When my children were young and we prepared to go somewhere, our kids would take off what we just put on them. Put shoes on, they take them off. Put a coat on, they take it off. And because they did, they were now, no longer completely prepared to go. Now that I am a grandmother, I encounter this again sometimes with my grand kids! Because of this, now I had to put something back on again, and again, and again…. I have been reading and preparing for this post recently as my husband and I have been sick. This title “Get Ready and Stay Ready,” refers to Christians preparing for the Lord’s return, and always waiting for Him! Continue on with what God wants you to do until He returns! Matthew 24 and Mark 13 say that we don’t know the day or the hour; but we can await the day!
Two main passages from the gospels describe what I am sharing with you today. They both state the events and circumstances in a similar way. You will see this in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, how to prepare, what and who to listen to and who NOT to listen to!
Get Ready By Knowing Him, Loving and Following Him
We get ready for His return by growing in our faith. When we grow in our faith, we grow to love Him and this should result in us following Him! Here are some verses that I found on knowing Christ and being different! This includes living holy and godly lives. We certainly must share the gospel to those we know and meet. It is also our responsibility to give so that others around the world can know Christ. If God has led us personally to go somewhere to share the Lord with people, we need to be obedient. He will bless us when we are part of the world being introduced to Him.
1 Thessalonians 5:6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.
Philippians 3:10 “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.
2 Peter 3:11-12 (Read whole chapter)” Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
Get Ready and Stay Ready By Knowing That He Will Come, Not When
Every one of these Scripture references states what will happen not when it will happen. We are told that the Son of Man is going to come when we don’t expect Him to, in fact! The point is not to prepare for a specific date and time, but to be ready always. We are to live life as though He could come at any time.
Matthew 24:36 “No one knows the day or hour! ONLY the Father! Not even Jesus or the angels know! As it was in the days of Noah! People ate, drank, married. Lots of immorality, that is why God destroyed the earth with the flood at that time.”
Revelation 21:4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[a] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Luke 12:40 “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Look Out! Watch For His Coming!
John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am you may be also.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 13 “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
1 Corinthians 15:52 52 “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
“Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.”
Stay Ready By Serving and Sharing
Matthew tells us to stand firm until He comes! Continue sharing Christ, be strong in what you believe!
Persecution will happen in the end times! The Holy Spirit will tell us what to say though and we don’t need to be afraid! But we need to be ready for Him and His return no matter what those around us do and no matter what is done to us. It’s all about Him!
Matthew 24:45-51 ” Who is a wise and faithful servant? It is the one who is found doing good when Christ returns! He will be given charge of His possessions! The one who is not faithful, thinks he has lots of time to do what he wants. He eats, gets drunk, beats his servants. He will NOT be prepared when Christ returns. Verse 51 actually says that he will be cut to pieces, placed with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
“BUT… the one who stands firm to the end, will be saved! The gospel will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to nations, THEN the end will come.”
Reading From Two Gospels
Matthew 24:4-51 and Mark 13:4-27 , cover these signs of the end times!
Our Faith Challenged
Deception
Some will say that they are the Messiah. False Prophets will show signs and wonders, they will lie to you! They will even deceive the elect!
Because of Our Faith
You will face persecution, be put to death, and hated by all nations because of Jesus.
Many will turn away from their faith, they will betray and hate each other
You will be hated by everyone because of My name!!! The one who has endured to the end will be saved.
Be on your guard! People will go to court and stand against authority. The gospel must be preached to all nations!
Nations Rising Against Nation and People Hating Each Other
This sounds familiar even now. We see people fighting in the streets, killing each other. People are angry constantly if we don’t agree with someone else. It is happening much due to cancel culture right now.
Countries Fighting
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Nation will rise against nation, Kingdoms against kingdoms
Because of wickedness increasing, people will grow cold against each other
Families
Brother will betray brother to death, same with a father with his child
Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. Children will be disobedient to their parents.
Ungodliness!
2 Timothy 3:1-7 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
6 “They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
We Will See Physical Signs
The sun will be darkened, no light from the moon. stars will fall from the sky, and heavenly bodies will be shaken. Famines and earthquakes will happen often. A huge volcano erupted in Tonga just this past week; so big that we saw it from space! The Son of Man will appear in heaven. People on the earth will mourn, when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with Power and Great Glory! He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call and gather those He chose and chose Him from the 4 winds from one end of heavens to the other.
Worst Times In The History Of The World
Never in the history of the world, will there ever be the most horrific things happen in the end times! There will be great distress in all of this! I can’t imagine how it will be! All I can say is how thankful I am for the salvation I have through Jesus Christ! I have peace and comfort knowing Him and knowing what will happen. Don’t return to your home to retrieve an item! This is something to beware of for those still here! Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing babies at this time! Pray it doesn’t happen in the winter!
Two illustrations used, really can apply to any two people. One will be here, the other will no longer be here! Two women grinding at a mill. One taken, one left standing. So be ready! We do NOT KNOW WHEN to expect Him! The illustration in the Bible in this passage is that the owner of the house would not have had his house broken into if he knew what time the thief was coming! In these days, a tribulation will come that has never been since the beginning of the world until now and never will happen again.
Such things must happen!
My Vision for Heartshare
Sharing Christ around the world is my vision now for Heartshare, especially in 2022. My blog reaches readers in many countries around the world. Philippians 1:18 states, “What does it matter? Just that in every way, whether out of false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice…” When He comes again, to receive His bride, I hope that my writing will be effective in bringing some from every tribe and nation to glory!
More Resources to Read Further…
- https://heartshare.blog/2021/12/02/watch-and-wait-patiently-he-is-coming/
- https://heartshare.blog/2021/10/07/pour-into-lives-the-recipe-for-success-in-a-church
- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:4-51&version=NIV
- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2013%3A4-27&version=NASB
Very enlightening and captivating! That was a good read and covered things I needed to hear again about a difficult person in my life (in reference to 2 Timothy)
Good, I’m glad it was a help! God bless you as you walk with Him!
Thank you! You too!
I always love reading you posts. Another great one. I do love the end times stuff, I hope you are all feeling better. You have been missed!
Thank you! Daniel and I ended up with Covid😔. It was a bit rough, but never had to go to the hospital, thankfully. I totally had big plans for writing at the beginning of the year, but New Years Day, I got diagnosed with Covid🙃. Then Daniel got it a few days after me. I’m doing better now though. We both have had a lot of fatigue though with it. How are you? I hope that your 2022 is going well so far!
I am real good. You should have E-Mailed me. I feel like I am a bother to E-Mail you. You know I pray for you guys everyday. I am so sorry you had to be that sick. Are the girls and Grandkids OK. I feel like a grandma asking. I love you guys !!
Very sweet! My kids are ok, grandkids ok too. My daughter and grandkids stayed away while we were sick, for about 2 weeks. Thank you for praying for us! Don’t feel you are bothering me to email, I should have emailed😊. I’ll do that next time if it’s a while before I can post! You and another follower are such a huge blessing and I’m very grateful for your support. I’m working on another post right now. Lord willing, can get it done soon😄. God bless you!
Glad to hear the kids are okay. You take care. God bless you too!
I love you too😀