Which Comes First, Tribulation or Rapture?

I have written several times about end times predictions.  About my skepticism of anyone who says they have it figured out.  In Scripture Jesus tells us that even He doesn't know the exact time so what makes anyone on earth so sure they have figured it out.  

However we are told to keep watch and be ready because it will happen when we least expect it.  Jesus does give us some signs to watch for.  He says these signs are like the signs of the season.  Just as spring leads to summer, these things lead to the end.

Two of those signs are the Tribulation and the Rapture.  According to what Jesus says in Matthew 24, both of those things have to happen before Jesus comes. 

The order of those two things happening is what I am confused about.  In Matthew 24 I think Jesus makes it pretty clear that the Tribulation happens first and the Rapture happens second.  What has me a little confused is that in the great book series "Left Behind" it happens in the reverse order. 

Which one is correct?  Something I'll have to watch for in future studies. 

Can we be saved against our will?

Interesting question isn't it?  Think about it.  God is all powerful, right?  He can do anything He wants.  So why doesn't God simply over ride our free will and make us all accept Jesus?

One of the things I love about God is that he has certain principals that He won't violate.  Things you can count on.  One of those things is that God gives us free will and respects our choices.  I think God wants our belief and submission to Him to be totally voluntary. 

So to answer the question above, I believe the answer is no.  As one proof I offer this verse that I read this morning. 

Matthew 23:37-39(NKJV)

37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 

38See! Your house is left to you desolate; 

39for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”£

This is Jesus talking so I would say that is pretty definitive.  Jesus would love to have a relationship with each and every person out there but Jesus will never force Himself on anyone.  You have to come to Him.

Have you done that yet?  There is no better life in the world than a life lived with Jesus guiding you.  Why not let Jesus lead your life.  Just ask Him to take over.  "Dear Jesus…."

Faith, Witnessing and Service, Anything Else?

Matthew 20:24-28(NKJV)

24And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. 

25But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 

26Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 

27And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—

28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

I love to be able to keep things simple.  It's easier to set goals and stay on task that way.  So I was thinking, if we had to boil our Christian life down to it's bare essentials, what would they be? 

The first and most obvious is a belief that Jesus Christ was God's son, who was crucified and raised from the dead by God  (LOL, let me clarify.  God didn't kill Jesus, He raised him from the dead.  :)  Christ died to pay for our sins so that we could be saved and have eternal life and fellowship with God.

Those of us who believe that have invited Jesus to lead our lives.  Have you done that yet?  If not I would encourage you to do so.  Have a talk with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus….".

But where do we go from here.  I would suggest that faith is the next most important building block.  Scripture speaks of faith and the importance of faith in many places.  Our very salvation depends on our faith in Jesus. 

I do however think faith goes even deeper than that in this case.  I think we are talking a deep and abiding overall faith that God always has our back!  Never any doubt that as long as we put in the effort to maintain and build that relationship with God, He will always give us as much help as we ask for, and usually a little bit more if we will simply get out of the way and let Him.  :)

OK.  What's next?  I think there are two things that could really be combined into one but because Scripture separates them I think we should too.  Those tow things are witnessing and serving others.

Witnessing can take many forms.  From giving our testimony to just witnessing by living Christ like lives.  What exactly is a Christ like life?  Well the Scripture above tells us that Jesus came to serve.  So I guess if we want to lead Christ like lives that includes serving others.

Now what do I mean by that?  Serving can be anything from selling everything you have and becoming a missionary to simply serving on boards in your community that have nothing to do with church but allow you to bring your Christian influence to try and help serve your community and improve peoples lives.

It can be anything from guiding a huge non profit foundation that serves the poor to simply extending a kindness to a stranger on a daily basis.  Touch someone's life in a positive way, even if it is just to get them to smile and make them feel appreciated.  Brighten their lives.  

As I think if I am missing anything I would add one final thing.  Being in the Word consistently and making a conscious effort to build that relationship with God. 

So have faith, purposefully build your relationship with God, witness, and serve!

Not bad.  Four things to focus on.  That makes it easier.  Am I missing anything?

Out of the mouth of babes….

Matthew 21:15-16(NKJV)

15But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 

16and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,      ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants     You have perfected praise’?” £

I never realized that phrase originated in the Bible.  Made me wonder what other common phrases originated in the Bible.  Found this page.  Pretty cool!

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bible-phrases-sayings.html

God is just too cool for school!

If you have never tried just letting God lead your life I highly recommend it!  As the Bible says, if gives you a peace that surpasses all understanding.  In addition to that, it's just really, really cool to experience. 
 

Sometimes it is in great big earth shattering ways.  Most times, at least for me, it is the little things that I really notice and appreciate. 

Let me share a series of events that culminated today that I think are just a great example of how God can bless each and every one of us if we'll let Him.

I've been working on my son's car rebuilding the transmission.  This has been a several month project.  In taking the engine and transmission out back in the spring I managed to break off a couple of vacuum lines. 

I didn't know what they were called so I couldn't really look them up to see what replacements would cost, but God told me not to worry about it.  So over the months, occasionally I would remember that I needed that part and while I was curious, I never really worried about it.  God said not to so I just trusted that He had it covered. 

There was another part that we would have liked to have for the rebuild but it was around $150 so we had used some rubber hose and devised a workaround but it clearly was an inferior repair to what we could have done if we'd had the proper part. 

On Friday night I was replacing the thermostat.  It didn't need to be done but it is only a $5 part so it is kind of like might as well do it while I am there.  Well, the thermostat housing cracks.  A $5 repair just became a $150 repair because that is what they want for a new one.

