Rapture Watch

How many of you out there on Rapturewatch have been in a bit of a confusing time since last year's September Rapture did not materialize? It was my first year of "watching" and I began in earnest, back in the the early months of 2011. The natural disasters in Japan, the toppling of Arab nation after Arab nation, it was all seeming to fall into place. And then it didn't.

I'm just wondering how many others out there are experiencing something similar to what I'm going through. No, I haven't given up on the fact that Jesus is going to return for His church, but I have given up on the idea that we can see it happen. If 2011 wasn't the year, and believe me, I studied and thought of nothing else for the entire year, scouring headlines and such, then I don't think we can know when it will come upon us.

And frankly, I can't keep going through what I went through last year. I nearly painted on all of my car windows and drove around town spreading the news that Jesus was at the door. I know He is "at the door" but I wonder how much harm we do rather than good, telling people it could happen any day now. I for one have been disillusioned. I can't watch like that anymore. I just can't take the disappointment.

And like I said, I can't go over everything that happened in 2011, but if that wasn't the year, then maybe we can't possibly know when it will happen. Just wondering who else has the courage to step forward and say "I know what you mean."

Well ........ I think we allow disappointment to the extent you are claiming CherylB. I was waiting for my day of interest back in 1988 ...... but that is all they are. Days of interest. Watch days. If you fix your hope on a date then you will join the long list of people throughout the church age that have allowed themselves to be disappointed, some bitter and others angury ...and even worse.

I think most that have done a little study on the subject would feel that we live in the end time generation. Not just in that generation but towards the end of that generation. If we thought we had 10 years remaining that would be extreamly exciting. To live in this day was not my choice or yours or anyones .... In His infinate wisdom, It was Almighty God's choice to have me you and all in this generation serve in an amazing time. My thought is that He saved the tuffest for one of the hardest generations,and one of the most important. That why you live in this generation. We are truely blessed to be the saints living and serving at the close of the church age. We can not do it in our own strength or our own agenda but in Christ we can do all things .... Not all will serve His will but travel another path, follow another god, another direction but all living today has that choice. Saints living in this generation have been equipped with all we need to overcome and turn this generation up side down for the kingdom of heaven as did the saints in the first generation of the church age. Being right with God is far more important than being right with the rapture date.

If we have 20 years to go .....  praise Almighty God, or 10 years or if our time expires crossing the road today .... we all only have the now. Right Now. We can't live our yesterdays or our tomorrows but only the now. My now has a blessed hope. The return of my Lord and Savior. Jesus the Christ. If that is today or a thousand tomorrows away, the best way to serve Him is to focus on our hope in Him and not on a date. My thought is that time is short .... but I don't know. But I hope and watch and serve as His word commands. I have peace in Christ and I pray that you find that peace in Him also sister. You where created to serve His will in this generation and Almighty God does not make mistakes. Blessings Steve.

Cheryl....

I am near to you whenever you cry out. ……Deuteronomy 4:7

Those who overcome will be made pillars in my temple forever….Revelation3:12

You are my children now, and you will be just like Jesuswhen He appears….1John 3:2

One day, you will see my face, and my name will be on yourforehead…Revelation 22:4

I will save you in the midst of all your troubles…Psalm138:7

My armor will help you stand against the enemy…Ephesians6:11

I will strengthen you with feet like a deer so you can reachgreat heights….Habakuk 3:19

If you enter into my rest, you will find rest from all yourstriving….Hebrews 4:9

I bless my righteous ones and shield them with my favor…Psalm5:12

You can trust in my faithfulness because my Word is true…Psalm33:4

Through faith in Christ, you can boldly approach me with confidence…Ephesians 3:12

I am your shield, your glory and the lifter of your head…Psalm3:3

He IS coming

The human experience is dedicated to waiting.  We are always in line waiting for something to happen at the other end.  I sometimes think that I have spent more darned time waiting than I have doing anything really constructive.

But we were told to wait patiently and yes, to look for the signs and watch them unfold.  But Jesus said to live our lives and obey God.  We know how to do that and as well, through Jesus, we know, (because of our faith in His saving Grace), how to continue our repentance & to work at the rejection of sin in our fallen lives.  We know how we should be optimising our time by bringing others to Christ.

I fear many, (including me), are waiting in the line to the exclusion of all else.  Brothers/sisters all, that is not a spiritually healthy pastime.   Remember the parable about  the servants who were given money to hold for their master.  Two made good investments and returned their stern master a handsome profit.  The third, knowing how stern his master was, simply buried it and returned to his master the original sum but with no interest.

Needless to say the stern master was furious.

Mathew 25:24-29 Aramaic Bible in Plain English

He also who had received one talent came, and he said, “My lord, I had known you that you are a hard man, and that you reap where you have not sown and that you gather from where you have not threshed, 25And I was afraid, and I went and buried your talent in the ground. Behold, it is yours.” 26His master answered and said to him, “You evil and lazy servant; you knew that I reaped where I had not sown, and I gathered from where I have not threshed. 27And it was incumbent upon you to cast my money to the exchange, so that when I would come, I could require my own with its interest. 28Take therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents.”

