today's meditation (Is.27) Making Peace with the Lord

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 27:1-13)

1   On that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
     With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
     Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
     And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

2   On that day,
     “A vineyard of beauty, sing of it!
3   I, the Lord, am its keeper;
     I water it every moment.
     So that no one will damage it,
     I guard it night and day.
4   I have no wrath.
     Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle,
     Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely.
5   Or let him rely on My protection,
     Let him make peace with Me,
     Let him make peace with Me.”
6   In the days to come Jacob will take root,
     Israel will blossom and sprout,
     And they will fill the whole world with fruit.

7   Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them?
     Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?
8   You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away.
     With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind.
9   Therefore through this Jacob’s wrongdoing will be forgiven;
     And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin:
     When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
     When Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
10 For the fortified city is isolated,
     A homestead deserted and abandoned like the desert;
     There the calf will graze,
     And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.
11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off;
     Women come and make a fire with them,
     For they are not a people of discernment,
     Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them.
     And their Creator will not be gracious to them.

12 On that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, you sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also on that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

This passage is prophetic.  In the Tribulation, Israel as a nation will turn to the Lord and believe.  Then at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will come again and eliminate all unbelievers and evil from the earth, and gather up all believers to take them into the Millennial kingdom.  

Even though this is something that will happen in the future - after the rapture, these principles and truths apply to us now.  God never sins or commits evil acts.  Because He has given everyone a free will, and because He is sovereign, He will use evil to accomplish His will.  

The biggest example is when Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah and hung Him on the cross.  This was an evil act;  but through this, the Lord paid the price for all sin of all time for all people.  Because of sin, there needs to be death, so Jesus took our place and died on our behalf.  He also rose again to conquer death, so that anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life with Him.

God has given us the choice.  We can be opposed to the Lord by relying on and living for ourselves or someone else or some manmade god, or we can make peace with the Lord by accepting His free gift of forgiveness and salvation.  When we do, and as we trust in Him alone as our expert gardener, He will protect us and nourish us.  And as we worship, serve and honor Him, we will be fruitful and blessed.

today's meditation (Is.26) Becoming a Believer

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 26:1-21)

1   On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
     “We have a strong city;
     He sets up walls and ramparts for security.
2   Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
     The one that remains faithful.
3   The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
     Because he trusts in You.
4   Trust in the Lord forever,
     For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.
5   For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;
     He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
6   The foot will trample it,
     The feet of the poor, the steps of the helpless.”

7   The way of the righteous is smooth;
     O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.
8   Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, Lord,
     We have waited for You eagerly;
     Your name, and remembering You, is the desire of our souls.
9   At night my soul longs for You,
     Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
     For when the earth experiences Your judgments,
     The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Though the wicked person is shown compassion,
     He does not learn righteousness;
     He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,
     And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.

11 Lord, Your hand is lifted up, yet they do not see it.
     They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
     Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.
12 Lord, You will establish peace for us,
     Since You have also performed for us all our works.
13 Lord, our God, other masters besides You have ruled us;
     But through You alone we confess Your name.
14 The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise;
     Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
     And You have eliminated all remembrance of them.
15 You have increased the nation, Lord,
     You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
     You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 Lord, they sought You in distress;
     They could only whisper a prayer,
     Your discipline was upon them.
17 As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
     She writhes and cries out in her labor pains;
     This is how we were before You, Lord.
18 We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
     We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
     We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
     Nor were inhabitants of the world born.
19 Your dead will live;
     Their corpses will rise.
     You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
     For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
     And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

20 Come, my people, enter your rooms 
     And close your doors behind you;
     Hide for a little while 
     Until indignation runs its course.
21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place 
     To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wrongdoing;
     And the earth will reveal her bloodshed 
     And will no longer cover her slain.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

During the Tribulation, when Israel as a nation puts their faith in the Lord Jesus, they will seek His very physical protection against the enemies.  Then when Jesus comes again to have the victory at Armageddon, He will remove all evil and all unbelievers from the earth.  And throughout His thousand year reign, He will keep things in check so that there is peace and blessings everywhere.  It is at this time that Israel will have all their land, and all of their covenants fulfilled.

