1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)__________________________________________________________
The Coming of the Lord
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 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 own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till 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 each other with these words.
Lord whenever I read from Your Word regarding the Rapture that is promised to happen at the end times, I'm both elated and sad.
I'm elated because I know I will be able to spend eternity with You, with all the people who had been faithful in You during their walk in life, and have fellow brothers and sisters to share eternity with.
At the other end of the pole, I'm sad because at this point, I'm still the only one saved in my family. I have countless close friends who are still unbelievers, backsliders, and some who probably have not even got the chance to hear of Your Word. If the Rapture happens today, I would probably lose them forever.
Father God I know that everything is in Your hands and Your ultimate plans. You have Your plans for me and there is no way I can understand Your ways, which means that I do not have to worry so much. Whatever that I worry is futile, and I should learn to trust You in any given situation.
Lord make use of me to seed seedlings of Your Word in every conversation that I make, so that Your good news may be spread outwards to others. Make use of me to seed seedlings of Your Word in every single thing that I do, so that Your goodness, faithfulness and love may be reflected and made known to others.
In Your time through Your power, let these seedlings germinate and grow, and may all the people around me believe that they DO have a tangible God who is always here for them.
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