Waiting

“I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.”      Psalms 69:3 KJV

“My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O LORD--how long? Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies' sake!”   Psalm 6:3-4 NKJV

“To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, [Having] sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”    Psalm 13:1-2 NKJV

“O God, how long will the adversary reproach? Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever? Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? [Take it] out of Your bosom and destroy [them]”   Psalm 74:10-11 NKJV

I could go on but I will stop here and simply say that waiting on God to act is not a new thing but rather a very old thing.  When I find myself thinking thoughts like these I try to remind myself that above all, God is faithful to do all that He has promised.  Always has, always will.  The problem then becomes our impatience with God’s perfect timing, and the reluctance to accept the fact that He knows what He is doing. It is encouraging to me personally to remember that David, called by God as a man after His own heart, also felt much as we all do right now waiting for God to act.

The following article was posted this past week on the Rapture Ready website and I thought I would share it with you as I found it to be a source of encouragement as I struggle with my impatience waiting on God to intervene.

Are We Really on the Cusp of the Rapture?

As one high watch period after another comes and goes, we sigh as the waiting continues. If you are like me, you feel the weariness of continuing to watch for the Lord’s appearing as wickedness increases beyond what I ever thought possible, and injustice prevails along with government corruption.

Are we really on the cusp of the Rapture? Yes, I remain convinced that we are. Below is a brief summation of reasons why I still watch for the Lord’s appearing as something that could happen today or possibly this week, month, or year.

Wickedness that Demands God’s Response

Many years ago, Ruth Graham famously quipped, “If God doesn’t judge America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Wickedness in the U.S. has increased exponentially since she spoke those words. If God’s judgment on our nation seemed like a foregone conclusion over twenty years ago, how much closer must America be now to experiencing the full scope of His wrath?

God is just, and He must judge the extreme wickedness and lawlessness of our day. The Bible predicts a future outpouring of God’s wrath upon the entire earth, which it describes as the start of the Day of the Lord. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, stated that the Rapture will happen just before the “sudden destruction” of this future time (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10).

What we see happening today will most surely bring God’s response. Count on it. He will directly intervene in the course of human affairs, beginning with the Rapture.

The Prospect of Nuclear War

For months, I have read statements from Russian leaders warning of nuclear war if NATO persists in arming Ukraine, which they continue to do. Recently, Biden authorized Ukraine to fire U.S. missiles at targets within Russian territory. I remain shocked by the foolishness of such a decision. When one of America’s missiles causes severe damage in Russia, it’s a certainty that Putin will directly attack NATO and American interests.

Revelation 6:1-8 describes the initial devastation toll that will sweep over the earth during the Day of the Lord. This includes a war that will contribute to the death of one-fourth of the earth’s population. Could it be that what John saw was the result of the current provocations for a nuclear confrontation that would likely kill hundreds of millions, if not more? If so, this tells us we are ever so close to the Rapture, which happens before the seal judgments.

The World’s Determination to Resolve Israel’s Wars

If there ever was a time that matches the words of Zechariah 12:2-3, it’s now:

“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.”

Of all the many wars taking place in the world today, the UN and its member nations are obsessed with stopping Israel’s war in Gaza and preventing its all-out attack on Hezbollah. The world’s excessive preoccupation with bringing peace to the Middle East not only fulfills prophecy but will also lead to the antichrist’s future covenant of ‘peace’ with Israel.

The Lord, through His prophet, predicted the world’s current fascination with Jerusalem, which will open the door to what will take place just prior to and during the seven-year Tribulation. Does this not also tell us that we are ever so close to the Lord taking us home to the place He’s preparing for us? I believe it does.

The Nearing Pole Shift

For the past couple of years, I have been reading about the upcoming pole shift. My primary source of information for this has been John Traczyk, a fellow believer who’s also eagerly anticipated the Lord’s soon appearing. I don’t understand much of what I read about the beginning of the pole shift, but a few things have captured my attention:

1. The descriptions of what the experts say will happen during a pole shift closely match what the Apostle John predicted would happen during the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12-17).
2. Many of the world’s wealthiest people are building underground bunkers. They are doing so not only because of the threat of nuclear war but because of warnings concerning the pole shift.
3. John Traczyk and others believe this catastrophic event will happen soon.

The nearing pole shift is another harbinger pointing to the nearness of Jesus’ appearing to take us home.

