Thank
you, Douglas Henney! (ah cool, we have at least 2 Dougs
on here! And I enjoy reading from both of you!)
Douglas,
you “echo” what is in my heart, too!
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/july2018/douglash715-2.htm
No
matter how bad things are going…… and for that matter, no
matter how good things are going (in my own life
personally)….. I have only one desire that tops them
all: to go home to heaven to be with Jesus…. F O R E V E
R!!!!
Preferably,
if I should get the desire of my heart, it will not be in a
cruel, death manner – (though He gets to choose, we don’t)….
But rather, “the old fashioned way” BY
RAPTURE!!! Same as Enoch & Elijah!!
Being raptured is the OLD FASHIONED WAY to go!!
:>)
And
here’s the Scripture about being with the Lord Jesus FOREVER!!
1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you
to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you
do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe
that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in
him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are
still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will
certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the
Lord himself will come down from heaven,
with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with
the trumpet call of God, and the
dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still
alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we
will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
And
the last sentence: encouraging each other about it …
well that is precisely what we do here!
It
is also good to remind ourselves that we are merely pilgrims
& sojourners “just passing through” here!!
[Ref: 1 Peter 2:11; here’s how the NLT explains it: Dear
friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to
keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very
souls. And….
Hebrews 11:16, which says: Instead,
they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he
has prepared a city for them.
So
when life’s problems mount, can’t seem to make ends meet,
challenges arise with others and you don’t have available
resources to help, (or “solve it” for them…), whether you are
excruciating lonely, with the weight of gray overcast skies,
& feel as though no one could possibly understand your
plight, or whether you’re burdened down with someone who’s
bugging the daylights out of you [be it friend, foe, or
family….] & you just need some down time to process
your thoughts & some quiet time to even be able to enjoy
life a bit …. Whether you’re a housewife in Texas and wish you
could make all your towels match, or whether you’re a
Christian having to worship underground in China to keep from
being tortured & beaten & possibly killed…. No matter
the situation, for those who belong to the Lord and are
faithful to Him, we are “just passing through”!!
Some day this creation of His we now exist in, will be nothing
in comparison to the Glory of creation He has provided for us
once we are with Him! And no worries there, no looking
over our backs or having to live in fear someone may rob,
rape, murder us…. Nor harm us in any way…. These ones who
would bring harm are clearly not allowed in.
~
And as such, strangers in this land, let us also lay aside the
sin that so easily besets us….. hate to say, but the flat out
truth, among many -- if not most -- Americans that could
easily fall into the line of “material things” ~ possessions
that must be dusted, maintained, tended to….. how much time
does this take?? TOO MUCH I’m afraid!
Perhaps it’s time to cast off any “collections” of S T U F
F & happily give away or throw away or donate to a
charity organization, perhaps they can sell & do some
good….. because the heart of the matter is the Bible has told
us all along (yet many of us got sidetracked along the way I’m
afraid) is that we are to LAY UP TREASURE IN HEAVEN…..
not down here!!
AND!!!
We
are clearly told to ABSTAIN from fleshly lusts. Let us
AVOID (run from it if necessary) any temptation that
would bring us closer to such sins …. May have to even change
where we work in order to fulfil this (?) but in being
obedient to the Lord, I believe He will guide & provide
each step of the way. Ladies, if your temptation is
tall, good looking Italian men – then look away when one walks
into the grocery store & is shopping on the aisle you
are. In fact, drive the grocery cart around to another
aisle! I speak to ladies here, b/c I know our temptation
is great also – it was, after all, “Eve” who was
deceived. And it’s generally ladies who’re often led by
emotions, the “feel good” feelings, turning to the one who
will give them/us attention.
Remember
deceived Eve:
Genesis
3:6 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, that it was [a]pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise,
she took of its fruit and ate.
NOTICE!!!!!
satan (through use of the serpent, what a great picture of
him!) did not tempt her by “bad” things!!! E.g.
“you want to go to the bar with me?” “Want to hang out
at the strip club?” “well, there’s a LITTLE crude humor
in there, but most of his jokes are funny!” “hey, why not
dress that way, to make you more mysterious,
provocative…”.. …… etc. etc. etc.
NOPE!!
But rather, Eve’s temptation was “something perceived as
GOOD”!!!
Eve
reasoned:
The
tree:
- Was
GOOD for food!
- PLEASANT
to the eyes
- DESIRABLE
to make a person wise
For
all that is in the world, the lust
of
the
flesh,
and the
lust
of
the
eyes,
and the
pride
of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
I’d
say Eve passed the test by fulfilling all 3 of these!!
There
are many sparkling, shining, powerful temptations and
allurements in our faces in this world today. But let’s
keep our minds on things ABOVE, so that we are not detoured by
the goal of landing in our FOREVER destination.
To
be with Jesus FOREVER!! * Amen! *
And
though I went off with a little sermonette, (smile!) I
truly, truly, truly add a hearty AMEN Douglas H, that we ARE
right on the cusp now!!!! I am encouraged to see –
I think I counted 3 posts here today (July 15) which suggest
the rapture MAY possibly be this month….. I am glad they’re
not even (yet) suggesting we must wait till Rosh
Hashanah! Though time flies so quickly now, that even if
we had to wait till then, it’s but a breath away.
May
the Lord be glorified in all we do today, and may we hide His
word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him.
When we do sin and are cognizant of it, let us repent
immediately – show up for foot washing!!
The
rapture is SOO close now!!
~~