churches today do not deal with or teach Bible prophecy at all. This is a down-right shame. Christians need to know how close we are to Jesus' return so that they can witness to lost souls about the urgency of repenting and turning to Jesus Christ in faith and truly believing in their heart that He is their Savior, Lord, and Master. Believe and repent before it is too late.
Jesus is at the very door !!
Christians need to be careful not to get caught up with the cares of everyday living, making a living, and raising a family that they neglect God and Bible reading and prayer. The Lord wants us to have a close, personal, intimate relationship with Him. He wants to fellowship with us. Going to church does not save you. Good works and faithfully serving in the church do not save you. Only faith in Jesus Christ and having a close personal relationship with Him will save you. How can you be a true Christian if you do not fellowship with the Lord?! Yet I have been told by more than one person, professing to be a Christian, that they never read their Bible. A true Christian has a hunger, an insatiable desire to be closer to God, to feel His presence, and to worship Him in total surrender. Therefore, they devour His Word with joy and in expectation of His blessing in teaching them and giving them understanding of His Holy Word. It takes the Holy Spirit to give comprehension of the Bible. You need to be born-again.
"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares." - Jesus at Luke 21:34
Time is short, folks. Don't get caught up in the world and its pleasures and lusts. (James 4:4) Live instead for the Lord in total surrender to His will. Let your life be a testimony to the power of God; the resurrection power of Jesus.
This world is not the true home of Jesus' followers. We have a place prepared for us in heaven by the Lord. (John 14:2-3) Live a godly, holy life filled with hope of soon being with Jesus.
Maranatha!
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." - James 4:4
"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." - Jesus at Luke 21:28
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." - Jesus at John14:2-3
