January 9 & 10, 2010 Okay, okay, okay ~ I have NOT fallen off my perch; I have NOT given up on the rapture (our BLESSED HOPE!!). It’s just that I took a time out, I had to regroup. The month of Dec. tends to overwhelm me!!
Not quite enough going on in life {sarcasm} ~ but society deems to place even more on our shoulders during the month of December whether you buy into Christmas activities or not {rant mode off now}.
Well, you’ve got to admit - we are now CLOSER to the rapture than we were LAST YEAR!!
I am TRYING to work more at the things/projects I failed to work on all these years & to stop living so much in regretville. As the Apostle Paul said in Phil 3: Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.Decided that needs to be a Scripture I keep in front of me this year!
Otherwise, I get crippled by living in shoulda’ / woulda / coulda land - So anyway, that to say, just regular life has been keeping me pretty busy lately, and also it helps me to focus my mind on something rather than to cower down when I hear all the bad news surrounding us from every angle! You know what I mean - bad news ALL THE TIME & pretty soon, how easy it is to forget that there’s even anything good to think on! We can so easily circle the drain ourselves ~ right along with the rest of the world ~ if we do not PURPOSELY think of good things! No wonder we’d need to be reminded of even the bare basics of what to think on: Phil 4:8
It sure seems like the cup of sin is full to almost overflowing ~ Apostasy is at a PEEK ~ even within the church walls ~ of where they are SUPPOSED to be leading people to the Lord!! Instead, they are telling them how to seek Jesus {do REAL Christians need to seek Him, when we already have Him?; they are telling people how to be healthy, wealthy, and blessed all the time ~ and yet, you notice if WE are not health or rich, then it’s because {according to them} we don’t have ENOUGH FAITH ~ however, if THEY die, then it’s because it was time for them to go on to heaven! Hmm& Anyone see anything wrong here? Why doesn’t their formula work for them, TOO? Can anyone say, hypocrite??....
Folks, living here on this earth ~ we were promised tribulation <– “small t” We were never promised a bed of roses, but maybe the thorns. And WHERE in the Bible does it say we are to be rich? I tell you HOW rich we are to be: if we have more than 1 coat, the Lord says we are to give the 2nd one to someone who has none ~ and to do the same with our food. I know! I have trouble doing that all the time, too. (smile!) We are to be CONTENT with food and clothing! And “riches”?? ~ we’re to send on ahead!!...
1 Tim 6:5 says: “And protracted wrangling and wearing discussion and perpetual friction among men who are corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, who imagine that godliness or righteousness is a source of profit [a moneymaking business, a means of livelihood]. From such withdraw.”
Scripture even tells us to NOT go to certain churches that preach that godliness means access to worldly/material gain.
The book of James warns AGAINST those who stockpile tons of cash in these last days ~ and further, the Word says that those who are rich in this present life already have their CONSOLATION& ..... OUCH!! Luke 6: 24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. I know there are some KJV-onlyists who read here, so you guys have my permission to skip the following .... Smile! But for those of us who like to have clear cut understanding in language we can easily understand, let’s plug this verse into another couple of translations: from Amplified: Luke 6:24 But woe to (alas for) you who are rich (abounding in material resources), for you already are receiving your consolation (the solace and sense of strengthening and cheer that come from prosperity) and have taken and enjoyed your comfort in full [having nothing left to be awarded you].
And Luke 6:24 from New Living: What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.
Your ONLY happiness NOW?? Sorrow AWAITS you?? Does that honestly sound like heaven to you? And even if one should get to heaven in spite of his riches [perhaps the rich person who earnestly shares and certainly loves the Lord more than his $$!!], but even so, that person it would seem would be living in a corner shack of heaven with absolutely no more reward ~ you’ve already had it here on earth!! At any rate: I like the term that the late Adrian Rogers appropriately applied here, he called those who believe such unbiblical doctrine the joy boys - club! Amen to that. We brought nothing into this world & for sure, we will carry nothing out.
Certainly there’s got to be a balance - not rich, not overly abundant in material possessions but not so broke all the time either ~ that we’re having to constantly borrow money from this person & that person to pay life’s most basic essentials. It’s about BALANCE!!! And doing with money the same as with other resources the Lord has provided to ultimately bring glory & honor to Him. ~~ to use it as HE directs.
BTW, though Scripture commends over & over that we help the poor, the same Word says that he who will not work the same should not eat. And even Proverbs talks about there is much food in the fallow ground of the poor. Ponder that, will you?!
Thus, dear Christian friend, if you are currently unemployed & desperately need work, PRAY, because the Lord is most anxious to direct your paths! ~ and He can even help you become resourceful in the meantime should you need to find an honest, moral, God--pleasing way to earn some extra money on your own in spite of the loss of a regular paycheck.
Pray that He give you a sound mind & peace first & foremost so that you can go from there. Otherwise, the worry will cripple you. Turn your worry to Him & confess it. He tells us to NOT worry. Give your depression & discouragement to Him!
I know too many Christians who are down in the dumps & in the slumps right now. He can see you through this if you will trust that He will. Also keep in mind that He feeds the sparrows but does not drop the food into their nests!! Wink-wink! Work AND pray ~ together.. They go hand in hand in this situation. For most folks, that means getting out, applying, pounding the pavement, working 40 hours a week just to find a JOB!! Treating LOOKING FOR WORK ~ with the same zest, gusto & energy as actually working.
Even with a teeny-tiny bit of faith (as much as a mustard seed) cast the mountain to fall into the sea, the mountains of doubt, self-doubt, WORRY, and fretting over your situation & the future. Go ahead & thank Him NOW for the answer that He has forthcoming & is already in the works for you. {Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition , with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6}
Even when things are still bad, and it will be a huge burden lifted when the Lord reveals a remedy for you. Praise God even in the middle of the problems. Trust Him for timing for the solution. Then, just like the sparrow, get down & dig in the dirt... As we cannot expect jobs just to fall outta - the sky & bonk us on the heads! ~ smile!
Well, don’t know how I got off on all that. But maybe someone needed to hear it?
Mainly what I wanted to write about today is regarding a little (kindly done though, thankfully) debate I saw going on at one of the prophecy boards, regarding and wondering just how BAD will life GET ~ even here in America, preceding the rapture.
A good friend writes: I haven't lost interest in prophecy and end-times events, but our so-called leaders, chipping away at our freedoms, taxing everything that isn't gold-plated, and being so brazenly arrogant and power-hungry, lead me to wonder just how bad it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Surely the Lord can't be more than a couple of years away? It is enormously difficult for me to see the rapid changes taking place, or to feel joyful //END. Remember dear Bobbie: The joy of the Lord IS YOUR STRENGTH!!!! Sending you smiles & a hug ~ and prayers straight to THEE Throne room!! In Jesus’ name!
Some want to insist that even in this country Christians are gonna get tortured before the rapture. Look, I don’t know everything & dare not set myself up as a teacher ~ as teachers come under greater judgment. However, I can try to share with you what I think & why I believe we are so close to the rapture.
First & foremost, all the world is coming against Israel right now, and of course, the ever present demand that they split THEIR GOD-GIVEN land. On the eve of his visit to the M.E. the U.S. special envoy, George Mitchell, said that the U.S. would freeze their aid to Israel if they failed to advance peace talks with the Palestinians.... um, Freeze! Is it any wonder that most of this country has been freezing literally these past couple of weeks??!!
