Sunday, April 24, 2011

Preparing for the Last Days



“Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them.”


~Revelation 8:6 (NRSV).


Doomsayers abound in these days of food shortage and chronic financial uncertainty. Perplexing both these are, considering the natural disasters sweeping our planet. Are things like this really burgeoning in the events of Christ’s coming?


We have to observe recent disasters as warnings. Certainly these are acts of God.


The day of the Lord, as each one remits, is terrible (Joel 2:11).


What Preparations Are to Be Made?


We will need to accept that the world is ending — the physical world.


Never more important will it be to turn back to God.


Prepare nothing but a faithful heart; one that hears adroitly from the One coming into the world. Times coming will be terrifying, but those faithful to the Lord — remaining resilient in times of despair never before known — will be saved.


Don’t buckle. Prepare to be weak in the flesh; strong in the Lord.


Such weakness is strength to contain panic, the mayhem of a spirit doubting — with sincerity — the faithfulness of God. It won’t be good to doubt, but even worse to lose discretion.


Wisdom will be our chief ally.


Knowing the implicit Presence of the Lord, in and about the people we interact with, will be essential.


Taking Nothing


Where we’re going nothing can come; not even our precious bodies will go there; everything will be burned.


Only the truly spiritual person can understand and accept this.


The worst actuality for the worldly person is the best possible result for the hungry and suffering; the ‘hope’ of consummation. The worldly Christian will struggle immensely. We all perhaps will. So, take courage.


Nothing we typically talk about — for instance, in church circles — will be important anymore. But unity will be. That’ll always be relevant.


Purposeful and wholesome allegiance to God will be the only thing.


Mind Preparation – An Activity to Invest in, Now!


Preparations need to be made now.


We prepare our minds, first and foremost.


The mind is perhaps closest in form to that we attach to the eternal realm. With it we steel ourselves for the task of being steadfast to the covenant we have with God.


Mindfulness is, here, about being open to what unthinkable disasters (natural or otherwise) that might occur, steadying ourselves in the fact that God is always in control, and has promised us safe passage into eternity.


We best focus on the other world whilst we operate with God’s wisdom in this one.


© 2011 S. J. Wickham.

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