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GoodFruit

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How ready are you to go home and be with Jesus, I mean are you eager?  Are you longing for it?  Are you truly looking forward to it more than anything?

Several months ago, I had some thoughts come to me regarding this and I'm not sure why but I wrote them down and saved them in a Word document on my computer.  I just came across it again and I still think it is profound.  I am posting it for you to read and think about, and comment on if you desire to do so.

 

I’ve been pondering a lot lately the continual moral decline of society and the alarming rate of how fast the decline.  It seems like each day is a little darker than the day before.  I hear/read comments by people who are supposed believers saying that the church needs to come alive, the church needs to pray for God to take this crisis out of existence, the church needs to be more vocal, the church needs to step up and “do something” to stop the decline before it’s too late.  Too late for what?  Too late to stop the world from spinning out of control?  Too late to stop the many divisions and wars at our doorstep?  Too late to keep the freedoms we now enjoy?  Too late to continue in the comfortable lifestyle so many Americans have become accustomed to?  Too late to try and stop God’s plan from moving forward?  That’s what it all boils down to.  Now that the Word of God is no longer a far off future event that most folks thought would never happen in their lifetime, it’s like panic has set in and they want to slow it down. 

Not many seem to really want to leave this sin-stained earth anytime soon; they just want all the bad stuff to go away so they can carry on and enjoy life.  Sure heaven seems great to a lot of people – after they are old and have enjoyed a comfortable full life.  The fact is, most people don’t want to die, or at the very least die young.  They like life!  They like life as they know it based on their limited human perception and cannot fathom anything better than life on earth.  Heaven can’t be compared to anything in this world and I think it might scare a lot of people deep down.  This world is their only reality at this point - their “comfort zone.”  They are worried about things in this world declining rapidly and it’s starting to scare them and I believe it is because they are not thinking with the mind of the Spirit.  I hear so much about believers desiring a stop to the progressive moral decline and praying for God to have mercy instead of praising God that His words of Truth are being fulfilled on a daily basis now!  How awesome it is to be alive to witness the prophecies of the Bible being fulfilled.  It simply amazes me (and saddens me) that some believers do not seem to be looking forward to Christ’s return with eagerness and joy but rather fear and worry about losing their comfortable American life as they know it.  God’s Word says we are supposed to looking forward and hasten His coming (2 Peter 3:11-12) but you wouldn’t know it by the way some believers are in despair over the speed of His coming soon and praying for God to turn it around, to go back to the “good ole days”.  There certainly seems to be a lot of groaning going on but not the kind of groaning we are supposed to be doing.  God’s Word says we should groan inwardly while eagerly awaiting our redemption (Romans 8:22-23).  A lot of supposed believers don’t seem to be too eager for their redemption but certainly are groaning about their rights being trampled on.  I don’t know about you but I seriously have an inner excitement going on inside me right now that I can’t really explain.  When I think about Jesus coming back like literally any day now, I have such deep joy like a little kid on Christmas waiting to open gifts.  I just have this great eagerness inside me to go home.  I feel like such a stranger here anymore, in a strange land that I don’t know.  There is nothing on earth that even appeals to me anymore.  It’s becoming a very dark and evil place to be.  And truth be told I don’t want it to stop because the more it happens the closer I am to going home and I am just so, so eager for that.  I am so looking forward to being in the arms of Jesus for eternity I can’t even explain it.      

So going deeper into thought with this, something about it all came to me.  Maybe God is purposely keeping the church silent and not confronting the issues in society.  I say this because if the church were truly pro-active and fighting back against all the moral decline and the corruption in government, it would delay God’s intended plans for the nations and the coming of the King of Kings.  Many of the end times prophecies that are occurring on a daily basis right now would not be happening at lightning speed if the church was not lukewarm.  So the church remaining silent on many of the issues going on around us has really got to be sending Satan into a tailspin.  I know that might sound odd, but if you think about it deeper, he knows his time is about up.  He really doesn’t want the church silenced because a loud and aggressive church is what prevents our Lord Jesus Christ from returning to bring His justice on earth.  The church was never meant to fix the problems of the world and create a perfect utopia.  That isn’t the purpose of the church.  The church will be removed someday and Christ alone will rule and fix everything that’s wrong.  Satan certainly does not want to see the church die because he knows that he too will die right along with all his wickedness he’s brought upon the earth.  Satan is utterly powerless against the church and cannot manipulate things to go his way (Matt 16:18) even though it appears as though he’s winning.  God’s Word tells us his fate is sealed, there is no changing it.  His power is only temporary.  So I say that a silent church is not necessarily a bad thing when looking at thing’s from God’s perspective having the mind of the Spirit.  The simple fact of the matter is that we are exactly where we should be according to what God’s Word says.  The falling away must come first (2 Thess. 2:3) and trying to delay it is foolish.   

1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV) Do Not Love the World

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Romans 8:25 (NKJV)

But if we hope for what we do not see, the we eagerly wait for it with perserverance.

