Tag Archives: rapture

We know He’s coming, be ready! (Matthew 24:42-44) June 9, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 2-3

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:42-44
Jesus: So keep watch. You don’t know when your Lord will come. But you should know this: If the owner of a house had known his house was about to be broken into, he would have stayed up all night, vigilantly. He would have kept watch, and he would have thwarted the thief. So you must be ready because you know the Son of Man will come, but you can’t know precisely when.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

It’s hard to miss the theme over the last several days. Jesus continues to talk about His return. For the disciples around Him, He hasn’t departed yet, so they are confused. They don’t really understand what He’s talking about. He’s told them He’s going to die in Jerusalem, but they are having a hard time accepting it. But now He spends all this time talking about returning to Jerusalem to take them to be with Him and His Father in heaven.

To those who heard this for the first time, the words must have been incredible. How could He return, first of all. Once you’re dead, you’re dead. No one comes back from the grave. And now He spends all this time talking about coming back for them when He leaves them. They are dumbfounded. Then Jesus gives them all these signs that will point to His return. Signs that will show the beginning of the end or is it the end of the beginning. He tells them the temple will fall, the weather will wreak havoc on the earth, earthquakes will all but tear the world apart, and nations will try to destroy each other in war.

Once again He tells them His coming will be quick and silent, like a thief in the middle of the night. Be prepared. Watch. Stay awake and ready for Him to come.

As I was thinking about His words and what He might think about our actions today, I thought about how different our culture has become from that in Jesus day. Thieves didn’t have to work very hard to break into houses in His day. Sure there were locks, but nothing compared to the security of our homes today. We live in gated communities, some with 24 hour guards at the gates. We have all kinds of security systems that alert the police if there are intruders. We rest at night with almost complete confidence that no one will break in and harm us.

But I started thinking about that. We don’t watch like people did in Jesus day. I remember those times I spent in combat zones, we always had people awake watching the perimeter of our camp while the rest of us slept. We never had all of us asleep at the same time. Someone was always watching for the enemy. But that’s not true in our homes. We assume we’re safe.

Those in Jesus’ day didn’t feel quite as safe as we do today. Especially in the outlying villages. Not only did bandits roam the countryside, but there were also lions and bears to worry about. Those things in the wild will eat people if they get old and hungry and unable to chase the wild game they usually dined on. So homes were not always safe.

I wonder if our relative physical safety in this country have made us begin to get lax in watching for dangers everywhere. We don’t notice subtle differences in our surroundings on our routine route to work, something that soldiers learn to spy quickly in combat zones to keep them safe from ambush and improvised explosive devices. We don’t notice changed actions in those around us because we are not supposed to profile or be intolerant of abberrant behavior.

We don’t notice the signs all around us that tell us that Jesus is coming again and His coming is getting close. We don’t pay attention to the natural disasters happening all over the world. Unless they happen in our backyard, we don’t pay attention. But 90 medium-sized and greater earthquakes a week is probably something to begin paying attention to if you’re looking for Jesus to return. Maybe the change in weather sparking the change in sea-states is not man’s doing, but God’s. Maybe He’s telling us it’s just about time for Jesus to get His bride.

The question is whether we’re watching. He will come quickly, like a thief in the night. If the owner of the house knew the thief were coming, he’d stay up all night watching for him and be prepared to defend his home against the intruder. He’d be prepared. Jesus is coming just as quickly and just as stealthily. Unless you’re prepared to see for His coming you won’t see Him before it’s all over. You’ll be like the owner of the house who came in after then fact and found all his possessions gone. The thief came and went and you were not prepared for him. The house is empty and all is gone.

If Jesus comes back and leaves you here that’s what your life will be like. Empty. Hopeless. Everything lost. It pays to watch for Him. We know He’s coming. Be ready. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Don’t stand on the wrong side of the door (Matthew 24:37-41) June 8, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 66-68

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:37-41
Jesus: As it was at the time of Noah, so it will be with the coming of the Son of Man. In the days before the flood, people were busy making lives for themselves: they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, making plans and having children and growing old, until the day Noah entered the ark. Those people had no idea what was coming; they knew nothing about the floods until the floods were upon them, sweeping them all away. That is how it will be with the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be plowing a field: one will be taken, and the other will be left in the field. Two women will be somewhere grinding at a mill: one will be taken, and the other will be left at the mill.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We probably all know the story of Noah. He built the ark and God saved him and his family from the flood that covered the earth. We often rush through the details of the early part of the story, though. We forget it took Noah a hundred years to build the ark. Can you picture what was going on during that time? Noah was building a boat in preparation for the rains and the flood that were going to cover the earth. It had never rained before. Until the flood, God had watered the earth by the dew of the morning, not with rain.

