Awaiting the Rapture

The Refiner’s Fire He sat by a fire of seven-fold heat, As He watched by the precious ore, And closer He bent with a searching gaze As He heated it more and more. He knew He had ore that could stand the test, And He wanted the finest gold To mould as a crown for the King to wear, Set with gems with a price untold. So He laid our gold in the burning fire, Tho' we fain would have said Him "Nay," And He watched the dross that we had not seen. And it melted and passed away. And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright, But our eyes were so dim with tears, We saw but the fire-not the Master's hand, And questioned with anxious fears. Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow, As it mirrored a Form above, That bent o'er the fire, tho' unseen by us, With a look of ineffable love. Can we think that it pleases His loving heart To cause us a moment's pain? Ah, no! but He saw through the present cross The bliss of eternal gain. So He waited there with a watchful eye, With a love that is strong and sure, And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat, Than was needed to make it pure. ~ Arthur F. Ingler 1873~1935

A marble cutter, with chisel and hammer, was changing a stone into a statue. A preacher looking on said: "I wish I could deal such changing blows on stony hearts.” The workman answered: “Maybe you could, if you worked like me, upon your knees." ~ Arthur Tappan Pierson 1837~1911 (Thank you brother David for making the graphic to go with this. Link to his channel https://t.me/Winning_The_Lost )

Poems I Am Thine A fragrance of a flower That fills unseen the air, As at the twilight hour There stealeth unaware The sound of music sweet And gently in accord; So when my lips repeat Thy name, O Christ, my Lord, There warms a sudden glow Within this heart of mine— A joy, as well, I know, That tells me I am Thine. Maltbie D. Babcock 1858~1901 (excerpt from his book titled Thoughts For Every-Day Living)

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts:” Psalm 139:23 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.139.23.KJV

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and the wisdom that it contains. Thank You that we have tasted of Your saving grace and are eternally blessed, by trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. May we seek You in all the difficulties and dangers of life and recognise Your guiding hand of grace and protection in our lives. You are our refuge and strength and our ever-present help in troubled times. Thank You, in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

O Taste & See That The Lord Is Good! Over and again, we discover wonderful ways that the Lord delivers His servants from their afflictions and saves them from the hands of their enemies. It was for this reason that the psalmist's great song of joy and rejoicing rang out with the words: "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” This call for men to trust in the Lord, to taste of His faithfulness, and to see that the Lord is good and gracious, stands in the centre of a psalm that begins by blessing the Lord at all times and praising Him continually. It is a trumpet call for men to glorify the name of the Lord and to lift Him up in a symphony of worship and praise, for He alone is worthy of our honour. It is David who is credited with these beautiful words, and the reason behind his exultant praise is that he sought the Lord, and God answered his prayer. The Lord delivered His servant from all his fears. Though David had been anointed as king of Israel, he was on the run from Saul who had become jealous of God’s anointed one, and in his attempt to escape from one bitter enemy, David fled into the arms of another deadly adversary, the king of the Philistines! Achish, the king of the Philistines, recognised David as the man who was proclaimed throughout Israel as being the great champion of God’s chosen people: "Saul has slain his thousands," was their joyful chant, "and David has slain his tens of thousands." King Achish realised that he was vulnerable, and David became afraid of him. In his attempt to escape from harm, David changed his behaviour and feigned madness, dribbling from his mouth and simulating insanity! Yes, his little play acting worked and David escaped from his enemy. David had trusted the Lord from his youth, and although he was not exempt from tribulation and trials, he knew the Lord would bring him through any difficulties and danger. God may not prevent life's problems and pain, but He knows how to rescue the righteous from the evil one and reminds us: "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” ~ Psalm 34:7 God still had work for David to do, and whether by his amateur dramatics or by some alternative strategy, David recognised the protective hand of God upon his life and was prepared to give thanks and praise to the Lord for His wonderful deliverance from his enemies. But he also wanted to encourage others to taste and see for themselves that the Lord is good and blesses those that trust in Him. He wanted others to learn the same lesson that had so rejoiced his soul; that those who trust in the Lord are blessed indeed, and will not be disappointed. David was a man after God's own heart who recognised the sustaining hand of the Lord in his own life and gave honour and praise to Him at all times. And like David, we would do well to hide under the shadow of God’s protective arm, to seek Him in the midst of our trials and tribulations, and cry out to the Lord for deliverance from the enemies into whose path we run, so that we too may rejoice with great joy and encourage others to: "Taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” God bless you all.

Luke 11:9-10 KJV And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. [10] For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luke 11:5-8 KJV And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; [6] For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? [7] And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. [8] I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

Luke 11:1-4 KJV And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. [2] And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. [3] Give us day by day our daily bread. [4] And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

The rapture of the church is the event in which God “snatches away” all believers from the earth in order to make way for His righteous judgment to be poured out on the earth. The rapture is described primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50–54. God will resurrect all believers who have died, give them glorified bodies, and take them from the earth, along with all living believers, who will also be given glorified bodies at that time. “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). The rapture will involve an instantaneous transformation of our bodies to fit us for eternity. “We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Replacement theology is not just wrong. It is dangerous. God’s choice of Israel was never about Israel. It was about the God of Israel, and it was never performance based. If the nations are judged by how they treated His people and His land, then getting this question wrong carries a cost. So I went back into the New Testament, through the words of Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets, and showed that God has not changed His mind. God’s Irreplaceable People releases in December. Short, affordable, and written so you can hand it to your pastor, your elders, and your friends. Preorder: https://linktw.in/Gods-Irreplaceable-People