Jesus and the apostles gave several warnings and instructions regarding the importance of our readiness for the second appearing of Jesus Christ. Anyone who believes Jesus Christ is the Son of God wants to be ready for His second appearing. What did Jesus and the apostles tell us about being ready?

Watch, stand fast, be brave and strong…

“Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. But of that day no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. Blessed are those servants whom the Master, when He comes, will find watching. Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”

Do not sleep, be sober, take heed, watch and pray…

“Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming. In the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning lest, coming suddenly, He find you sleeping.”

“Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

From A Collection Of Scripture Passages

It will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth…

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak; and do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that the day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

“Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

From A Collection Of Scripture Passages

Do you hear the sober voice with which God is speaking to us through these scriptures? Do you see the importance in these warnings for us, now, in our day? Long ago, in a time before these warnings were spoken or penned, during the reign of King Solomon; after King Solomon had completed the construction of the temple during a period of peace and prosperity for the Israelites, God posed a conditional proclamation to King Solomon. In the latter portion of the conditional proclamation, God told King Solomon how He would react to His people, the Israelites, if they responded with humility, prayer, seeking Him, and repentance from their sin.

God said to King Solomon, If My people humble themselves…

If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

II Chronicles 7:13-14

God Spoke To A People Long Ago

God spoke to the Israelites, His chosen people, long ago. He spoke to them because He loved them and cared for them. When He spoke, He told them what He would do, if in the midst of calamity they would change their ways. God is doing the same today, because He loves and cares for us. God is speaking to His church today, you and I, His royal priesthood, yearning for us to be His royal priesthood while we are living in an evil and twisted age where eons of tradition are tossed by the wayside, many times at the discretion of unbelieving and blind community leaders; or even more calamitous, at the discretion of deceived members of the church who serve in community leadership positions.

Trouble

Nations and states are troubled. The U.S. government is troubled. In some circles the U.S. government is suspect of outright corruption. Religions, peoples, groups and individuals; all are troubled. Societal traditions that sprung out of Judeo-Christian faith and which have long been foundational in America, no longer hold much, if any, weight. Fear and anxiety are brewing and boiling over. Insane decisions and depraved behavior are trending more toward becoming the norm. The environment is groaning. Natural disasters of devastating magnitude increase in frequency and grow in size. Christian churches are compromised, corporately, organizationally, and doctrinally; misleading individual believers into falling into error, unbelief and sin. For a long time, we knew this was coming. What do we do now that it has arrived?

Our “if we will” Choice and God’s “He will” Promise

The church is faced with a monumental choice. A decision which must be made on what to do in the face of prevalent evil and the nonchalant acceptance of sin, both outside and within its walls. This is a sobering reality; however, the good news for the church is that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more! If the church responds in step with God’s will and His kingdom’s purpose; if they respond in being the royal priesthood that God declares they are, the future days will be glorious even if evil and persecution bears down upon it!

The kindness of God is intended to lead men to repentance. There is no ignoring the fact that a day of God’s final judgment is coming, but at this moment in time it is held back in God’s mercy. The church is fortunate that His kindness is still extended toward us and toward the unbelieving world. The Lord is not slow about His promise, but is patient toward us, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. The quality of the future lies with the choice the church makes today.

Now is the time. Do not delay, now is the time.

Now is the time, on a scale not yet seen in history, for those who are disciples of Jesus Christ to humble themselves, to pray and to seek God’s face and to turn from their wicked ways.

We may fancy ourselves fighting this evil and zealously fulfilling the words of the prophet Joel, hyping ourselves in preparation for holy war by stirring up the warriors, with soldiers coming forward and coming up, beating their plowshares into swords and their pruning hooks into spears. We could hope to strengthen our resolve as men by claiming, “I am a warrior!” Hurrying and gathering ourselves as warriors under the Lord and hoping the nations will be awakened and come up before the Judge with His sickle, at the ready, to gather the harvest that is ripe; and that they will come up before His wine press that is ready to tread the grapes in the vats that are overflowing with great wickedness. We could cry, “Multitudes, multitudes are in the valley of decision,” but all of this would be a misstep if it were not God’s time to bring it to pass.

Now is not the time when we will see multitudes in the valley of decision. First, we must be His royal priesthood, His representation to them of who He is. The royal priesthood must reflect the humble royalty of The King, our King Jesus. If we will humble ourselves before Him and function as His royal priesthood, God will heal us and the unbelieving in the world will see the stark difference of a people who act as God’s representation to them, displaying to them God’s holiness, His love, and kindness, even in the face of mockery and persecution.