I can imagine what his neighbors thought. If his subdivision had an HOA, he’d probably be thrown out on his ear. A 450 foot boat being built in the back yard. Who does that? This guy must be crazy. God tells him water will fall from the sky and kill everyone unless they repent and change their ways and do what this invisible voice tells them to do. What an idiot, right? Who does Noah think he is?

Noah has his sons believing this drivel, too. They work right along side him, cutting trees, sawing logs, melting pitch to seal the cracks. They are loyal to their father and trust his words. They have to listen to the same ridicule his father takes every day, but they honor their father and stand beside him day by day as he works on this giant ship that will house them during something they’ve never seen and don’t understand.

Everyone else goes about their daily business. They hear Noah’s story. They hear him talking about this coming flood. They see him working every day for a hundred years on this insane project. They even see the animals starting to appear out of nowhere. They watch as animals start to climb aboard this giant boat. Normal preditors and prey side by side entering the door of the ark without fighting. They watch but still laugh at the insane man listening to God.

But then the water starts falling from the sky. Just like Noah said it would. They don’t think too much about it until it doesn’t stop. It just keeps falling until the river floods. This has never happened before. Now they start to get a little worried. A few people slosh over to Noah’s boat and knock on the door. “Hey, Noah, can we come in?”

Noah can’t open the door. God shut the door. The water keeps rising. More people bang on the door. “Noah, let us in!” But as much as Noah might want to save his neighbors, he can’t open the door because God shut the door.

That’s what it will be like when Jesus returns. Those like Noah who listen to God’s voice will see all the signs of the coming disaster and prepare. Noah listened and built the ark, put food for his family and the animals God would save into the structure and saved his family. He tried to convince others, but they wouldn’t listen. Others around him saw the signs. The animals started coming around. They watched Noah prepare. They saw strange things happening in the sky they had never seen before, but they wouldn’t listen. Then it was too late.

The same will happen with Jesus’ return. Those who truly follow Him will prepare. They will see the signs Jesus gave us concerning His return and recognize the time is short. Everyone else will see the signs and ignore them. They will go about their everyday lives and not see the signs for what they are. But then, one day, the signs will be obvious just like the rain falling for the first time was obvious and people will cry out for help. But like those in Noah’s day who ran to the ark for safety. It will be too late.

God shut the door on those who would not heed the message Noah had for them in that day. On the day of Jesus’ return, it will be too late. Jesus tells us in these verses His coming will be like the days of Noah. Those that are ready will be taken with Him. Those that are not, will be left to face the wrath of God. Don’t be caught standing on the wrong side of the door. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

No one knows the hour or the day, not even the messengers in heaven, not even the Son. Only the Father knows. (Matthew 24:36) June 7, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Kings 5-9

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:36
No one knows the hour or the day, not even the messengers in heaven, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I’ve got to tell you, today’s verse confused me for a long time. Jesus is fully God and fully man. So how could Jesus, the Son of God, part of the triune Godhead, not know when He was coming back to retrieve His bride the church if there is only one God represented in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I still can’t to a great extent. But I’m human, not God.

Maybe some of my thought process could help someone else if you’ve ever spent more than a minute or two thinking about that question, though. So here we go. First, let’s think about the culture of the day and understand why the Father knows the information about the wedding between the groom, Jesus, and His bride, the church.

In Jesus day, families didn’t build separate houses. When a son became engaged, those were arranged marriages, by the way, his father had him start building a room or two on the family home for his new bride as a place to begin their new family. The family property was often bounded by a fence or wall to keep wild animals out and the families animals in, so the son would build within the confines of that structure. The extended family would share kitchens, common areas, storage space, usually only bedrooms were separate. And the son, his wife, and as many children as would fit in the bedroom slept together in that room.

The father determined when the son’s room was sufficiently prepared to house his new bride and accommodate the making of his new family. The wedding date wasn’t up to the bride, the son, the in-laws, the father made the decision. People in the village knew it was getting close as the new room got closer to its finished construction, but the wedding didn’t happen until the father said, “Son, go get your bride.”

And on that day, a wedding happened. No six-week notice in the mail. No engraved invitations. No twitter or Facebook save the date. The father said, “Go get your bride.” And that was the day.

So now you know a little more about why the Father knows the day and not the Son as to when the wedding takes place, when the Son will come to retrieve His bride, the church, to bring her home with Him. But how could Jesus not know if He is God? That’s the dilemma that always confused me.

