Christians (Church), the call-home (Rapture) is almost ready, start unpacking!
You might be thinking ‘what do you mean by start unpacking’? Well as you may know, we were created in this world with nothing and we will be leaving with nothing too. Home for us Christians is without question ‘Heaven’ and baggage in this case is exactly what we need to get rid of before we leave.
Jesus will call for his bride (the church) to come home in the Rapture when He says “Come up Hither”.
The apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 that the Church will be “caught up” to Jesus.
Jesus told the disciples in John 14:2-3 ‘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.
Preparation: Before you can be properly be prepared for Heaven, you must accept the true Gospel of Christ to be as true and real as pinching your own skin. 1) Accept the fact that our Heavenly Father (God) created you, the earth, the universe and everything living on earth and everything you can possibly imagine and more. 2) Confess that you are a sinner and need to be forgiven for your sins. 3) Accept the fact that Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary, taught the Word to this world and died on the cross to the pay the price for your sins. 4) Accept the fact that Christ rose from the dead on the third day and lives in Heaven as Lord of Lords and King of Kings and will return at the Rapture for you and I to take us home to Heaven with Him.
Common Problem: As the saying goes “seeing is believing and believing is seeing” – Too many people struggle with this idea that if they cannot see Jesus or see God, then how can they believe it to be true. Because of this fact, many people remain lost on earth. This is where Faith comes into play as I’ll mention below.
First, before I get into Faith l must make these facts be known:
1. If ‘seeing is believing’, then nobody should have a problem with believing in Christ because all the proof is right before our eyes every day it’s just that people are too spiritually blind to realize it.
2. Jesus Christ is the Word of God and Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
3. We were created in the image of God so looking in the mirror is evidence of His creation.
4. We live on a planet created by God especially for us.
5. Humans cannot breathe in space without an oxygen tank pumping through a protected suit and helmet so how is it do you think that we able to survive on this planet earth and breathe in air every day of our lives without the need for a suit, oxygen tanks or masks, helmets, etc.? Scientist did not create the air!
Faith: Christians are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God’ (Romans 10:17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
What does this mean for you? Well if Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, then what must you do? You must read the Bible (which is the Word of God) and pray as often as you can daily to build a relationship with Christ. Why? Reading the Bible is your (daily feeding of the Word) into your mind, body and soul. As you feed on the Word, the Holy Spirit works inside you to carry out that Word and opens your eyes and ears so that you spiritually begin to see and hear what the worldly body cannot do. Eventually, this will affect all your actions, words and thoughts ultimately bringing you into full alignment with the Word..
· Our Goal: This is pretty well summed up for us in the book of Ephesians Chapter 6.
(Ephesians 6:11-20) – To help these points stand out, I placed each verse in a bullet format…
· Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
· For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
· Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
· Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
· Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
· And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
· Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
· And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 6:20For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Who is God? The Bible says it all and there are too many to list but here are just a few scriptures to note.
1. At the very beginning (Genesis 1:1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Also note that at the beginning of each creation it states ‘God Said’ showing us that He spoke everything into existence to include human beings.
2. Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.
3. Genesis 1:26-28 – This is how much God loved His creation of mankind (Humans)…
And God said, Let us (Just to clarify, us = Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Note: I feel the need to state that ‘this does not mean we are our own God’ and I say this because others in this world have taken scriptures like this out of context as their attempt to take God out of the picture.
4. John 1:1-5 – Here is a description of Jesus which as you can see is the Word of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
God says throughout the Bible exactly who He is for us to Know the truth but I’ll just point out a couple places here. In (Revelation 1:5-6) St. John explains who Jesus is ‘And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth’ and ‘Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
5. Revelation 1:17-18 St. John explains what Jesus said to him …‘And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
6. Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
· God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit truly are One-in-the-same as you may have heard of the Trinity.
7. John 14:6-7 Jesus says to Thomas – ‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him’
8. John 14:9 Jesus says to Philip: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
The Call Home to Heaven
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) “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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
· Every eye will not see Christ during the Rapture because Christians will meet Him in the clouds.
