Ready For The Rapture?

For a while now, I have been hearing how some believers have that feeling that the Rapture is imminent, I am one of those believers. It is like we are at a point in history where everyone has something that is making them doubt or question. Why does God allow this or that? Many are unfamiliar with prophecy and God’s covenant of peace that came in form of Jesus.

I am not a scholar, but I have studied some prophecy. I realize that not all believers are on the same page, some might even deny a Rapture of the church. It is true that phrase isn’t exactly in the Bible. It came into teaching in the 1800’s. Believe me, God reveals more and more as His timeline unfolds. The actual word is meant for the Greek harpezo or catching away.

For the Lord, Himself, will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.…1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Since the New Testament was written in Greek, even though Jesus would have spoken Hebrew and Aramaic, we can see by the definition the implication and revelation given to Paul. Harpezo means to seize by force, snatch up, suddenly and decisively – like someone seizing a bounty (spoil, a prize); to take by an open display of force.

The Bible is clear that He will move believers when the Father says to come. It might even take us by surprise because we don’t know when it will be. We are His beloved, His children and I don’t believe that He will leave us to endure the Great Tribulation, though some do. I am a pre-tribulation believer and I know some can make claims for mid and post as well. Some say there are more that one Rapture, and yes, He will call up the slain, but this is different. I believe He will remove us by force, being the power of His Spirit before there is the most horrific of events and the arrival of an Antichrist, that will deceive many.

Have you ever moved a child forcefully away from the stove or fireplace, snatched their clothing or even hair to keep them from running into the street? It’s the same thing. God will protect us, He already has more than we know. 

The last part of it, to comfort one another with these words is imperative. It is not something to fear. He may come unexpectedly, as a thief in the night, or more like the Jewish bridegroom for His beloved. As long as we have accepted Jesus as Lord, we have nothing to fear. 

We talked about being caught up or carried away in the Spirit, that is similar, it happens to believers operating in spiritual gifts. But this is a forever catching away, so shall we ever be with the Lord! Are you ready for the Rapture? I sure am! A lot of us have face many trials and a lot of spiritual warfare, and we are certainly ready to see Jesus.

I encourage you to think about the story where Philip is one place and suddenly another, beside the eunuch reading Isaiah. Think about Elijah, carried away in a chariot. And remember how Enoch walked with God and then wasn’t, he just vanished, God took Him.  That to me is what the Rapture will be like.

And I do believe that they are the two witnesses who will be killed in the street of Jerusalem in Revelation. I know some say Moses and Elijah, but Moses died and God buried him, though I have seen a program suggesting a place of his burial, I don’t think anyone truly knows, as it was not meant for him to be idolized. Enoch and Elijah never died and will have to. But thankfully, not all of us do because He is coming.

There is so much tribulation already in the world, the spirit of antichrist is also at work, hate and division, destruction. Only God knows hearts, only He can end this age and allow eternity to begin. I read a friend’s post about the importance of sharing the gospel, and it is! But I also see it mocked and ridiculed, rejected. It is important for us to remain in faith, hope and love, for that Great Tribulation is coming, and again the question is, ” Are you ready for the Rapture? ” If you know someone you could talk to or share your faith with, now is the time before it is too late. I  pray He prepares every last heart.

And it is also a time to use caution and wisdom, allow the Spirit to discern for you, the enemy is aware that his time is short, but he has been defeated already. Jesus has fought and won our battles and fights for us as we are still. If you can pray in the Spirit, do so. Let Him guide you, pray for you and rightly divide, and you will be ready for the Rapture.

For, ” In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. ” Hebrews 10:37

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “ Yes, I am coming soon! ” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people. “ Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. ” Revelation 22:20-22

Bo Yeshua Bo, Hebrew for come Jesus, come.

Yuliia Chyzhevska / Canva Pro

You’ve Been Left Behind!

Recently, there were some ladies talking about an old movie from the 70’s, A Thief In The Night. I saw it as a teenager. Because I loved Jesus, even as a youngster, I hated the thought of anyone going to hell. As I grew and learned so much more about that great sacrifice, I realize that it was just too much for Him to give and not keep the covenant with mankind. Not everyone will be saved though offered a chance.

Everyone has a free will, and will have to decide. They also have to choose who or what to believe in, there are many who are now deceived and will be, when Jesus does return, like the proverbial thief in the night. I have never forgotten the line from a song…” How could you have been so blind? The Son has come and you’ve been left behind! “

It is a terrible thought but one that is on the horizon. For some, more than some, His return will be like a thief but to believers, we are awaiting the beloved bridegroom, Jesus. As a spiritual comparison, the church is the bride that the bridegroom comes for in the night, no one know when and must keep their lamps lit.

