So many upheavals and chaotic things are occurring in the world today that many are perplexed and do not know the way out. The only answer is the peace our Lord Jesus Christ will bring about when He returns after the 7 year Tribulation and sets up His Millennial Kingdom..... and for eternity after that.
Jesus is the Prince of peace.
Luke 21:25 informs us, "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring."
Luke 21, Matthew 24, and Mark 13 all tell us about signs of the end times and I urge you to read those chapters.
Following is a 10 minute video from prophecyinthenews.com featuring author and evangelist Dan Goodwin. He discusses current events and the nuclear threat. Something he said about Russia recently testing an EMP device was news to me.
Now is the time to make sure you are right with the good Lord and that you are born again from above. Now is the time to be ready for the soon to occur Rapture of the true believers.
Jesus loves you and does not wish for any to perish.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9
Confess any sins and pray for forgiveness. Repent, and turn completely away from a life of sin.
Believe that Jesus is the Savior and only His shed blood at Calvary can save a person and wash away sins. Believe also in His resurrection.
Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us, (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
We live in a world of selfies, self-centeredness , selfishness, and people are generally only thinking of their own wants, desires, and interests. Self-absorbed . Plain and simple.
This should never be true of Christians. The word Christian is not used much by me, because so many people call themselves Christians when in reality they are worldly and carnal and not truly born again from above. "Christ-followers" or "true believers" are better descriptions of those born again and who are endeavoring to live a holy life, one pleasing to the good Lord.
"And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." - Luke 9:23
So we see from Luke that following Jesus requires self-denial. We do this by obeying the Lord and being completely dedicated to Him, and following in His footsteps and renouncing all notions of vainglory and any form of pride. We also do not get involved with the sinful pleasures and fleshly delights like the people of the world do.
Put God first.
Put other people next (helping them and sharing the Gospel).
And last of all, consider yourself.
Consider the example of Christ. What a true demonstration of self-denial was His Passion and Death.
"For even Christ pleased not Himself..... " - Romans 15:3 a
One of the most convicting sermons I have ever heard was today on You Tube. It was concerning the denial of self and it was a 25 minute reading of the written words of Andrew Murray. Please listen and benefit from this video which is below:
In Luke 9:23 Jesus also told us to "take up our cross daily." What exactly does that mean?
It means "Dying to self" or in being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. It means absolute surrender to the Lord. It may also mean being shunned or persecuted. In some parts of the world today, true believers are being murdered because of their faith in Jesus.
Jesus told us at Luke 9:24,25 : "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?"
The last thing Jesus said in Luke 9:23 was to "follow Him." When we are born again, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1,2), and we make a radical change in our lives by the help of the Holy Spirit. We think on things above, and our main desire is to please the good Lord and to draw ever closer to Him. By doing all this and by obeying Him and loving Him with all of our heart, mind, strength and soul (Mark 12:30) - by all of these things we are following Jesus. We endeavor to imitate Christ as best we can in these ways.
All this is possible when you read your Bible and get to know the Lord and His attributes. His Word is like Him speaking to you and guiding you. You also follow Jesus when you are often in prayer. Jesus was perfect and sinless, yet He felt the need and the desire to pray to His Father frequently. How much more should we imperfect mortals pray without ceasing! (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
God wants to fellowship with you. What He desires is a close, personal, intimate love relationship with you through Jesus Christ. A person gets to know someone by communicating with him often. We do that with the Lord by being on our knees in prayer often.
Here is a beautiful song by Jamie Cortez titled "Take Up Your Cross:"
To any unbelievers who are reading this, you need Jesus! We are living in the end times..... the last "hour" of the end times. We know this by many Bible prophecies converging right now all at once (or beginning to happen; precursors). Israel is God's prophetic time clock. Watch Middle East events closely. One prophecy that could occur at any time now is the destruction of Damascus as foretold at Isaiah 17:1. Another prophecy about to happen is Ezekiel 38 and 39 ..... the war of Gog and Magog. Russia, Turkey, and Iran are all "friends" now and they and other nations will soon come against Israel, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
I say all of that to let you know the time is short. Jesus will return soon at the Rapture of the Church, and only true believers will be taken to heaven to escape the horror and destruction to take place after the Rapture and during the 7 year Tribulation.
Turn to Jesus before it is too late!
He will welcome you with love and forgiveness !
Sincerely repent and pray to the Lord for forgiveness. You must believe that Jesus is the Savior, whose shed blood at Calvary can wash away your sins..... wipe the slate clean; if you have faith in Jesus and surrender all to Him.
