LifebyChrist
Take heart
Okay, this is my first thread here so please correct me if I've posted it in the wrong place.
I am trying to get close to God again, and I've been reading a lot about revelations and the end times lately.
I do believe they aren't too far off, but I need help in understanding whether the rapture will come before or after the Great Tribulation. My kind of understanding right now is that it will be after...
But my actual question relating to this is that...well, if we enter the Great Tribulation, how are we to prepare ourselves to become martyrs?
I love God and I want my faith to be stronger...I can be such an idiotic human sometimes...and I want to have faith that my relationship with the Lord will hold me through someone threatening to kill me, but I am also scared to death that my idiotic human self is going to turn me the wrong way at that time.
I REALLY do not want to be one of the ones who loses their faith in the end.
How can I prepare myself for all the persecution, and suffering, and starvation, and the prospect of being a martyr when those times come?
Please listen for a moment if you will because I see you really are trying and I want to offer you some advice.
Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
Romans 3:10 "As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;"
What you are asking is not required and here is why,
1 John 1:10 "If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
If you could be a saint on your own, this is making the death of Christ quite unnecessary, that is like saying, no no Jesus you did not have to shed your blood and die a horrible death on the cross for me, because I can make myself perfect through my own suffering.
God sent his son to die for you! He died so you can live!
John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
Isaiah 53:5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."
This man who was beaten, mocked, hated and crucified. Jesus was blameless, he was a perfect man, flawless and without sin.
John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
The Word! God's Word which is in the Bible.
So to prepare yourself do this, read the Bible and pray.
Learn how to pray according to the Bible, learn to pray in the Spirit.
John 16:13 "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."
Now then how can you be a martyr you ask?
James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
If you see somebody who looks lonely, perhaps be a friend to them.
If you see a bully, put a stop to it and stand up for what you believe in.
Don't cower away from your faith and give in to the world, for we will all die someday and they know it not.
You must love your neighbor as yourself, when you see somebody hurting put yourself in that place.
Don't love people because they are lovable because they are not always lovable, people can be very hard to deal with and can be quite selfish at times.
Love people because God loved you first, because while you, still a sinner, God sent his one and only son to die on a cross just for you. If you were the only one who needed it, I am sure God still would have died for you. God died for you and you now must die to your sinful self.
You can now live in safety and freedom by faith in God, you are by no means perfect, none of us are. This is why we need the blood of Jesus to make us clean, we need the Holy Spirit and God's word ingrained into our hearts to truly become the children he desires us to be.
God is not out to take away from your life, and another thing Jesus says
Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Just if you see an opening to help someone go for it You have nothing to lose, sure they could just throw it back in your face but you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from it.
If you are confused about anything to not hesitate to ask God for guidance and wisdom as well.
James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."
I strongly recommend you read the book of James and anybody who is serious about being a Christian, I recommend you read the book of James to add to your studies or to simply refresh your memory.
Reading Psalm 23 may also assist and aid you alot.
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