The Imminent Economic Disaster

The third seal depicts a time of economic disaster that will impact the entire world. And as I have often written, we are long past due for this to have happened. It’s only the restraining hand that’s holding back the astronomically high prices for food depicted in Revelation 6:5-6.

Living With a Sense of Imminency Copies the Mindset of First Century AD Saints

As I prayed and thought about the nearness of the Rapture during the past week, the Lord reminded me that living with a sense of imminency is biblical regardless of the signs pointing to it. He instructed us to always watch for His return, and the New Testament believers “early awaited” His appearing as something that could happen at any moment (Matthew 24:36-51; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10). And our perseverance in doing so will bring a reward (2 Timothy 4:8).

Waiting is never easy, especially in a day of microwave ovens and instant access to information via the phones we hold in our hands. However, when Jesus appears to take us to the place that He’s preparing for us (John 14:2-3), we will know that it was well worth the wait.

-Jonathan

https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/

When will God give His Son Jesus Christ permission to call us home to be with Him forever?  No one truly knows, but it certainly seems that the time for us to depart is more imminent than it has ever been before. God is waiting for the world to repent and accept the free gift of salvation He has offered by the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Yet we are also told there will come a time when God will tell His Son to come and get us and take us home, ending the waiting period and then unleashing His judgment on this earth.  Everyone is afforded a choice as to where they will spend eternity and if your desire is to spend that eternity in Heaven with our Father, Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans exactly how to do that.

 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”    Romans 10:9-10  NKJV

 

I pray you have, or will, make the choice to accept the gift of eternal life offered to us all as a result of the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Keep watching.

Listening for the Shout

“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.”    2 Corinthians 5:1-4  NKJV

Since confession is good for the soul, let me confess; I have been doing a lot of groaning lately.  This past week I underwent a minor surgical procedure which has left me rather uncomfortable to say the least.  As I am one of those who rarely if ever get sick, when I do I tend to groan and complain a lot.  Like many, I find that as I grow older I spend considerable time reflecting on just how nice it will be to finally get my heavenly body and leave this old bag of bones behind, and with that in mind I couldn’t help this week dreaming about hearing the call to come home.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”      1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV

This is a subject I have talked about before, but seeing what is happening right now I thought I would share some thoughts with you again that I have discussed before concerning what we might experience when that blessed hope finally occurs.  As I studied the question of the rapture, I was surprised to find that some of the teachers I highly respect do not necessarily agree with some of my thoughts.  Although I suppose that should not come as a surprise, it still was a disappointment to me because I believe that the Bible is pretty clear on the events surrounding our deliverance.  So enjoy reading today and decide for yourself if those who choose to believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins will in fact, know when we go.

One of the things I enjoyed most when teaching young people were the questions I often got from them concerning the things we were studying in the scriptures. One of my favorites, and one I got repeatedly when teaching the rapture of the Church is if we will know or be aware that we are being raptured, or do we simply find ourselves suddenly in heaven without a clue that it was about to happen? That really is a great question and one I think many of us have thought about at one time or another, so I thought we might take a little time this morning to look closer at the event we call the rapture.

This verse in Thessalonians is probably the best one we can use in describing exactly what God says will happen on that day. If we look closely at what it says, we find that we are told there are actually three distinct things which will occur in sequence when Jesus returns for His Church. These are a shout by the Lord Himself, the voice of an archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God. So let's look closer at each of these three and see if there is a clue to the answer to our question “will we know”?

The Shout. In this verse we are told this shout is from the Lord Jesus Himself. Now at first, it would seem understandable that Jesus might want to shout since He has been waiting over two thousand years to come get His bride, yet there may be more to it than that. We are also told here that “the dead in Christ will rise first”. So there is a sequence of events, and the first is the resurrection of the bodies of those believers who have already died to be reunited with their souls which went to be with Lord at the time of their death.

“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”                2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV

When a believer dies, his soul goes to be with the Lord in Heaven while his body is left behind. At the time of the rapture, the Lord apparently commands their bodies to rise from the grave just as He did with Lazarus.

“Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" John 11:43 NKJV

So the first thing to happen at the time of the rapture is the resurrection of the dead in Christ. While teaching this during Sunday School, one of my students said “dude, wouldn’t it be cool to be in a cemetery when that happens?”  We laugh, but I just wonder if he is right?  Everybody present saw Lazarus arise, so I wonder if it’s possible we will see the dead in Christ rise?