1 Corinthians 1:7, 16:22 (NKJV)

…so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.  O Lord, come!

2 Corinthians 5:2, 8 (NKJV)

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Philippians 3:20 (NKJV)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Hebrews 9:28 (NKJV)

…so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.  To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Hebrews 11:13 (NKJV) The Heavenly Hope

 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

2 Timothy 4:8 (NKJV)

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Peter 3:14 (NKJV)

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;

John 18:36 (NKJV)

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

 

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:thumbsup:

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15:3-4

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I am anxiously awaiting to go home when the rapture of the Church occurs.I am a born again Christian and I put God number one in my life. I think those who go in the rapture will be very Blessed. More so than those who go into the seven year tribulation and are saved during that time.

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I think all of us who are born again believers are anxious to go Home to be with the Lord.  However I also believe we can so caught up in that we become no earthly good when it comes to preaching the Gospel.  

Yes I am so looking forward to seeing Jesus and my Heavenly Home but I also believe there is still work to be done and maybe a very short time to do it.

Blessings, RustyAngeL

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Good post and perspective.

It will be seen who has shunned the ways of the world and who has embraced them, who serves God and who serves themselves.

It's one thing to say we're this and that but quite another to demonstrate it.  End time events will reveal who eagerly awaits His return, those who do not love the things of this world, even unto death.

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On September 18, 2016 at 7:29 PM, GoodFruit said:

How ready are you to go home and be with Jesus, I mean are you eager?  Are you longing for it?  Are you truly looking forward to it more than anything?

Several months ago, I had some thoughts come to me regarding this and I'm not sure why but I wrote them down and saved them in a Word document on my computer.  I just came across it again and I still think it is profound.  I am posting it for you to read and think about, and comment on if you desire to do so.

 

I’ve been pondering a lot lately the continual moral decline of society and the alarming rate of how fast the decline.  It seems like each day is a little darker than the day before.  I hear/read comments by people who are supposed believers saying that the church needs to come alive, the church needs to pray for God to take this crisis out of existence, the church needs to be more vocal, the church needs to step up and “do something” to stop the decline before it’s too late.  Too late for what?  Too late to stop the world from spinning out of control?  Too late to stop the many divisions and wars at our doorstep?  Too late to keep the freedoms we now enjoy?  Too late to continue in the comfortable lifestyle so many Americans have become accustomed to?  Too late to try and stop God’s plan from moving forward?  That’s what it all boils down to.  Now that the Word of God is no longer a far off future event that most folks thought would never happen in their lifetime, it’s like panic has set in and they want to slow it down. 

Not many seem to really want to leave this sin-stained earth anytime soon; they just want all the bad stuff to go away so they can carry on and enjoy life.  Sure heaven seems great to a lot of people – after they are old and have enjoyed a comfortable full life.  The fact is, most people don’t want to die, or at the very least die young.  They like life!  They like life as they know it based on their limited human perception and cannot fathom anything better than life on earth.  Heaven can’t be compared to anything in this world and I think it might scare a lot of people deep down.  This world is their only reality at this point - their “comfort zone.”  They are worried about things in this world declining rapidly and it’s starting to scare them and I believe it is because they are not thinking with the mind of the Spirit.  I hear so much about believers desiring a stop to the progressive moral decline and praying for God to have mercy instead of praising God that His words of Truth are being fulfilled on a daily basis now!  How awesome it is to be alive to witness the prophecies of the Bible being fulfilled.  It simply amazes me (and saddens me) that some believers do not seem to be looking forward to Christ’s return with eagerness and joy but rather fear and worry about losing their comfortable American life as they know it.  God’s Word says we are supposed to looking forward and hasten His coming (2 Peter 3:11-12) but you wouldn’t know it by the way some believers are in despair over the speed of His coming soon and praying for God to turn it around, to go back to the “good ole days”.  There certainly seems to be a lot of groaning going on but not the kind of groaning we are supposed to be doing.  God’s Word says we should groan inwardly while eagerly awaiting our redemption (Romans 8:22-23).  A lot of supposed believers don’t seem to be too eager for their redemption but certainly are groaning about their rights being trampled on.  I don’t know about you but I seriously have an inner excitement going on inside me right now that I can’t really explain.  When I think about Jesus coming back like literally any day now, I have such deep joy like a little kid on Christmas waiting to open gifts.  I just have this great eagerness inside me to go home.  I feel like such a stranger here anymore, in a strange land that I don’t know.  There is nothing on earth that even appeals to me anymore.  It’s becoming a very dark and evil place to be.  And truth be told I don’t want it to stop because the more it happens the closer I am to going home and I am just so, so eager for that.  I am so looking forward to being in the arms of Jesus for eternity I can’t even explain it.      

