Tribulation Saints: Feed His Lambs :: By Lisa Heaton

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Is there anything more tender and precious than a new believer who longs to know more about Jesus? Don’t you wonder what Jesus feels about those sweet little lambs of His? Talk about a heart exploding with joy; that must well express His love for those who choose to newly walk with Him. I remember when I got serious about my faith, how I would watch anyone and anything on TV that was talking about Jesus. Now, looking back at who I was watching, I see how listening to anyone and anything wasn’t my wisest choice.

One wise choice I did make was listening to Dr. David Jeremiah. For as long as I can remember, he’s talked about the pre-tribulation rapture. I’m thankful he grew me up “in the way I should go,” so when all the signs of the end began to present themselves so clearly, I wasn’t caught unaware. Since that time, I’ve learned from many other preachers and teachers. I’m grateful for how they each gave me a word in due season (Proverbs 15:23). I’m grateful for how I can get online and watch sermons any time. I can order books that will show up at my door, no effort on my part other than a few clicks of my mouse. We, especially we here in America, have it pretty easy when it comes to growing up in our faith. Well, at least for those of us who choose to grow in our faith.

After the rapture, do you think the darker-than-now web will have Dr. Jeremiah’s sermons or Pastor JD’s or any of the truthful pastors’ and teachers’ videos available? Do you suppose all our warnings for the left behind will remain posted? Once the restrainer is removed, darkness will only become darker. All the good that’s been posted over the years will be removed. Nothing will stop the devil and his demons from darkening all which was once light.

Where does that leave our little lambs, those who are newly saved once Christians disappear as we warned them we would?

Agreed, not everyone who will enter our post-rapture homes will be or ever become a lamb. Some may shake their fists and curse God up until they land in the perpetual lake of fire. What if, though, many lambs are led into our homes by the still-involved-in-humanity Spirit of God? What if our sanctuaries are feeding grounds for dozens of newly-born-again sheep? We can pray for that. We can prepare as if that prayer will be–not may be–answered. That means we go all in. We scatter grain and milk all around our homes that will nourish a starving, precious-to-Jesus lamb.

If you read my previous article, Tribulation Saints: Care for His Sheep, then you may be hard at work filling your storehouse with food and supplies that will nourish the bellies and strengthen the resolve of those who missed the rapture. If you buy one extra can of soup here and there, then you’re reaching into their future with care for His sheep, as well as those stubborn goats who may happen along. So here’s the ‘what’s next’: We turn our sights toward food that will feed their souls, daily bread and the milk of the Word. Both projects, physical and spiritual preparations, will be an ongoing labor of love, one that can occupy us while we wait and watch for Jesus. With all this in mind, we sure can’t complain of boredom in these final hours.

One early morning while in my quiet time, with eyes closed in part prayer and part drowsiness, I saw the image of my pantry with both doors standing open wide. There on the shelves, stacked with labels facing forward in my obsessive-compulsive fashion, were canned goods that will be used by my family now or possibly someone on the run in the tribulation, maybe many someones.

While looking at the stacked cans with my mind’s eye, I didn’t feel a sense of pride over all my hard work lugging them up my steep flight of garage stairs. I didn’t even feel a sense of security for my family and neighbors who may be in need someday. Instead, I wondered how left-behind hands would open those cans without a can opener. I only had two manual can openers in my house. What if an early home invader takes off with all the cans they can carry and one or both can openers? That would leave the remaining food inaccessible.

Can you imagine stumbling upon a treasure trove of food when you’re starving yet having no way to eat it? Needless to say, I ordered a few more manual can openers that I intend to stash within the pantry, even some way in the back for the latecomers.

Yes, I overthink, like way overthink. Truthfully, as much as I dare, I place myself into the future and try and imagine what life will be like for them. Will various groups of desperate people pass through my home while on the run from the global dictator, or will an individual or family land here and stay? I don’t know. What I do know is that I want to feed whoever shows up here more than beef ravioli. I want to help them ingest the Word.

That same morning during my quiet time, the Lord used my physical pantry to reveal an important truth to me. There may be questioning lost people, hearts ripe for harvest, who need the Gospel shared simply with how to respond. Baby Christians, His newest lambs, may show up in need of tending. For either or both, I need to supply a “can opener.” Truths I’ve learned over the course of decades will need to be explained with their level of understanding in mind.

How often do we Christians, during conversations with one another, use churchy words and terminology? Justified and sanctified and glorified. We know what we mean, but can you imagine the forty-year-old biker who’s never been to church understanding us if we play church-word bingo with them? We need to teach as if we’re talking to a ten-year-old, not condescending in any way, but rather we explain in simple words and phrases and use everyday terminology to help them meet and get to know Jesus through His Word.

This is where most will feel unqualified and unprepared for the task. That’s for sure what the enemy would have you believe. I often feel that as I’m writing all these articles: who am I to… (Let’s decide we won’t waste time on the lies or the liar.) Fact is, the more unqualified you are, the better able you’ll be to keep it simple. Just tell who Jesus is to you and how He’s changed your life. You can find and print a credible source that explains what the Gospel is and what it means. You don’t have to explain it all in your own words. What you can give them are tips from someone who’s had struggles and fears and failures. Be real. Share with them who you are and how good Jesus has been to you. Only you can share your story. They won’t care about grammar and penmanship (or type-manship). They will care that you loved them enough to reach into the future to give them hope.