I know that over the years there have been movies made about it, including being left behind as a series. I saw that and I thought about how people just vanish. There are wrecks, a plane that crashes and just chaos. But somehow, I think that the chaos is ongoing in the world and will escalate with the Holy Spirit removing believers. Personally, I don’t see a God of peace doing it this way.

What if you just didn’t go to work or school? What if, as in the days of Covid or situations like mass shootings, storms or disasters, we are sheltered in place? What if we were all asleep, even in different parts of the world? I suppose it could happen that way, God is in control of time. Or maybe, in the chaos and confusion, He comes very unexpectedly as He says. Jesus gives us the illustration of one taken, the other left, in various scenarios. But half the world is not likely to be taken in the Rapture of the church. It isn’t realistic and I’m not good at math, but I would guess that half the population being believers is not accurate.

There are still believers who aren’t understanding prophecy, might not even know about or believe some of it, and sadly many who have already chosen a dark path and have no thought of going back. It is the time to pray, to keep an eye on what is going on, to believe His promises of angelic protection and divine intervention.

Should you be left behind, it would be better to give your life than take the forever damning mark of the Antichrist, the number that is six hundred, sixty and six. It could be a chip or implant, in the forehead or palm. It is easy to see, with the addiction to phones how it happen. Some people never put them down, and it is about to be possible to scan a purchase with a chip in your palm.

What is even better, because it will be harder then to serve Christ, is to believe now. Ask Jesus to save you, deliver you, and give you peace. I pray He prepares every heart that will listen because, people are placing blame, accusing and violence is escalating. I know not everyone will believe, but He heals the broken hearted and binds their wounds, Psalm 147:3. Won’t you at least consider accepting His love, refusing it will keep you from heaven.

It would be bad to face an eternity in hell, worse knowing you didn’t have to. No doubt some will remain defiant that they don’t belong there. It would be a shame for anyone to be lost when you have had every chance. Don’t be so consumed with causes or anger, hatred or be so blind, that the Son will come and you are left behind.

leolintang / Getty Images / Canva Pro

The Bread Of Peace

I have written a lot of posts about healing. And several were about receiving Communion as a way toward it. I have heard of a miraculous healing after someone was given the wine and bread in a hospital, after a few days. I also heard of a man who passed away, I don’t know if he was given the Eucharist or not though I passed along the information to his family.

Far be it for me to judge, I cannot see hearts and decide who really believes or not. As a young woman, I thought that if ministers really could pray for healing why didn’t they and why didn’t people get well. As a child, I kept a lot of my pain to myself. know now that God was sowing faith in me to be healed and to have a greater understanding of it. He was not the cause but the solution.

Communion is not some sort of panacea, but it is to be taken reverently and with a repentant heart. Jesus paid the price for our sins, all of them, even before were were created. That is why we should reverence and honor our communion with Him and have great regard for Holy Communion. It is not to be taken lightly.

A lot of people stopped following Jesus after He taught it, John 6:66. Take note of the number of that verse. Originally, the text was not numbered but we are familiar with that one as a believer. The devil does not want you to know the power of His Word, nor Spirit, His peace and certainly not the body and blood that we call Communion.

The Catholic idea is that the blessed wafer and wine becomes a transubstantiation into a literal representation of His body. While it is representative of Him in the spiritual, the literal act is one of faith, again, not to be taken lightly. To do so can result in dire consequences, should one continue in willful sin.

It is certainly not to be feared but sacred, a true mystery of how Jesus heals what even surgeons can only remove, how He can destroy the presence of a demonic entity that is oppressing a person. We don’t always know what a person’s true condition is or what is on their mind but He does.

Jesus is called manna from heaven. The patriarchs wandered around for forty years, but God provided them with manna. How long have we been wandering, with only crumbs from the Master’s table when we are covenant believers, sons and daughters of Abraham. We shout be breaking bread and receiving Him with the faith and gratitude as He is the only one worthy of all praise. The only acceptable sacrifice in our stead.

Sometimes, I think the devil might not be as scared of us as he should be when we are empowered with the Word, especially, if we are not aware of that power ourselves, but I know he fears the one who was pierced and punished for us, who defeated him so long ago and has and will ever since. And he could not force a fasting Jesus to turn stones to bread. He knew that would not sustain Him as a human being, nor us. His communion with the Father and Spirit did, and it is what He offers us.