So here’s how I figured it out one day as I was sitting around thinking about who Jesus is and what He did for us. God’s word says He is fully God, yet He is also fully Man. As I continue to read scripture and study Jesus’ life I get more and more amazed at what I see when I watch His life when He lived along side us. There is no question in my mind He is God incarnate, God in the flesh, God presented in the form of Man. But as I look at what He did on earth, I see more and more of His human side while He lived among us and communed with His Father side in heaven.

As Jesus spoke to His disciples that day and shared with them only the Father knows the time and day of the Son’s return, I think it tells us Jesus will return again in His fully human, fully God form once more. His human side had the limitations we have because He was human. He could do miracles because He had the presence and power of the Father and Spirit with Him. So did Peter, James, and John with the help of God’s Spirit.

The human side of Jesus didn’t know when He will return, but He will return, fully human, fully God once again. But next time, I have a feeling His human side will take the backseat instead of His God-side taking the backseat. When He came to live among us before, He limited His power and lived with us and like us experiencing every emotion, every pain, every temptation we experience. He didn’t sin, but He experienced all the things we experience.

When He comes back, God the Father will tell the Man/God Son, “Go get your bride.” And the God/Man will come back in His glory to take us home. We will see Him in His glory, fully God, and fully man. Jesus, the Man, doesn’t know when that will be. Does Jesus, the Godhead, present at creation? That’s a question well beyond my feeble attempts to understand. I’m just waiting for the Father to nod His head with a smile and tell Jesus to go. That will be a great day for His church.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

There is coming a day (Matthew 24:29-31) June 5, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Galatians 4-6

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:29-31
Jesus: And as the prophets have foretold it: after the distress of those days,

The sun will grow dark,
and the moon will be hidden.
The stars will fall from the sky,
and all the powers in the heavens will be dislodged and shaken from their places.

That is when the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. All the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming; they will see Him powerful and glorious, riding on chariots of clouds in the sky. With a loud trumpet call, He will send out battalions of heavenly messengers; and they will gather His beloved faithful elect from the four corners of creation, from one end of heaven to the other.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

What an incredible day that will be. Song writers pen marvelous lyrics about that day. The music is always upbeat, uplifting, exciting. It makes your heart beat a little faster and puts a smile on your face. It reminds you that Jesus is coming back to retrieve His bride, the church, from this wicked world and take us to live with Him for eternity.

But it will be a sad day, too. Jesus will come and many will find themselves on the wrong side of His grace. His battalions of heavenly messengers will gather the faithful, but those who are not of that number will be left behind. Books and messages and songs have been written about those, too. Those songs are not so uplifting, so beautiful, so exciting and upbeat. Those are somber, dreadful, dreary songs and books and messages.

But the truth is that many will see God’s messengers sweep across the world to take His children home, but as much as they plead to be taken along, it will be too late. Time will have ended. The opportunity to receive His grace and forgiveness will have passed. The judgment of all mankind will have begun. The awful Day of the Lord will by on us.

At one time I hoped to live to see the day when Jesus returns. I don’t think I want to see that anymore. As I see all the evil and carnage that man can level against man, that is enough to shake me to the core. But as I read the descriptions of the end times and all the things that happen just leading up to the tribulation, the birth pangs that show it is coming, I really don’t want to go through those times.

Then if all those things, the wars, the famine, the earthquakes, the signs in the sky with the darkening of the moon, sun and stars. If all those things are just the beginning of the tribulation to fall on us, I kind of hope my years are over before those days come. I think now about my children and grandchildren and hope they do not have to go through those things either.

But the signs get closer every day. Like a woman getting closer to childbirth, those pains just get closer and closer together and they get more intense with each passing day until final full labor begins. Then those hours of labor are just miserable. That’s what the tribulation will be like. We’re just in the birth pangs now, but labor will begin soon and the labor will be absolutely miserable. The worst pain imaginable.

There is an end to it though. Jesus will take His faithful home. We will be with Him forever. His heavenly messengers will sweep across the earth to gather us together to join with Him for eternity. We will be spare the rest of the outpouring of God’s wrath, but those that are left will not. In the blink of an eye, we will be gone. The rest of humanity will face the worst God has to offer them. What is that? The absence of His presence. He will let them loose to face themselves without restraint of evil.

