Rapture Sense, Are You Abiding in the Vine or Biding Your Time?

December 29, 2014

Rapture Sense, Are You Abiding in the Vine or Biding Your Time?

December 29, 2014

Oh, my precious YouTube Family, Jesus is still concerned for the disorder in our lives because we second-guess the Father on the timing of the Rapture. I believe He's given me a few points to consider to help us all dwell in the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), at least until He comes.

I believe the Lord had something very particular in mind when He told us to be ready at any moment for the Rapture. And I don't claim to have all of them, but I have a few.

The first one is obvious, and very simple. How many people have walked out their door and told a loved one, "I'll be back in an hour", only to never come home again? How many? Were they ready? Well, if they were seriously watching for the Rapture, they probably were.

And the second point is, what about those times temptation gets right in our faces? If we're waiting for the Rapture, we don't want to risk falling. We are more vigilant and likely to turn and run from it. The stakes of being left behind are just too high. So, that's another reason, another function of the Rapture.

If you have anything to add to this, please share it with me. I'd love to see what ways your life has been positively impacted by waiting for that fateful moment. I know when I first found out about the Rapture, I walked around for probably two or three weeks deeply grieved about the condition of my soul. I was just seeing things left and right that I had never seen before, and I realized I was not prepared. I was not qualified. I'd be one of those virgins left behind. So, I believe the Rapture has been given to us in part to help us with a daily examination of our behavior and if it befits the Bride of Christ. In other words, to help us be sure that we're ready to meet Him, and not backsliding at any given moment.

And then there's the tendency to become frustrated and not being able to achieve a balance, and just give up on the whole idea of the Rapture. Drop it and let it happen when it happens, but not be watching for it every day. The Lord took me to task on that too, reminding me of all the commandments He's left for us to be vigilant and watch for His coming. So, I couldn't go there either! Ouch!

I finally came to the settled conclusion: the problem does not lie with watching for the Rapture. It lies with insecurity and fear. Especially - the fear of suffering. When we're weary of the cross we're carrying, we long to be free of it. And the whole idea of the Rapture gives us hope that perhaps we won't have to suffer anymore. This is an attachment that can cause us to be seeking the Rapture before its time.

So, we get on the internet day after day, looking for more signs of His coming. He said there would be wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7). Ok, well if it's not Iran, it's the Ukraine or it's Egypt or it's Lebanon, ad infinitum. These keep us on the edge of our seats, focused on world affairs and in fear - by the way, compulsively checking for the Ezekiel 38 war or the Psalm 83 war or the destruction of the Dome of the Rock. I noticed when I was writing this - the Psalm 83 war and Ezekiel 38 - wow, 3-8, 8-3 - is that coincidence or "God" incidence? That's pretty interesting.

Well, getting back to the message, in consequence we're steeped continually in the world, the world, the world. With a raging hunger for the next sign. We have no peace. We don't draw closer to Jesus to prepare our hearts for His coming. We do not dwell with Him in the secret place, hidden in His heart, bringing Him comfort. Feeding continually on the underground news, when we go to sleep we dream of wars, the Rapture, aliens, earthquakes, tsunamis. Is it any wonder - do these dreams bear the signature of the Holy Spirit? Or are they the feedback from the constant surfing and catching the latest buzz, the latest postulation of what will finally happen just before the Rapture?

Then we dive into wishful thinking and start hearing dates. We think we're privileged above Jesus to know the date or that somehow He told a little white lie and does know the date. And we're His very special Bride, so He tells us secretly. It would blow your mind how many people really think that. I understand. I mean, we can all get in that loop. I'm not condemning anyone, because we're all vulnerable.

Or the Lord may have given us a mission that we cannot see fulfilled in the time we imagine is left to us. We are then tempted to take matters into our own hands to accelerate the process of fulfilling it prematurely, ahead of the Lord, on our own. I mean, there is no end to the deceptions fomented by this addiction to get free of our cross, and to be with our heavenly Groom, once and for all.

Or the opposite can set in. A tendency to despair can set in as we begin to feel we failed in our mission. It's too late, we blew it. (I have a song about that, by the way. Hopefully, I'll get it on the net pretty soon, but it's all about feeling that way.) And time is too short to begin the remainder of our mission now. I struggle with this one daily, putting off my piano practice to work on teachings. Yet writing and executing music is very much an important part of my mission. But, since I imagine the Rapture is going to be within the next few months, I try to do what I believe will be more important to prepare the Bride. Something that could have been mastered within five years and used in ministry lies there incomplete for five years. And still, no Rapture! Because of my own human reasoning, I'm taking matters into my own hands. Never, ever a good idea.

