What if I could warn you in advance of a choice you have to make, and that choice will either make your life or ruin your life – wouldn’t you want me to reveal to you the information I know?
What if I could save you so much trouble and heartache, simply by warning you of what will happen if you make the wrong choice?
What if you took that knowledge and you used it to make the right choice now to completely avoid all that potential trouble?
Did you ever date the completely WRONG person? If someone could have somehow revealed to you how that relationship would turn into something so bad, would you have listened? Maybe you were warned, and maybe you married them anyway.
Have you ever simply made the wrong choice – gone the wrong way – trusted the wrong person – then you were left with the consequences of those choices? That wasn’t fun, now was it?
Wrong choice mean negative consequences. We know that. We’ve learned that. But here’s what you need to also know: NO CHOICE HAS CONSEQUENCES TOO.
If you stay in this neutral ground with God – remaining open minded and non-committal – kinda believing, but kinda still living your own way – just leaving the offer of Jesus on the table but not completely claimed, you will face consequences. And Jesus is lovingly and patiently warning you, “My girl, you don’t want the trouble that will bring. Let me save you from all of that.”
That’s what the book of Revelation is. It’s a love letter from your Savior revealing to you the terror he wants to completely save you from. And because he loves you, he wants to make is very clear, YOU DON’T WANT WHAT IS TO COME WITHOUT HIM.
Yesterday’s episode may have been an eye opener to understand the plan of God and the order of Heaven that is to come. It can all be so confusing, especially since over the years each religion has put their own spin on things. I don’t pretend to know all of this. I’m trying to study it and come at it free from the restrictions of any specific religion. I’m just like you, seeking to understand what Jesus is warning me of, while being content in not knowing how or when. I’m not a Bible scholar, but I’m most certainly seeking the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit to heed the warning and pass it along.
The rapture is the coming of Jesus from heaven where the believers who have already died will be raised, and the believers who are still alive on Earth will be snatched up. Do you know what rapture actually means? It means extreme happiness and excitement. We’ve failed in our sharing of this exciting news. JESUS IS COMING, and he’s coming to save us from the trouble of this world that is to come.
After the rapture comes the great tribulation. This is the most unbelievable terror you can imagine. It is a complete absence of all peace. It is every nightmare unfolding. But every soul who has made the choice to believe in Jesus as their savior is saved from this reality. Where are we? We are gathered around the throne praising God already.
May I be honest for a moment? I’ve always had to fake my excitement about that. I get excited over the streets of gold, over the eternal paradise void of all trouble and sickness. Oh I love thinking about a never ending adventure with Jesus, a non-stop party and celebration, but getting excited over this continual signing of praises at the throne was a little hard for me. Like really, won’t that kind of get old? I haven’t been overly excited about that … until my experience last night.
I’m currently in Colorado hosting a BIG Life Retreat. Yesterday we went to the lake and had the most beautiful baptisms. One precious soul, Tonya, committed her life to Jesus for the very first time, and two more, Heather and Brenda, recommitted their lives fully.