Before Jesus left this earth, He told His disciples about the future—about what we call the end times—and they asked a very telling question: What will be a sign of Your coming? (Luke 21:7) His answer included an entire list of tell-tale signs and warnings:
- Many will come claiming to be Messiah, but don’t believe them because I’ve already come.
- You will hear of insurrections and wars, but don’t panic, because the end won’t happen immediately.
- Nation will go to war against nation, people groups against people groups, kingdom against kingdom.
- There will be earthquakes, famines and plagues in many lands.
- There will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven. (Luke 21:8-11)
And the Word goes on, but this list alone is enough for us to see that we are living in the times Jesus spoke about. We’re living in the end times. But the good news is that no matter how dark it gets—and it will continue to grow darker—we do not have to be afraid. We do not have to be faint of heart. We do not have to feel helpless or hopeless. But we do have to be ready.
Prepare So You Can Respond
God wants us to be courageous in all that we’re facing in this world. But to be courageous, we will have to be ready. Getting ready means we will have to prepare and then we will have to respond.
To start preparing, we first and foremost deal with the fear that naturally comes with living in the end times. Jesus warned His disciples, and us, saying, “People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (see Luke 21:26). Another translation says that people will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world.
What is it in this day and age that causes you to be faint of heart? Take a personal inventory: What scares you? Are you fearful for your children and their outcome? Are you fearful of leaving your house? Are you fearful of dying early? Are you fearful over losing finances? Are you fearful of losing a relationship?
Paul wrote to Timothy something we all need to remember: “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
The Word tells us that we do NOT have to be afraid. Ever. Of anything. But we will be afraid—by default—if we don’t prepare ourselves to respond. We must prepare ourselves by building our faith with God’s Word.
Build Walls To Protect Yourself and Your Family
Of all the things you can do, there are 4 Ways To Make Yourself Ready in the End Times, that are foundational, that are crucial and that must come first. They are found embedded in Psalm 91, the psalm of protection.
The Wall of the Word
Psalm 91:4 promises us: “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler” (NKJV). If you haven’t done so, now is the time to build your life on the Word. Now is the time to make it the most important priority in your life, to make it first place and give it final authority.
The way you do this is by always keeping it before you, listening to it and speaking it, because the Word is a protector. Next, what we have to do is be a doer of the Word, because we’re not to be hearers only (James 1:22-25). When we’re a doer, we’re always looking and listening for what to say and what to do. It’s the Word that will guide and direct us. It will help us be at the right place at the right time with the right people doing the right thing.
To put the Word first place in your life, what will you change? What will you do to raise the level of the Word in your life?
The Wall of the Name
Psalm 91:14 promises us: “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name” (NKJV). God has so many names. All throughout the Word, God named Himself over and over, as many as 900 times. For example, He calls Himself Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides (Genesis 22:14). He calls Himself Savior, Redeemer and Friend (1 John 4:14; Job 19:25-27; John 15:15). He calls Himself Shepherd (John 10:11, 14-15). And there are approximately 850 more. There was a time in her life that Pastor Terri Copeland Pearsons prayed every one of God’s names. She wanted to know Him; she wanted to declare Him; she wanted to see Him as He really is in this world.
Knowing God’s name means knowing Him: He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). He is the Lord of the Breakthrough (2 Samuel 5:20-21). Knowing His name means to know the Name of Jesus—and that all of God’s names are summed up in the Name of Jesus.
Philippians 2:9-11 tells us, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The Wall of the Blood
Psalm 91:10 promises us: “No evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.” This verse is connected to the blood by what happened in Exodus 12:13, when the children of Israel were getting ready to leave Egypt and God instructed them to put the blood of the lamb surrounding the doorway into their homes: “But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
That blood was not only the blood of physical lambs, but it was a type and shadow of the blood of Jesus. And the blood of Jesus is the blood that ever lives (John 6:53-58). It protected the children of Israel then, and it protects us now. It ever speaks. It ever cries out for mercy before God.
It’s this blood—the blood of Jesus—that authorizes us access to the covenant, to stand on it, because the covenant is between God and Jesus. By the blood of Jesus, we have access to all that the covenant provides—and that includes the protection of the blood.
The Wall of the Angels
Psalm 91:11-12 promises us, “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” And Psalm 34:7 says, “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (NKJV).
Every one of us has angels in our lives that we need to give direction to. Hebrews 1:14 calls them ministering spirits sent out in the service of God to assist those of us who have received salvation. And we activate them by the words we speak.
When we declare Psalm 91:1-2, we are activating the protection of our angels. We’re giving them instructions: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust’” (Psalm 91:1-2, NKJV).
If you will take these 4 Ways To Make Yourself Ready in the End Times, and put them into practice in your life, you will be prepared for what’s happening now and for what’s to come—and you will be able to respond in any situation. You will walk free from fear and be empowered to walk in faith no matter what comes against you and no matter how dark things grow. With the Word, the Name, the Blood and the Angels of God, you are protected. You are ready!
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