The trumpet is about to sound.

I had an opportunity to teach the teens class yesterday at church and I started my lesson by asking how many of them were sure they had a ticket to heaven. All the hands shot up. So I went ahead and asked them if they were sure that if the trumpet sounded at that moment, in that room we were in, they would all be ruptured to meet Christ in the skies. Only one hand was up. It got me wondering why all hands went up when I asked about the ticket to heaven and just one hand was up when I spoke about the trumpet sounding and the rupture. I realized that most people are only sure they will go to heaven because they think that the trumpet is not sounding any time now and so we keep living the way we live thinking 'after all tonight I will repent'. We just live life and never take time to think or even imagine that the trumpet might sound any time. We are not preparing for heaven. Our lamps keep having less and less oil everyday. We keep telling ourselves that the bridegroom is not coming anytime soon. And so when confronted with the trumpet sounding anytime now, we realize how not ready we are for heaven. No wonder Jesus said the first will be the last and the last will be the fast. We started hot but gradually are growing cold. We get so absorbed in living life for ourselves, our families, friends etc but never get serious about living life for God. Slowly, the tickets we held so dear get snatched from us. Today we have tomorrow we do not remember where we kept them. And by the time the trumpet sounds, we have no ticket, we misplaced the tickets a long time ago and we just never realized.

How sad is it to realize this truth even when we are seeing all the signs that have been clearly stated in the bible. Could it be we no longer read our bibles, rarely pray and keep having excuses not to attend church, fellowships and prayer meetings. Jesus is coming soon but He is coming to take a bride that is pure. I once wrote about returning. It will not just happen by stating mere words and declarations of faith. It can only happen when you purpose in your heart that things have got to change. Why did Paul warn us to guard our salvation with fear and trembling? I believe he knew this time will come when believers will just play around with their salvation and loose it in the end. The bible says in Revelation 3:11 that we have to hold on to what we have received so that no one will take our crown. Jesus is coming soon. If we knew how to hold on to that more than we hold on to our lives, Christianity would be taking the world for Jesus. No wonder Jesus said whoever tries to keep his life will loose it and whoever looses their life will preserve it (Luke 17:33).

The wrath of God is coming, when God will judge the sins of the world. God has been very patient with us "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9), but God will not wait forever. There will come a day very soon when God will pour his wrath on the ungodly of this world. "For the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth..." (Romans 1:18). But there is a way out for those that want it. Jesus told us to "...pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the son of man..." (Luke 21:36).

Are you the type of Christian who feels that going to prayer meetings at night will expose you to the cold and you will get sick? Are you that believer who will never attend church when it is raining for fear of getting sick? Is it your habit to avoid fellowships because you have a headache or flu? Do you prefer to attend a medical camp on a Sunday rather than go to church or would you rather be at a business meeting, work, entertaining friends in your house than be in church? You are doing so much to keep your life. I am sorry to tell you that you will loose it. We take God so casually that even when we are sick, instead of going to the place where the great physician is, we stay in our homes. In stead of trusting Him to provide, we had rather open our shops on Sunday than go to church.

Beloved, it is time to wake up from that slumber. Pray like never before, Study the word of God like you never did before. Seek Him like he is the only one who can save you because He is. Seek to constantly be in His presence. Go now! Find the ticket you lost a long the way. The train is about to take off. You will not board without that ticket. Run! Run! Run! THE TRUMPET IS ABOUT TO SOUND!!!!!!

If you have never had this ticket and today you are convicted and wish to get the ticket, pray this prayer of salvation. believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, accept Him and be set free.

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Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.

I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.

You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.

Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved.

Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself.

Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.
Amen.

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If you just said this prayer and you meant it with all your heart and you have repented for your sins, we believe that you just got saved and are born again.  You may ask, "Now that I am saved, what's next?" First of all you need to get into a bible-based church, and study God's Word. Once you have found a church home, you will want to become water-baptized. By accepting Christ you are baptized in the spirit, but it is through water-baptism that you show your obedience to the Lord. Water baptism is a symbol of your salvation from the dead. You were dead but now you live, for the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed you for a price! The price was His death on the cross. May God Bless You!

Welcome to the Family of God!!

