IF I WOULD MISS THE RAPTURE

If I were not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Rapture happened, I would not attend any post-Rapture parties, I would not celebrate that all the followers of Jesus were gone, thereby freeing me to live and do as I please without some holier-than-thou telling me how to live my life and cramming some Bible verse down my throat. I wouldn't go looting the homes of Christians, figuring, “They're gone! They're not going need this stuff anyway!”

What I would do would be to stand trembling, realizing that the Jesus I denied was real, the message of the Gospel that I scoffed at was true and the gift of God's love and forgiveness that I openly rejected, laughed at, mocked, and at times even profaned, has now passed me by.

The pride that kept me from repentance and from surrender to God, I would curse with every fiber of my being. I would not swallow my pride, but with all that is in me I would vomit it out, seeing clearly that my pride was my poison; my arrogance, my curse. I was offered life abundant and life eternal, but, instead, I chose a mere temporal life, a mere earthly existence and ridiculed those who believed in an everlasting bliss in the presence of God.

The trembling would soon buckle my knees and throw me to the ground with great fear and great force. My tear-stained face would be buried into the dirt. With all pride now gone from me, I am broken, I am overwhelmingly afraid, I am empty and humbled beyond words. I would realize that am not as great as I thought I was, and the God I thought was not, I now fully realize... truly is.

With nothing more to lose, I would, with every ounce of energy, from the very depths of my being, cry out to the Christ I repeatedly rejected, “Lord, have mercy on me. If there is any way, if there is any hope, if it is at all possible, Lord, have mercy on me and forgive me. I beg of you, I plead with you, Lord, have mercy on me.” This would be the fervent prayer of my every breath until my final breath.

Many arrogant will continue to embrace their pride and curse the Truth. They may celebrate, they may party, they may loot the homes of their neighbors, they may continue to blaspheme the God they now know to be true.

But I wouldn't. For the life of me, I wouldn't. But then, that's just me.

Maranatha!

Called To Be Contemplatives

We are all called to be contemplatives in the heart of the world — by seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time, and [God's] hand in every happening; seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.

- Mother Teresa

Ten Reasons to Pray

Following are ten reasons why we should pray:

1. Prayer reminds us that we are not the solution to the challenges that grip our world but we have access to the one who transcends those challenges.

2. A prayerless nation has no hope beyond the headlines.

3. Prayer aligns us with God’s heart, purposes and blessings.

4. Prayer is an act of humility that precedes honor.

5. Prayer enlarges the heart beyond selfish motive.

6. Prayer provokes the heart to consider not only what is but what can be with God’s help.

7. Prayer is best prioritized when one asks God to change one’s own heart first.

8. No matters of eternal value will be accomplished outside of prayer.

9. Prayer is properly prioritized vigilance in a spiritually passive world.

10. Prayer at its best is an offering of one’s self to be used by God as a part of the answer.

- Rev. Bill Shuler, senior pastor at Capital Life Church in Arlington, Virginia.