It is the time that has come. We are at the very beginning of those “troubles” that Jesus spoke about with His disciples. The rapture or taking away of the church hasn’t happened yet but it isn’t very far away. I pray that everyone who has read or is reading this blog will give their heart to Jesus soon. If you have done so…GREAT!! If you haven’t or maybe you are still thinking about it, don’t put it off very long. None of us knows when our day is up and when that day comes you’d better be ready because there is no second chance after you die.
Our lives are pitifully short compared to eternity but most people seem to want to live forever these days, which is good if you are doing it the right way by believing in Jesus as your Savior. If you think that your righteousness can get you into heaven you are sadly mistaken. Nothing that we do while we are alive unless it is for His Kingdom, is good enough to carry over into Heaven. Unless we have given our hearts to Jesus and are living for Him and working for Him in this life in some fashion nothing that we do will bring us any reward in Heaven or even get us into Heaven.
“Our righteousness is as filthy rags” and our righteousness will not avail us one step inside the gates of Heaven. The self-righteous will never see Heaven because they considered themselves able to attain it on their own. Jesus said “without Me, you can do nothing” because He is the true vine and we are only branches.
There are many today who would read that and wonder “what is he talking about?”. Jesus said that He would return and take us to a place that He prepared for us. He is coming, although the world around us doesn’t seem to know it. They are more concerned with everyday things. What they are going to eat or drink when things become scarce? This is the question they are worried about. Jesus said that we shouldn’t worry. The birds don’t worry because God provides for them. The flowers of the field are more beautiful than any clothing designers sell but they only last a day or so, yet we tend to worry about our immediate problems. Why?
Can you change your hair color or make the flowers bloom? God is in control whether you acknowledge it or not. Believe in Him for your provision and live it every day because He loves you more than anyone else! God has a plan and His plans always work out no matter what the rest of the world is doing.
Jesus came to offer and give us life in Him, all we have to do to claim it is to believe in Him and repent of our old ways. Become a disciple of His and daily walk with Him because He loves you and He will provide for you. What makes me say that Life is in Him? Because God is the author of Life! He is the Creator and He gave you life. Just as He gave life to every person and animal and creature on the Earth and He offers eternal life to each of us if we will repent of our ways and follow Him believing that He can and will do as He promised in the Bible!
There is no life in hell. No water, no chance to rest, no “good” thing at all is available to you there. Regardless of all of your “friends” who say that there will be an eternal party in hell, that is not how it will be. Joy and happiness do not have a place there at all. If you want to enjoy life into eternity I suggest you seek Jesus to be your Savior now while there is time because if you die before accepting Him there are no second chances.
https://bible.com/stories/3531
This is a group of pictures that create a story for you to follow while you are learning to listen to God’s voice. All of us who are Christians have gone through this at some point. We wonder, “How can I know that I am hearing God’s voice?”. The learning process that you have to go through is not something that you are told in Bible school or even Sunday school and it is this omission that causes many people to walk away after they’ve become Christians. They don’t lose their salvation but they do miss out on the joy of getting to know Jesus and His Father, God.
There is a learning curve to it and the road to knowing God does have some ruts and bumps in it but Jesus told His disciples that they would have tribulation in the world. Troubles always come and when you are trying to learn better knowledge of God, it seems that they come in waves…sometimes very big waves.
Why do I say that there is a learning curve to being a Christian? Because it’s true. Making the change to being His is not a “snap your fingers” decision nor is it that simple. The Holy Spirit touches your heart and you feel the need for Jesus and the salvation that comes with Him. Then, once you have accepted Him as your Savior, your walk with Him begins. That is why He said to “take up your cross and follow Me”. Your daily life with Him requires you to place your old ways and your old self on that cross every day because your life is not about you anymore.
You have to look at the eternal picture and see that your life with Christ is never going to end. There will be a transition from this life to your eternal life but when you consider the other eternal destination had you rejected Jesus I believe you will say “It was worth it!”.
O praise the LORD, All ye nations: Praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: And the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 117:1-2 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.117.1-2.KJV
The entire world knows about God, whether they choose to believe in Him as their Redeemer and their Savior is an entirely different matter. According to the Bible or the Torah, God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh. Although many people deny the truth found in the Bible, one day they will be shown the error of their thinking. The reason that I find it strange that people choose not to believe in God is that they call on Him when there is a dire need in their life. Sudden death or illness in their family will cause even the most devout atheist to seek help from a Higher Power.
Why should we praise Him every day? Because He placed each of us here for a reason and it is our job to seek Him for that reason and become the person to fulfill it. God gives each of us a certain number of days and years to live and only He knows how many we have. If you woke up this morning and you are reading this then you have today to praise Him and be useful to Him for today. You don’t know if you will have tomorrow but He has given you today, so do your best to be useful to Him today!
Many days, we feel that He isn’t faithful but He is. We aren’t tuned in to His timing though. We don’t want to wait. Like everyone else in the world…we want instant faith, instant answers to our prayers, and drive-through sermons and salvation. But God’s Holy Spirit and His timing don’t work like that. Our prayers, even if they are fueled by faith, will be answered His way and in His time. Most believers don’t have the patience to live with God’s timing. Anyone outside of the church, and many inside it, have no patience to wait on God’s timing. It takes a few years before we learn this lesson in our spiritual walk with Him, so whether you want to or not you will learn patience if you are going to walk with Him daily.
In our lives, God uses many situations to bring us to the level of maturity that it takes to walk with Him and wait on Him too. Sometimes it is sickness. Sometimes it is a death in the family that will draw us closer to Him. It may take a few years, but eventually, God will bring you to that place where He needs you to be. Living and walking with God on a daily basis is not an easy or painless lesson to learn but to be successful in your walk with Him, He will bring you along just the same.
22 Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! 24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” Lamentations 3
This is the type of faith that every Christian should have in God and in the Lord Jesus. Most of us think that we need to ask God for more faith so we can believe like this but the faith that He gives us to believe in Jesus as our Savior is all we will ever need. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we have much faith but recall what Jesus said, “if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there and it will happen“.
The Living Message of Christ 