When we are abiding in the vine, we're privy to all the most important things. When we need a bit of news, He will inspire us to check it. Otherwise, we are free to find joy in the work He's given us to do. Our hours are not tied up in surfing the net and postulating. Rather, in honing our gifts and keeping Him company. Worshiping Him and repairing the neglect He feels acutely from His creatures who are busy chasing their tails in the world, either for one more buck, or one more date. I believe the balance can only be obtained in the Spirit. If we are in the flesh at all, we will swing from one extreme to the other and miss the whole point of why the Lord told us to be ready at any moment.

For me, I can't do this without a special grace. It's not within my grasp to stay in the Spirit. I have to pray, "Lord, please help me to keep my eyes totally on You. Please, help me!" One way He's helped me to do this is to stay focused on worship and the work He's given me, and to ask Him before I turn to any of the news. Boy, I'll tell you, I went through a time where I just couldn't get enough news. Day in and day out. Day in and day out. And it was so frustrating, because nothing ever changed. It was the same old thing that I'd been hearing since the 60's for Pete's sake!

Anyway, although I can feel when I am grieving Him, the heart is deceitful beyond all things. Once I'm checking out this Youtube, that leads to another YouTube, and that keeps you following threads. I may very well get lost in the fascination of it all, and ignore that still, small voice telling me, "I'm not pleased with what you are doing right now!" So, I do ask Him before I check the news. And I'm taking some flak from folks about this and ridicule me if you like! It's OK, but it works for me and it works for quite a few other people I know.

I use a little book with Scriptural promises and open it prayerfully. OK, so here, I'm checking with the Holy Spirit. I'm praying and asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten me as to His will for me about this particular thing. Before I open the Bible Promises, which is the book that I use, I also bind a Lying spirit, because believe you me, the demons can get in and mess with your readings. We're finding this out. I've seen readings go from completely 100% positive to completely 100% negative, and the only difference was we were being tested by a Lying spirit. So, once I do that, I have an assurance that the reading that the Lord is going to give me is from the Holy Spirit and it's His will - because I'm asking for His will.

If I get a Scripture under the heading of "Lust" or "Jealousy" or "Lying", I know the Holy Spirit is warning me - "This is not for you to be doing right now!" If I get a Scripture under the heading of "Holy Spirit" then I may very well be getting the permission to check the news and it may very well have been inspired by the Holy Spirit.

But I leave it to the Holy Spirit. I do not take this matter into my own hands, because this is an occasion of sin for me. It's a serious temptation to waste time and to grieve the Lord. And I don't want to touch it with a ten foot pole, because once I get hooked into it, I'm just weak enough to go with it for the next two or three hours. Or, until my husband walks in the room and catches me watching the news - my conscience flies into high gear and I say "Oh, just checking on something, honey", you know! And thank God, he says, "And how long have you been checking on that?" He kind of nails it right there!

Anyway, I don't touch it unless the Holy Spirit gives me permission. I don't trust myself to make that decision, guys. I need a second and a third witness. So, ridicule on, it works for me.

Okay, so however we check our conscience with the Lord, whatever method we use or have been taught, it is pleasing to Him that we care enough to ask. Whereas before I'd just tune into the news and blow two or three hours chasing Youtubes and threads -- at the end of it all, I'd feel dirty, alienated that I'd lost something precious, like time. Time that could have been spent loving and worshiping, writing or recording, practicing the piano. Time that could have brought more intimacy with the Lord. Time squandered. Something I'll never get back.

Now my head is full of Mideast rumors, gossip and postulations, fears that have been going on since I was aware of them in the 60s. The same rant, the same wars and rumors of wars, the same scenario over and over and over and over again. A little different wrapper, a few changes, but the same thing. Wars and rumors of wars. My head may even be burning from all the information. And I don't have any peace. BINGO! There's a big sign - there's a red flag. No peace. Rather, I feel contaminated. I disobeyed. I took my eyes off of Jesus and put them onto the world. Now, I'm suffering the effects of my disobedience. That's the bottom line there. I think we can all feel it when we've blown it.

I'm sharing all this with you in hopes that you guys will take another look at what is destabilizing your life and keeping you on a rollercoaster ride day in and day out. Worst of all, robbing you of your peace and intimate fellowship with your Heavenly Spouse, Jesus.

The Lord bless us with His wisdom. Amen.