· How long will it take to reach the clouds? Answer: Faster than you think!
(I Corinthians 15:51-52) We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality
Revelation 1:7-8 – This is the Second Coming when Christ comes back to the earth after the Tribulation period ‘
Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Packing: Well if you think about this for just a moment, a twinkling of an eye is how fast we blink. Since we will meet Jesus in the clouds that fast, we obviously won’t have time for packing any baggage. Now this statement is of course simplifying the issue. The real details regarding packing or unpacking are as follows here below.
Unpacking: Simply put, Believers in Christ should not be holding onto anything of this world. Now don’t get me wrong, God does want us to enjoy this life and each other according to His Word which is exactly why He gave us the Ten Commandments, the Commandments of the Law and the Great Commission which I’ll explain below.
Ten Commandments: (Exodus 20:3-17)
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD Will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s
Commandments of the Law and the Great Commission I understand to be the same which is as follows.
Matthew 22:34-40 “Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”.
The Problem is we have too much baggage: A large percentage of the world population is caught up in the desires of the world such as Greed, lust, fear, pride, power, control, friendships, popularity, etc. We all want to live in a mansion, have nice expensive cars, boats, yachts, make our own rules up as we go along, win the lottery, stop working and more but what you all must understand is that none of this it can go to Heaven. That’s right, none of it! God already knows what we need in our lives and He always has and always will take care of His children.
In (Matthew 6:31-33) He says “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”
· Being a Christian does not mean you have to give up fun or the better things in this life on earth.
· Your faith will be tested by the devil but greater is He that is within me, then he that is in the world
· Unpack all these things from your life and put Jesus first, then you will be ready for the Rapture!
· This is your Ticket to escape God’s Wrath and jump onboard His Flight Home, so don’t miss it!
1. Heaven – This is life with God our Creator, Jesus the son of God and our Savior, all the angles and characters you ever heard about in the Bible and more plus all the stuff mentioned below.
Imagine: Imagine for just a moment if you will a life with no death, no sickness, no diseases, no pain, no crying, no more working a job, no stress, no need for money, no killing, no theft, no cancer, no tumors, no vehicles, no racial problems, no homosexuals, no nudity, no violence, no worries, no anxieties, etc.
Now imagine again a life where you never have to worry about being hungry or thirsty, everyone loves everyone, joy and laughter is all around you each and every day, total contentment, total peace, complete happiness, never too tired for anything, sleep any time you want and for as long as you want.
All of this is a reality in Heaven and is all yours for the taking just by accepting Jesus as your Savior!
NOTE:
No matter what you may have heard …This life is not all there is….We have one more life to go….
The problem is that the next life is completely your choice….either 1. (Heaven) or 2. (Hell)
2. Hell – This is a life with the Devil (Satan) and all of his Demons who will torture you each and every single day. You will be burning in fire with flesh melting off your bones while at the same time, being tortured by the demons and yet you don’t ever die so all you can do is stand there screaming and crying in constant pain smelling the burn of all the bodies in Hell for ever and ever.
· It should be very very clear ….which choice is best…..but again that choice is up to you alone.
Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
(Revelations 21:8) “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”
The Rapture: We are the generation who will either be Raptured or see the Rapture. If you are ready to go home to Heaven, you will meet Jesus in the clouds during the Rapture. For those who will not be ready, they will see the Rapture occur when Millions of people vanish from the earth at which time they will enter into the Seven Years of Tribulation. Please accept Christ as your savior now!
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Pray: Heavenly Father, forgive me for my sins for I am a sinner and I have sinned. Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into Heaven where He reigns as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. I accept Jesus as my Savior and I turn from my ways to live for Him. Give me the strength, guidance, wisdom and understanding to live the rest of my life here on earth for Jesus.
I Love You Jesus! I Praise You Jesus! I Thank You Jesus for the sacrifice You made for me!