So going deeper into thought with this, something about it all came to me.  Maybe God is purposely keeping the church silent and not confronting the issues in society.  I say this because if the church were truly pro-active and fighting back against all the moral decline and the corruption in government, it would delay God’s intended plans for the nations and the coming of the King of Kings.  Many of the end times prophecies that are occurring on a daily basis right now would not be happening at lightning speed if the church was not lukewarm.  So the church remaining silent on many of the issues going on around us has really got to be sending Satan into a tailspin.  I know that might sound odd, but if you think about it deeper, he knows his time is about up.  He really doesn’t want the church silenced because a loud and aggressive church is what prevents our Lord Jesus Christ from returning to bring His justice on earth.  The church was never meant to fix the problems of the world and create a perfect utopia.  That isn’t the purpose of the church.  The church will be removed someday and Christ alone will rule and fix everything that’s wrong.  Satan certainly does not want to see the church die because he knows that he too will die right along with all his wickedness he’s brought upon the earth.  Satan is utterly powerless against the church and cannot manipulate things to go his way (Matt 16:18) even though it appears as though he’s winning.  God’s Word tells us his fate is sealed, there is no changing it.  His power is only temporary.  So I say that a silent church is not necessarily a bad thing when looking at thing’s from God’s perspective having the mind of the Spirit.  The simple fact of the matter is that we are exactly where we should be according to what God’s Word says.  The falling away must come first (2 Thess. 2:3) and trying to delay it is foolish.   

1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV) Do Not Love the World

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Romans 8:25 (NKJV)

But if we hope for what we do not see, the we eagerly wait for it with perserverance.

1 Corinthians 1:7, 16:22 (NKJV)

…so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.  O Lord, come!

2 Corinthians 5:2, 8 (NKJV)

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Philippians 3:20 (NKJV)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Hebrews 9:28 (NKJV)

…so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.  To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Hebrews 11:13 (NKJV) The Heavenly Hope

 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

2 Timothy 4:8 (NKJV)

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Peter 3:14 (NKJV)

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;

John 18:36 (NKJV)

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

 

Shabbat shalom, GoodFruit.

If you've ever watched the cartoon movie, Fern Gully, you might make this connection: "Wrong channel, Batty!" You should be looking forward to - anticipating - the RESURRECTION of our bodies, not "going home to be with Jesus!" He's coming back HERE and raising us back to life and we'll be with Him HERE as He rules and reigns over this world for a thousand years!

We're not "going home" to leave this world in the mess that it's in; He's coming back to CLEAN UP THE MESS (as my daughter would say)!

1 Corinthians 15:20-28
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
KJV

When Yeshua` rules and reigns from His father David's throne in Jerusalem, as He becomes King of Kings or World Emperor, He is going to fulfill this passage as well: (I'm going to use purple for God's words, red for Yeshua`s words, and blue for the kings' words.)

Psalm 2:1-12
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD (ADONAI), and against his Anointed (Messiah or Christ), saying,

3 "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord (Yeshua`) shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he (ADONAI) speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

6 "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: 'the LORD (ADONAI) hath said unto me, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
"'
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."

KJV

These are nested quotes in verses 6 through 12. Verses 7c through 9 (the Father's words) are within verses 7b through 9 (the Messiah's words), and they, in turn, are nested within verses 6 through 12 (again, the Father's words directly to the kings of the earth).

The "world" is NOT THE SAME as the "earth!" One should not love the "world," that is, the "world-system," but the EARTH is the LORD'S! HE created it, and HE shall purge it!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Everything's right on time according to God's Word about the end.

The problem is that many brethren don't study their Bible enough to realize The Lord has already told us what is going to happen, and what to expect, and even how to overcome it.

We are all headed for a time of tribulation upon this earth the likes which the world has never before seen. In Rev.13, our Lord Jesus showed us three different ways Christian brethren will react to the tribulation events:

Rev 13:7-10
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.

10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
KJV

 

Some of us will be taken captive, and killed. In Rev.2 our Lord Jesus warned those at Smyrna they would have tribulation 10 days, and to be faithful unto death. Jesus foretold that some would be delivered up to councils and to the synagogue of Satan to give a Testimony for Him. Already about 3 years ago, U.S. Congress passed legislation allowing the building of concentration camps on U.S. military installations in the U.S.

Then some brethren are going to take up arms and try to fight against the coming one-world beast kingdom.

Then there will be brethren that will leave the cities, but won't take up arms, nor taken captive, as Apostle Paul showed there will be brethren still alive to see our Lord Jesus coming in the clouds (1 Thess.4; 1 Thess.5; 2 Thess.2; Heb.9:28; Mark 13:24-27).

 

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2 hours ago, RobertS said:

We won't be here for the Trib, unless God wasn't serious about His promise in Rev. 3.

Of course, this depends on ones interpretation of the scripture you are referring too.  Interesting that you comment your interpretation has God's promise in it!  Personally, I like to think your right, I'm just not convinced.

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As a previous pastor of mine was fond of saying;

"I am leaving here in the rapture. If you want to stay here and go the the seven years, that's fine, I'll see you on the other side..." lol

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