How bad will it get in America before the rapture? While no one can say for sure, the cup of sin seems full. All the little sins that people don’t think a thing about: i.e. I walked into a women’s restroom at the super mart today & there lay on the floor several tags ~ where people had ripped them off clothing & threw them on the floor ~~ probably, I’m sure, so they could wear the clothing out ~ and be sneaky, not looking like they’d STOLEN it. Thievery?? Petty crime, eh?? Not if it’s purposely done & not repented of: 1 Cor 6:9-11 and if it has been repented of, we are not to deliberately live like that any more. We are NOT to steal from even the big box stores ~ the way the man who dares to call himself a priest recently taught!!! GOODNIGHT BROTHER!!!!! Is he casting people off a cliff or what??!
Plus, someone emailed me that opening up her Sunday paper, there on the front page was about a Lot’s Day kind of couple bringing up their daughter, .. Sick, sick, SICK!!! Days of Lot & Noah FOR SURE!!! ~ and since this is now more of a common practice these days, the norm ~ then our redemption just cannot be much longer.
Plus, like I mentioned ~ there are VERY FEW churches left in this country that are NOT apostate!!! Again, the cup of sin is full to overflowing.
But some of my other personal reasoning why I do not think America will start torturing real Christians before the rapture ~ goes hand in hand with my belief that America is the daughter of Babylon and life continues on as normal up until the rapture. Now, how quickly things will change following the rapture ~ it’s heart rendering to think that even little kids here in this country ~ home of the free and the brave right ~ will be kidnapped in broad daylight & taken to slave camps! Jeremiah 50:45 In the end, when the U.S. gets it ~ the army and all armed forces branches will drink themselves into a coma in either partying it up, or trying to forget the forces that are coming against them. Do you know any rare breed of person who’s in the military who is NOT a boozer? Surely there’s got to be even a small group some where!! I soo hope! If so, then that’s a rare soul indeed & I’d say s/he should be prayed for in order to remain strong. But anyway ~ what is going on today ~ will only be magnified after the rapture & then a few years into the Tribulation.
This is not to say that this country has already lost many of its freedoms ~ freedom of speech, for instance. When high school football coaches are arrested & literally threatened with PRISON TIME for the big sin of PRAYING before a game ~ then this country & the people who live in it have LOST our freedom of speech!! We, of course, keep in mind that rapists, murderers and kidnappers, et al, still roam the streets freely. But ooof ~ dare pray before a football game & wham ~ prison door slams shut in your face!! I expect other rights in the Constitution to be trashed as well. This place is not the same it was just a mere 20 years ago.
Lastly, let me talk about how many pastors/preachers who ought to know the Word of God ~ are off base ~ some going astray, some maybe shouldn’t be teaching in the first place, if they are not preaching 100% Biblical doctrine. Look the judgments of God ~ His wrath ~ do not begin before the rapture!
LUDICROUS to believe the rapture is post trib ~ what would EVEN BE THE POINT? We’d go up ~ only to have to IMMEDIATELY do a 180 degree turn around & come RIGHT BACK DOWN!!! ~ as Jesus comes & steps His foot on the Mount of Olives. There would be no seeing heaven ~ at all!
No, no, no ~it is not that way at all. Thankfully the Lord raises us UP ~ to be WHERE He is!! {John 14:1-3} And the hellish judgments of the Tribulation are for all RESIDENTS of the earth {ref: Rev. 13; 14; 17; 18} Luke 21:35 how could they possibly be for us - by then, we’re no longer even residing here. The Word warns over & again about the dangers of falling into a SNARE and the Lord is not setting a SNARE for those who love and are following Him. That Luke 21:35 snare is for all the rest of the population left here, which sadly (but their choice) will be most of the world.
And some people like to pointedly say ~ look, they torture Christians in other country!! Yes, true; most likely they always have. But the torture does not come from the Lord Himself!! Those who remain abiding in the Vine are NOT appointed to HIS wrath!!
