Trustworthy and Insightful Managers

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Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional, Faith and Wisdom

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alert, disciple, entrusted, faithful servant, follower, freely give, gifts, goal, harshly whipped, heart work, insightful, lightly, manager, Master, parable, prepared, punished, readiness, resources, responsibility, responsible, reward, stewardship, trustworthy, unselfishly, watchful, wise, YeHoVaH God, Yeshua

…Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities! – Luke 12:48b, MSG

Yeshua’s watchfulness and readiness parable (see Luke 12:35-40) is the context in which He speaks the above verse to His close Disciples. In that parable, Yeshua explains how important it is to be alert and prepared for His return.

After Peter asks Yeshua if He is speaking just to His Disciples or to everyone, Yeshua Hamashiach uses another parable. In His second parable, He defines a watchful and ready person as a “faithful and wise manager” (Luke 12:42) who has been given the responsibility of using the gifts/resources he or she has to further YeHoVaH’s heavenly Kingdom and proclaim His Glory on earth by, for example, giving food and other needed essentials to the disadvantaged and doing so at “the proper time” (Luke 12:43).

There can be no doubt that Yeshua is saying everyone – whether saved or unsaved – has been given gifts/resources. He adds that some people are given great ones and others are given greater ones. Moreover, He makes it clear that regardless of what gifts/resources each person has and regardless of how many or how much of them each person has, the bottom line is that everybody’s faithfulness to YeHoVaH and Yeshua requires that he or she behaves like a trustworthy and insightful manager who uses responsibly – wisely and unselfishly – the gifts/resources entrusted to him or her.

Contrary to popular opinions, no one is supposed to use whatever YeHoVaH has entrusted to him or her to make his or her own individual life comfortable, secure, wealthy, famous, and etc. In other words, no human being can afford to take his or her responsibility lightly. If he or she does, Yeshua says that when He returns that person will suffer severely for his or her unfaithfulness (that person“…will be harshly whipped” – Luke 12:47, TLV). In contrast, the individual Yeshua finds faithfully and unselfishly doing what he or she is expected to do with the gifts/resources he or she had will receive a great reward, as well as will be put in charge of everything Yeshua owns (which is everything YeHoVaH owns).

Responsible stewardship should be everyone’s goal – especially everyone who is a Yeshua believer and follower. In the end, each Yeshua believer and follower who is found to be a faithful steward will receive a greater reward in Heaven than anything he or she ever could have had on earth.

Selah . . . .

Be Ye Also Ready

02 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

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alert, Bridegroom, Goodman, Kingdom mini-parable, overcomers, Pre-Tribulation Rapture, precautionary measures, prepared, ready, robber, saints, spiritual responsibilities, temples, thief, watchful, Yeshua

⁴²Therefore stay alert; for you do not know what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. – Matthew 24:42-44, TLV

What person, who has an idea about the time of day or night that a thief plans to rob him or her, would not watch for the arrival of this thief? A wise person will either wait — fully armed and ready to do battle with the robber — or he or she will alert the police, who will wait in the wise person’s house for the alleged thief so that they can catch him or her in the act of breaking and entering. Any person taking these precautionary measures is the Goodman Yeshua speaks about in His Matthew 24:43-44 Kingdom mini–parable.

Here is the point Yeshua is making: If non-believers and carnal unbelievers are smart enough to keep watch over their homes to prevent someone from breaking in, robbing, and/or harming their families, then certainly born again and saved spiritual believers also are smart enough to be like Yeshua’s Goodman. Even though Yeshua’s Bride will not be aware of the actual day and time when Her Bridegroom will return, She has the gift of spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment helps Yeshua’s Bride know and recognize the signs of the time that will lead to Her Pre–Tribulation Rapture.

Yeshua tells His Believers how they can avoid being caught off guard. They have to watch for the Bridegroom’s return, and they also have to do Yehovah’s Perfect Will, which, in this case, means they need to handle their own spiritual responsibilities — they need to make sure their spiritual temples are prepared for the Rapture. Their Lord, Master, King, and Bridegroom’s Return will not surprise them, if they also are filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit so that He can make them ready, willing, and able to present their bodies as living sacrifices — as spiritual overcomers whose lives are holy and acceptable to Yeshua.