The Voice. The only angel in the Bible to receive the title of archangel is the angel Michael, so I think it is safe to assume that this is who is being talked about here. As opposed to the Lord's “shout”, we are told that we only hear the “voice” of Michael, so we are left to wonder exactly what his role here is. If you have studied this passage in the past, or study it further, you will find there are a few opinions as to what might be going on. Although any of them might be right, I am going to go as far as to suggest a new one which may or may not be accurate, but feels the most comfortable to me. As I sat and thought about why Michael might be involved, I decided to look at the other occasions where he is mentioned in the Bible. A very interesting place I found is in the book of Jude where we are told this;

“Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"     Jude 1:9 NKJV

Now I certainly found it curious that here we find a situation involving Michael that, along with the account of the rapture, is concerned with a body belonging to a believer. In this account in Jude, the only explanation that makes any sense is that Satan was disputing “possession” of the dead body of Moses. We can find an account of this in the non-canonical Book of Enoch, of which Jude is obviously referring to. In that account Satan laid claim to the body for two reasons. The first was that Moses was a murderer because he took the life of an Egyptian, and the second was that Moses body was buried on earth, and he, Satan, is the lord over the things of this world. So my thoughts are these; if Satan has in the past disputed over the ownership of the body of one believer, just what will his reaction to the resurrection of all dead believers bodies be? If in fact this is what happens, doesn't it make sense that the same scenario will repeat itself and the voice of the archangel is Michael again saying “The Lord rebuke you” to Satan? As I said, there are other ideas concerning this portion of the verse, but since both of these accounts of Michael concern the ownership of believers bodies, to me this seems to be a reasonable conclusion.

The Trumpet. Actually, we are told here that what we hear is the "trumpet of God". Just what exactly is this trumpet sound and what if anything makes it special? In another account of the rapture, Paul tells us this;

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”           1 Corinthians 15:52 NKJV

In this passage Paul refers to this trumpet as the "last trump". This helps us identify it for from studying rabbinical sources we see that this use of the term "last trump" means it is the shofar, or ram's horn which is being used. The shofar is related to the account of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, and rabbinical tradition regards the left horn as the "first trump" and the right horn as the "last trump". There are two ways to blow the shofar, with the first being a series of short blasts which signify an alarm or bad news, and the second being one long blast which is meant to signal victory or good news. It is this last long blast which is identified as the "last trump". According to rabbinical sources the "last trump" or "tekiah gedolah" lasts as long as the blower has the lung capacity to blow. In this case, where the "trumpet of God" is being blown, one has to wonder just how long the blast will be. My personal opinion is very, very long.

The shout of Jesus calling for the resurrection of all dead believers bodies to rise, Michael rebuking Satan in the Lord's name for possession of the bodies, and the tekiah gedolah which lasts as long as the blower has breath, certainly gives rise to the thought that the answer to our original question might well be; yes! Yes we will know that the rapture is occurring because there is a sequence of three events which must take place before we go. I suspect the last trump will last long enough for all believers to know and understand that the time has come for the bride to go with the bridegroom and to rise and meet Him in the air.

If you have never accepted the free gift of God’s grace, and the forgiveness of your sin, you can do it today.  Just pray a simple prayer like this and believe that He will do as He has said He will, and you too will go to be with Him for eternity and receive a new, incorruptible body which will never get sick, and never grow old.  Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen.

Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Keep watching, (and listening).

You Can See Fruit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galations 5:22-23 NKJV

One of the many things I enjoy about spring is watching all of the flowers and trees begin to grow leaves, grow buds, and then eventually bloom.  I especially look forward to seeing the blossoms on my fruit tree turn into fruit and watching as they slowly grow larger and larger.  As I thought about that this week it occurred to me that although obvious, I never really considered that fruit is something that you can see and observe, and enjoy watching as it grows.

One of the things I like about God's lists is that He usually always starts with the most important part listed first. It is no different here where God tells us what the fruits of the Spirit are, and lists them for us. In a way, this list is related to the list we discussed a few weeks ago, and that is the list of the spiritual gifts. Why is that? Well, if you look closely at the passage we looked at, Paul says an interesting thing when he finishes with the list of gifts.

