Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
With a new look
A friend asked me about this a few days ago and it reminded me of a time in a church up in Massachusetts when our pastor called some men up to the front of the church. He asked us whether we believer in pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, or post-tribulation?
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Well, some people believe in multiple raptures; pre., mid. and post. Truth be told, my personal belief on this matter is pre-trib. And that is mainly because I believe that the tribulation will be seven years of very hard and ruthless times, and my loving God doesn’t want that for His true followers of Jesus.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words,” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 New Living Translation).
Whether you want to believe in a pre-tribulation rapture (when the Church is caught up) or a rapture in the middle of the tribulation or post-trib. or multiple raptures all through the tribulation time there are a few constants.
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Those who have put their true faith in Jesus and have fallen asleep (died) will rise first. Then, almost immediately, we who are alive and have put our true faith in Jesus, and are prepared (remember the ten virgins) and watching, will go with them. There will be a trumpet of God and a shout. Some actually think the rapture had already happened; I ask them, what happened to the shout and the trumpet?
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Your believing in the time of the rapture is according to your desire, there is nothing in the Bible, nothing that I have found, that says exactly when this blessed event will happen, other than when the trumpet of God blows. So, whether you desire a pre-trib., mid-trib., post-trib., or multi-trib. rapture, the issue is really: Will you be ready? Back in the late 90’s Tim Lehay and Jerry Jenkins wrote a series of novels called LEFT BEHIND. I thought they were very good and even informative. Get them and read them. You may want to decide to believe in a pre-trib. rapture also.
Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, or Post-Trib.
The Commandments
“If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments,” (John 14:15 Amplified Bible).
“Keep and obey My commandments.” Believe it or not, Jesus was not talking about the Ten Commandments here. “So, what was He talking about,” you may ask. Good question; now, here is the answer, whether you like it or not. In the Living Bible Jesus simply says, “If you love me, obey me.”
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Now, contrary to popular worldly-religious belief, Jesus is the standard for living, not our substitute. The only place He was our substitute was at the cross in death. He said,
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father,” (John 14:12 New Living Translation).
So, you say you love Jesus, but do you believe in Him? Oh yes, I’ve heard worldly-religion (those who want to love Jesus their way) say that those things past away with the apostles. First of all, they are saying that Jesus changed.
“For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself,” (Hebrews 13:8 The Message).
Secondly, what apostles? There are still apostles here today.
But anyway, these people also claim that there is one commandment to the church, and that is to preach God’s word. Well, actually, if you will look at Acts 1:1 you will see the word “All.” That verse tells us that Jesus began a work; if He began you should be able to deduce that He wants His work to be continued. And, if you will go down a few verses to verse 8 you will see that we are the ones whom Jesus wants to continue His work, that’s why you need to be enveloped in the Holy Spirit. Now, that doesn’t just mean to preach, preaching is only a small part of it, it is sharing the love of God.
“Okay, how do we share the love of God if not preaching?” I didn’t say no preaching, I said that preaching is a small part. Do you have hands and are they sick? Jesus laid hands on the sick for healing and he told the believer to do the same. Are there people in your midst who are troubled, maybe possessed by a devil and you have the name of Jesus? Jesus drove demons out of people who were possessed and He told the believer to do the same. Do you have a reason to give God the praise, has God done anything miraculous for you? Share your testimony.
See, by doing these three things you are sharing the love of God. There are plenty more things that you can do, these are just three. Myself, I used to be able to walk unhindered, but now I have trouble in that area. So, what I can do is write and do videos: if someone calls me or seeks me out in any way I will pray for them and lay hands on them if the opportunity arises. I don’t have to make the opportunity arise to do anything, I just have to make myself available. The same will work with you. If you make yourself available to do the things that Jesus did the opportunities will be plenty for you to prove that you love and believe in Jesus. But, if you shy away time after time after time, thinking I’m not a pastor or called to any other particular ministry, so I can’t do that, then after a while opportunities will stop. But, if you repent and get back in availability mode they will start up again.
“These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety (if they need to handle snakes don’t tempt God), and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed,” (Mark 16:17-18 New Living Translation).