Be a “goodman.” Know the signs of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Look for the signs of your Savior’s Return, and be prepared when Yeshua comes for you.

Is the Holy Spirit filling you? Are you allowing the enemy to come into your individual temple and rob you blind? Is Satan stealing anything from you that the Holy Spirit needs to transform you into Yeshua’s image? Shalom.

Keep it real…Live the Word…Watch it work!

Ready or Not, It’s Rapture Season

08 Friday Jan 2010

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

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alert, fig tree, harpazo, Latin Vulgate, Noah's days, prepared, Rapture season, rapturo, signs of the times, Sodom and Gomorrah, spiritually discerning, watchful

The most popular argument that people worldwide use when they discuss the rapture topic is that the word “rapture” is not in the Bible. The second most popular argument is that no one knows exactly when the “rapture” will happen.

Yes, the ACTUAL word “rapture” is not in, for example, the well-liked King James Version of the Holy Bible. However, there are other English words, which English-speaking believers all over the world use, that are not in the English translations of the Holy Bible, and two of the most familiar terms are Bible and Trinity.

Where the word “rapture” and the Scriptures that pertain to believers being “caught up” or “snatched away” are concerned, the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts used the word transliterated as harpazo, and the Latin Vulgate version of the Holy Bible, or Vulgate as it is called, used the word transliterated as rapturo. Produced by Jerome in the early 5th century, the Vulgate is a revised translation of the older Latin versions, and for many years the Vulgate was the source text used for many vernacular languages. In fact, many Latin words used in the English language have come from the Vulgate, with no change (or little change) in meaning or spelling. For example, the English language uses variations of the words apostolus, ecclesia, evangelium, angelus, creatio, salvatio, justificatio, testamentum, sanctificatio, regeneratio, and raptura (from the noun form of the verb rapiemur, which is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Then there is the no one knows exactly when the “rapture” will happen argument, which also is true. Indeed, Jesus the Christ says to: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Matthew 24:42, KJV). The Scriptures also say that He will come LIKE a thief in the night; that is, the Lord will come for His CHURCH without giving a warning. As a result, unprepared individuals will not have any time to get ready for the Lord’s sudden arrival (cf. Matthew 24:43, 1 Thessalonians 5:6, Revelation 3:3 and Revelation 16:15).

Now, even though NO ONE, not even Jesus the Christ Himself, knows when God will send the Lord back to Earth for the “catching up” or “snatching away” of those individuals who have a personal relationship with Jesus the Christ, the Lord Himself says that there will be signs of the times. Some of those definitive signs are the literal and figurative fig tree’s budding and blossoming, the symbolic lifestyles of the people living in Noah’s days, and the symbolic lifestyles of the people living in Sodom and Gomorrah during Abraham’s days. These declared signs let the prepared and watchful believers know that the Rapture season is upon them.

When eager holiday lovers prepare for their Season of Giving, they do so by dutifully putting up seasonal decorations weeks in advance, or by cheerfully buying seasonal gifts way ahead of time, or by gladly purchasing seasonal food and drinks before their special day of the Season of Giving arrives. Then too, when enthusiastic sports fans prepare for the professional football or basketball season, they do so by loyally securing season tickets in advance, or by faithfully following the current season’s statistics on their favorite team(s), or by devotedly buying their favorite team’s paraphernalia. Likewise, believers also must prepare for the Rapture season!

In Matthew 24:40-42, it is evident that Jesus the Christ is talking about the “rapture,” and in verse 43 it is obvious that He is alluding to the Rapture season by describing the actions a knowledgeable, watchful homeowner would take. Furthermore, from these previously mentioned verses, it is clear that the Lord wants to develop an analogy through which He can compare the natural diligence and vigilance that surely would come from a well-informed homeowner to the supernatural awareness and alertness of spiritually mature and fruitfully productive believers. Jesus the Christ is saying that once the homeowner knows when a burglar is going to break into his house, this “goodman” carefully and attentively waits for the expected hour the burglar is to show up, hopeful that he will be able to stop the intruder from breaking into his home.

