My personal opinion is that the next Biblical prophecy to be fulfilled is the Rapture.  My sincere desire is that our generation will experience this event. The Bible does not use the word Rapture, but it speaks of being caught up. The Latin word rapturus means “to be caught up”, or a more literal definition would be “to be snatched up”. We will be “snatched up” to meet our Lord Jesus Christ in the air, in the twinkling of an eye.

We believers have this great and wonderful promise to look forward to. As the time grows nearer and this world grows darker, we can lift each other up with this hope:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (KJV) – “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

In one of the Left Behind series books, The Rapture, it described Jesus shouting our names all at the same time, but we hear our own name individually. I can imagine hearing Jesus shout, “ANNA!” then I am suddenly transcended to Heaven. Whew! My heart is pounding in my ears at the thought! Come now Lord Jesus! But, I digress.

Jesus tells us to remain watchful and describes it this way, Matthew 24:36-41:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

Although Jesus tells us that no one but His Father knows the day of His return, He does give us signs to watch for. As we survey the world we live in today, it is clear that the same sinful atrocities are being committed as those in the days of Noah. Some are very comfortable in their sinful lifestyles and will be caught unawares when the Rapture catches God’s church up to Heaven. It is urgent that we, His children, do all that we can to let our lights shine and tell people the truth. Whether they listen and turn to God is up to them, but it is detrimental that we share and live accordingly.

One of my very favorite passages about going to meet our King in the sky is John 14:1-3 when Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” I have seen some pretty awesome mansions on earth over the years, but I truly doubt that any of them will even compare to the ones Jesus is preparing for us in Heaven. Jesus has gone to make a place for us to be with Him for eternity. Soon He will come back for us.

This phenomenon we call the Rapture will happen instantly: 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52:

“Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Yes, it will happen instantaneously. Those who put off repentance and salvation for another time, will have waited too long. In the “twinkling of an eye” all true Christians will be gone from this earth. Those left behind will have the chance to become saved during the tribulation period, but they will have to endure the trials of the end days.

My plea to all who read this is, “Please, please, please make certain that if the Rapture happens tonight or tomorrow or next week, that you will be translated to Heaven with the rest of us for eternity:

We are all sinners: Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” There is a high price for sin: Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death,…” God looks at our sin as ‘rebellion’, but He loves us in spite of it:

Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We must turn to God and repent to have our sins completely taken away: Acts 3:19: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,” By God’s grace (generosity), we receive His free gift (eternal life) through faith which is also from God: Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,”

We must confess Jesus and believe that He was raised from the dead by God: Romans 10: 9-10, v.9: “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.” v.10: “For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.”

Finally, we must call on (pray to) the Lord and be saved: Romans10:13: “For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” This simply means that if you pray and ask Jesus to come into your life, He will.”

PRAY: “Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I need your forgiveness. I know that you died on the cross for me. I now turn from my sins and ask you to forgive me. I invite you into my heart and my life. I now trust you as my Savior, and I follow you as my Lord. Thank you for saving me. Amen.”

My favorite passage about the resurrection is found in John 20.

John 20:11-18 (NKJV) “But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” What a splendorous sight to see God’s angels in person like that!

“13. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” I can almost hear her sorrow in her words.

“14. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

“16. Jesus said to her, “Mary!” (Wow! Mary was first to see Jesus after He rose! What an honor!) She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). 17. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” Jesus’ command was, “Do not continue holding or clinging to me” (in order to restrain Him). Inappropriate because of His new relationship as resurrected Lord. BUT, I must say I would want to hold onto my Lord, whom I thought was lost to me, and never let Him go.

“18. Mary Magdalene came and told the desciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.”

As I celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection every Easter, it is terribly grievous to me to recall the horrific beating and humiliataion that he took because of me and a world full of sinners. (It is so grievous to me that when The Passion came out, I was one of the first to buy the DVD, but I have not yet been able to watch it. Our family will try to do that this year.)

I do not believe it is God’s desire for us to weep over the sacrifice that His only son made for us. Just as Mary must have done when she learned that Jesus was alive, we are to hold Him in high reverence and be ever grateful, relieved, and joyous. Let us ever praise Him and thank Him for having the final victory over death.

“I thank you with all my being Dear Heavenly Father God Jehovah, Jesus Christ my saviour, and sweet Holy Spirit. May I never take what you have done for me for granted.”

One thing we sometimes forget is that while Jesus was man, He experienced much of life’s sorrow and temptations just as we do. This time of year can be very difficult for some because of past/childhood wounds that were inflicted by others or the loss of loved ones, perhaps happening around this holiday. We may have moments when we feel abandoned and alone in our pain, but we are not alone. We have a best friend and confidant who laid down His life for us, a world full of sinners. No greater love has there ever been.

I love the encouraging words in Hebrews 4:14-16: “14. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus felt Mary’s and Martha’s intense sorrow when their brother, Lazarus, became sick and died. John 11:32-35: “32. Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 33. Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34. And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35. JESUS WEPT.“

At times we only think of Jesus as some great high being that is above feeling mortal feelings. Yes, He is our Lord and our King, but he stands with open arms pleading, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” He can say this because He has such tremendous love for us, He does understand, and He knows what we are going through.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Know that Jesus wants to give you peace, understanding, and comfort that you will find nowhere else.

Since Daniel had experienced literal fulfillment of prophecy in his life, this was a great revelation for him. He had been praying for many years that Israel would be restored, and he knew that God would fulfill his promise in Jeremiah. Daniel was also a very strong man of God who prayed to Him three times a day, every day; he knew how to move God in prayer.

The following is the prayer Daniel prayed for God to fulfill his promise and deliver his people. Though it was a prayer of confession of the sins of the nation, he did not judge the sinners. He associated himself with the sins of his people 32 times, acknowledged their deserved judgement, and petitioned God for mercy. He approached God on the basis of his loyal love and humbled himself with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel 9:3-19(NKJV): 3. “Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5. we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.”

7. “O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day–to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jeruselem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.”

8. “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9. To the Lord our God belongs mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.”

11. “Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore, the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judge us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such never has been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.”

13. “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.”

15. “And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day–we have sinned, we have done wickedly!”

16. “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.”

17. “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.”

18. “O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.”

19. “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (Bold type added by author)

We could very easily substitue “Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem” with the words “The United States” and pray this same prayer for the recovery of our nation’s Godly morals and values. DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY OUR NATION IS NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION?