Trust in God, not the “Rapture!”

Tags

END TIMES, Jesus Christ, Pre-tribulation Rapture, Rapture, trust

For years, I sat under teaching on what may or may not occur as TIME winds down and we approach “END TIMES!” The last thing I want to do is start a raucous, but … just suppose the whole idea of the “Rapture” is wrong. Just suppose! What if Christians today (or whenever the end comes) are required to endure the “Tribulation.” What if “End time” Believers are required, like those in past generations and past civilizations, to stand against vile persecution. What if … ?

In all honesty, I think it is cruel and lazy for various denominations and pastors to build up the hope of such an event without hard evidence. It is very similar, in my view, of popular dependence on government handouts instead of the work of their own hands to provide for their needs. Think about it …

1. God wants us to be dependent on Him and Him alone, right? (Matthew 22:36-40; 1 John 3:1-3 (The Message)
2. God either is, or He isn’t able and willing to meet every need we have, right? (Phil 4:4-9; Mt 6: 28-30; Luke 12:27)
3. God is either changing us, His children, from glory to glory, into the likeness of Jesus, or he isn’t, right? (2 Cor 3:12-18)

The concept of “Rapture” is a relatively new one, arising in the early 1800’s. This is not a theological study stating the impossibility of Rapture, but it is raising a challenge to the MENTALITY often associated with raptured thinking, i.e Escapism!

Jesus came …

to save sinners: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” (1 Tim 1:15)

to destroy the works of the evil one: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

to give us life, and that abundantly: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:7-10)

If Jesus came to bring us LIFE, and that abundantly, why would any of us seek to escape the life He has given us?

The “Rapture,” as taught by many local groups may be real, but either way, should we not remain focused on our Source and our Goal = JESUS CHRIST? Should we not be prepared to follow wherever … wherever He leads us whether through the valley or to the mountaintop? Many times, END TIMES teaching distract us from Jesus. We think we want to know exactly what is coming, but let me ask you this …

How many of us are now exactly where we planned to be 5, 10, 25, or 50 years ago? Yea, me either! But GOD’s plan is ALWAYS better than ours. A few more verses to set your thinkers to work. Consider the lives of the martyrs, and believers in other lands like Iran or Nigeria currently. They suffer and die daily for the sake of Christ. Are we “Special” children of God? Of course not! But if our eyes are on Christ, whatever happens comes through God’s loving fingers, right? (Rom 8: 28)

“Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.” Proverbs 16:3

3Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and [a]cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
Ps 37: 3-6

“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
Revelation 20:4-6

JOY to the WORLD

Tags

Christmas, Darkness, individual freedom, Jesus Christ, joy, light

There is no shortage of bad and ugly news in our sad world, but CHRISTMAS is an exercise in BALANCE! If there is one thing we can learn from Christmas, it is that Christ left heaven – a place of perfection, peace, and love – to enter our corrupt world … made corrupt by us, sinful beings. Yes, God could have made us perfect little puppets that obeyed his every wish, but in his opinion, individual freedom was more important, more valuable. Since he created us each special, different, and unique, he comprehends the value of uniqueness and potential. He birthed into each of us a unique blend of talents and abilities intended for the betterment of humankind. It is our corrupt nature that ruined everything and perverted these gifts and abilities to selfish gain. Individual freedom is God’s idea, and we can only hope to live freely as we seek and serve him.

Christmas reminds us that we really should work to use our own personal freedoms, gifts and abilities to help our neighbors. God understood our predicament and gave his very one Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus gave up his place in heaven and came to this dark earth as a helpless infant to endure the same torments of earth that you and I endure daily. The difference? He endured without sin, without anger, without jealousy, without greed … without petty frustrations, without coveting the neighbor’s Caddy or 55 inch plasma.

So amidst the bad and ugly news, JOY comes. LIGHT comes to our dark world, though many do not perceive it. Darkness tries to cover our nakedness, but Light uncovers and exposes TRUTH. This is our mission always, but we must be careful that the darkness does not overtake us. With the volume of dark deceptions in our nation, in this administration, in our world, we must guard our own perspective, our own hearts, lest the darkness take over our own hearts. We can face the darkness only as we stand in the Light.

Christmas is a time for the LIGHT to shine. Even in our sterilized secular society, the BRIGHTNESS of this season shines. We mourn the babies slain; we mourn our freedoms lost, we mourn the direction of our nation; we mourn the choice America has made … Yet in our time of mourning, LIGHT SHINES.

“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 all mankind.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1: 1 – 5