This labor day, I decided to spend time with my family, my sisters, my mum and my nephews and nieces. I had such a beautiful time bonding and just freely sharing. It was a feeling of belonging. Family is the best thing once can ever have. It is not something I take for granted. Knowing that you have people who have your back, people who laugh and cry with you, people who are ready to listen, people who love you no matter what and people who will protect you. Believe you me, if you belonged to my family, you would know what protection means. Dare touch a member of my family and you will know what the Bande's are made of. They come out full force to defend their own. I bless the Lord for my family.

As children of God, we are even more blessed. We belong to a family that is far much better than any other family that ever existed (Ephesians 2:19: Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God). We have a Father who will not think twice sacrificing His own son to save His family. He is a Father who gives freely (James 1:5), protects without sleeping nor slumbering (Psalm 121:4), loves unconditionally (1 Cor 13) and I could write pages and pages describing His character. One good thing about  is that is a perfect God (Matthew 5:48). We can never doubt him.

God is creating a family; His Own family.

The family of God includes all believers in the past, in the present, and all who will believe in the future: “The Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, ‘Father! my Father!’ God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:15-16 TEV). It does not take so much effort to belong to this family, all you need to do is receive Him. He says that those who received Him he gave them power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). The invitation to be part of God’s family is universal, but there is one condition: faith in Jesus.

“You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26 NLT).

Do you want to feel protected, loved, blessed, cared for, esteemed and cherished? Do you want a to feel like you belong to someone, you have someone who is there for you no matter what, have a brother who was willing to take your place and die for you, be an heir of a greater kingdom? Do you want to belong to a family of believers who will stand by you and hold your hand in this strange land? You only need to receive Him. There is a better inheritance for the children of God. God's love goes beyond borders, tribe, race, creed and social standing. It is for everyone who lives.

Have you once belonged to this family but are slowly loosing your place in it? Go back to where you drifted. Ask God to place you back. He is a merciful God, He forgives all our iniquities, He heals all our diseases, He is the Father to the fatherless. He is our God. He loves us, He cares for us. Do not stay in the cold. he will protect you (Psalm 121:7). Come back to the family. Not only are we born again into God’s family through faith, the Bible says God also “adopts” us. We don’t deserve to be his children, but he has chosen us for this privilege because he loves us.

Never underestimate the value of your life. You were born to become one of God's children. You were born to receive His very nature and, eventually, eternal life. You were born to become an immortal son of God. 

I must return!!

Yesterday the leader of our prayer team raised an issue that came to me with a lot of conviction because I know I am guilty. He said, in his word, that he felt like the fire which we started off with as a team had gone cold. The love and commitment we had had gone. He was careful to say that he stood to be rebuked and corrected if he was wrong. I was mute on this words for a whole day. How could I rebuke or correct? Where were the words to do that? I was guilty. I have not been so committed. I have let other things occupy much of my time with God. Every time there is a reason not to attend prayer meetings I grasp on to that and just think everyone will understand. My heart was convicted, it was time to seek God's mercy and ask Him not to allow me to die spiritually.

Daniel was a man who would not let the good things of Babylon sway his commitment and love for God. He was a man in captivity living and serving in the King's palace teaching the Chaldeans language and literature. See, the king commanded that they be fed with his delicacies. (Daniel 1:3-7). The four young men refused because they were without blemish. Is it the same with us today? On the one hand yes because we are in a strange land. This world is not our home. We are here as captives waiting for our Lord to come and take us home. Peter makes this clear in 1 Peter 2:11. Just like Daniel, we are in a foreign land, we know that one time we will go home. The difference is, are we becoming more of the world or do we still remember that this is not where we belong? Daniel purposed that he would not defile himself. Now this is where the difference is. Once we are offered the best of the land, we rush and defile ourselves and forget our commitment to the things of God. We dilute and defile our love for Him.

Daniel is still the same man who fasted 21 days because of the captivity they were in. He fasted for his people repenting for their sins and his that had led them into captivity (Dan 9 & 10). He did not embrace the situation. He knew he was in a position to seek God and God sent the angel Gabriel. Why do we grow lax, why do we grow cold.

It is time to make amends. It is time to return to our first love (God). We need to seek Him more than ever before. Let us not get comfortable in this world. In a short while, we will have to go. Let us remember the word of Isaiah 24. There is a home for us who will have not just run but finished the race. It is a home in glory. That home is not in this world. Seek God and He will be found. Fail to seek Him and you will not find Him.

More from the Baptism yesterday