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Always With the Lord - Your Daily Forward Devotional

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The Way

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The True Vine

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Getting Started...

The Resurrection and the Life

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The Resurrection and the Life

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The Good Shepherd

The Door

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The Door

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The Bread and the Light

John Saw It All

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John Saw It All

Worry About Yourself

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Worry About Yourself

Count the Cost

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Count the Cost

Do You Love God?

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Do You Love God?

Jump All In

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Jump All In

Gone Fishing Again

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Gone Fishing Again

You May Have Life In His Name

  • May 20, 2023

You May Have Life In His Name

The Disciple Who Believed

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The Disciple Who Believed

The Disciple Who Doubted

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The Disciple Who Doubted

APRIL - JUNE 2023
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Culture Shocked

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Culture Shocked

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Straight From the Source

We Must Decrease

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We Must Decrease

Toward the Light!

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Toward the Light!

Get Onboard

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Get Onboard

The Most Shareable Verse?

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The Most Shareable Verse?

He Is The Way

  • Sep 23, 2022

He Is The Way

Slow Learners

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Slow Learners

Mission Impossible

  • Sep 21, 2022

Mission Impossible

Oh You Can’t Get To Heaven

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Oh You Can’t Get To Heaven

Fickle Fans

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Fickle Fans

Give Us A Sign

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Give Us A Sign

Intolerant of Insolence

  • Sep 16, 2022

Intolerant of Insolence

He Really Is The Messiah

  • Sep 15, 2022

He Really Is The Messiah

Greater Things

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Greater Things

Follow the Expert

  • Sep 13, 2022

Follow the Expert

Behold, the Lamb of God

  • Sep 12, 2022

Behold, the Lamb of God

Unworthy

  • Sep 10, 2022

Unworthy

Make Way For The King

  • Sep 9, 2022

Make Way For The King

Grace Upon Grace

  • Sep 8, 2022

Grace Upon Grace

Drawn to the Light

  • Sep 7, 2022

Drawn to the Light

Proudly Presenting: The Savior of the World

  • Sep 6, 2022

Proudly Presenting: The Savior of the World

The Word Was God

  • Sep 5, 2022

The Word Was God

Righteousness Resumes

  • Sep 3, 2022

Righteousness Resumes

Let’s Stick Together

  • Sep 2, 2022

Let’s Stick Together

Distinguished Palates

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Distinguished Palates

His Witnesses

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His Witnesses

Continuing in Faith and Freedom

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Continuing in Faith and Freedom

The Rule of Peace

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The Rule of Peace

When God Uses Evil for His Good

  • Aug 27, 2022

When God Uses Evil for His Good

It Was No Accident

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It Was No Accident

The “Thousand Year” Debate

  • Aug 25, 2022

The “Thousand Year” Debate

Long Live the King

  • Aug 24, 2022

Long Live the King

The Wrath of God

  • Aug 23, 2022

The Wrath of God

Be Strengthened

  • Aug 22, 2022

Be Strengthened

When To Pray

  • Aug 20, 2022

When To Pray

Should We Believe Biblical Prophecies?

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Should We Believe Biblical Prophecies?

A God Who Gets It

  • Aug 18, 2022

A God Who Gets It

How To Walk Faithfully

  • Aug 17, 2022

How To Walk Faithfully

One in Christ

  • Aug 16, 2022

One in Christ

The Gift of Grace

  • Aug 15, 2022

The Gift of Grace

All Things Made New

  • Aug 13, 2022

All Things Made New

Better by Far

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Better by Far

Be Intentional

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Be Intentional

The Word of God

  • Aug 10, 2022

The Word of God

From The Cross to Crowns

  • Aug 9, 2022

From The Cross to Crowns

Delight in His Word

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Delight in His Word

Submission: It’s Not What You Think

  • Aug 6, 2022

Submission: It’s Not What You Think

He’s Coming Back for Us

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He’s Coming Back for Us

The Harm In Looking

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The Harm In Looking

The Gift of Serving

  • Aug 3, 2022

The Gift of Serving

The Key to Being Bold

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The Key to Being Bold

Stewards of His Gifts

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Stewards of His Gifts

You Can’t Earn It

  • Jul 22, 2022

You Can’t Earn It

That You May Know

  • Jul 30, 2022

That You May Know

There is No Other

  • Jul 29, 2022

There is No Other

Good Stewardship

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Good Stewardship

Watch Your Mouth

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Watch Your Mouth

He Keeps His Promises

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He Keeps His Promises

Stewarding Your Gifts

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Stewarding Your Gifts

The Battle Is the Lord’s

  • Jul 23, 2022

The Battle Is the Lord’s

Daily Bread

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Daily Bread

Get Ready

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Get Ready

Always With the Lord

  • Jul 19, 2022

Always With the Lord

Battle of Armageddon

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Battle of Armageddon

He Is Coming Soon

  • Jul 16, 2022

He Is Coming Soon

Fight For Truth

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Fight For Truth

Role Models

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Role Models

Love In Truth

  • Jul 13, 2022

Love In Truth

How Do I Know For Sure?