“And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

1 Corinthians 12:31b 13:1-3 NKJV

What Paul tells us here is something very important that many believers miss, and that is this; the Fruit of the Spirit is more important than the Gifts of the Spirit. You see, we can produce work on our own, but only the Holy Spirit can produce fruit. So our responsibility is to live in the Spirit, thus allowing Him to work through us to produce fruit. How do we do that? Well, let's begin where we finished last week, and that is by looking at our "makeup"!

Ask any woman what the first thing is that she puts on when doing her makeup and I bet you most would say her "foundation". In the list of the fruits God gives us in Galatians, the first thing He tells us is "love". Obviously love is not only the most important, but if you look at the rest of the list it seems everything else is a result of that love. So in a way. you could say that love is the foundation upon which all the other fruits are built. The word here for love is "agape" which in the Bible describes the love that God has for us. Some of the best definitions of this kind of love that I have found, and use when teaching on agape, come from Ray Stedman, late pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto California. I have chosen to list just two of them for you. 

(1) Agapē; commitment of the will to love and uphold another person

(2)"Agape, or God's kind of love, is a deliberate choice to act for the best interests of another person."

It is unfortunate that so many people confuse "agape" love with "eros" or sensual love, which is a love based on feelings and is never used in the Bible. I have often heard people say that they just can't love another person for one reason or another, but the Bible tells us here that as believers, by virtue of the gift of the Holy Spirit, we do have the capacity to love anyone with agape love. Agape is the foundation of the gifts of the Spirit, and if we look closely at the nine gifts listed, I believe we can see what God is trying to show us. 

Have you ever heard the expression "Joy stands for Jesus, others, and you"? I remember learning that one in Sunday school when I was young, and by looking a little closer at this list I think I know where that came from. Try dividing these nine gifts into groups of three and then categorize them. What I see is that the first three are directed towards God,(Jesus), the second three towards (others), and the last three towards us,(you). If it helps we can say the gifts of the Spirit are "directional"; Godward, manward, selfward.

When we begin by choosing to love God just as He has loved us, we experience the joy that comes from having a relationship with our Father just as Jesus did.

"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and [that] your joy may be full.”

John 15:11 NKJV

Accepting Jesus into our hearts and choosing to live in a relationship with God not only produces joy, but also as a result allows us to experience the peace of knowing God is with us no matter what the outward circumstances of our lives might be.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

Who doesn't want to experience a life filled with joy and peace? Has there ever been a time in your life when you encountered someone who seemed ridiculously happy and you wondered what in the world their "problem" was? Guess what? That should be us. The "foundation" we need to put on as often as necessary is to simply remind ourselves that we have entered into a loving relationship with God the Father who has promised to give us joy and peace so that others see in us the effects of making that choice.  I believe what the Father is telling us is that the whole point of fruit is that it”s something you can see, and it all starts with Love.

In order to produce the fruit of the Spirit, however, you must have made the choice to be part of God’s family by believing on the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  If you are reading this today and have never made that decision, you can do it right now wherever you might be by simply praying a prayer like this;

Jesus I know that I am a sinner, and have sinned against you.  I believe you loved me enough to send your Son Jesus to die for my sins, and that He rose from the dead so that I can live.  Forgive me of my sins and come into my life and help me to live for you.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I pray you have made that choice as it is becoming more and more apparent that our time on this earth is rapidly coming to an end, and our call to come home could happen at any moment.  In the meantime, we should work at producing fruit that others can see.  Maranantha.

Keep Watching.

Heaven Bound

“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”                                    1 Corinthians 2:9  NKJV

“What is Heaven like?”  Have you ever heard that question from someone and stumbled over the answer?  Did it cause you to think seriously about what you truly believe waits for us in the future?  Have you spent time in the Word looking for answers as to what is in store for all those who have made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord?  I’m sure most of us who have made that choice did so knowing that we were choosing between eternity in the presence of God as opposed to eternity in Hell, yet exactly what does the Bible tell us about our heavenly home?  The answer to that question might surprise you.

Why?  Because the truth is that we are not told very much at all concerning what we can expect life to be like in our eternal state.  I look at it much like I do the presents under my Christmas tree; I know I’m going to like and enjoy them, but I don’t yet know exactly what they are.  Now I can try to guess what they might be based on clues dropped by my kids but at best these are just hints at what the reality might be.  If you study the subject of Heaven, you will soon find that there is a lot of speculation about what it will be like but the truth is that any ideas we might have must be based on what the Bible says and not a result of our personal desires.  