Choose Humility And Grace

We have a choice! We can try, prematurely, to stir up the warriors or we can prostrate ourselves as servants. War or humility. What do you want to do? The quality of our future lays in the balance of our decision. Our decision on whether to continue headlong in sin, pride and rebellion or to grasp for the grace of God. What we ought to do is made unmistakably clear in this one truth… the simple and yet telling truth; God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I encourage you to stop here. Before reading on, take a moment and contemplate within your heart the full meaning of these words which were important enough to God to ensure that we hear them, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Stirring up the warriors will have no effect if God’s timetable does not make allowance for that event at this precise moment in time. However, God, at this precise moment in time is at the ready to give grace to the humble. Humbling ourselves before our God is an action that His timetable is open to, right now. We have not yet crossed over the threshold into the time of final judgment. Today, praying and seeking God’s face and turning from our wicked ways is, most assuredly, preferable and acceptable to God. In the face of our current situation and our society’s unravelling; it is of utmost importance that we do just that, without hesitation, and in great numbers.

If we choose humility and grasp for grace, in God’s great mercy we will receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness and we will reign in life through Jesus Christ rather than be subject to sin and the repercussions that our sin sows upon us and upon our society.

Humble Yourself With Support & Encouragement

In the privacy of your solitude, alone with God, is the perfect place to pursue humbleness, prayer, searching after the face of God, and repentance from sin. Likewise, in similar fashion, with your church, in like-minded and unified reverence before God; is an ideal place to pursue humbleness together with prayer, searching after the face of God, and repentance from sin. Additionally, in public, living and acting in humility as you interact with others, is a superb place to walk in a manner that reflects a life that is prayerful, searching after the face of God, and walking in repentance from sin.

Humble 24/7 is a place to encourage you to do just that. Humble 24/7 does not, and cannot, replace your church. It does not replace your personal act. Humble 24/7 is here to encourage you by revealing to you the large number of fellow believers who are moved to humbleness, prayer, seeking God’s face, and to turning from wickedness.

What To Do Now

God gives grace to the humble. Humble yourself before God and before others, 24/7; every hour, every minute, every second, around the clock. Walk in humbleness at home, at work, at church, and at play. Encourage others at Humble 24/7 by adding your name to the growing list of people who are joining Humble 24/7 with encouraging support for one another; choosing humility, grasping for grace, and receiving the blessings of His abundant grace… His listening ear, His forgiveness, and His healing. More info…

Pray every day like you have never prayed before. Pray without ceasing. It is not a matter of the amount of time you pray; it is a matter of measure. Precisely, the absence of measuring how long you pray. We may tend to think of prayer in terms of how much we pray, but do not measure it in terms of the amount of time you pray each day. Just pray every day without ceasing. Prayer is a matter of fellowship. Pray until you have fully fellowshipped with the Father. You will know when you have, and when you have, time will no longer seem a worthy measure and you will find yourself praying as you encounter each decision of consequence throughout your day. More info…

Seek God’s face. In everything you do, seek God’s face; refer and defer everything to God. In doing this, you become very intimate with God. When you arise in the morning, do so with an awareness of the presence of God. When you do anything and everything throughout your day, do it with the awareness of God’s presence. He is there, with his face toward you. More info…

Turn from your wicked ways. It is easier than you might think. It is a choice. When tempted to entertain sin, choose not to. Whatever the temptation is, choose to not look at it, choose not to listen to it, and choose not to speak it. As you daily humble yourself, daily pray without ceasing and daily seek the Lord, the Holy Spirit within you will have the green light by you to empower you to choose righteousness. More info…

In humbling yourself before God, in addition to receiving God’s gift of righteousness, you receive the abundance of grace that God gives to the humble. God’s grace and His righteousness combined with the power, freedom and joy you experience as you pray and seek God’s face and turn from wickedness; will allow you to reign in life through Jesus Christ. Reigning is what kings do. To reign is a good thing when it is carried out in humility!

As you reign in life through Jesus Christ, share your testimony with others at your church. Encourage them to do the same. Perhaps your church will begin to spend more time together; praying, seeking God’s face and steering clear of sin as you walk together in humbleness. Reigning in life is the life of royalty God has destined you for! More info…

We encourage you to pray for one another like Paul prayed for the Colossians and how we, here at Humble 24/7, are praying for you…

…that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:9-14

Bold Man Walking – A Dead Man Cannot Be Threatened, Right?

In America it appears we are moving ever more closely to the point where Christians will be treated in similar fashion to how the early believers were treated by the Roman government. If so, will we endure in faithfulness to Jesus Christ?

Most would have nothing but the utmost respect for a father who stands up to protect his child who is being verbally maligned or physically bullied. We eulogize such a father with awe, admiration and memorials, with scholarships in his name, and more; when his attempt to protect his child somehow ends in his own death at the hands of those he was protecting his child from.

