"Watch!" - Inspirational Weekend

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always. that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."  -  Jesus at Luke 21:36

"Watch" and "pray always":  two great duties of man.  To have a close, personal, intimate, love relationship with God through His Son Jesus, we need to be diligent to prayer; to pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17).  Now in these latter days - the end times - we need to watch for the Lord's return with great expectation; to be ready for His imminent return; to be found worthy of heaven and thereby to be living a godly and faith filled life.  Although no one knows the day or the hour of His return, His Holy Word has given us the signs that are prevalent which point to His soon return.  Read Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 to learn of these signs of the last days.  

We are there !   Right in the last "hour" of the end times and therefore the time of Jesus' return must be very soon.   Only God the Father knows the exact time when our Savior will return.

"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."    -  Jesus at Mark 13:32.

Now is not the time to be asleep or concerned only with the immediate needs to survive..... to not be involved in materialism nor even to be caught up in the cares of this world and its desires.  The devil uses distractions to keep our focus on anything and everything but doing the Lord's will.   We need to be busy and occupied with the Lord's work of disciple-making; preaching and teaching the Gospel.

"Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober."  -   1 Thessalonians 5:6

I have written previously about the Rapture and end times.  For more information go to the "Search box" at the top right hand side of this page and type in "Rapture" or "Tribulation" or "last days" (etc.) and several posts will appear for you to choose which ones that interest you to read.

Following is a 29 minute video from prophecywatchers.com  featuring host Gary Stearman with guest Dr. David Reagan, who is a prophecy expert.   

In this video, they stress the soon return of Jesus.   The Rapture has always been imminent; that is, it could happen at any time.  But now with signs of the end times all converging at once, it must occur very soon.   Be ready !

In light of Bible prophecy and current world events, it makes Dr. Reagan say, "It is like the Lord is shouting from Heaven, 'Jesus is returning soon.' "

One thing of interest is what Dr. Reagan brings to light in the above video.   He said that in the 1800's about 100 people a day were coming to Jesus; in the 1900's about 1000 people a day came to Jesus;  and today, almost 200,000 are coming to Christ in a day.

"For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry."  -   Hebrews 10:37

It is to this future hope that we must look.  Speaking from Heaven's point of view, there is not long to go before  Jesus returns for His Bride, the church, true believers.

Yes, believers have a blessed hope. (Titus 2:13)  We will have an eternity to spend with the good Lord.   In heaven, there will be no more death or sorrow or pain.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away."    -  Revelation 21:4

Those of you who have not yet accepted Jesus as your Savior have no such blessed hope.  There should be a dread come upon you when you contemplate an eternity in darkness and torments.  Why not be wise and surrender your life to the good Lord in faith and believe that Jesus is the Savior.  Only He can fill that void within your soul.  He will give you a purpose and a hope.  It is so much better than the alternative.

But we are not talking about "head knowledge" of Jesus.  We are talking about believing with your whole heart and all of your very being that He is the Savior and that only faith and belief in Him enables Him to wash your sins away.  Turn to the Lord in prayer and ask for forgiveness.  Sincerely repent of all sins and do not go back again to a worldly, lustful, and sinful life.  Believe also in Christ's resurrection.

Romans 10:9,10, and 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."

Jesus loves you and is waiting to welcome you to the family of God.  He will forgive you and wipe the slate clean.

If you are truly born again (John 3:3), you will surrender your life and will to the Lord and show your love by your obedience to His commandments. 

Find a true, Holy Spirit filled church that puts Jesus first.  Pray without ceasing and read your Bible daily.  You will then begin to grow to maturity and be pleasing to the Lord.   But keep in mind, it is not works that save you.   It is sincere belief and faith in Jesus that saves you......it is God's gift; it is His grace.

"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


Keep watching !

Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend...... and life !

"The Rapture Is Near! Are You Ready?" (With Videos) - Inspirational Weekend

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ."  -  Titus 2:13

All Christians know that that "Blessed Hope" is the Rapture of the true believers; that promised hope we long for, for we will be taken to heaven to be with Jesus forever.  Actually, after the 7 year Tribulation period, we will return with the Lord to the earth to live for 1000 years under the Millennial Kingdom, with Jesus Christ ruling over us.   But that is another subject for another article.

