Prepare Your Hearts For Him

Prepare Your Hearts For Him:
The Day is Near

By P. Bradford Simmons through a Revelation from Christ




“…Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make His pathways straight.”
- Matthew 3:3




This simple verse should be the battle cry of every Christian in this world today. The very thought of the implication of this verse into our lives should send chills up and down our spines and light a fire in the very depths of our hearts. To me, there is no greater message but the Gospel itself that should be spread. Repent, repent, repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand! Jesus is coming…back!

The same verse that ushered in the first coming of Jesus can be used exactly the same way for us to usher in the second coming of Jesus! The time has come where we are being led in the task of John the Baptist. We are to prepare the way of the LORD. Jesus tells us “ …ye know not the hour your LORD doth come.” (Matthew 24:42) However he does give us some signs to know when the day is drawing near…

Jesus warns us in Mark 13 about four signs that we have come to know as the Signs of the Times or birth pangs. We are told to “…take heed lest any man deceive you: for many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Mark 24:5-6) It is not my belief that many will come professing to be Christ, but that many will come in the guise of Christ. An angel of the light, so to speak. Saying in the name of Christ you are healed, but really just lining their pockets. In a word, Apostasy!

Next, Jesus warns us, “…ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” (Mark 13:7) Well, well! Take a look at the world we live in today. Israel is possibly building a nuke, which is causing friction with the superpowers and we still have troops in Iraq. More innocent lives have been taken in “peacekeeping” missions then in the whole Korean war. We are on the edge of our seat waiting for the next terrorist attack in the name of Allah. And we are simply in a state of violence and chaos.

Jesus also warns us in a similar way that “…nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; [but he expounds on that saying,] and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of the sorrows. [birth pangs] Now lets break the second part of that down, first off, earthquakes! Well last year alone saw two 9.0 or greater quakes on the Richter Scale. The damage was the worst in recorded history due to a quake. My belief is as the time grows nearer greater events of both natural and unnatural destruction will begin to happen more rapidly. It is obvious that these things are coming to pass. We would be ignorant to ignore the signs of our King’s return. To me the situation is sort of like an example of a rebellious teenager:

There is a teenage child whose parents are going out of town All their life the parents have shown them nothing but love but over time the child has begun to resent their hand in seemingly every matter that arose. One night the parents go out of town and the child is left on their own. Their parents tell them to make sure not to get into any trouble. Though they know the consequences of having a party the child decides to throw one anyway. Later that night, as the party is in full swing the parents unexpectedly return home and find the child engaged in all manner of atrocious behavior. The child is scolded and disciplined by their parents.

There is another teenage child whose parents are also going out of town. All their life the parents have shown them nothing but love and their child has been very pleased with how they were treated. They love and honor their parents. One night the parents go out of town and the child is left on their own. Their parents tell them to make sure not to get into any trouble. They too know the consequences of having a party and this child decides to not to throw one and instead continues on about their normal business . Later that night, the parents unexpectedly return home and find the child peacefully carrying on their life and they are pleased. They reward the child greatly and trust them even more.



Now I realize that might not be the most eloquently stated modern-day parable, but in all its strange-ism I believe it does speak a powerful message. It draws a parallel to the exhortation in Matthew 24:42-47 and the two sides of what can happen if we choose to ignore or accept God’s promise. The picture of the parents in the story is quite obviously God, who loves us with an unconditional agape love much like a parent has love for their child. Or should I say should have for their child. Anyway, the child in both cases, is us. In the first story the part of us which is rebellious. That pushes away the things of God, that doesn’t want to conform to the person God wants us to be is seen. And the ends definitely don’t justify the means. We see this child chastised and punished for his disobedience. In the second is the part of us that can only be brought about by a touch from God. This is when our eyes are opened, our trust is in Him and we are obedient to his statutes. This child, when their parents return home, find him waiting for their return and going about the life they have been led to with no fear or worry in their hearts. Then they rewards them for doing well in the test and they trust the child more.

This is the picture of what God is calling us to do. The meaning of life. Why is it as humans, we strive for the next best thing? We race around searching for that thing just around the next bend in the track. The beginning, the middle and the end of the race is Christ! We need to realize that the race is almost over. The prize is just around the next bend. The end of the race is just ahead and I pray and exhort us all to hear the call and sprint for the finish line. Jesus is coming soon! Let’s be found waiting for Him! Looking up to the sky, [figuratively, I don’t mean standing there staring upwards like a slack-jawed yokel with your jaw on the floor] praising Him, doing His work, listening for that triumphant trumpet that will call us all home to glory!

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, Paul tells us, “For the LORD himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise up first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air; and so shall we ever be with the LORD. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” Okay so it sounds a bit farfetched you might be saying but as I was typing this, God showed me something. It says the dead will raise up. A lot of people use this to explain these verses away. No one can raise from the dead right? Wrong-o! JESUS DID! He also rose Lazarus and the sick girl if we remember. So I believe that by saying that this passage is a fairy-tale and not to be taken literally, in a round about way we actually deny the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself by believing God can’t do that. Well if we “can do all things though Christ who strengthens me.” (Phillipians 4:13) then we can raise from the dead if that be His will, right? God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent! He sees all, knows all, and can do all! We need to stop limiting GOD!

Again in 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13, Paul exhorts, encourages and lays down the cold hard truth, as revealed to Him and us by Almighty God. I pray that we can hear these words and follow them. Not just sit on them but they absorb into our very spirit and we can carry them in our heart all the days of our lives so that we might bring forth fruit worthy of God.

“For ye remember brethren, our labor and travail; for laboring night and day because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the Gospel of God. Ye are witnesses and God also, how holily and justly and unblame-ably we behaved ourselves among you that believe; As ye know how we exhorted and comforted an charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. For this cause also we thank God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

The whole reason I wanted to read this is because we now know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the word of God. Believe it, Love it, LIVE IT! We need to stop limiting God’s work to our own human rationalization and accept the higher calling He has on all of our lives.



“Let us prepare our hearts as we prepare His way…”