Conversely, the Lord is saying that even though Christians do not know exactly when the Lord will come back to “rapture” them, the Holy Spirit has made them spiritually wise, knowledgeable, and faithful Temples of the Lord who can discern the signs of the times. As such, like the natural homeowner, believers must be careful to use all of the spiritual information available to them so that they too can be incessantly diligent and vigilant individuals who are “…also ready: for in such an hour as [they] think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44). Believers not only must be ready for their Lord who is coming LIKE a thief in the night but also they must be looking forward to His soon-to-come arrival, hopeful that they will be able to stop Satan from shaking up their faith!

Finally, because there is NO biblical prophecy that needs to be fulfilled; that is, there is no major spiritual event that MUST happen before the “rapture” takes place, it is crucial for believers to know and to be looking for the signs of the times. It also is imperative for believing men and women to make sure that they are living a hopeful life—living like they are expecting their Lord to come at any moment to “catch up” His CHURCH (to return on a cloud to “rapture” them).

Countdown to the Rapture

26 Monday Jan 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

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alert, Body of Christ, Church Age, cloud gathering, Daniel's 70th Week, fire and brimstone, horrific, judgment, lift off, off-guard, prepared, prophetic signs, punishment, rapture, Sodom and Gomorrah, The Flood, Tribulation Period, warnings, watchful, wrath

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one … lift off! No, this is not the usual countdown for a NASA rocket. This is the countdown to the Rapture.

On the prophetic timetable, the very next event to happen is the Rapture. For that reason, these are not just the times that try men and women’s souls; these are the times in which the fulfilled prophetic signs become God’s warnings to men and women about the future of their souls.

Since the Holy Bible repeats the pattern that God follows before He judges or punishes mankind, then true believers know that just as it was before The Flood in Noah’s days, just as it was before fire and brimstone rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot’s day, and just as it was before many other biblical events took place, God will not begin Daniel’s 70^th week (The Tribulation Period) without warning people that the most horrific times in human history are about to begin. Thus, through many prophetic signs, God constantly is warning 21^st century people that He once again is about to judge or punish mankind … indeed the entire Earth!

Because God does not want anybody to perish, He will do all that He can to ensure that born again, saved believers in Jesus the Christ will be redeemed/delivered/rescued/saved from God’s wrath (judgment) that is soon to come upon this Earth. Indeed, God will do whatever must be done in order to keep His enemy from plucking the Body of Christ out of His hand, which means God will do whatever it takes to shake loose any existing complacency, stinking thinking, and wrong behaviors that have an iron grip on so many of today’s Laodicean-like church members.

The increase in these and other strangleholds is why the Body of Christ is living in a time when the CHURCH Age is coming to an end. For sure, these end times also are why the Body of Christ must stay alert, watching for the promised cloud-gathering sign to be fulfilled, because when all has been said and done, because God has given sufficient warnings, there will be no one who will be able to say that he or she never had a clue! Therefore, because the Rapture can happen at any time, true believers also must do as their Savior tells them to do. They must “…look up, and lift up [their] heads; for [their] redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28, KJV).

Now, since the time of Jesus the Christ, there have been hundreds of prophecies that have been fulfilled, but those that have been fulfilled in the 21^st and 20^th centuries should cause people to stop and take notice. For example, globally, the prophesied signs that pertain to an end time societal breakdown are being fulfilled, daily.

God prophetically warns through His Word that, as the end of the Church Age draws near, there will be an increase in the number of people who will have no regard for the law or morality. These people will be greedy, selfish, violent, immoral, hedonistic and rebellious. Consequently, all of these lawless and immoral people will have something else in common—problems with a total breakdown of the family and great despair (see 2 Timothy 3:1-4, 6; Mark 13:12; and Matthew 24:12).

Add to the behaviors listed above the fulfilled sign of an increase in the number of people who practice homosexuality. Daily, homosexuals in all walks of life are openly expressing their “gay” lifestyle. Moreover, there are many learned individuals who maintain that because homosexual men and lesbian women were born this way they do not choose their “gay” lifestyle. Indeed, even some men and women who say they are “called” of God to preach and teach His Word now are saying that homosexuals and lesbians have a divine right to be who they are for they are gifts from God (reference here is to the You Tube video clip in which “Being Gay is the Gift of God” is the discussion topic on Oprah’s Spirituality 101).

