So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for 42 months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:4-8 NKJV
Scary movies don’t scare me. I know they are just movies. Real life scares me. Depraved people that are evil, scare me. Those that follow the devil scare me. I have a news flash for you, if we are not following the God, we are following the devil. There is no middle ground. You see I never ever would have willingly followed the devil. But, looking back, I realize that I fell for many of his lies. I believed him when he said that I didn’t need to pray. God knows our every thought and every need, right? I believed him when he said that I didn’t need to read my bible, I mean I learned all about it in Sunday School as a child, right? I believed him when he said I didn’t need to go to church. We can worship God anywhere, right?
You see the devil is a liar. In John 8:44 Jesus is being tempted by satan and He responds and tells him that he is not only a liar, but the father of all lies. He tells the devil that there is no truth in him. Don’t be deceived, don’t listen to his lies.
What really used to scare me is reading through Revelation. I would read my bible through and stop at the book of Revelation. For one thing, Revelation is scary. For another thing, there seemed to be a lot of symbolism which I didn’t really understand. Our pastor, Brother L. C. Lord, did a 29 week study on the book of Revelation and now I don’t find it so scary. I was thrilled to hear in church yesterday that our current pastor, Brother Dan Munson will be beginning a study in Revelation on the seven churches of Revelation.
You see if you are committed to the Lord and walking with Him, then you have nothing to fear. You need not even fear death because this just means that we go to spend eternity with our Lord and Savior in the glory and splendor of heaven. You need not fear the rapture because this just means we will be called up there to God. We will be in a place where there is no more crying, no more sorrow and no more pain (Revelation 21:4).
I have learned to keep my focus on God while I am here on earth. I have learned that “God’s got this”. Romans 8:31 asks, “if God is for us, who can be against us?” No one and no force is more powerful than the God that I serve. Romans 8:37 tells us that we are more than conquerors. The book of Revelation is the last chapter in the bible and I am happy to say that I have read every single word of it. I read the end of the book and I know now that we win! Those of us that love the Lord and commit our lives to Him get our names written in the Lamb’s Book Of Life and we win!! But if there is any chance that your name is not written in that book, then I encourage you to read our scripture passage again. The authority is given to the devil to rule over the earth. We know that God is the ruler of the universe so no authority can be given to harm a hair on our head unless it comes from God. God is going to give the devil the authority to rule over the earth and those in it who were left behind. This says that the dragon (that’s satan) will give authority to the beast to make war with the saints. So what this means is that once the rapture occurs, those who are left behind may get wise and say, “I better follow God”. This is great, but the devil has been given authority to make war with them. God has left them on their own to fight the devil. Now if you couldn’t stand against satan with God fighting your battles, do you really think you are strong enough to go it alone? I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of finding that out. That’s what really scares me! So, I have committed my life to the Lord and gotten my name written in the book and I am on my way to heaven. I hope and pray that you have done the same and are headed there with me.
No one knows when we will die and no one knows when the rapture will take place. We must be ready. The only way we can be ready is to commit our lives to the Lord. I beg of you to do this today, before it’s too late. Trust in Him, and commit your life to Him. He will take care of you. You will have nothing to fear.
Have a great day!