Be Ready

Just before He was crucified, Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples.  We call it the Last Supper, at which He taught us how to take Communion.  His disciples were upset because He told them He was going away, and He spoke many words of comfort to them, including:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

In My Father’s house are many mansions;

if it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and receive you to Myself;

that where I am, there you may be also.

(John 14:1-3 NKJV) *

Bible prophesy tells us what things will be like when Jesus comes to gather His believers out of the earth to be with him in the air (2Thessalonians 2:3-12), and what the Rapture will be like (1Thessalonians 4:13-17).  The Last Days will be troubled times, which Jesus described in Matthew, Chapter 24.  However, the saved, born again Christian does not need to be afraid when Jesus appears.  Paul tells us that we should find comfort in the promise of His return. (1Thessalonians 4:18) *

Jesus cautioned us to be ready ... repeatedly.  He warned us that those who were not ready when He comes will be left behind:

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins

who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,

but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

“And at midnight a cry was heard:

‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

And the foolish said to the wise,

‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

But the wise answered, saying,

‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you;

but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came,

and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding;

and the door was shut.

 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’

But he answered and said,

‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

“Watch therefore,

for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

(Matthew 25:1-13 NKJV) *

Look around you.  Does what you see resemble the descriptions of the Last Days in the Holy Bible?  Jesus will come again, just as He promised.  If you are a saved, born again Christian, you do not need to be afraid that you will be left behind when Jesus takes us to be with Him where He is.  He has prepared a home for us in heaven.  He has filled our lamps with the oil of His righteousness.  All we must do to receive salvation it is to believe and accept it.  If you are not saved, accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and make Him the ruler of your life today.  Then you will be ready.

* https://biblehub.com/

Two Wrongs and the Answer

On the face of it, evidence shows that a police officer in Minneapolis applied excessive physical force during a police contact with an African American citizen of the United States of America, resulting in his death.  The officer has been fired and charged with murder.

Following this incident, protest demonstrations have erupted across the country, which have turned violent.  Property has been destroyed, looting has occurred, and there have been shootings.  Some of those shot have been killed, including children.  Rocks, Molotov cocktails, liquids, and other missiles have been thrown at the police.  Some police officers have been beaten, and others have been shot at.  A few have died as a result of the injuries they have received.

Everyone is blaming everyone else.  People are looking to their political leaders for solutions.  One side wants to “defund” the police.  The other side wants government action to suppress the violence.  Depending on your point of view, in November you will have the opportunity to vote for candidates that you think will take the correct course of action, and you should.

However, I would like to suggest that we also take a long look at ourselves and the direction our society has been taking for the last 55 years.  Have we turned away from God and His ways?  Have we rushed headlong into satisfying the wants and desires of our own sinful natures?  The Holy Bible sheds light on that:

What causes fights and quarrels among you?

Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?

You desire but do not have, so you kill.

You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.

You do not have because you do not ask God.

When you ask, you do not receive,

because you ask with wrong motives,

that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3 NIV) *

What must we then do?  Senator Ted Cruz often quoted this Bible verse, during his 2016 run for the presidency:

if my people, who are called by my name,

will humble themselves and pray and seek my face

and turn from their wicked ways,

then I will hear from heaven,

and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2Chronicles 7:14 NIV) *

When we pray, Jesus Christ intercedes with God the Father and pleads our case with Him:

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,

Jesus the Son of God,

let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses,

but we have one who has been tempted in every way,

just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,

so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

(Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV) *

It is high time that we repent, as individuals and as a people, and turn back to God:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins

and purify us from all unrighteousness.

If we claim we have not sinned,

we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. (1John 1:9 NIV)

Then we will be able to rejoice with the Psalmist:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—

the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.  (Psalm 121:1-8 NIV) *

Please remember what we learned as children.  Two wrongs do not make a right.

* https://biblehub.com/