Romans 10: 9, 10, 13 explains: (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
("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
"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
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" - John 11: 25,26
"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
There is an abundance of talk and action today about artificial intelligence (AI). Some of the creators of AI have expressed fear that AI will either benefit mankind or that it is the beginning of the end. Even a non-Christian immersed deeply in AI, Elon Musk, has said, "We are summoning up a demon." First watch the following 28 minute video about artificial intelligence and then we will proceed to discuss how that nothing can separate us from the love of God. The video is by prophecyinthenews.com with Kevin Clarkson as host and his guest is Billy Crone, who discusses how some fear that artificial intelligence will cause the coming human annihilation. Pastor Crone also informs us how the antichrist with the Mark of the Beast and AI will work together to collect data on all people who buy and sell, and how AI will help to micro-manage the whole planet. Let me assure you, this will all happen during the 7 year Tribulation period, after true believers are taken to heaven in the Rapture of the church. So faithful followers of Jesus Christ will not experience the Mark of the Beast and all of the horrors of the Tribulation.
To begin, let us read Romans 8:38-39 :
(38) "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, (39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In verse 38 above, when it speaks of angels and principalities and powers, it is not referring to good angels but instead is referring to evil spirits, demons. fallen angels. The word "angels" is also applied to evil spirits in Matthew 25:41.
It is not conceivable that good angels, who are "all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14), should seek to tear apart Christians from the Savior, or should have any such evil tendency.
In verse 39 of Romans 8, where it says "nor any other creature", that refers to any other created thing or any other thing in the universe. My own speculation here says that that could include any artificial intelligence, any super robotic creation. The reason I say this is because I believe these robots and any artificial intelligence can be taken over and possessed by demons. Even some believe that the Mark of the Beast (perhaps an RFID chip) may alter a person's DNA to where they are incapable of being saved. Of course, taking the Mark of the Beast is like pledging your support to the antichrist and you are thereby damned for all eternity. But remember, true believers will have already been raptured to heaven. Those left behind during the Tribulation will need to come to the Lord and NOT take the Mark of the Beast. (Revelation 13:16-17)
It is so very important to constantly read the Bible - and Study it,
and to pray often to the good Lord. That way you will draw closer to Him and develop a close, strong, intimate, and personal love relationship with Him. We live in perilous times, evil times, and we need to be strong to be able to endure whatever comes our way. That strength comes from Jesus.
One commentator says, "The purpose of God, the work of Christ, the aid of the Holy Spirit, and the tendency of all events under the direction of his Father and Friend, conspire to secure the Christian's welfare and salvation."
Once a person believes in Jesus as their Savior and is truly born again, they are secure in Christ. They will have eternal life. God loves them and will guide and direct them along the right paths they must travel in their walk of faith. Their eternity in heaven with the Lord is secure and a sure reality. God will not forsake them.
" .... for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." - Hebrews 13:5b
And remember what Jesus said at John 15:10, "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love."
The Gospel gives us a blessed hope (Titus 2:13) which nothing else can produce, and which nothing can destroy. Commit your way to the Lord.
Jesus tells us at John 10:28-29, " (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand."
The above Scriptures reveal God's love for us, and that if we are genuine believers, truly nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Read Romans 10:9,10,13 : (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Time is short !
Jesus could return at any moment!
Don't be left behind to face the horrors of the Tribulation period !
"(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
"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." - Romans 13:11
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." - John 14:6
The giraffe keeps its head high and aims high; it is never found wallowing in the dust in a state of depression. At the Honolulu Zoo I had the thrill of watching one run with all of its heart, thoroughly enjoying life.
The Christian should run this race of life with joy and enthusiasm, with an eye to the will of the Lord and always endeavoring to obey Him. Obeying God will bring joy and rewards when we are careful in the choices we make.
The ultimate choice is to choose the will of God. Following is a 2 minute sermon clip by Charles Spurgeon, titled "My Choice Is His Choice":
"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:" - Deuteronomy 30:19
To choose life instead of death is the most important choice a person will ever make. It means to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and to follow in His footsteps. If a person chooses Jesus (life) it will secure all other choices, for the reason why we often choose badly is because we have failed in that one great choice of all.
Not to make a choice is still a choice..... a choice to not follow Christ; a choice to not choose life.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." - John 14:6
All that is worth having in this world or the next is in that word "Life". "Therefore choose life."
How can a person deliberately sin, whether it be drunkenness or fornication or you name it (Galatians 5:19-21), and know that he is going against God's will and commandments and yet he still expects to see life eternal in heaven? What if his wife is a Christian and he has young children and they are taken up in the Rapture of the church and he is left behind to face the 7 year tribulation without them? Choices ! Unless that person gets saved during the tribulation, he will never see his family again.
