In Dwell With Jesus, I asked if we have what it takes to stand and be effective for the kingdom every moment we’re here, be it one more week or several more years. Admittedly, I don’t have what it takes. And I’m sure you’ll agree that you don’t either. Only in dwelling with Jesus do we have any hope of withstanding all that will be required of us as evil rises and the world grows only darker. We see the end is near, so close that the rapture could come at any moment or on any given day. We are quite possibly the generation who will see the rapture and with that comes the responsibility of to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).

Last time as we considered dwelling with Jesus, we examined how Jesus knew the Word, obeyed the Word, and lived out the Word, and that we must do the same. Today we’ll see that in order for us to dwell with Jesus, we must also be where He is, among people. He created people. He came for people. He taught people. He died for people. Jesus loves and is about people.

With Jesus’ heart in mind, we each must ask ourself: Am I about people?

My honest answer: I’m often more about people than I should be and am called a micromanager at times. I’m about my people, my family and friends. I’m also about the people I teach and reach through online ministry, which makes sense considering I’m a discipler. The found are typically who the Lord places within my reach. But what about lost people; how “about them” am I considering I’m not among them as often? Honest again: Not enough and rarely comfortably. Continue reading…

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In my previous Rapture Ready article, Gather Up Courage, we considered our prepositional God, the One who is with us and in us and for us and how His proximity to us allows for us as believers to gather up courage in these final days.Whether we have one day, one week, or one year (plus) before the coming of the Lord Jesus for His church in the rapture, we must respond accordingly to the blessing of being part of that final generation by becoming God’s prepositional us, a people dwelling with Jesus and being about Jesus.

I’m sure we can agree that we have already seen more than our 2020 selves ever believed we would, and we don’t dare ask what more 2024 might bring for fear that the answer to that question may very well be a national refining like we’ve never known. Whatever is to come, we must ask ourselves if we have what it takes to stand and be effective for the kingdom every moment we’re here, be it one more week or several more years.

I’ve taken inventory of me, myself, and I and have found that I don’t have what it takes. But a tap, tap, tap from within reminds me that I have Who it takes, Jesus. This prepositional us, I in Him and He in me (1 John 4:13), changes everything. He will do in me what it takes to prepare me. He will be through me that which He asks of me. But His activity in me and through me is conditioned upon my willingness to yield to Him and be used by Him. So, what does it take to shape my will to His? It takes dwelling with Jesus. Continue reading… Continue reading →

Gather Up Courage

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

If there’s ever been a time when we need to know our prepositional God, that He is with us and for us, it’s now (Joshua 1:9, Psalm 118:6). We need to know that He is behind and before us, and that His hand is upon us in these final darkening days (Psalm 139:5). One of my teachers taught prepositions using a tree: in a tree, beside a tree, with a tree, above a tree, etc. Over the years, God has used His pre-position, where He has always been and will always be in relation to us as believers, as a way of assuring me we’re never alone in our suffering or pain or desperation. While we as rapture watchers are waiting for Him to come, we can find courage in knowing that He’s already here. He is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). That never changes, even and especially when we see this world spinning out of control.

I think most of us would say that we thought He would have come for us long before now. The fact that the rapture hasn’t yet happened may have many of us reeling and feeling a little stunned to be seeing the rise of evil and the fall of our nation. Make no mistake; no candidate or party will or can save us. There is only one Savior, the One who is tarrying for perfect reasons that adhere to His perfect plan. We can trust that. We can trust in Him (Isaiah 26:3). Continue reading…