Here are the verses that talk about the rapture:
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." Matthew 24:30-36
"Two men will be working together in the field; one will be take, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. So you, too, must keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming." Matthew 24:40-42
"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—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." 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
"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. 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." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
As a Born Again Christian, I look forward to that day. To see God, to see Mama again. Oh, the joy! That also means I won't have to die. I'll just be "caught up" in the clouds! No suffering, no pain, no old age (if the rapture happens before I turn 50, that is!). At the same time, I feel fear and horror because I want everyone I love to be "caught up" with me, too. Because how can I be completely happy in heaven knowing that the ones I love are left behind?
This is what's always scared me about the rapture. The chaos that will happen. My faith tells me I won't be here for that but my faith also tells me that if I really cared, no one will be left behind.
I wish for all my readers to be "caught up" in the air with Jesus, too! All He asks is for us to invite Him into our hearts and declare Him the Lord and Savior of our lives! I did that when I was 9 years old. I prayed, "Dear Jesus, please forgive me of my sins, come into my heart and be my Lord forever. Amen." I know someday I'll see my Lord. I hope you'll allow Jesus to be your Lord, too! God bless you!
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there's some really hard teachings in the rapture and I can understand your conflict - one feels hopeful but also despair for those left behind! I join your wish to have everyone, especially our loved ones, get "caught up". I'm not usually very vocal about my faith so I'm so glad for and inspired by people like you who ARE vocal!
ReplyDeleteActually, I'm not very vocal about my faith, too. It's because I'm not the best example of a Christian. I have a short temper. I can be selfish. So I feel like if I talk about my faith, people will say, "Is that a Christian?!" But many people have been telling me that God blessed me with a voice and blogs that influence and inspire people. I should use that voice to spread the Good News! Ack! I really resisted it! I'm such a Jonah haha.
DeleteBut that's it. Like Jonah, must I wait for a big fish to swallow me up? When God tells you to do something, you do it. And He's really been talking to me loud and clear through my friends and family: Use your voice for His kingdom! So I will. Hopefully, that will also make me accountable for my actions and be a better person =)
I pray that God grant you boldness, too! Evangelism is our mission! God bless you!
You have a greater responsibility because you have so many readers! hehehe. Seriously, we usually get caught up with the little things of life that we forget the reason why we're here - to share God's message of salvation to others. One of my prayers is that no one in my family gets left behind and that we would experience rapture together. Reading the LEFT BEHIND series was such an eye opener for me. It's so scary for those who will get left behind. Thanks for this reminder. I pray that we'd be able to use our lives for Him.
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