Why do most Christians say that they believe that Christ can come back at any time but don’t act accordingly? This has been a question that has occupied my mind for some time now. Although we have not yet recognized the man of lawlessness or the dreaded Antichrist, we have all seen the tremendous increase in lawlessness and the many other signs of Christ’s coming. I have personally written about these prophetic signs for many years now, simply adding my voice to the many apostles and prophets that have come before us since the dawn of Christianity (See II Peter 3:1-3). These prophetic signs have become so obvious in our day among most who call upon the Name of Christ that I am appalled that there is such little righteousness observed. It’s as if a dark cloud of lawlessness has engulfed all of humanity, including many who call upon the Name of Christ. I pray that you are not numbered among the lawless, because the Day of the Lord will come, and His coming is imminent. So, how can we be certain that we are not numbered among the lawless? Please continue reading for the time is short and my heart is breaking for many of my friends and family who will not be ready for Christ’s coming.

The true measure of success is our continued spiritual growth in Christ, which must continue from the moment we first believed in Christ to the moment we are caught up to heaven. I am sad to say that most have not even begun the journey beyond their initial acceptance of Jesus Christ. I am sad to say that many have learned well how to play church or just get their free ticket to Heaven, and then fall back into the ways of the world. The good news is that we are not expected to make this journey alone. We are not expected to grow spiritually on our own through hard work and discipline. Just reading the Bible daily like you do the morning paper or saying your rehearsed prayers three times a day will not be of any benefit without the help of the indwelling Spirit. Unfortunately, many in the fallen world have attempted the journey through the discipline of other world religions or pagan rituals but will never attain to the height of true spiritual maturity and the glories of heavenly bliss. They will not be ready for the coming Day of the Lord. So, dear children, let us follow only the Christian Way.  Let us prepare our minds for the greatest journey ever taken by humanity.

So, our starting point must be welcoming our Holy Resident into every area of our life, which the Bible refers to as being filled with the Spirit (See Ephesians 5:18). It is He alone, who will help us to grow from one degree of glory to another. The Bible says, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). Unfortunately, many spurn this wonderful gift from God by grieving the Spirit, which they do by not listening to Him or turning a deaf ear (See Ephesians 4:30). So, our next task is learning how to listen to the indwelling Spirit. This is where most Christians falter. They listen to their own heart, they listen to their desires, and they listen to their limited understanding, or what they have been taught by the fallen world. We must clear our minds completely and only listen to God through the indwelling Spirit. This will give you a completely different way of reading your Bible or listening to others who claim to speak for God. What does God say? This will give you a completely different way to pray by learning how to listen through many hours of deep prayer and meditation. Always asking what does God say (See Revelation 2:11)?

Those who have gone on before us, have learned well what God has said about the necessity of spiritual growth, by putting off the old life, and putting on the new life in Christ. This is a process; this is the journey. If you are not on the journey, then you will not be ready for Christ’s coming soon to usher in the Day of the Lord. Read slowly and carefully Ephesians 4:17-32 asking God to convict you concerning His Word. This passage of Scripture talks extensively about putting off the old life and putting on the new life in Christ. Every time you pick up the Bible read it slowly and carefully until you feel a warning in your heart until you are convicted to ask the indwelling Spirit to help you put off the old life. Believe me, if the Spirit of God is in you, then you will be convicted. You will cry out to God in repentance asking for His forgiveness. I have always read the Bible, without stopping, until I am convicted so that I can put off the old life. Putting off the old life is only one-half of growing up in Christ. If you don’t put the good in place of the bad, then the bad will always come back. This is an extremely powerful truth that must be practiced if you are serious about spiritual growth.

So, our next task in spiritual growth is replacing the bad with the good. We do this by putting on the new life in Christ. A simple illustration will suffice. If I tell you to stop being hateful to others by cursing at them or doing all manner of evil to them in your mind, and then you decide to stop this bad behavior that’s a good thing, but you need to do one more thing. You need to put on the new life in Christ by being kind to others, by only speaking words of love and encouragement. You must fill your mind with only good thoughts about them. This is a complete reversal that’s only truly possible by submitting to the will of Christ through the indwelling Spirit. We simply don’t have the power on our own to change all of our bad behavior. All the counseling, drugs, and rehabilitation will not completely change your behavior. The only thing that will completely change our behavior is putting off the old life and putting on the new life in Christ through faith. This is the Spirit’s job. So, let’s learn how to listen to the indwelling Spirit and allow Him to do His work. His work is to make you into a new creation. It’s a process. It is the journey every believer needs to be on if he wants to be ready for Christ’s coming. The Day of the Lord will come, sooner than you think.

If you look at the world today everyone is planning for a grandiose future even in the midst of their extreme lawlessness. It seems like the entire world is waging war against one another with little thought of love or turning the other cheek. Their so-called righteousness is little more than filthy rags. The world will not be ready for Christ’s coming to usher in the Day of the Lord. The Bible speaks plainly about that Day when it says, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (II Peter 3:10). If the Lord returns as a thief in the night, then I hope you understand it makes little difference what you believe about the timing of Christ’s arrival. Things will happen so quickly you will have no time left for Spiritual growth. You will have no time left to get on the journey. My heart aches for those who will not be ready. The signs of Christ’s coming are everywhere. At the writing of this article, we are seeing multiple earthquakes in California and around the world with dangerously high temperatures in Southern California recording 130° in Death Valley. If we add to this the many raging forest fires it should give us a clear picture of things to come. Wake up dear children the Day of the Lord will come, soon! Are you growing spiritually, every day? I pray that you will be ready.

Please Join me in Prayer …

Good morning Heavenly Father. As self-righteous and prideful men work ever so hard to build their utopia, we as your children look beyond our present reality to a new home filled with agape love and true righteousness. We pray that all of our energy and aspirations will be directed to this coming reality and not consumed with trying to fix what’s broken by whitewashing the unrighteousness of sinful men through the adoption of acceptance and tolerance. We pray that we, your beloved children, will prepare for the promise of the new heavens and a new earth by walking in righteousness every hour of every day. We pray that you will give us strength and wisdom to work every day to strengthen the righteousness of others by teaching them how to walk closer to you, our God. We pray that we can teach them to do this in total dependence, trusting in you alone to complete the process of making us, transforming us, into beautiful new creations. Lead us to be consumed with this work alone as we eagerly look forward to new heavens and a new earth. We pray this in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Reading from the King James Version, the Bible says …

“Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (II Peter 3:12-13).

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