Hold Fast to your First Love
The idea that the rapture will happen before the 7-year Tribulation is dangerous. But I’m not going to debate the timing on this post. I’m here to plead for my fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ to strengthen their spiritual resilience, and lean heavily on God. If you harden yourself to stone against the possibility of seeing any of the events portrayed within Revelation happen around you, then you could be among those who are deceived by the enemy. Remember, we’re given hearts of flesh, not stone (Ezekiel 36:26).
If we fall so deeply into sleep that not even prophetic fulfilments wake you up, what makes you think the final trumpet will? In these times of false christs, witchcraft, and so called believers telling us whatever we want to hear, we need to repent of our slothful ways and return to our first love: Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit lives within us, giving us strength. But if we ignore His calling to pursue our “daily grind,” we’re no different from the world. We’re called to live to higher standards, to sacrifice ourselves for the glory of God, and be the salt and light in a world overtaken by darkness.
If you condone sin because you want to love someone, then you’re not showing your light, you’re hiding it. If you praise someone for “bravely telling their truth,” while ignoring that their “truth” comes straight from the pits of hell, then your witness is no different than an unbeliever. We’re called to more than that. Love the person, yes, but don’t hide the truth behind an illusion of comfort.
Offending the world’s sensibilities comes with the territory of being a follower of Jesus.
John 15:18-27
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
If you balk at the idea of saying something that isn’t politically correct, thinking that it would be far better to say nothing rather than offend someone, then I would encourage you to look back at what Jesus did to the money changers in the temple. If you want to refresh yourself on the story, it’s in Matthew 21:12-13.
I’m not telling you what to believe in regards to the rapture. I’ll tell you my views on when I think it happens, but later. For now, I just want my spiritual siblings to become so biblically literate that no one could trick you or threaten you away from Jesus—no matter how hard they tried. You may think you’re already there, but I want you to look in the mirror and really ask yourself, “Would I give my life for Jesus? If someone held a gun to my head right now, would I deny Jesus so I could live?”
Look again and ask, “Am I willing to hold fast to Jesus—even if I’m forced to watch my friends and family get hurt? If that gun turned to their heads, would I rather deny Jesus, or watch them die?”
If you hesitated just now, then I’m begging you to please, please, please build that fortitude. Ask Jesus to fill you with so much spiritual strength that you would walk across nails if you had to. Because if we deny Jesus before men, Jesus will deny us before God.
Matthew 10:16-23
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Matthew 10:32-33
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
If you or someone you love has to die, then so be it. As of today, April, 2025, there isn’t a Mark of the Beast. But that could change RAPIDLY. If every person you know takes a mark on their hand or forehead so they can feed their families, you DO NOT FOLLOW. Do you hear me? I want to see you in heaven one day.
Stay strong and resist the devil. Don’t take the mark and say, “God will understand. I still love Him, but my children are starving.” Listen to me. Listen closely. It’s better to starve than to become separated PERMANENTLY from God. There won’t be any “understanding” for those who take the mark.
Revelation 14:9-12
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
There’s no concession for those who take the mark just to feed their families. Taking the mark is an act of worship. God doesn’t care if you secretly rebel against the antichrist. The Bible calls believers adulterers if they play over the line with false gods. Unlike the average day, where silence and mute rebellion can be forgiven if we just ask, taking the mark is the final line. If we cross it, there are no more chances. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that true believers are exempt from the wrath appointed to those who take the mark.
YOU are not exempt. Don’t play with the fire of God’s holy wrath. The Bible is CLEAR. DO NOT TAKE THE MARK.
Yes, I’m being harsh. And yes, I do it because I care too much for you. Jesus has burdened me with a passion for warning the Church about these things to come. Stand strong, my siblings. To live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).