I spend Saturday driving to the local junk yards and nobody has the part.  I end up in Three Rivers.  The company's Yellow Pages ad says they are open until 5:00 on Sat.  I get there at 1:30 and they are closed.  New winter hours.  The guy that runs the place is still there and he is sure he has what I need but I'll have to come back on Monday.  (This is a junk yard where you have to take the parts off yourself.)

You're probably wondering what this has to do with God guiding me.  Let me make the connection.  I believe that God guided me down to this place, but I don't think it was an accident that I got there late.  I had to decide what to do next.

This is where it is hard not to be human.  We like to be in charge.  I know I certainly do.  So right away on the ride home my mind starts thinking of ways of repairing the part I have.  I even stopped on the way home and bought some epoxy putty to use in the repair. 

But here is the difference letting God lead your life makes.  While I was trying to solve the problem myself I was also asking God what He wanted me to do.  Please give me some guidance.  I didn't get the answer right away but over the next couple of hours as I worked on other stuff I knew God was saying "don't waste time trying to fix it" so I didn't.  I could have chosen to ignore God and bulled my way through fixing it and saved myself a second trip to Three Rivers, but I chose to listen. 

And remember, although the guy down there said he was sure he would have the part, no other junk yard I visited had the part so there was no guarantee that I would find one there either.

Now let me wrap this up.  First I got up early on Monday so I could get to the junk yard early.  I decided to do my Bible study and blog before I left this morning.  I had something happen that had never happened before.  I wrote the complete blog and was getting ready to post it and it disappeared!  Gone!

I was going to take the time to redo it but I heard God saying nope, do it later.  So again I did what God told me to do. 

I get to the junk yard and guess what I found?  I found the thermostat housing.  And oh by the way, I also found that proper part that we wished we had had.    And oh by the way, remember that vacuum line I broke that God told me not to worry about?  Yeah, I found that whole assembly as well!  All for under $9!!!  Talk about living in God's favor!

Now think about that.  If I had taken control and bulled my way through and repaired the part, that wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world.  I would have saved some time and money.  But look what I would have missed out on!  

For those of you who let God guide your life as I do I'm sure you have had similar experiences.  For those of you who have never experienced this, would you like too?  It is easy to do and it is totally in your control.

The first and most important step is to accept Jesus.  Simply ask Jesus to come into your life and take over and lead you.  Have a conversation and let Jesus know where you are at in life and what you are looking for.  "Dear Jesus…."

Now get into God's word on a consistent basis and develop your relationship with God.  Constantly look to Him for guidance before you act instead of after.  You'll get the hang of it after awhile.  Then you too will have stories like this to tell about how God guided your life. 

Now aren't you glad I listened to God and didn't redo the blog post this morning?  Trust me, this story was way better than that post.  God knew what He was doing as always!

"When you eat the labor of your hands,..."

Love this verse!

Psalms 128:2(NKJV)

2    When you eat the labor of your hands,      You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

It is good that we work and provide for our families.  I believe God made us that way.  There is a satisfaction in seeing your loved ones provided for and cared for. 

That is one of the reasons that I think the welfare system in America is so insidious.  It seems to destroy that desire and that pride in some people. 

There are many people who fall onto hard times for a short while and welfare helps them get back on their feet.  That is a good thing and I'm glad the system works for those people.

Unfortunately there are many people who haven't fared so well in the system.  There are many in the system who would rather game the system and not work.  In some cases it has even become a generational thing.  They take pride in getting all the free stuff.

How sad.  They are missing out on a great blessing that God has for all of us.
 

Psalms 128:2(NKJV)

2    When you eat the labor of your hands,      You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

  

What Does Greatest In Heaven Mean?

Have you ever noticed how sometimes we equate one word with another without even realizing it?  I caught myself doing that with this verse.

Matthew 18:1-5(NKJV)

1At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 

3and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 

4Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 

5Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

Does greatest equal most rewarded in Heaven?  Does greatest equal most honored in Heaven?  What does it mean to be greatest in Heaven and what exactly is this verse trying to say? 

Here is what threw me about this verse.  I have written several times about all the verses in the Bible that tell us all who accept Christ are saved but that our rewards in Heaven will be different based on our works.  In my mind I equated greatest in Heaven with most rewarded.

My thought process being that if you got the most rewards in Heaven that would be an indication that you did the most for God.  Does that make sense?

Unfortunately I don't think that fits this verse because you don't see little children going out and doing a lot of work for God on their own.  Therefore I come to the conclusion that greatest in Heaven and most rewarded are not the same thing and that there must be another meaning to these verses.

So how about greatest in Heaven equals most honored?  I think it was James and John's mother who asked Jesus if He could promise her that her son's would sit at God's left hand.  Jesus told her that wasn't an honor (His words) that was His to give.

What does that tell us?  First that some will be held in higher esteem than others in Heaven.  But again, at least to me, that doesn't really make sense in the context of these verses.

So where does that leave us.  I think this is an allegory on the importance and value of faith.  Not just any kind of faith, but child like faith.  I think the greatest in Heaven will be those who lived their lives by faith in Christ.  Complete, total, faith in His ability to lead and direct your life.

Have you demonstrated that faith yet by asking Jesus to lead your life?  Why not?  God has a great plan for your life and it starts with accepting Jesus.  Just have a conversation with Jesus and ask Him to guide you and lead you.  "Dear Jesus…."

Does that mean you don't have to do any work?  Not according to Scripture.  Your reward is still based on the work you do.   It's just that with Jesus leading your life you are much more likely to be doing the work that God actually wants done.  Why?  Because you are following Jesus with childlike faith which makes it much easier for Him to direct you in God's plan for your life. 

Make sense?