Think carefully about this powerful teaching, not mine, His. Continue to take medicine, see the doctor and you will know when healing has truly come. I do believe He wanted to heal all who came to Him, but some would not receive. I believe it is His will now, but the truth is the same, not all will believe or receive it. And we do live in a fallen world just as people did then, only we have a lot more revelation and teaching, and the Holy Spirit. But just think, they had Him! What if we did?

Well, we do! He is our bread of life and peace.

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35

Yes, I am the bread of life! John 6:48

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh. John 6:51

Taking Communion is not some sort of mystical way of healing, though it is mysterious and has an affect on one’s body and soul as a believer who understands the importance of receiving, Jesus, the bread of peace.

Let’s look at 1 Kings 22:27, the king has someone imprisoned and fed the bread of affliction and water of affliction until he comes. Communion or matzah is that is hidden at Passover, is eaten as dessert, at the end of the meal. Wrapped in the center of a cloth or napkin with three dividers, the afikomen or manna is hidden or on the table between two other slices. It is a even a game, in some instances, for children to find it.

Surely, we the children who want to find it, the bread of heaven who instituted Communion at Passover, the very Lamb, who drank from all the four cups and offers to share Himself with us. He was afflicted, put on a cross between two thieves, yet, is the Son between the Father and Spirit.

He is like the manna, hidden in the Ark of the Covenant, and the one coming in Revelation. He folded the napkin in the tomb, as sign that He was pleased with the Last Supper, and would return. Like the matzah looks, He was bruised and pierced, without leaven or sin. It may have been carried on the should of those leaving captivity, but it all fell on His shoulders and now He is about to return, the bread of peace, the Prince of Peace.

Perhaps, Communion should be a part of celebrating Thanksgiving. but we can always invite Him to our table because He has prepared us one in the presence of our enemy, and it is He who fills us.

Antonio Gravate / Canva Pro

Thanks And Peace

I already wrote about how giving thanks for His peace is a good idea this time of year at Thanksgiving. Maybe, you don’t celebrate it where you live, but here in America, it reminds of the harvest and how our pilgrim forefathers survived harsh winters with the help of some peace Indian friends and a lot of prayer.

Canadians have had theirs already, and a friend in Australia would eat a special dinner with me, you could do that too. It doesn’t have to be fancy or even traditional. I am just so thankful to be here to celebrate this year. You may know that two years ago, I was hospitalized, I missed all the holidays. And last year, I was still recovering.

I went to lunch today with my mother, who at eighty, in about a month, can still drive me around. I’m still working on that. Someone paid our bill and even the tip, the waitress told us. As I started to go home, I just thanked Him for His goodness and favor toward us.

I really want to see a turn around from the major spiritual assault on us, and giving thanks is certainly a way to believe and receive the abundance of His peace that i have tried to sow.

Go back and read how Jesus thanked God before breaking bread, and even that He heard His prayer before raising the dead, Lazarus, actually. But how many times did He thank Him, we don’t have any idea. It would be a good study to go back and read the accounts during His ministry on earth, and them like loaves and fishes, you can multiply that a multitude of times.

My birthday is December 5th, I know my post on that fundraising came up on FB, earlier than I thought, I had never done that before, but the thought of people doing without food in the winter is an unpleasant one. If you would like to donate, thanks in advance.

But aside from donating cans and prayers this year, I though it would be a god idea to buy someone’s lunch or dinner, just like what happened to us today. What a great way to give thanks and celebrate this Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading my blog and the prayers. I thank the Lord for His abundant life, it all starts and ends with Him and is all about Him. And I thank Him for His grace and peace.

The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the LORD with one voice. They lifted up their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.” And the temple, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud. 2 Chronicles 5:13

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20

And Jesus…

And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it… Matthew 25:27

He also blessed the bread.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. John 6:11

Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ” from John 11

May we sow in righteousness, and reap a harvest of peace, James 3:8 this Thanksgiving week.

D. Keine / Getty Images/ Canva Pro

The Blessing Of Peace

While I am taking some time off for some much needed rest in Jesus, I wanted to continue talking about His peace. While the war is still going on in Israel, I am reminded of how the children are blessed on the Sabbath. I even saw a woman doing this for her grown son who may have been killed or is a captive.

On Friday evening, the Sabbath being from sundown to sundown, fathers, mothers or an older relative will lay hands on the head of the child and bless them. It can be the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26 or something else, a particular prayer for the child. It could be angelic protection and divine intervention, or just blessing them in life, at school or in a particular calling, even for a future marriage.

I have watched a Messianic couple pray blessings over people, things like, ” If you are a teacher, I bless you to be the best teacher you can be. ” It works for any specific profession, so go ahead and pray that for your children and loved ones, young or older, they don’t stop being your children, and we don’t stop being God’s do we?

