Are You Really Ready?

Are You Really Ready?

by David Brenneman 

‭‭"He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” Isaiah‬ ‭6:9‭-‬10‬.

‭“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come." Mark‬ ‭13:33‬.

For sure, people have been waiting for over 2,000 years for Jesus to keep His promise to return. 

But have you? Are you ready for His return or are you only carrying about in life as if that day isn't imminent?  Jesus said clearly that you do not know the time.  But He did say to live as though it could be at any moment. 

Jesus spoke in many parables of this event, easily seen to drive that point home. 

The parable of the King and the talents entrusted to his servants. 

The parable of the women and their lamps. 

Do you understand that our generation is the most likely ever to see His return?  It matters not that all prior generations were waiting for Him.  Your generation is the here and now.  Your generation is the one called to be on the alert. Yours.

Mike Wingfield at www.ptnews.org is my Spiritual Father in the faith. In his own ministry of what God's been revealing to him concerning today's world in light of Biblical prophecy...he likes to end his newsletter with "Be ready for the shout that will take us out!".

Do you live your today with the possibility that you could step into eternity in the blink of an eye?  

Watch the news, read a paper, scroll a screen, people step into eternity every single second.  Those who rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to step into Hell, those who believed and received the free gift of salvation stepping into Heaven. 

On a global scale the Rapture of the Church is coming.   The United Nations will come up with some concoction of a story to cover up the event.  People will be lied to enmass.  People will be forced into a new way of life devoid of the restraining power of the Spirit of God.  Yes, as bad as this world is at times, if it wasn't for the Spirit of God restraining things it would be a whole lot worse.  The Spirit of God is responsible for keeping this world on track with the Word of God.  He will not allow innovation or greed or wars to derail the Word of God.  He will not allow political parties or figures to derail the Word of God.  

This too is why the Deceiver, Satan, always has a Antichrist ready in every single generation. Perhaps you read about all of them for the last 2,000 years or so.  They're in the history books. 

So many people, professing to be Christians, are not living life with His return in mind.  So many are extremely comfortable in the sins they have allowed, have been practicing, that they indeed have ears that do not hear nor eyes that see the work of God in their lives. 

Returning to be healed is only a single step away for all who breathe the breath of life.  Either healed in their spiritual walk to return to a right relationship with Jesus or healed of being the walking dead in their unbelieving hearts. 

Many people calling themselves Christians have so much idolatry in their lives that it's a comfortable blanket or a warm sweater and it's in fact the Word of God that's distant to them.  They see not that such things are chains that are weighing them down. 

So many are like what we read in the Scriptures.  "and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”" 2 Peter 3:4.

The yet unbelieving are in so deep a darkness that they realize not what's coming.  It's one of the saddest things for me to see n to feel is the sheer depth of darkness surrounding an unbeliever.  The despair from not having anyone to place their hope in like Jesus Christ.  They refuse to acknowledge that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  As the Bible describes "oh how deep is that darkness!".

Are you ready to have it seen before your eyes, for Jesus already knows, just what all your life amounted to in hopefully living for Jesus?  That account a Believer gives in the near future will be more for our benefit than we know.  Our heart will be revealed as to where it really was while here on Earth.  Jesus already knows. 

In Isaiah 6, after his iniquity was removed, he jumped at the chance to do what he could out of gratitude for that weight of sin being removed.  It cost him his physical life in time but as Paul wrote he considered all things as loss.

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;  if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." Philippians 3:8-11

Are you really ready?  Are you spending quality time with Jesus?  When you look at your life do you see ample evidence of Jesus changing your life to be more like Himself?

If not, start right here and right now. 

A good house cleaning of the heart never hurt anyone in wanting to be living right in the eyes of God. 

Start with a meaningful prayer life. Meaningful...wanting to put what's important to Jesus in your prayers. 

Meaningful...wanting to be in the Word of God daily, not just a possible Sunday of hearing someone else mentioning the Scriptures.  Your Bible is your love letter from Jesus to you...isn't that alone important enough to read all the way through?

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus...look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. 

All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.