This passage is prophetic, but it is also meaningful and relatable to us today!  We know this because within the entire Bible's context, the salvation of the Lord is exactly this:

- (verse 1) we can sing of salvation's security we have in Jesus

- (verse 2) when we put our faith in Jesus, we are made righteous

- (verse 2) because the Lord is faithful, it is He who keeps us faithful

- (verse 3) when we put our trust in Jesus, He helps us in our striving to remain steadfast in His will

- (verse 3) Jesus gives us perfect peace!  No matter what is happening around us, we can have peace of mind and peace of heart when we trust in Him ("to trust" means that what He says works, and then we follow through by doing what He says, trusting that He will work things out for us)

- (verse 4) we can trust in the Lord because He is the everlasting Rock, He does not move, He does not change, and He is all-powerful

- (verse 5) the Lord fights for us and takes revenge for us so we do not have to

- (verse 7) as we live in Jesus' righteousness, He will make our path smooth and level

- (verse 7) we can know that doing it God's way is right, because He is all-knowing and right

- (verse 8) as we follow and live in God's will, we will see the blessings, and desire to know Him more and more

- (verse 9) we should diligently seek the Lord knowing that we cannot lose our salvation, but when we live in sin here on earth, He will allow consequences into our lives to discipline us and make us see that we need to get back to seeking Him

- (verses 10-11) there are still unbelievers in this world, and because of their wickedness and distain towards us, sometimes God allows us to experience trials and temptations, which test our faith in order to prove that God cares and will help us

- (verse 12) we can be confident that God will bring us peace, because we can see how He has faithfully worked things out in the past 

- (verse 13) God should come first in our lives because no one else can compare to Him!!!  If we put ourselves or others ahead of God, they will only let us down

- (verse 14) God will punish all unbelievers for every sin they have committed, and they will not have a second change because they will have had a fair opportunity here on earth to make their decision for all eternity

- (verse 16) if any unbeliever prays, their manmade gods cannot do anything for them.  If they try praying to God Himself without confessing their sins, it should be known that sin impedes prayers.  Meanwhile, God still cares and so, allows people to go through things to help them see their need to be saved, and their need for a personal relationship with Him.

(verses 17-18)  trying to save yourself in your own efforts is like going through painful childbirth only to give birth to nothing.  We cannot do anything to save ourselves!

- (verse 19) anyone becoming a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has guaranteed eternal life

- (verse 19) we can know that there will be perfect joy in heaven

today's meditation (Is.25) Getting Advice

 (Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 25:1-12)

1   Lord, You are my God;
     I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
     For You have worked wonders,
     Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2   For You have turned a city into a heap,
     A fortified city into a ruin;
     A palace of strangers is no longer a city,
     It will never be rebuilt.
3   Therefore a strong people will glorify You;
     Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
4   For You have been a stronghold for the helpless,
     A stronghold for the poor in his distress,
     A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
     For the breath of the ruthless 
     Is like a rain storm against a wall.
5   Like heat in a dry land, You subdue the uproar of foreigners;
     Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.

6   Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
     A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
     And refined, aged wine.
7   And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all peoples,
     The veil which is stretched over all nations.
8   He will swallow up death for all time,
     And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,
     And He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth;
     For the Lord has spoken.
9   And it will be said on that day,
     “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
     This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
     Let’s rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,
     And Moab will be trampled down in his place 
     As straw is trampled down in the water of a manure pile.
11 And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it 
     As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
     But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.
12 The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
     Lay low, and throw to the ground, to the dust.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will come again to fight the battle at Armageddon.  After removing all the wickedness from this earth, Jesus will take all those who became believers during the Tribulation into the Millennium.  There Jesus will prepare a feast and everyone is invited.  

One thing to note is that during the Millennium, people will be having families, so those being born into the Millennium will have to choose whether to become a believer or not.  One very awesome thing about this time period will be the fact that people can go to Jesus and talk face to face with Him to get help and advice.

Even now, Jesus invites everyone to be saved through faith in Hiim.  And as believers, we can fellowship with Jesus through prayer and reading His word.  The Bible contains everything we need to know to be saved and be confident of our eternal security in Him.  As well, His word is timeless, relevant and applicable so we can be equipped to live a fulfilling and joy-filled life. 

today's meditation (Is.24) Finding Peace and Joy

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 24:1-23) 

1 Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, twists its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. 2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the female servant like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up and crumbles away, the mainland dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth dwindle. 5 The earth is also defiled by its inhabitants, for they violated laws, altered statutes, and broke the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer for their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth decrease in number, and few people are left.