Anyway, on to other things: Recently, I met with a friend who (I’m assuming thanks to Bible studies she’s involved in - is back “into watching” again.) And she mentioned the rapture in a chipper tone when we sat down to lunch. She also set out to give me an immediate lecture of how ALL children under the age of accountability would go in the rapture. I explained how I used to believe as she does, until reading Scripture more in depth, and now am pretty sure according to 1 Cor that at least 1 parent has to be a Christian for their children to be considered holy and thus, rapture worthy. Boy, did she give me a go to hades LOOK!!!! Like I personally was damning some sweet little children who she personally knows!!
Look, I didn’t write the rules! It absolutely breaks my heart, too. Yet, remember in the OT there were times that children were purposely wiped out, too, or else they’d grow up to repeat the sins of their parents. I do know there will be children here during the Tribulation. (that’s obvious from Jeremiah 50 as well as other Scriptures) The ultimate conclusion is: the God Who made us ~ KNOWS BEST!! End of story!! I do not know for sure how He is going to handle children, but going by this Scripture, I’m fairly certain He will not be taking the ones under the age of accountability who do not have at least one Christian parent. And once a child DOES reach the age of accountability? Well, then he’s most decidedly on his own to turn to the Lord; at that point, his parents’ choices have no bearing on him or his “protection” as clean and holy.
I do know this for sure! ~ the Lord will not rapture anyone by mistake ~ nor will He leave anyone by mistake. And He SURELY will not rapture those who spit in His face, who have gone astray, and He would have to yank to heaven kicking and screaming! [ on mb’s well-meaning, but totally wrong Christians actually teach that – that the Lord will rapture someone against their will!! And drag them to heaven “kicking and screaming”.] Regardless of what the (wrong) OSAS teachers tell you, this is totally absurd. Anyway, back to children in the rapture, see this study: http://www.cobblestoneroadministry.org/Rapture_children_in.html
For now, our ultimate goal should be to live within the will of the Father regardless of how many days, months, years?... {I still prefer to think in shorter chunks of time myself,} we may have left down here. And some days the ride can be wild, you know? Some days we feel like gerbils forever racing on treadmills ~ what with the rate of things happening in these end days.
And by the way, Christian, if you’ve fallen on your face AGAIN ~ skinned your knees, feel all beat up by the adversary, feel like you cannot possibly ONCE AGAIN go to the Lord for forgiveness, feel like you need to hang your head in shame & aren’t even worthy of further reading His Word ~ I’ve got good news for you - He is STILL in the forgiving business!! ~ and wants nothing better than good relationship and fellowship with you! ~ even when YOU feel you are not worthy to be called His child! Luke 15:21 RUN, RUN, RUN HOME TO HIM!!! ~ do not put it off any longer. Luke 15:20, 22 We remember that Judas sinned against the Lord ~ and even though he grieved deeply, yet he did not humble himself in confession & repentance. Peter sinned gravely, too, as well as did Paul. Yet, they both turned to the Lord. TURN TO HIM TODAY!!!! DO NOT DELAY!!!
Hopefully we’ll be hearing Garbriel’s horn soon! Keep hanging on to your Blessed Hope!
Good link: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs019/1101818841456/archive/1102907987804.html
And ~ http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs019/1101818841456/archive/1102909586771.html
Oh! ~ and my yes, I so agree with others who’ve said that God Himself is this land’s SECURITY ADVISOR!! ~ otherwise, suicide bombing will soon be the order of the day here, too. Sin to shun ~ heaven to gain. SOON!! Meanwhile, Love the Lord! Love people! May the Lord be blessed & honored by choices we make today & by the things do, think and say! We pray that He will give us pure thoughts before Him and help us to even direct our thoughts. Amen and of course: MARANATHA!! Keep looking up! ~~
Jan 11, 2010 ~ U.S. Senators refuse to let O administration freeze aid to Israel. YAY for them!!! Prayers for them, too!! I have far, far, far greater respect for Sen. Lieberman than I did when first getting to know him when he ran for high office. And John McCain ~ woo-hoo!! You rock! The others, too. Thank you for taking a stand!
From Israel Today: http://www.israeltoday.co.il:80/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=20357