Do not be like the above little fennec fox and be asleep and oblivious to the signs of the times and the fact that we are living in the last hour of the last days and that Jesus could come for true believers at any time now. As stated before, read Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 where you will find the signs of the end times.
There are many other choices we make in a lifetime, in a year, a month, a day, that will directly affect our future and our standing with the good Lord.
"Every choice you make has an end result." - Zig Ziglar
"Our lifestyle, language, attitudes, and manner of dress reflect on His name. He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Unless you are honestly convinced that the thing in question will bring glory to God, then don't do it." - Curtis Hutson
Remember Adam and Eve and how, in the garden of Eden, they made a choice; a choice that not only brought about sin for them, but for all mankind.
But the mercy of God provided a way - a Savior - to redeem us if we but have faith in Jesus, believe He is the promised Savior, and that we turn from our sin in true repentance. We need to pray to the Lord for forgiveness, and thereby be born again to a new life. A life of love and devotion to the good Lord, and to become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), totally surrendered to Jesus.
Someone once said, "Sometimes the greatest battle has to be fought alone."
Choose Christ!
Galatians 6:7-8 tells us (7) "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (8) For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - Romans 12:1-2
The above young White-Rumped Shama Thrush looks alert and like he is paying attention to his surroundings and is ready to take action, if need be. Oh, how we need to pay attention to all the signs around us which scream out at us, "Wake up! End times are here! Be ready for Jesus' return!"
I have written much about the Rapture and the 7-year Tribulation. (Go to the search box above and to the right and type in a subject). I will continue to write about the end times right up to the time I either die or I am raptured to heaven, whichever comes first. There is a sense of urgency in my heart and soul that compels me to warn people that we are living in the last hours of the last days.
Unfortunately, many people are so caught up in the affairs and cares of everyday living, that any notion of it all ending soon just floats on by them in an unreal, dreamlike state of non-concern and even of unbelief that it could be true that these are the last days. That falls right into the schemes of the devil; to keep people from realizing that time is running out. The evil one also tries to keep us so busy, busy, busy that we do not have time for Bible reading and prayer, whereby we could grow to maturity in the faith and be able to endure and persevere to the end.
"But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." - Jesus speaking at Matthew 24:13
Following is a recent video https://prophecywatchers.com featuring Billy Crone and his views on the soon to happen Tribulation. He believes that prophecy can wake up the Church and motivate us to share the gospel and to live godly lives. In many cases, and in many churches, the Christians are asleep where prophecy is concerned.
Billy Crone feels that God wants us to know the future because He built the future and wants to give us a hope of a glorious future with Him....that is, if we are true believers. Human beings cannot exist without hope; the heavenly Father gives us a hope and a reason to live. That is one more indication of His immense love for us.
"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;" - Hebrews 6:19
"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." - Romans 5:5
"There is an intimate connection between the life of the Christian here and the enjoyment and the glory in the day of Christ's appearing." - George Muller
Regarding the Rapture of the Church, C. S. Lewis has said, "Precisely because we cannot predict the moment, we must be ready at all moments."
The Rapture will precede the 7-year Tribulation, because believers are not appointed to suffer God's wrath in the Tribulation.
"Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." - Romans 5:9
"For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ," - 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Perhaps there are some scoffers reading this now, that do not believe in Bible prophecy and say, "Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." - 2 Peter 3:4
It is well to point out that today all things are NOT the same as they were a few years ago.... not even 10 or 20 years ago. Read the news in one hand and the Bible in another (figuratively speaking) and you will comprehend that what the Bible prophesied to happen in the last days is indeed occurring now....a convergence of all the end times signs happening all at once, as Jesus told us would be the case in Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13.
Why take a chance and scoff at the prospect of a soon Rapture of the Church, which is followed by the fearsome and devastating seven year Tribulation? Open your heart and ask God for discernment. What if all the Bible tells us is going to happen is really true? - which it is, because God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). If you remain unyielding and do not surrender to Jesus and do not believe in Him with all your heart and soul as your Savior, Lord, and Master; then you will be left behind (after the Rapture of true believers) to face and endure a time of trouble and wrath like the world has never seen before when the Tribulation period occurs.
Why take the chance of being stubborn and hard-hearted and thereby suffer in hell for all eternity? Ask God to open your eyes of understanding and to teach you the truth as you read the Bible. Admit that you are a sinner and that you need a Savior (Romans 6:23). Repent of your sins (Mark 1:15). Put your trust and faith in Jesus to save you and believe on Him for eternal life (John 3:16).