7   The new wine mourns,
     The vine decays,
     All the joyful-hearted sigh.
8   The joy of tambourines ceases,
     The noise of revelers stops,
     The joy of the harp ceases.
9   They do not drink wine with song;
     Intoxicating drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of chaos is broken down;
     Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
11 There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
     All joy turns to gloom.
     The joy of the earth is banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city 
     And the gate is battered to ruins.
13 For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
     As the shaking of an olive tree,
     As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over.
14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy;
     They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord.
15 Therefore glorify the Lord in the east,
     The name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
     In the coastlands of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs: “Glory to the Righteous One,”
     But I say, “I am finished! I am finished! Woe to me!
     The treacherous deal treacherously,
     And the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
17 Terror and pit and snare 
     Confront you, you inhabitant of the earth.
18 Then it will be that the one who flees the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
     And the one who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare;
     For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake.
19 The earth is broken apart,
     The earth is split through,
     The earth is shaken violently.
20 The earth trembles like a heavy drinker 
     And sways like a hut,
     For its wrongdoing is heavy upon it,
     And it will fall, never to rise again.
21 So it will happen on that day,
     That the Lord will punish the rebellious angels of heaven on high,
     And the kings of the earth on earth.
22 They will be gathered together 
     Like prisoners in the dungeon,
     And will be confined in prison;
     And after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be ashamed and the sun be put to shame,
     For the Lord of armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
     And His glory will be before His elders.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

The earth's curse is sin, which happened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.  From that point forward, al people are born into sin, and are separated from God.  Although He created all of us with a purpose to have a personal relationship with Him, the only way we can reconcile this is to do it His way.  When verse 5 mentions that people have broken the everlasting covenant, this is referring to the 'unpardonable sin" - which is rejecting the salvation that the Lord Jesus offers to all of us.  

Those who become believers now (and those asleep in Christ) will be caught up to heaven before the Tribulation begins.  During the Tribulation, there will be a few who turn to the Lord.  And so at the end of those seven years, which is when "the harvest" is ready, all unbelievers will be removed from the earth, and only believers will enter the Millennium.  It is then that there will be peace and joy everywhere because Jesus will reign here on earth as King.

Meanwhile, no matter what is going on around us, when we ask Jesus into our hearts, we are reconciled with God.  His forgiveness removes our guilt and we can live in His freedom of grace.  And as we allow Him to reign over our lives, He gives us peace and joy.

today's meditation (Is.23) Being Humble

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 23:1-18)

1   The pronouncement concerning Tyre:
     Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
     For Tyre is destroyed, without house or harbor;
     It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus.
2   Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
     You merchants of Sidon;
     Your messengers crossed the sea
3   And were on many waters.
     The grain of the Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;
     And she was the market of nations.
4   Be ashamed, Sidon,
     For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
     “I have neither been in labor nor given birth,
     I have neither brought up young men nor raised virgins.”
5   When the report reaches Egypt,
     They will be in anguish over the report of Tyre.
6   Pass over to Tarshish;
     Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland.
7   Is this your jubilant city,
     Whose origin is from antiquity,
     Whose feet used to bring her to colonize distant places?

8   Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
     Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9   The Lord of armies has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
     To despise all the honored of the earth.
10 Overflow your land like the Nile, you daughter of Tarshish,
     There is no more restraint.
11 He has stretched His hand out over the sea,
     He has made the kingdoms tremble;
     The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.

12 He has said, “You shall not be jubilant anymore, you crushed virgin daughter of Sidon.
     Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that did not exist; Assyria allocated it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
     For your stronghold is destroyed.

15 Now on that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16 Take your harp, wander around the city,
     You forgotten prostitute;
     Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
     That you may be remembered.

17 It will come about at the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her prostitute’s wages and commit prostitution with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Her profit and her prostitute’s wages will be sacred to the Lord; it will not be stored up or hoarded, but her profit will become sufficient food and magnificent attire for those who dwell in the presence of the Lord.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Fair warning has been given to all people to turn from their sinful ways.  And if they do not become believers, they will lose whatever they earn and build for themselves.  The humble will inherit the earth, as Jesus takes the throne during the Millennial kingdom.

Meanwhile, Jesus sits on His heavenly throne, and reigns sovereign.  One day He will sort everything out with justice and righteousness, and only the humble will make it to heaven.  The humble are the ones who realize they are sinners and need saving.  The humble are the ones who go to the Lord for His forgiveness and salvation.  

today's meditation (Is.22) Depending on the Lord

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 22:1-25)

1   The pronouncement concerning the valley of vision:
     What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
2   You who were full of noise,
     You tumultuous town, you jubilant city;
     Your dead were not killed with the sword,
     Nor did they die in battle.
3   All your rulers have fled together,
     And have been captured without the bow;
     All of you who were found were taken captive together,
     Though they had fled far away.
4   Therefore I say, “Look away from me,
     Let me weep bitterly,
     Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5   For the Lord God of armies has a day of panic, subjugation, and confusion 
     In the valley of vision,
     A breaking down of walls 
     And a crying to the mountain.
6   Elam picked up the quiver,
     With the chariots, infantry, and horsemen;
     And Kir uncovered the shield.
7   Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
     And the horsemen took positions at the gate.
8   And He removed the defense of Judah.
     On that day you depended on the weapons of the house of the forest,
9   And you saw that the breaches 
     In the wall of the city of David were many;
     And you collected the waters of the lower pool.
10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem 
     And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
11 And you made a reservoir between the two walls 
     For the waters of the old pool.
     But you did not depend on Him who made it,
     Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

