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Discussion Forum : General Topics : Do you really believe Jesus is coming?

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 Re:

Bro David, I had such a witness in my spirit as I read your post. This is my heart in all the scriptures that you quoted and explained. To me, this is the " knowing," witness.( I cannot define that or explain that so I hope no one asks)

And sis MJ, I can sense your spirits heartbeat in what you write and what you have just shared, the heartbeat of the Body beats as one, maybe that is part of the " knowing," in your spirit.

And brother Ron you said " He said it and He will do it." That's a declaration and I love declarations. At our prayer meeting last Saturday morning we took the time to make declarations. There is a power and an infilling that comes as we begin to openly and boldly declare the truths of our God and His Word.

I am encouraged by the replies to this thread. I just sense in my spirit that God's people, yes here in America, are going to do exploits for God. He is waking up saints all over the land and all over the world, waking them up to His reality that He is indeed coming and He is coming soon.

Amo 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

This precious Scripture comes in the midst of great judgment and persecution. A promise in the midst of judgement. Its a promise to us too in the coming days. God will pour out His Spirit I believe, in such a mighty fashion as has not been seen before. I believe He will do that because the persecution will be so intense. Yet, despite the intensity of the fires, God's grace is sufficient for us.

When the enemy comes flooding in, then God raise up a standard. And so it follows that in the midst of the greatest persecution the world has ever seen, which is what we see prior to the Lord Jesus coming back, then God will pour out His Spirit like the world has never seen. He is faithful and true and He never leaves us nor forsakes us. That is why we can look forward to His return and not fear the persecution that takes place prior to His return, because God's word is true. We have seen much evidence of this in measure down through the last two thousand years. Saints so filled with His Spirit that they could sing spiritual songs even as the flames licked about their mortal bodies.

We remember that the wicked king made the furnace seven times hotter for the Hebrew children. He did that because they told him that their God would save them, but even if they died in that fire that they would never bow down to the gods of this world. God is raising up such an indignation in His saints, glory be to God.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Rev 12:10-11)



 2015/12/1 23:05
twayneb
Member



Joined: 2009/4/5
Posts: 2256
Joplin, Missouri

 Re:

I have struggled with this same issue some lately. I have become a bit more introspective...maybe its my age...lately and have really been analyzing and questioning my life.

My thoughts bounce back and forth. There is a certain idealism that implies that as a believer, I should sell all I have, quit my job, and devote my days to actively winning the lost. It is almost like we all need to become full time evangelists. But the realist in me realizes that my job, and the other trappings of my life are the very things that support ministry financially and put me in contact daily with all of those people in my sphere of influence. So I must have the heart that yearns to evangelize coupled with a consistency that causes me to also get to the business of living in the realm where God has placed me.

I guess it all boils down to the issue of the heart. Do I or do I not have God's heart toward the lost. And that is where the center of the struggle has been. I have been realizing of late that I am often so wrapped up in my own affairs that I cease to have a lot of concern for the lost around me. God sometimes has to wake me up and remind me that the person across the counter from me, or the teacher in the next door room, or the students in my classroom are currently headed to a very real hell unless something changes, and I might be called to sow, water, or reap the harvest where their lives are concerned.

I have been praying recently for God to give me His heart. I want to think as He thinks. I want to be obedient so that fruit may abound on my account to His glory. This is a hard place to come to sometimes, because it requires facing my own selfishness and dying to my own desires.

On a really practical level, having His heart will radically change the way I live. I am not being legalistic here, but do I really have time for two hours of vegetating in front of worthless TV shows each night (amounting to something like 8% of my life)? Do I have time to immerse myself in sports, entertainments, etc.? If I have God's heart, I bet that my pursuits and habits will change as a result. And yet...I can burn myself out and not be effective for anyone or anything if I don't occasionally engage in some recreation. I guess listening to the Holy Spirit and being modest in all behavior is key. But having God's heart should radically change my life.

The fact is that He IS coming...and it looks like very soon at that. What will I have to say for myself if He asks me, "Travis, you knew I was coming. What did you do as a result of that knowledge?"


_________________
Travis

 2015/12/2 11:36Profile
MaryJane
Member



Joined: 2006/7/31
Posts: 3057


 Re:

Greeting Travis

you wrote:On a really practical level, having His heart will radically change the way I live. I am not being legalistic here, but do I really have time for two hours of vegetating in front of worthless TV shows each night (amounting to something like 8% of my life)? Do I have time to immerse myself in sports, entertainments, etc.? If I have God's heart, I bet that my pursuits and habits will change as a result. And yet...I can burn myself out and not be effective for anyone or anything if I don't occasionally engage in some recreation. I guess listening to the Holy Spirit and being modest in all behavior is key. But having God's heart should radically change my life.