The Lord has made it simple. But it requires faith and surrender to Him to make redemption possible. He will not force you. Repentance and Faith must come from your heart.
God loves you.
Jesus is waiting to take you by the hand and call you His own.
Don't delay.
Tomorrow may be too late.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." - John 3:16
Everyone is aware of President Trump's visit to the Middle East as well as Rome. This is prophetic! Trump really wants peace for Israel and the Palestinians, and is working towards that goal. But quite frankly, there will be no true peace in the region until the Prince of Peace (Jesus) returns and sets up His Millennial Kingdom.
After the Rapture of true believers ( the Church, the Bride of Christ) the antichrist will make a covenant for peace with Israel which will begin the 7 year Tribulation, but it will be a false peace and a temporary one at that. After signing the 7 year covenant with Israel, the antichrist will break it after three-and-a-half years.
"And he (the antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years): and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. " - Daniel 9:27
It should be mentioned here that although Israel will have a brief, false peace under the antichrist, there will no doubt be wars in other parts of the earth, as the antichrist goes conquering (Revelation 6:2)
But Christians living now will not have to worry about the antichrist or who he is, because we will be raptured before he comes on the scene, or is revealed. We believers need to focus on Jesus and His soon return and live godly lives and be ready to meet Him in the air.
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: 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." - 2 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Therefore what is next - for believers - is the Rapture. For those unbelievers who are left behind, more wars, cosmic disasters, and the wrath of God as He judges the ungodly left on earth to suffer the horrors of the Tribulation.
Following is a video by prophecywatchers.com featuring Andy Woods' opinions on the "Middle East Meltdown", in which he discusses the Gog/Magog war and Ezekiel 38 as well as other insightful thoughts and conclusions.
It is Mr. Woods' opinion that Islam is furnishing the theological motivation for the Gog/Magog attack.
"What the situation will be like in the world before the Lord returns, namely, Christ will be despised, and the preachers of the Gospel will be regarded as fools." - Martin Luther
"Such are the conditions prior to Judgment Day. We need to learn from this and not fret when we see these things happening, but say: Christ predicted beforehand that the world would become so savage, coarse, greedy, and so on. Well then! That's the way it is; and it is even going to get worse." - Martin Luther
The above two quotes by Martin Luther sound very negative, but you have to admit what he said is very true of today...these last days we find ourselves living in now. Read Matthew 24.
The good news is, Christians have a blessed hope ! (Titus 2:13) The hope of being raptured to heaven to be with the Lord forever! We should be full of zeal to witness about Jesus to lost souls, especially since the time is short before His return.
Following is an uplifting song about when we shall see Jesus.
Let us remember that only Jesus can bring lasting peace to this world. If you give your heart, soul, and life to Jesus and believe He is your Savior and repent of your sins and ask for God's forgiveness, you will have a certain degree of peace right now. Peace in your soul, knowing you are right with the Lord. You may still have trials and tribulations on this earth, but with the Holy Spirit's help, you will have endurance and strength to persevere.
"(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
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." - Jesus at John 14:27
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" - Titus 2:13
Some people think we are already in the prophesied Tribulation period. They need to study their Bible more to discern that that is not the case. To begin with, the Rapture of the Church has not yet occurred, and that must happen before the Tribulation because the Lord's people are not appointed to wrath.
"Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." - Romans 5:9
"For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thessalonians 5:9
The above two Scriptures tell us how to escape the 7-year Tribulation. We need to be followers of Jesus Christ; we need to be born-again (John 3:16). We need to repent of our sins, pray and ask God for forgiveness, and put our faith and trust in Jesus as our Savior, Lord, and Master. We must put God and Jesus first in our lives.
"Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." - Acts 16:31
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:6
Once saved by faith in Jesus, you will be raptured to be with the Lord in heaven sometime soon before the 7-year Tribulation occurs and will be in heaven while the Tribulation is taking place on the earth. What a blessed hope ! (Titus 2:13). God is loving and merciful to His people.
Following is a video featuring Gary Stearman and Bob Ulrich of prophecywatchers.com. It deals with myths of the tribulation, and gives great insight into Scriptures concerning the Tribulation and answers questions such as "The reasons why the Tribulation has to happen." They also discuss a new DVD they are offering which is about a girl who wakes up one day and finds herself in the Tribulation period.
If you read the Book of Revelation in the Bible, you will discern that the Tribulation is full of God's wrath and judgment on the ungodly left on the earth after the true believers in Christ are raptured to heaven. You do not want to go through the horrors of the time of "Jacob's Trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). Turn in faith to Jesus Christ now before it is too late !
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.: - Ephesians 2:8-9