Prior to this post, we have discussed here the Mystery of God and the Mystery of Godliness .  Now we will discuss the Mystery of the Rapture.  To begin, here is a 59 minute video on that topic where Amir Tsarfati gives an excellent discourse with much information to digest.  It was published in January of 2017, as Amir mentions that year in his sermon; however, facts presented here are still relevant and true today.

The purpose of the Rapture is to take believers to heaven with the Lord before God pours out His wrath upon those ungodly and unrepentant persons left behind to face the horrors of the tribulation period.  You do not want to be here and face the destruction and plagues and the wrath of God during the 7 year tribulation!  Make sure you are ready to meet Jesus by living a godly life; but first, of course, by surrendering your life to Him in faith and belief in Him as the Savior.

1 Corinthians 15:50-54 tells us:  (50) "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (51) Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,     (52) 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.  (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  (54)  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."

In the verses above, the apostle Paul clarifies some of the mystery of the Rapture.  I have written often concerning the Rapture.  You can go to the "Search this blog" box on the upper right hand side of this page and type in "rapture" and several posts will appear which you can then read the ones that are of interest to you.  Here is a link to one of the articles I wrote last year about how the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of the Lord differ.

In the above link, there is a short video featuring author Ron Rhodes, who speaks on the timing of the Rapture. He uses humor to help make his point and it is a pleasure to listen to his reasoning.  One thing he mentioned was "Every  problem we've got will be fixed by the Rapture."   If you are old and falling apart, the Rapture will fix that.  If you are tired and just want to be at rest with the good Lord, the Rapture will fix that.

We must make sure that we are ready for the Lord's soon return in the Rapture !!

"The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come."  -  Isaiah 57:1

Praise and thank God for His mercy and love in keeping believers from the wrath of the Tribulation period!

Remember, you must be born again and totally committed to the Lord to escape the tribulation.  

"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."   -  John 3:3

When you are born again, you have put your faith and belief in Jesus as the Savior; you have repented of all sin, and you pray to God for forgiveness of your past sins.  You believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, and you endeavor to live a godly life; a life of obedience to the Lord.  You become a new creature; your carnal nature is transformed into a holy nature, focused on things above, not on things of this evil world scene.  

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away; behold, all things are become new."   -    2 Corinthians 5:17

Colossians 3:1-2 admonishes us:  (1) "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  (2) Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth."

Here is a song about the Rapture, or should I say, about being "left behind".

Don't be left behind! Take to heart the Scriptures found in this article.  Make sure you are ready for Jesus' return !

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."

"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

 "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

Think about all the good Lord has done for you.

Think about His great love and that He longs to hear from you, to fellowship with you, and to have a strong personal and intimate love relationship with you.

Turn to the Lord and live a life pleasing to Him.

Believe Jesus is the Savior !

Repent and turn from your sins.

He will welcome you with arms wide open in an embrace of love and forgiveness!

As you draw close to Him, He will draw close to you (James 4:8)

Be blessed and have a Christ centered weekend ..... and life !

Current Events and Bible Prophecy - Paul's Rapture Or Near-death Experience ? (With videos)

Both topics in the title above seemed so important that I decided to include two recent videos in this post and to discuss them both briefly, while letting the videos and Scriptures be the main sources of information and not my comments.  

"It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory.  I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.  I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell:  God knoweth;) such a one caught up to the third heaven.  And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."   -  2 Corinthians 12:1-4

A long time ago I ran across information on these verses above that what Paul probably experienced was a near-death experience. The fact that it happened 14 years previous to his recording it here made one commentator believe that that was when Paul was stoned and left for dead at Lystra (Acts 14:19).  What this commentator was ignoring is the Scripture found at Hebrews 9:27 which follows:

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

Following is a video by Gary Stearman of Prophecywatchers.com in which he believes Paul's experience was more like a rapture, as was also experienced by Enoch and Elijah.   This is compatible with Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 12:2-3, where he uses the words "caught up" which in the Greek is harpazo which means a snatching away suddenly as in the rapture.   

Did you hear about how the Syrians fired a couple of rockets towards Israeli planes earlier this month?  Israel promptly destroyed those rocket launchers.  That was the first time that Israel was actually attacked by Syria.  In the following video on Middle East events in the light of Bible prophecy,  Amir Tsarfati tells us that everything happening in the Middle East right now is moving us fast toward the Rapture of the Church.   He touches on other subjects as well in this video.

Believers in Christ, lift up your heads and rejoice for your deliverance is near !!   (Luke 21:28)

Colossians 3:1-2 tells us:  "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

"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 John 14:2-3