Add to this increased lawlessness, immorality and homosexuality the use of drugs, which rapidly is increasing among the lower class, middle class, and upper class individuals. The Apostle John writes in Revelation 9:21 that, even during the Tribulation Period, the left behind lawless and immoral people: “Neither repented…of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts” (KJV). The word “sorceries” in this verse is the English translation of the New Testament Greek word “farmakeiva,” which is transliterated as “pharmakeia,” and pharmakeia means pharmaceuticals or drugs. Thus, in these end times, no one can say that there is not CURRENTLY already an out of control drug problem for which there seems to be no solution.

Moreover, what today’s true believers are able to discern is that all of these aforesaid societal problems are the very same societal problems that were witnessed in Noah and Lot’s days, and these same societal problems were the reasons why God cleansed the world with The Flood and then later totally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the humans, animals and vegetation in those cities. What today’s true believers also are able to discern is that since these same transgressions are running rampant again, the end result will be the same: God is going to judge or punish the people who neither obey His commandments nor believe in Him or His Son. Again, God forewarned the people in Noah and Lot’s days about the very judgments or punishments that would come upon them, and yet the masses did not heed God’s warnings!

Besides these increased societal signs, God has fulfilled in our time other prophetic signs: the rebirth of Israel; an increase in media covered global-political events; an increase in upheavals in nature; an increase in rampant diseases and epidemics; an increase in spiritual apostasy (increases in doctrinal and moral departures in the CHURCH and increases in the number of people who will turn from the Lord to Satanism … see 1 Timothy 4:2-3, 2 Timothy 3:5, Matthew 24:12, and 1 Timothy 4:1); an increase in the number of people who mock the end-times prophecies; an increase in false Messiahs, false prophets, and false teachers; an increase in technology; a knowledge explosion; and an increase in the desires to want to use nuclear weapons. The fact that all of these prophetic signs are and have been happening simultaneously in our time should shake loose any complacency, stinking thinking, and wrong behaviors that might have a stranglehold on believers in Christ.

Whether we want to believe it or not, time is running out. The Rapture of the true CHURCH is the only prophetic event that needs to be fulfilled before the Temple is rebuilt, the Antichrist signs a peace agreement with Israel, and the Tribulation Period begins with its seven seals’ judgments and ends with Jesus the Christ’s bodily Second Coming—when every eye sees Him coming in His glory, and He sets His feet down on the Mount of Olives. The Rapture countdown, thus, has begun, and every living person who is not in the Rapture will be left behind to suffer during the Tribulation Period. Yet, no matter what some people believe and teach, God does not want any person to have to experience the Tribulation Period, because He knows that the Tribulation Period will claim countless lives!

Furthermore, because the Tribulation Period is designed in such a way to shake the left behind uncommitted and disbelieving out of their lethargy so that they finally will accept Jesus the Christ as their personal Savior and Lord to whom they totally surrender; and because the Tribulation Period is designed in such a way so that the uncommitted and disbelieving who remain uncommitted and disbelieving will receive their just punishment for deliberately choosing the Antichrist as their god, these are the reasons why God constantly is warning the world, but specifically the Body of Christ, that the Tribulation Period’s horrific times are right around the corner. The Tribulation Period’s seven seal, seven trumpet and seven vial judgments upon the whole Earth also are why God wants Christ’s Body to continue to “…look up, and lift up [their] heads; for [their] redemption draweth nigh.” God, thus, forewarns this world’s masses, and especially the Body of Christ, because He wants true believers to be on the alert and prepared for His cloud-gathering sign so that they will not be caught off-guard!

The only way anybody who is still alive will be able to be delivered from the wrath of God that is to come upon this Earth is for a divine intervention to take place. That divine intervention for the Body of Christ is the Rapture.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one … lift off! Once again, the countdown to the Rapture has begun, so let’s make sure we are Rapture ready so that no matter whether we are alive or dead when Christ comes back in the clouds we will be caught up to be with Him forever more!