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&In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths&

“It’s Gonna Rain”

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"For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth." Genesis 7:4.

As I watched on the television this past Wednesday, 4/19/1995, the horror of the explosion that rocked the Federal Building in Oklahoma, the very first thought that came to my mind was, "I wonder how many of those people who were in that horrible catastrophe were lost?" It was truly heartbreaking to see that fallen building and to know that there were many lives lost in it. Then I began to wonder how many of those who left their children there in that Day Care thought to tell their child "I love you" before they left them there. Most of them can't tell them that now. I'm sure that no one, when they either went into that building that morning or left someone there, had any idea that within a matter of an hour, there would be such a happening.

One may wonder what this would have to do with the title of this little article or the verse of scripture used to begin it. Well, the Lord has put it upon my heart to use these as an example of the way the world is in this present day. You see, when God told Noah to build an ark because He was going to bring the flood waters upon the earth and destroy every living thing that He had created, everyone made fun of him as he did as the Lord had told him to do. It never had rained before and there was absolutely no need for a boat. Now, Noah didn't have a Bible with which to warn those people. All he had was what God had told him. All he could say was, "It's gonna rain". No one paid him any attention as they just went right on in their evil. It was one big party. Everyone just said, "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we may die." Death and destruction to them was just something way out there in the future.

As I saw the horror and the pain upon the faces of those people around that pile of rubble, I could just imagine the horror that must have become so very real to those Antediluvian's as the door to that ark slammed shut and the heavens opened up and the rain began to pour and flood waters began to cover the earth. It was too late! God was doing what He had said He would do. Up until then, it was somewhere out there in the future. Suddenly, it was now! They suddenly realized that God's man was telling the truth and how fatally foolish they had been for not listening. It was too late for them then. Now, no matter how horrible it must have been when the waters overtook them and they desparately gasped for that last breath, that was trivial when compared to the eternal, never ending torment they suffer as I am writing this little article.

God's warning had gone out through only one man building an ark who could only say, "It's gonna rain." Friends, today we are so very blessed to have His Word in the Bible and yet there are so very many who though they truly know that He has given His warning, they think that death and destruction is somewhere way out there in the future. Well, out there in the future somewhere is relative as we just don't know when that appointed time is. Out there in the future somewhere could be before I finish this little article. It would be good if I could just tell you that you will die, but I must tell you that dying is minor stuff compared to what follows if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.

I was in a bus wreck once where we went off an embankment and flipped over. It was at night, so it was very dark inside that bus. You couldn't even see your hand if you were to hold it out in front of you. There was fuel spilled all over the top of that bus as it was upside down. I had fuel all in my eyes and they were burning something terrible and yet that doesn't even compare to the horror of hell. It was about an hour before we were rescued from that wreckage and it seemed like forever. Hell, my friend, is indeed forever and the torment never ceases.

No, death truly doesn't end it all for it is only the beginning. There are those who say that they are not ready to accept Jesus Christ because they still have a lot of living to do. Well, it has been said and is very true that, "A man is not ready to live until he is ready to die." Now, I did a whole lot of what the world calls living before I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, but I was not ready to die. When I was in that bus wreck I was not ready to die and I thank God that He didn't let me die then. There were a lot of times when I really came close to being killed and had I died then, I would be in hell right now. Now and only now that I have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, I am ready to die and I can say that I have done more living since then than I ever did before. Please don't think that I believe that I am perfect now, because I am far from it. Jesus Christ is my righteousness and He is the only reason I will live forever with Him in heaven. I know that I am not what I should be or even what I could be and I can only look forward to what I will be, but I thank God that I am not what I used to be. Do you, my friend, have that assurance? Do you know for certain that if you died today that you would spend eternity in heaven? Be sure. Please, be very sure. I'm not asking you if there was ever a time in your life when you joined a church and got baptized or cleaned up your life. I did all that before I truly accepted God's salvation. A one on one personal relationship with the Saviour is the only way to be sure.

Now, God has promised that He will not destroy the world with a flood again, but He has promised that He will destroy it with fire and brimstone. He has promised that, "And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Hebrews 9:27. Friend, just as that door slammed shut on those Antediluvians as the flood waters began, God will slam the door upon the world again just like He has promised. I'm sure that the door was slammed shut upon many an unexpecting soul this past Wednesday when that building came crashing down. Their way out there in the future suddenly became right then. Which side of that door are you on right now? You cannot be in the ark, but you can have the Ark in you. His name is Jesus. All you have to do is believe in Him. Tell God that you know you are a lost sinner and ask Him to have mercy upon you and to send Jesus into your heart and life. He will do it my friend and you will be saved forever more. If you did that, it would be a great encouragement to me if you would write and let me know. God bless you.