What if I could warn you in advance of a choice you have to make, and that choice will either make your life or ruin your life – wouldn’t you want me to reveal to you the information I know?
What if I could save you so much trouble and heartache, simply by warning you of what will happen if you make the wrong choice?
What if you took that knowledge and you used it to make the right choice now to completely avoid all that potential trouble?

Did you ever date the completely WRONG person? If someone could have somehow revealed to you how that relationship would turn into something so bad, would you have listened? Maybe you were warned, and maybe you married them anyway.

Have you ever simply made the wrong choice – gone the wrong way – trusted the wrong person – then you were left with the consequences of those choices? That wasn’t fun, now was it?

Wrong choice mean negative consequences. We know that. We’ve learned that. But here’s what you need to also know: NO CHOICE HAS CONSEQUENCES TOO.

If you stay in this neutral ground with God – remaining open minded and non-committal – kinda believing, but kinda still living your own way – just leaving the offer of Jesus on the table but not completely claimed, you will face consequences. And Jesus is lovingly and patiently warning you, “My girl, you don’t want the trouble that will bring. Let me save you from all of that.”

That’s what the book of Revelation is. It’s a love letter from your Savior revealing to you the terror he wants to completely save you from. And because he loves you, he wants to make is very clear, YOU DON’T WANT WHAT IS TO COME WITHOUT HIM.

Yesterday’s episode may have been an eye opener to understand the plan of God and the order of Heaven that is to come. It can all be so confusing, especially since over the years each religion has put their own spin on things. I don’t pretend to know all of this. I’m trying to study it and come at it free from the restrictions of any specific religion. I’m just like you, seeking to understand what Jesus is warning me of, while being content in not knowing how or when. I’m not a Bible scholar, but I’m most certainly seeking the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit to heed the warning and pass it along.

The rapture is the coming of Jesus from heaven where the believers who have already died will be raised, and the believers who are still alive on Earth will be snatched up. Do you know what rapture actually means? It means extreme happiness and excitement. We’ve failed in our sharing of this exciting news. JESUS IS COMING, and he’s coming to save us from the trouble of this world that is to come.

After the rapture comes the great tribulation. This is the most unbelievable terror you can imagine. It is a complete absence of all peace. It is every nightmare unfolding. But every soul who has made the choice to believe in Jesus as their savior is saved from this reality. Where are we? We are gathered around the throne praising God already.

May I be honest for a moment? I’ve always had to fake my excitement about that. I get excited over the streets of gold, over the eternal paradise void of all trouble and sickness. Oh I love thinking about a never ending adventure with Jesus, a non-stop party and celebration, but getting excited over this continual signing of praises at the throne was a little hard for me. Like really, won’t that kind of get old? I haven’t been overly excited about that … until my experience last night.

I’m currently in Colorado hosting a BIG Life Retreat. Yesterday we went to the lake and had the most beautiful baptisms. One precious soul, Tonya, committed her life to Jesus for the very first time, and two more, Heather and Brenda, recommitted their lives fully. Oh the joy we each got to witness. And then we went to Red Rocks amphitheater. If you’ve never been, I really want to take you there!

Red Rocks is called God’s church. It’s an amphitheater built on the side of a mountain, surrounded by a U-shaped wall of natural massive red rocks. Only God could have placed those rocks perfectly like that to create a sheltered sanctuary under the stars, overlooking the night lights of Denver. It is mystical and magical in every way.

The opener was Ben Fuller. If you haven’t heard of him before, well, you’re welcome. His testimony was so real, his voice was so powerful, and his spirit was so humble. Covered in tattoos, with a story of years spent living on the street in addiction, then absolutely wrecked by the saving grace of Jesus that radically turned his life around in every way imaginable, he led us in worship that forever changed my view of what throne room worship will be like.

You see, last night, I got a glimpse of what Heaven must be like. The energy, the love, the full on, unfiltered, unleashed praise of our Lord. Not because we have to. Not because it’s what expected of us. Not because anyone is watching. But because we had extreme happiness and excitement. Rapture. That’s what rapture is! We tasted it last night. I can’t describe it to you without cheapening it. I can’t begin to explain the feelings we experienced as we worshiped. But it was real, and it was a taste of what is to come. Now, I can honestly say I truly want an eternity of THAT! It’s what my soul longs for and I didn’t even know it.

Now, for those who don’t choose Jesus because they either choose something else in place of Jesus, or they simply don’t make a choice at all, they won’t be snatched up and brought into the presence of God. They will instead face the great tribulation. Yip, the hell on earth many of those weird people talk about. I’m going to be weird because, girl, I love you, and I simply cannot NOT WARN YOU.

The word tribulation comes from the Latin word tribulum. Now, let me tell you what that means. It is the threshing sledge used to separate grain from chaff. This sledge smashes and crushes the wheat to separate the good from the bad. I’m assuming you don’t have a threshing sledge just laying around the house, so let me help you understand. This is a heavy sled with sharp stones or metal teeth on the bottom. That sled was pulled across a pile of grain stalks, crushing them, squeezing out the desirable grain from the non-desirable chaff.

The time of tribulation to come on this earth when Satan is unleashed and allowed to bring absolute terror IS THE THRESHING SLEDGE. It will thresh, it will crush, and it will separate. Some will be found to be good, and that’s the purpose of what is to come. Jesus hasn’t given up on them. He knows the worst of things will serve the purpose of bringing the lost to him. That rock bottom where the threshing sledge of life crushes us is where we come to the end of ourselves and meet Jesus.

The author of Revelation is John, a disciple of Jesus. Jesus is revealing to him visions of the tribulation as a warning to pass along to the people then, and you and I now. And he shows him this in the time of tribulation – Revelation 7: 9-12, “I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. They fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.”

But now, check this out!!!! John asks God who these people are in white robes praising him around the throne. And God reveals in verse 14, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. That is why they stand in front of God’s throne.”

Tribulation is not punishment. Tribulation is a second chance. It’s the rock bottom for those who didn’t choose Jesus to meet him and accept him.

How incredibly gracious of our God. All that is to come, the unleashing of the terror of Satan – it’s not giving Satan his way, it’s using Satan and his terror to bring more souls into Heaven where they will experience that extreme happiness and excitement too.

Experiencing the crushing of the time of tribulation is optional. You have a choice.

Choose Jesus now and be saved from all that terror … or don’t and face a rock bottom like you simply cannot imagine. Oh, how I hope you will choose Jesus. And I hope you will experience the rapture with me. Remember, rapture means extreme happiness and excitement.

I want that, don’t you? That’s what’s promised to every flawed, broken, messed up, saved by grace soul who simply chooses Jesus. He’ll change your life here, and he’ll give you eternal life later that will be bring you straight to the throne of God.

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