What If Christ Knocked on Your Door?

An average family in America. A normal teenager named Joanne living with her Mom and Dad and family. This family was like most families except in one way. There was division caused by her parent's differing beliefs. Her mother thought to live life was to live it just like everyone else did around her. That's about all there was to her beliefs - just follow the crowd and do what they do - worship God the way they do which includes celebrating Christmas and Easter.

But Joanne's father claimed to have seen the light (spiritually and physically) after being dramatically healed from multiple sclerosis and being healed from blindness caused by the disease. His devotion to God was now shown in ways different from Joanne's mother. He quit celebrating Christmas and Easter and started keeping days mentioned in the Bible like Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread and such. Obviously this was very upsetting for the whole family, never mind the fact that Dad had been healed.

Joanne's memories of Christmas changed from happy times of getting presents when she was a kid to trying times later when her mom and dad fought at Christmas. He now believed the Christmas tree was better off left outside in the forest and not to be used to worship Jesus by putting presents under it and bowing down to it. Not to mention the fact that this time of year commercialism and materialism played a big part in the very worship of the Savior instead of worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. And Joanne's dad told them he was concerned about God's work at this time of year also because it suffered too when people spent all their money shopping for presents for others and forgot to pay their tithes or didn't have enough money left to give to the church. He also said he didn't keep it anymore because he wanted to worship Jesus Christ the way He truly is now, a wonderful High Priest who is a glorified, all powerful being, not as a helpless little baby who can't even walk!

Joanne listened, wondered and thought about what her dad said. It seemed to make sense, but she cried when they fought over the Christmas tree being put up or not and wished it could all be like it used to be. She came to the conclusion that her dad was just plain weird and left it at that. They had never been that close anyway.

Fast forward 25 years. Joanne is now married with children. Amazingly enough, she ended up in the very same church her dad was involved in. Through many, many mistakes in her life and suffering because of it, she was brought to the conviction that her heavenly Father was true and right and that made her dad and his beliefs right!

Only it made her sad whenever she thought about her dad in the present. Because he left the church he once believed in so wholeheartedly, the same church she now believed in with all her heart and soul and actually lived for. Her dad's church. She was a member. What had happened that caused such a huge flip-flop?

Well, she came to see the light the year she got cancer, reached out to God and was healed; while her dad had drifted away and had gradually let other things come between and smother his once important beliefs.

Joanne now understood through study of amazing prophecies being fulfilled and watching world events that the end really and truly was upon them. All events pointed to the end of the age and the very return of Jesus Christ! Yes, the end spoken of in many scriptures and the end Christ warned about in Matthew 24. But her dad had fallen asleep!

She is so thrilled to be involved in supporting a work done by Christ's chosen little flock of warning the world and especially warning those once faithful ones who have fallen asleep and have turned their interests completely inside out and upside down. They have fallen away backwards!

A time when the whole world is falling apart and they are asleep on the job! They should be trumpet blowers warning the world of pending disaster, chaos, war and suffering. And all they can do is eat, sleep, drink and be merry. The God they say they serve is calling for people to WAKE UP AND FAST! Look at Isaiah 22: 12-13 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: "let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die."

Now is certainly not a time to be falling asleep, not the time to be falling apart. Through human instruments such as Joanne and others, Christ is giving not just a warning but a comforting promise, not only to Joanne's dad, but to all who have fallen asleep in these dangerous times:

Behold! (that means wake up!) I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Joanne prays for her dad and mom and everyone in this world that they might open the door and let Christ in, get to know Him and believe Him and His words in the Bible and look to Him for protection, guidance, understanding in these frightening times. As Peter told them when he was asked on the day of Pentecost, "what shall we do? The answer is still the same today - Repent and believe!

Save yourselves from this untoward generation now, while there is still time...

and be given a safe place under His wings!