Of course, the first thing we can do is ask someone who has already been there such as Paul the Apostle.  In his second letter to the church at Corinth he had this to say about his trip;

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”                    2 Corinthians 12:2-4  NKJV

To be perfectly honest, my first reaction to reading these words was something along the line of “thanks for nothing Paul”,  yet it is here that we find our first clue as to what life will be like in Heaven.  Paul heard what he described as “inexpressible words”.  The Greek word used here is arrētos which translates as “unspeakable” with the idea that they are unspeakable due to their sacredness.  I find it interesting that the first thing Paul describes about heaven is what he heard and not what he saw.  I believe what Paul heard was all of the heavenly host giving praise and glory and honor to God.  Notice what occurred when the Son of God first appeared on earth, at the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. “And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”     Luke 2:11-14  NKJV

Let me ask you a question.  What do you think your reaction will be when you leave this earth, this body, this life, and instantaneously find yourself in the presence of God the Father?  I think it rather reasonable to assume that all of us will sing and shout praises to God in ways we can’t even imagine as a result of experiencing the emotions of gratitude, relief, joy, etc.  I can’t help but think of the phrase “words can’t describe” when thinking about what our reaction will be when we find ourselves standing before our Father in Heaven.  There is a famous quote from the author C.S. Lewis about heaven which goes like this; “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”  I believe that what Paul heard, and what we will do when we arrive in Heaven, is shout for joy.

Although finding ourselves in the presence of our Father is reason enough to shout with joy, I think Paul also gives us another clue as to why we will be so happy when we arrive in Heaven and this is found in his first letter to Corinth.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”          1 Corinthians 15:50-51  NKJV

If you are like me and have noticed the odometer on your body is about to roll over because of the high mileage, in this passage Paul gives us the best news we could ever want to hear about what to expect when we get to Heaven.  I think most of us would agree that this is found in the two words “changed” and “incorruptible”.  “Changed” in the Greek is the word allasso, which means “to change, to exchange one thing for another, to transform”.  The other word, “incorruptible”, is the Greek word aphthartos, which  is translated “uncorrupted, not liable to corruption or decay, imperishable, immortal”.  

Now like I said, this verse means more to me now than it did when I was in my twenties, but the fact remains that the body we now inhabit will never see the light of Heaven.  “In the twinkling of an eye,” which is the same as instantaneous to my way of thinking, we will exchange the body we now have for a completely new body suitable for life in Heaven.  Suitable how you ask?  Well, perfect for one thing, which will finally answer the question we all have wondered at one time or another, “what does the perfect body look like?”  When we get to Heaven, everyone will have one.  Isaiah has this to say about Heaven;

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing.”                    Isaiah 35:5-6a  NKJV

None of the physical problems we experience here on earth because of the fall will have any place in Heaven.  Also we see we won’t ever get sick, “no corruption or decay”, and as a result, we will never grow old, “imperishable and immortal”.  Best of all, because our new bodies will be perfect, and because it is impossible for sin to be in the presence of God, it follows our new bodies will not have a sin nature.  In Heaven, we will never again be tempted to sin, and because Satan and his angels will be banished from Heaven for good, we will finally be free from the burden of temptation.  For me, this is one of the things I simply can’t imagine as we have all been born with a sin nature and have no idea at all what it might be like to not have one.  All I can say is that I am sure that one of the biggest reasons there will be so much joy in Heaven is a result of experiencing the reality of finally being free from sin.

By now it should go without saying that most believers in the body of Christ believe our departure from this earth is staring us in the face, and the call to go home could happen at any moment.  Every week we are treated to more and more signs that our deliverance is close at hand.  If you have never made the decision to accept the gift of eternal life offered by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ I urge you to do it today.  Simply tell God you accept His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and turn your life over to His control.  By doing that, you are promised all that God the Father has to offer His children as we spend eternity with Him in heaven.

 

Father, I know I am a sinner in need of salvation. I believe you sent your Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sin, and I ask you now to forgive me of my sins. I want to receive your gift of salvation so please come into my heart and help me to live and follow you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Keep watching.