29For to the one who has it, it shall be given, and it will be increased to him. But whoever does not have it, that which he has will be taken from him. 30And they cast the worthless servant into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing teeth.

Let us not therefore waste time by simply waiting.  But let us with love, go forth every day, looking for another human being who needs our help either physically or spiritually.  Then indeed, if the Bridegroom comes suddenly, we WILL be prepared and our watch will not have been in vain.

God Bless us, little children all.

Cheryl,

I understand where you are coming from. I personally never thought we'd still be here in 2012. Jesus said that no man knows the day or the hour, so I don't think it was meant for us to know. But Jesus didn't want us to be completely in the dark. He told us to look for the season. I believe we are in that season.

The Lord is not willing that anyone should perish, so He is going to wait and give people the last possible opportunity to repent and come to Him, and that is why He hasn't come back for His church already. The fullness of the Gentiles has not yet come in.

Don't get discouraged my friend! Jesus is at the door and He is coming soon!

And when you pray Cheryl, remember that all of our prayers are joining with yours.  They rise as a glorious incense before the throne of our Heavenly Father.

You are not alone.  Ten, thousand, thousand of the faithful stand with you.  Reach out and you feel our joined hands that link us.  A mighty, invincible army of the faithful waiting for Jesus.  So just lose that worry about whether it is tomorrow or whether it will happen after you go to your peace beforehand.   It simply doesn't matter.

But what it does is to create a doubt?  Albeit a nagging little one...but a doubt nevertheless.  And who is the architect of doubt?  The ruler of this fallen world.  Don't  forget that he is busy.  Busy trying to undo the work of repentance that the Holy Spirit created in us.  He cannot succeed for the mark ofChrist's  blood has been placed on the lintel of our brows to signify that we are the elect of God through Jesus Christ and evil must now pass over us.

Nevertheless, he will keep trying.   We love you kiddo, just hang in there.

I too have experienced this but something I have realized is that the times when it has been the most debilitating to me verses the times I can just keep going with it ... the difference is that the debilitating times were because of events in my life that I was so dredding and so the hope of the watch date was a desperate one, if that makes sense. The other times were just hopeful days of excitement and anticipation. When they came and went, I went on with my walk and work and watch.

Watch dates only truly debilitate us when we were looking at the things around us falling apart and experiencing fear because of it. It happens, we all face these things in our walk...whether it be personal events or just world events that are fearful (more the anticipation of what may be is fearful).

This is when it comes into play that the righteous walk by faith and not by sight. This is why the Lord told us to not get carried away by the cares of this world. Yes, the things around us right now are absolutely horrible and the things that are coming are things that are fearful to the world. However, the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear but one of love, power and of a sound mind. Think about what that truly means.

His Spirit within us is one of POWER. The Holy Spirit is the POWER of God, He is the enforcer of His will. Mighty!

His Spirit is one of LOVE. The Holy Spirit is our seal for the promise of the Lord's redemption of us, His Bride. The Holy Spirit guards us with the LOVE of God for us. Imagine one you love the most and how you would overcome all fears to protect that loved one...at all costs. This is a small example of the LOVE we have been given in His Spirit.

His Spirit is one of a SOUND MIND. The Holy Spirit gives us the mind of Christ that we should focus on the things of Christ and not be moved by the things of this world (cares of this world). In Christ, if we walk faithfully in Him, there is nothing to fear.

You know, I was thinking the other day about how when we worry about things or fear things in this life... it is just the manifestation of the amount of faith that we have in those things coming to pass. If we had no faith in those things, we would not fear or worry about them. I thought then about how if we have the faith of a mustard seed in God and His Word, we could move a mountain or do anything.

We have all heard about how powerful words are and how they can bring about anything we speak... Well, the same is the case with our faith. We will either give our faith to the world and its plans or we will give it to Christ and His plans. Our faith is like our bowing down before the one we hold highest.

It reminds me of this verse: Matthew 10:28 " And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Anyway, I say all that to say, it is really about our perspective in our watching and waiting. The rapture is an escape from the things to come as we are not appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation through Christ Jesus...however, we must look at it as the hope and promise that it is which will help us to get through what all we do face rather than "relying" on it to not have to go through anything. Does this make sense?

Like I mentioned.. we have all faced this, some of us more often than others and many of us more often than we would like to admit.... but if this is a struggle for anyone, its a clear sign of needing to draw closer to Him, to regain the proper focus and to be filled with His peace that you may endure whatever is brought your way. We are very close to the finish line and we will not face the events in the tribulation period if we remain faithful in Him but while we are here on earth... we will continue to face personal persecutions, tribulations, trials, etc. as that is what we are called to in this life that if we share in His sufferings, we will also share in His glory.

I pray the Lord will give you His peace in your watch for Him and that He will strengthen you in Him and His Word, that you will be fully transformed by the renewing of your mind through His Word and not moved by the things of this life in Jesus mighty and faithful name. Amen.