Coffee With Mo..

Make Friends With The Captain

We have many folks talking pre-tribulation and post tribulation. It takes me to the thought I was having this morning about the Rapture, being pre-tribulation. We have no real idea what it will look like. Much like the way Jews were in the times of Jesus, we are looking to be delivered and not suffer. There are some folks on this earth who have suffered much and some who have suffered little, and honestly there are very likely those who have never known what suffering is. In their defense however, they may have had some minor setbacks where things didn’t work out quite that they should have, and to them it is suffering. 

The Saints of the Old Testament and the New Testament suffered, in some way. Are we better than they? Are we sanctified and set aside? Will we be raptured to Heaven as Elijah and Enoch and not see death? Will those riding the fence change their heart before the Rapture? There are some who believe there will be a Rapture prior to tribulation and those who believe in only the 2^nd coming which will follow Armageddon. They believe all saints will leave at that time. That is not mine to say, I will leave that up to you to study what God says, and ask Him to show you. If man is wrong you can’t blame him, only yourselves.

Very often we pray and plan, or expect that when we receive what it is we were looking for hoping for or expecting, it should fit a certain agenda in our mind’s eye. If it does not look the way we thought it should, we reject it. 

If we think too long and hard and try to find scripture to fit “our” narrative, as the Jewish followers did with Jesus, we may miss the message God wants us to hear. The Jews were expecting a King, a messiah that would look like royalty.

 Sometime God has to change our plans from what we imagined, and because they do not match what you thought they would look like, you reject them. My life has not looked the way I imagined it.

I was recently working on a room layout, trying to get my home “staged” on paper so as to avoid extra work moving things around, I found myself praying through the situation and asking God for direction in this situation.  If God intends for me to move from another home so soon, I want to be ready. Being prepared for the unknown is really very important.  I like this home very much and to be honest, at near 67 years old, I am tired of moving. But, if I begin to get too comfortable in this world, I may not be ready to give it up quickly. I still maintain the home as though I’m going to be in it until I die, but I’m not going to stay in this world, you see, this home on planet earth is not permanent.  

In a nutshell, God says He will take care of us and Jesus backs that up with His messages while He was here with us. If our focus is too much on the here and now and we’re overly worried about when and how, then it’s fair to say, we must ask ourselves why? Are we asking with pure motives & what will it matter in the end if we are saved and truly following Christ?  

Whether Christ comes today or 8 years from now is not known. My indications are as soon as the prophesy has been fulfilled with the next few things that must happen, we will be removed from this world or begin a period of peace for 3 1/2 years. The prince of this world wants to keep us with him, therefore many things happening that are fulfilling prophesy are being hidden from the world. You must search this information out. 

We must continue to draw strength, knowledge and wisdom from God, through His word and through prayer and the leading of the Spirit.  Our wisdom does not come through man or the endless writings and differences of opinions. Watch for the signs, not simply warn others, but tell them the Good News if they are willing to listen. You are not simply escaping damnation; you are choosing to be with God and because of that you will escape Hell. 

Maybe, we should think of it like this. It is much like being a tourist on a cruise, visiting a poverty stricken, dangerous yet beautiful island. When you tour only the “beautiful parts of the city” and see no trouble, your illusion is as those who are making the money on your presence want you to see it. When the Cruise ship docks in the port and the Captain tells you to be back on the ship at the time they leave port, you best believe you’d better make it back to the ship on time. It doesn’t matter if you got hung up somewhere on the island, if perhaps your watch was wrong, maybe there was a long line waiting for your tropical drink, or that “gotta have” artifact from the island had your name written all over it and you didn’t think it was that far from where you started. Excuses won’t matter when the ship leaves port. That is the way you will feel if you are left behind during the Rapture. Let that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach give you a glimpse of what you’ll feel X a 1,000.  We are simply on a voyage in a foreign country, and for those who believe in, Love and follow Christ, we are only passing through, right?  Your time to be ready to sail may be much sooner you thought it would…Don’t Miss it!