________________

I know several brothers and sisters who spend time engaging in recreation and share the light of JESUS at the very same time. In fact I have heard testimonies of young men coming to CHRIST while playing a game of golf with older mature brothers. I don't think it ever really as to be an either or situation. I know your heart is for the LORD so perhaps as your praying look for those opportunity to share JESUS with us even when your engaging in sports or recreation. I have been very surprised myself as I go through out my day the opportunities GOD has given to share HIS truth in situations.

One last thought that came to me after reading what you posted, remember that anything we do in the LORD, HE is our supply and strength. Its never in our own strength or ability its all about surrendering to HIM. I know you know this to be true I hope you don't mind the sisterly reminder though :)

God bless
maryjane

 2015/12/2 11:54Profile
twayneb
Member



Joined: 2009/4/5
Posts: 2256
Joplin, Missouri

 Re:

Absolutely Mary Jane. Like I said, I am not being legalistic. I am just giving a couple of examples. My outlook on life, as well as my lifestyle, will change radically if I am after God's heart rather than my own life and desires. I am not saying a Christian should not play sports. I am saying that a believer's life and energies should not be taken up with the pursuit of anything that draws his attention and affection away from God.


_________________
Travis

 2015/12/2 13:37Profile









 Re:

Bro Travis, I really appreciated your thoughts on this subject. I think so many good people could relate to points that you raised. I think Maryjanes point about either/or is an excellent point as well. If our hearts and passions are for Jesus it will show in everything that we do, no matter what we do. And in the midst of all of that we have the seasons of life, the ebbs and flows. We have the deep winters when nothing seems to be happening, there seems to be no life at all. We have the violent storms of spring in our lives where all we can manage to do is remain standing as the wind blows, yet out of that comes life. The long hot summers that can sap our strength. The fall where there is sweet relief from the heat and the beauty that surrounds us as the leaves begin to turn and fall.

These are the seasons that effect every saints life. Yet, just as in the natural, the older we get and the longer we are in the Lord we know that " this too shall pass." We begin to rest in the security and knowledge that the Lord is faithful and out of our understanding His faithfulness our own faith grows. But of course, we have to be ready in season and out of season to share our faith. Even in the depths of the cave David says that his soul remains steadfast.

I do believe there is a final season of this world that no saint has ever entered into before and we may well be the generation that does. Its the harvest, the end of all things, the end of the ages. Yes the saints for 2000 years have believed in one fashion or another that Jesus is coming back soon, in fact that is the argument some naysayers will use. The fact that the Master has been away for a long time they begin to think He is never really coming back. They begin to beat the servants and get drunk the Scriptures tell us in parable and all of a sudden that time appears. Eventually we collide with the prophetic calendar.........bro Frank

 2015/12/2 14:50









 Re:

Romans 13:11-14

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now salvation is near to us than when we first believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let's behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in stripe and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Looking at where human history is at. And looking at where we are headed. The above verses take on a greater urgency. Knowing that Jesus will soon return should make us want to apply Romans 13:11-14 to our every day life. For we know that our ultimate salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

My thoughts

 2015/12/3 13:23









 Re:

The Word of God is timeless.

I am sure everyone in every generation thought the Lord's return was imminent. If I lived anytime during the 7 centuries of Inquisition and Vatican persecution when over 50 million were martyred, I would have thought they were the end times. The Christians in China during the Mao Tse Tung purge thought they were in the end times, the Early Church being hung up on crosses and used as torches in the night thought they were in the last days. People caught up in WWII where so many countries were involved and millions killed thought they were in the last days. They were all correct. Because there has always been "great tribulation", I believe since Jesus resurrected, we HAVE BEEN in the LAST DAYS.

But the real reason we have been in the "Last Days" is because the Holy Spirit indicated through Paul that we were.

Heb 1:2 HATH IN THESE LAST DAYS spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

What matters is whether He is living in us now and we are manifesting Jesus Christ.

We have to continue to live in the present, though we have thousands of books today telling us about the future events and what will happen and how it will happen. We have to live with the recognition that we are Overcomers in Christ and that He has won the victory in the past, on the cross for us to walk in, now.