You don’t have to be Jewish, or Messianic, and even unbelievers can speak good things over their children. Jesus even said that if people, in the natural, or evil as He put it in Matthew 7:7, can give good gifts to their children, how much more can a heavenly Father do?

And one of my favorite verses is this…..

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17 New King James

In other words, He doesn’t change His mind. I remember years ago praying about giving up the idea of becoming a writer, if He would just bring healing to me. That wasn’t His idea, He gave me the good and perfect gift of writing, to heal me and to share that love and healing with others. Isn’t it strange what we can come up with, trying to find our own answers instead of letting Him answer in His way and time?

I can’t lay a hand on your head, but He surely can. I can pray a prayer of intercession and by proxy, lay mine on the computer screen and bless you today in His name with whatever He deigns to give you, the desires of your heart. I can speak peace to you and ask that you receive it, because there is a blessing of peace, and His words, when prayed in alignment to His perfect will, do not return void but prosper wherever they go, Isaiah 55:11.

D. Keine / Getty Images Signature / Canva

Jesus Wept For Peace

The shortest but most powerful verse in the Bible. Jesus wept. John 11:35

Don’t think that that is only time He wept. He wept for Jerusalem, and He wept for me. I’m sure He has wept over us all and a lot of the situations we have had to endure as believers.

He wept when Lazarus died, but He raised Him from the dead. The Bible does not record every event or every time He cried, but Isaiah 53 declares Him to be a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. And He bore all of it for us.

It is not specified if His tears were for things in the future although they appear to be. He offered Himself to be the Messiah of Israel, and soon it will be those who will believe, weeping for the one they pierced. Not that any group killed Him, they did kill prophets but He willingly gave His life to save souls from hell.

He stood to greet the martyr, Stephen. Had He wept before that happened, ensuring the conversion of Saul, changing His name to Paul, and stopping the persecution of the Jews in many ways? We know that Jesus tears have a powerful effect, enough to change hearts, to raise the dead, literally and spiritually.

I wrote a poem called He wept for me, because I felt like He had. Whether it was on the cross or as He suffered even before, or was it in the Garden of Gethsemane? Was it when He decided to come, even before creation had fallen? I may never know. Has He wept for me?

When my mother almost died when I was born? When my father left? He surely steeped in. When I came to know Him at eleven? Did He cry too as I sobbed at hearing His story and accepted salvation? Did He cry when I was taunted and hurt? When I was in pain? When I wrote the beautiful words He gave me? When someone read them and was touched by His love? When He poured His Spirit on me in 1991?

Did He weep for me at other times in my life? At a terrible moment in 2012? When I failed Him or someone failed me? Or did He just see the masterpiece He created in me? He kept me going when I could not hang on, not to health, hope or even faith. When I could not take another step, He carried me over and through it all.

Perhaps, His warm tears met mine upon a soft, blushing cheek and we cried together in the Spirit? In the night? In my prayer closet? As I knelt? When I could not stand? Alone in the hospital, confined to own bed at home, as I struggled to regain movement and walk? In a wheelchair, using a walker? Was He weeping for me? And I could hear His whispers to me, not to.

I hate to think that anything I would ever do would cause Him a moment of grief. I have always had great respect and hated that He had to pay such a price to redeem me. I too, have cried in prayer for others. Maybe, it moved Him, whether or not it moved others, He gives them every chance. People are quick tempered, mocking, scoffing and disobedient. There is so much violence and clamoring, evil appears to abound. I see it grownups and in children. How often He would have gathered them and they refuse as Israel once did?

But as He came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep. Luke 19:41

It might be an interesting study to think of the times He may have wept over people in the Bible, in history, in our own lives. He is in heaven and I wouldn’t there would be anything but tears of joy there, but could I or dare I really pretend to know His heart that well? It does give Him joy to see His children blessed and in health, to have His peace. And one day He will wipe away all tears, even the ones of joy.

Tears are so important to God that He keeps them in a bottle, Psalm 5:8, if our tears matter, those of a king, what about those of His beloved Son? Is He weeping again, did He when Haman wanted to destroy Esther and her people? During WWII, the Holocaust? Now, as His return is closer?

And not only for Jews, but Gentiles and people who should be seeking Him in their hour of peril and need. He surely weeps for lost soul but only He is worthy to judge. He must weep for every child that is lost to war, angel gather them in their arms.

Yes, Jesus wept for us all and over Jerusalem, and I believe, He wept for peace.

Antonio Gravate / Canva Pro

He Wept For Me