Will we go to such an extent to protect the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior? If we were told by someone in a seat of government power to not teach in the name of Jesus or required by an employer administrator to condone a fellow employee’s ungodly behavior, would we comply?

Would we? Would we let the threat of imprisonment or the fear of unemployment move us to compliance? Scarier yet, would we choose to not comply if the consequence were, somehow, death?

If we were already dead, this of course would not be a question, right? A dead man can’t be threatened. Nothing scares a dead man.

If there is any hesitation in whether or not we would choose unfavorable consequence, or death itself, to stand and protect the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, it is likely due to the mistaken understanding of thinking we’re not dead yet. We either haven’t died to self or we do not understand that in Christ’s death and burial we, too, died. We either haven’t died to this world or we do not understand that in Christ’s death and burial we, too, died to this world. Unfortunately, if we lack knowing this, and if the threat of death or persecution were wielded at us for speaking the name of Jesus Christ, we would fold and give in and choose to not speak His name. We would choose to preserve our life rather than to protect His name.

This raises the bar of truly dying to self; of truly dying to this world. If our life and this world were not esteemed in our minds and held in our hearts to be of more value than Jesus Christ, then any consideration of not protecting His name would never cross our minds.

Thankfully though, in diametric opposition to this, if we fully understand that we were crucified with Christ, then protecting the name of Jesus Christ in the face of a threat of death is not in question. Anyone who is already crucified, who was crucified with Christ, is dead to self and dead to this world. This life and this world have passed. They are of no value in comparison to honoring the name of Jesus Christ.

Death in no way threatens us. You have been crucified with Christ. The threat of the death to your life cannot threaten you because you were already crucified with Christ. You are already dead. Your life is of no account.

Dead men are not threatened by death. Adversaries cannot threaten a dead man. This changes everything!

This gives rise to a boldness of God, a boldness with God, a boldness in God, and a boldness for God, which resonates in us from His Spirit Who is alive within us. This boldness from God is galvanized within us when we humbly accept the truth that we are already dead to self and alive to God.

Dead, but alive. Dead to this world; alive to Christ.

Being already dead, but being alive in Christ because He abides in us; our lives are of no account because we are His. It is boldness to do whatever it is that God desires of us, even if doing so ends in our own death at the hands of others.

Have you been crucified with Christ?

If you have, you can die for Him. You can die for His name. You can die for the gospel of Jesus Christ, without fear, if required to do so; and in doing so, you will find life!

Humbleness Is Impossible Without Obedience

In thinking of Jesus, we know He humbled Himself before God, but how He humbled Himself is revealing. It says, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient….” The Son of God humbled Himself before God the Father, through obedience. To obey, one has to choose to humble themselves in the process of obedience. The two go hand-in-hand. The Son of God obeyed the Father as an act of humbling Himself to the Father. Choosing to obey God is an act we choose, too, when we humble ourselves before God. Just like Jesus, we humble ourselves by becoming obedient. As we humble ourselves before God, we obey in choosing to pray, to seek Him, and to turn from our sins.

Not only did Jesus humble Himself by becoming obedient, but Scripture goes on to say He did so, “to the point of death; even death on a cross.” Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Keep in mind; we are dead to self and to this world. We were crucified with Christ.

The evening before His crucifixion as Jesus was praying to the Father, He knew what lay ahead and He actually asked, if possible, that He would not be required to endure the crucifixion. He prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me….” However, at that precise moment in time, Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. After hoping that the crucifixion could be avoided, He continued in prayer, “yet not My will, but Yours be done.” His prayer bears a strong resemblance to how He taught His disciples to pray, “…Your kingdom come. Your will be done….” You see, like Jesus, true kings reign in humbleness; desiring His kingdom to come rather than their own; desiring His will to be done rather than their own.

As His royal priesthood, make the choice to reign in humbleness. In your life, in all that you do, let His kingdom come; let His will be done, even to the point of death if His kingdom and His will call for that. Like it was for Jesus, now is the precise moment in time to humble yourself by becoming obedient. Without obedience, humbleness is impossible.

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that the day come on you unexpectedly.”

God gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit therefore to God.”

Humble yourself by becoming obedient; pray and seek God’s face and turn from your wicked ways.

Yet not our will, but our Father’s be done.

The future of the church, and that of our homeland, lies with the choice we make today. Now is the time. Do not delay, now is the time.

Image Credits

1. This work/image is by John Heseltine/Pam Masco/FreeBibleimages.org and is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Image Credits

2. This work/image is by John Heseltine/Pam Masco/FreeBibleimages.org and is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.