2023 has passed, and believers in Jesus are still here on Earth as of Jan. 8th, 2024. Many of us thought the Rapture might happen in 2023 due to certain mathematical calculations, or the convergence of so many prophetic signs and the ridiculous amounts of oppressive wickedness flooding the world, or because of simply longing for it. Or, perhaps, all of the above.
Does this make the Rapture less imminent now that we have reached the year 2024?
No, it is more imminent than ever before because the passing of each and every day leads us closer to that highly anticipated day and hour that no one but our Heavenly Father knows.
Is there a lesson to learn here?
Yes, to take an even deeper step into faith and trust in the Will of God.
Perhaps a good resolution for the year 2024 could be to dive deeper into the reason that the Lord would tarry.
He really and truly wants to Save as many Souls as can Possibly be Saved.
Even though there will be those who refuse salvation, it is not God’s Will that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).
Like the story about the shepherd who went to search for his one lost sheep, the rest of the sheep waited until the lost one was found and brought back into the fold. Somewhere on this earth, there is one last lost sheep (person) that our good shepherd, Jesus, needs to find.
Though the Rapture did not happen in the year 2023, nothing has changed other than the fact we are closer to it than before. The Rapture could still happen at any given moment as we continue to watch the prophetic signs converge.
We need to keep watching, looking up, and making sure our lamps stay full.
If we who long for Him to call us home need to endure a little longer, then so be it.
It may be difficult to have one leg in this world and the other leg in the next, but for the sake of the lost who may still yet be found, we need to graciously keep doing the work of the great commission and keep spreading God’s love until the Lord calls us home.
He will always give us the strength to carry on no matter how crazy things become before the trumpet sounds.
There are still testimonies every day of lost souls getting saved, and only God the Father knows when the last savable one will check in. When that happens, the Father will inform His Son that it is time. Time to appear in the sky, accompanied by the shout of the archangel and the sound of a trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Time to call first the dead in Christ and then to call those in Christ who are living at that moment to be with Him forever.
At that amazing moment in time, the Father will have determined that the place Jesus has been preparing for His bride will have been completed and that every last soul that would accept the free gift of salvation this side of the Rapture will have done so.
The church age, also known as the “age of grace,” will then be over, and it will be time to remove not only those who are not appointed to wrath but also He who restrains so that the “70th Week of Daniel” may commence (Revelation 3:10). All of these things will happen on the day of the Father’s choosing.
The many converging prophetic signs being fulfilled right now suggest that the time is at hand, and every day, there is one sign in particular that keeps coming to mind. “Like in the days of Noah.”
All of the signs of the end times given in Matthew chapter 24 have converged, yet billions of people, including many Christians, remain oblivious.
It is looking more and more like a large portion of the population of planet Earth will be taken by complete surprise by the Rapture and the Tribulation that follows. Some mock, some scoff, and many pay no attention whatsoever. It is just business as usual, with much planning for the future, as if nothing at all is out of the ordinary.
Exactly like in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39). The flooding of the earth caught them all by surprise, even though Noah had warned them repeatedly.
For all who know and trust that Jesus could call us home at any time, planning for the future needs to be accompanied by “God willing” or “should the Lord tarry.”
To all who long to be with the Lord forever, I pray for the patience and compassion to endure as long as need be. And for the strength to carry on in the great commission to inform, to alert, to pray, and to call the lost to repentance and salvation. Even though many will not listen, there are also those who will listen and be saved.
I pray that the Father’s great will that none should perish penetrates deeply into our hearts and souls and keeps us busy doing the work that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have called us each in our own way to do.
When that blessed day arrives, and Jesus speaks those amazing words that we who love Him long to hear Him say – the beautiful words, “Come Up Here ” – oh, what a magnificent day that will be.
If you haven’t already, ask Jesus to come into your heart today so that you, too, can hear Him say those words and become an heir to every wonderful eternal promise made by our Lord, the creator of the universe.
Romans 10:9-10 tells how: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Blessings to all in the name of Jesus,
Rick Segoine