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How Do I Know For Sure?

Know the Truth, Live The Truth

  • Jul 11, 2022

Know the Truth, Live The Truth

Our Living Hope

  • Jul 9, 2022

Our Living Hope

Put Your Faith to Work

  • Jul 8, 2022

Put Your Faith to Work

Better Than All the Rest

  • Jul 7, 2022

Better Than All the Rest

More Than a Slave

  • Jul 6, 2022

More Than a Slave

Remember What You Were Saved From

  • Jul 5, 2022

Remember What You Were Saved From

Continue in What You Have Learned

  • Jul 4, 2022

Continue in What You Have Learned

How To Lead A Church

  • Jul 2, 2022

How To Lead A Church

Stand Firm

  • Jul 1, 2022

Stand Firm

April - June 2022
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backtothebiblebttb2
Back to the BibleJul 19, 2022 12:00 am GMT

Always With the Lord

 

July 19

 

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (ESV)

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

Reflect

What can we be sure of according to these verses?

 

In 1995, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins released a book called “Left Behind” that launched a fictional multimedia franchise based on their interpretation of end time events. In the book, Christians suddenly disappeared. They were instantly taken up to heaven and as a result chaos ensued for those left behind. The Great Tribulation began. A political antichrist and a false prophet rose to power. But some of those left behind became believers and fought to stand firm in the faith while they endured 7 and a half years waiting for Christ to come back and establish His kingdom.

 

This interpretation of end time events is called pretribulational premillennialism. In this view, Jesus returns to rapture His true followers to spare them of the terrible pain and suffering of the tribulation period. That is the pretribulation aspect of this view. The premillenial aspect is that Jesus will then return again after the Great Tribulation but before the millennial period to set up His literal thousand-year reign on earth.

 

But there is a second premillennial view that was widely accepted by the early church fathers and has a long history in the church. This view is called classic or historic premillennialism. Proponents of this view also believe that Jesus will return before the millennial period. But they do not believe Jesus will first return before the tribulation to rapture the saints. Instead, they believe that Christians who are alive when the tribulation begins will have to endure suffering until Jesus returns to set up his millennial reign.

 

Today’s passage of Scripture is one that many view as support of a rapture event. But classic or historic premillennialists also believe that this event will happen; it's just that they believe it will happen after the tribulation, not before. Another key distinction is that pretribulational premillennialists believe that the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the rapture of the saints to meet with Him in the sky will be a secret event leaving the rest of the world to wonder where all of these people disappeared to. Classic or historic premillenialists believe that this event will be public, not secret. The watching world will see Jesus descend from heaven and hear the cry of command and the trumpet sound. The world will witness the dead rising and believers joining Jesus up in the clouds.

 

So, to review, there are 3 primary views of when Jesus will return. We discussed the premillennial view today which is split into classic/historic and pretribulational. Both groups believe Jesus will return before the millennium but only the pretribulationists believe Christians are raptured before the Great Tribulation. Yesterday, we studied the amillennial view that there is no future millennial period but that it is happening right now. Yesterday, we also discussed postmillennialism which states that Jesus will return after the millennium.

 

So, are the fictional Left Behind books correct in their interpretation? Will Christians have to endure the suffering of the Great Tribulation or will we be raptured first? When will Jesus actually come back? Will He reign for a literal thousand years or a symbolic millennium? The answer is, we don’t know for sure and that is the cause for the great debate.

 

But notice what Paul says at the end of this passage in verse 18, “Encourage one another with these words.” He doesn't say “argue with one another about these words.” He doesn’t say to “be afraid of the future because of these words.” Paul’s intention with writing about the trumpet call, the dead saints rising, and the living saints meeting Jesus on the clouds was to comfort us and motivate us to persevere. These words weren’t meant to divide us over matters of interpretation.

 

Friend, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, if you trust in Him for the salvation of your soul, then you can be certain that no matter what the timeline of end time events, you will forever be with the Lord. Always. And on that issue, there is no debate among believers. So be comforted and encourage one another.

 

Pray

Lord, I don’t know when You are going to return and I don’t know how it will exactly play out. But I trust You. I am longing for the day when the saints who have gone before will rise and the believers who are alive will meet You on the clouds. Thank You for the promise of being with You forever and ever. Amen.

 

~ Pastor Nat Crawford

 

 

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R
Raquel
10 months ago
Amen
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10 months ago
Amen
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L
Lavonda
10 months ago
Thank you Lord and Amen!
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S
Andrea
10 months ago
Amen Amen
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E
emma
10 months ago
Amen
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