12 Therefore on that day the Lord God of armies called you to weeping, to wailing,
     To shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.
13 Instead, there is joy and jubilation,
     Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
     Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
     “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14 But the Lord of armies revealed Himself to me:
     “Certainly this wrongdoing will not be forgiven you
     Until you die,” says the Lord God of armies.

15 This is what the Lord God of armies says:

     “Come, go to this steward,
     To Shebna who is in charge of the royal household,
16 ‘What right do you have here,
     And whom do you have here,
     That you have cut out a tomb for yourself here,
     You who cut out a tomb on the height,
     You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
17 Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you violently, you strong man.
     And He is about to grasp you firmly 
18 And wrap you up tightly like a ball,
     To be driven into a vast country;
     There you will die,
     And there your splendid chariots will be,
     You shame of your master’s house!’
19 I will depose you from your office,
     And I will pull you down from your position.
20 Then it will come about on that day,
     That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21 And I will clothe him with your tunic 
     And tie your sash securely around him.
     I will hand your authority over to him,
     And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 Then I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder;
     When he opens, no one will shut,
     When he shuts, no one will open.
23 I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,
     And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.

24 So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the descendants, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. 25 On that day,” declares the Lord of armies, “the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load that is hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

The Israelites turned their backs on the Lord and so He allowed another country to take over, until the Lord allowed that country to be overthrown.  Over all the years, there has been constant war in Israel, but one day they will have all their land.  From prophecy, we know that all their covenants with God will be fulfilled in the Millenium.  That will only happen because during the Tribulation, they as a nation will turn their hearts back to the Lord.

For us now, we can learn from this passage's message.  Instead of partying and ignoring our sinful behavior, we need to show remorse and confess our sins in order to reconcile with the Lord, as pointed out in verses 12-13.  And as verse 11 points out, instead of relying on our own strength, wisdom and resources, we need to keep depending on the Lord, and consider what He wants us to do.

today's meditation (Is.21) Being Ready

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 21:1-17)

1   The pronouncement concerning the wilderness of the sea:
     As windstorms in the Negev come in turns,
     It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
2   A harsh vision has been shown to me;
     The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
     Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media;
     I have put an end to all the groaning she has caused.
3   For this reason my loins are full of anguish;
     Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
     I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
4   My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
     The twilight I longed for has been turned into trembling for me.
5   They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
     “Rise up, captains, oil the shields!”

6   For this is what the Lord says to me:

     “Go, station the lookout, have him report what he sees.
7   When he sees a column of chariots, horsemen in pairs,
     A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
     He is to pay close attention, very close attention.”

8   Then the lookout called,

     “Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
     And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9   Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
     And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
     And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”
10 My downtrodden people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
     What I have heard from the Lord of armies,
     The God of Israel, I make known to you.

11 The pronouncement concerning Edom:

     One keeps calling to me from Seir,
     “Watchman, how far gone is the night?
     Watchman, how far gone is the night?”
12 The watchman says,
     “Morning comes but also night.
     If you would inquire, inquire;
     Come back again.”

13 The pronouncement about Arabia:

     In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,
     You caravans of Dedanites.
14 Bring water for the thirsty,
     You inhabitants of the land of Tema;
     Meet the fugitive with bread.
15 For they have fled from the swords,
     From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow,
     And from the press of battle.

16 For this is what the Lord said to me: “In a year, as a hired worker would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end; 17 and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Isaiah was a man of God, and even he became overwhelmed and distraught over things.  But for him, and for any of us, we need to trust in the Lord because He will sort out all things!  When we fear the Lord, we don't have to fear anyone or anything - even the future!  We are not to worry about anything.  Instead, focus on the Lord and trust in Him for everything.  And live in obedience to His word, which includes serving Him and others.

Be ready!  For the Israelites and the people who will one day go through the Tribulation, they are to be ready for the Lord's return.  And for all of us now, we need to become believers either before we die or before the rapture occurs.  And being ready simply means - to become believers - to be on the Lord's side in order to be on the victorious side.  

Why wait until the last minute?  You might not know when that last minute is, so if you wait for the last minute, you will have to worry about that and everything else.  So why postpone and worry, when we can enjoy God's blessings, inner peace and confidence, and receive His salvation and His help right now?