Even though everything in the physical realm seems contrary to Christ and His victory, we have hope that we will experience His victory, unhindered (by Satan, the flesh, the world) someday in the future. So, we have to live in the present, no matter how tough things get for us. We are called to manifest the character of Christ in every circumstance and to endure in the midst of animosity and mistreatment. Whether we are experiencing hostility, persecution, tribulation, suffering and yes even if we are met with violent physical death, we must persevere.

We have to be willing for Jesus in us to continue to be mistreated and persecuted and even subjected to death. Paul told us that "through great tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22)

One imminent event that the apostle John always expected was persecution. No matter what is happening in the world or our lives, we have to always focus on Jesus Christ.

 2015/12/3 14:01









 Re:

Julius Jesus tells us in Matthew 24 that you will be hated by all nations on account of my my name. It is estimated that there are 139 nations today out of about 192 geopolitical entities that our hostile to the things of Christ.

Observers tell us that more believers have been martered for Christ in the 20th century alone then in all of 19 centuries previously. Greg posted an article where it's estimated that every 5 minutes someone is martyred for Christ.
It's estimated over 100,000 250,000 believers lay down their lives for the Lord Jesus Christ every year.

I do not mean to be clinical in the numbers above. But simply to add that the level of persecution to believers is increasing globally. Again observers who track the persecution of different faiths say that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world.

I have even seen articles where observers are asking if there will be at church left in the Middle East. I can say there will be. But that would be a different post perhaps a different thread. But one would have hardly asked that question a few years ago.

Also the brutality of persecution is increasing. In Revelation we read that there would be those saints who would be beheaded. We see that the day courtesy of ISIS.

I do agree we need to live in the present. But Jesus did lay out signs that would proceed His return. And certainly the increase of persecution is one of them. This we certainly see happening today.


 2015/12/3 15:29









 Re:

Hi Julias, you write

"We have to continue to live in the present, though we have thousands of books today telling us about the future events and what will happen and how it will happen. We have to live with the recognition that we are Overcomers in Christ and that He has won the victory in the past, on the cross for us to walk in, now."

No one would argue about the need for being overcomers and we are called to endure and of course Jesus won the victory on the cross, but can I suggest that He won the victory on the cross in the garden of gethsemane? The cross was the fleshing out of the Lord's descision, knowing what was to come, bowed the knee, drank fully from the cup and declared " not my will but thine be done."

Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Those that were ready, those that had counted the cost and had made preparations in their heart, oil in the vessel so to speak, they went in and the foolish virgins did not. While we live in the now, those of the Kingdom live and walk in a Kingdom that was and is and is to come. We live and breathe and have our being now in Him but we look forward with our eyes on the prize so to speak, we are eternally minded. No matter how bad it gets for us saints here on earth, we know that Jesus is coming, we know that we are going, to Him. Its a fully three dimensional view that can look back and see what God has done, that can walk in His presence today and that can look forward and know that our redemption draws nigh................bro Frank

 2015/12/3 16:24
Oracio
Member



Joined: 2007/6/26
Posts: 2094
Whittier CA USA

 Re:

I would agree with the main point of the OP, which is to be ready for our Lord’s return at any moment, knowing that He can indeed come in our lifetime. But I also agree with Julius’ point that none of us knows for sure exactly when our Lord will return and that we must live each day in the present, occupying until He returns. So maybe we need a balanced perspective here.

With all due respect, I would not agree with the sentiment that we can know for sure that we are indeed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, part of the generation that will see Christ’s return. Again, that may or may not be the case.

I know that the Lord gave us specific signs preceding His return to look for. However, I believe that there has always been a sense in which Christ’s Second Coming was imminent and that certain signs have always been present since the first century. We can trace these certain signs throughout history. I believe this is why the Scriptures clearly declare that we have been in the last days since the first century (Acts 2:16-17; Heb. 1:2; 1Cor. 10:11). We must keep in mind (as Peter points out in 2 Pet. 3:8) that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are as one day. So in other words, if the Lord were to continue to provide us with certain "end-times signs" and tarry another thousand years, it would not be contradictory since with Him it would be as one day.

I do believe that there is a real danger in adamantly pronouncing that Christ will indeed return in our lifetime. Christianity has been hugely blemished throughout history by those types of predictions by even well-meaning Christians. I understand that even Jonathan Edwards got caught up (in light of the Great Awakening) in making certain predictions that did not come to pass.

As Bear always says, just my thoughts.


_________________
Oracio

 2015/12/3 17:56Profile





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