Can you imagine a world with no restraint on evil? Our world is a pretty wicked place right now, but there is still a strangle hold on evil for the sake of God’s faithful. God’s spirit is still in control of this place. He hold reign over Satan and his minions and will not let them loose to do as they please. But imagine if He opened the gates and let Satan do whatever he wished for a time.

We think about some of those seemingly soulless people we imprison for the rest of their lives – serial killers, serial rapists, those with no conscience that seem to thrive on the performance of evil and terror against others. Imagine a world full of those people running loose to do whatever they choose. That’s the world after the faithful are taken home with Christ.

There is coming a day when Jesus returns to take His faithful home. The question to ponder today, Will I be part of the crowd His heavenly messengers gather to be with Him, or part of the crowd left behind? It’s my choice as to which side I’m on. He’s ready to take Me with Him on that day fateful day, if I just repent and follow Him today.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The rapture, get the question right. (Matthew 24:15-22) June 3, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Lamentations

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:15-22
Jesus: You will remember that the prophet Daniel predicted this—predicted the abomination that causes desolation—when you see the prophesied desolation of the holy place. (Reader, take notice; it is important that you understand this.) When you see this, let those in Judea flee to the mountains. If you are relaxing on your rooftop one evening and the signs of the temple’s destruction come, don’t return to your house to rescue a book or a pet or a scrap of clothing. If you are in the field when the great destruction begins, don’t return home for a cloak. Pregnant women and nursing mothers will have the worst of it. And as for you, pray that your flight to the hills will not come on the Sabbath or in the cold of winter. For the tribulation will be unparalleled—hardships of a magnitude that has not been seen since creation and that will not be seen again. Indeed the Lord God your merciful judge will cut this time of trial short, and this will be done for the benefit of the elect that some might indeed be saved—for no one could survive the depravity for very long.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

There’s a lot of debate about the rapture, the point in time when Jesus will resurrect His followers who have died and take up those who are still living to be with Him forever. Some say the rapture will happen before the tribulation, some say it will happen during the tribulation and some say it will happen after the tribulation. Scripture can support any of the theories depending on which scriptures you use and how you interpret them.

I suppose I could give you my opinion and you could send me your concurrence or argument against my opinion if you choose, but really, what does it matter? If God chooses for His children to go through the tribulation to sift out the true believers from those who just use His name as a tag to hide behind, that’s His business. He will be with us to the end and give us strength to endure the tribulation if He wants us to walk through it.

If God chooses to put us through to the midpoint of the tribulation when the three prophets speak in Jerusalem, that’s okay, too. We will witness the beginning of the outpouring of God’s wrath and perhaps be able to win some of those we’ve prayed for so long. Perhaps with God’s help in those days, He will enable us to share in new ways the good news of salvation so that some will come to know Him because of the intense suffering that so many will endure during those first three years of the tribulation. If then God chooses to take us home with Him at the midpoint to spare us from the remaining aftermath of His wrath, He just shows us more of His grace and mercy and love to an undeserving bunch of sinners.

And if God chooses to take us home with Him before the tribulation begins to spare us from even the beginning of the outpouring of His wrath upon the world for humanity’s refusal to acknowledge Him as God, then we are certainly blessed by the outpouring of His mercy. Do we deserve an early rapture? No. Do we deserve redemption? No. Do we deserve anything from God? No.

So how should we approach the debate when Christians begin to argue among themselves so fervently about pre-, mid-, and post-tribulation rapture? We should probably sit back and laugh at the brawl that ensues or perhaps weep for our misguided brothers and sisters who spend so much energy on such an unimportant thing.

What does it really matter after all? The question really is, “Will I be part of the rapture when it happens?” As long as I’m right with God, He will see me through the tribulation. Will I suffer during those times? Probably, as will every other human being on the planet. Will I suffer as much as those not right with God? Probably not. But for sure, if I’m right with God, I will not spend eternity in hell, separated from Him. If I’m right with God, I will be part of the rapture whenever it occurs and that’s the more important question. Not when it will be, but will I be part of it?

I will let others argue about when the rapture will happen. I don’t really care. I just want to be in it. So how do I want to live in relation to the tribulation? I will live so close to God that if the rapture is post-tribulation, I will rest in Him and be prepare to suffer through the awful state of the earth through those seven years of God’s wrath. If Jesus comes at the midpoint of the tribulation to take His bride home and the tribulation happens at the three and a half year point, I will praise Him for relief from the suffering and rejoice with Him forever. And if the rapture comes before the tribulation, well…, can you say joy unspeakable?

When those around you want to argue about the timing of the rapture, just remember the real question. It’s not when it comes, it’s are you part of it? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.