In my imaginings of these people, I would guess that’s what they have the least of, hope—hope, in the form of Jesus.

In the spiritual preparations I’m making, truthfully, I’m just winging it, coming up with ideas as I go. I know the Spirit is responsible for much of it since this is all way above my pay grade. Ideas come, and I ponder on them, trying to figure out how to best implement them. The same will happen with you. I don’t think we can go wrong. Desperate lambs will be tremendously thankful for any and every word you share about Jesus, just like I was back in the day. As long as you consider the words you use and keep them simple for a brand-new believer or seeker, I think you’ll do just fine. That’s all we can do, tell them what we know and share what we have.

And then there’s the best we can do, pray for them that all who enter our homes find Jesus, the Word who became flesh. And we can hope that they may someday soon arrive in heaven and track us down to thank us for that can of soup and the letter that told them about the Jesus we know.

Practically speaking, how do we get started in our spiritual preparations when it’s a task so daunting? In my previous article, one where we focused on physical preparations, I shared a few of my spiritual items that require physical planning or preparation, like printing documents and ordering Bibles. I hope to expound on those items here.

Missing Letters

Whether our home invaders are lost still or found through faith in Jesus, they will need to know some things. First, in my preparations for what I’m leaving behind, I’m addressing where all the missing people are in a letter called Where Do You Find the Missing People? We can only imagine the deception that will surround our disappearance. All the alien sightings and admissions by government officials that aliens exist tell us that will be the explanation, at least in part. In the past two and a half years, the censorship of truth has been so blatant and absolute, it’s a certainty that all the world will be told what the dictators want them to know. We have to scream the truth to be heard from the great beyond of heaven. Feel free to use my version, write your own, or look online for other sources. Just make sure that whatever you leave behind is in print format.

The back page of this letter is filled with Scriptures that point to only Jesus as their salvation and hope. I plan to print the front and back pages separately, then tape them behind pantry doors and on the back of kitchen cabinet doors. I’m also going to tuck them into every Bible I have in the house and place them in drawers where I have toiletries and first-aid supplies. I know once I get started, I’ll find inspiration. Same with you. We have to be creative and think ahead. We can look around our homes and consider where we would look for needed supplies, then stash things there they don’t even know they need.

Warnings

Other vital items I plan to leave in my home are printouts with warnings of what the left behind might expect after we’re gone. Can you imagine someone with no Bible experience reading the Book of Revelation, then watching it unfold before their eyes? Or reading Daniel and trying to decipher what the imagery means? Lost and found alike need to know what’s coming. For the lost, we can pray it scares them into salvation. How could it not? The found need to know the truth just as much if they’re going to warn others.

The following are resources I’ve found online:

A Guide for Those Left Behind – RaptureReady.com

Rules for the Remnant – Rev310.com, Pete Garcia

Note: Rules for the Remnant, as offered on Pete’s website, didn’t copy over in a printable format for me, so I reformatted it. You’re welcome to use my PDF version if you encounter problems as well.

Rules for the Remnant – Lisa’s formatted PDF version

ABCs

The ABCs of salvation make me smile. I learned them when I first began to lead vacation Bible school decades ago. I’ve used them with adults, one even in his 80s. Every time I hear Pastor JD Farag say them, I’m reminded of how simple it is to respond to the good news of the Gospel. We make it so hard. In an effort to keep it simple for people who will have thousands of questions and fears, I’ve made cards that can be printed and left around my home. I plan to tuck them here and there and everywhere, especially where there are medical supplies and food. I want to leave plenty, even in the very back part of my pantry, just in case early visitors take the ones up front.

ABCs of Salvation Cards – PDF version you can print and leave for after the rapture. This includes the ABCs to respond to the Gospel and a condensed version of “Where Do You Find the Missing People?”

**Please note: If the document you print comes out upside down and you don’t know how to change your printer settings for two-sided, short-edge binding, then we may have a simple solution for you. Since all printer dialogue boxes are different, and I can’t give you steps to correct it, I’m including an upside-down version that should print right side up. (Kind of funny that I had to do this.)

ABCs of Salvation Cards: Upside-Down If this version doesn’t work for you or you can’t print two-sided, you can take the single-sided documents you print to a local print center like Staples and have them make copies that are front and back.

Index Cards

I didn’t share this idea in my previous article, but I plan to leave index cards with Bible verses in my home for after the rapture. I can’t help but recall my early journey with the Lord and how index cards were one of the main ways I learned and grew. I had multi-colored cards tucked in my Bible, scattered around my house, and a few even hung out in my car over my visor. A verse or two on the card gave me a way to ponder the things I was studying in my quiet time with the Lord. Now, I hope to pass along these small “snacks” as a means of feeding God’s new lambs.

My goal is to tuck these cards all over my home just like I used to do for my own benefit. Anywhere I have food and needed supplies, I will place the cards. Since I have envisioned that many individuals and possibly groups may pass through my home, I intend to leave as many cards in the back of my pantry as I do up front in plain view. Also, I’ll place them in coat pockets and drawers with clothing. It makes me smile and breaks my heart at the same time at the thought of someone stumbling onto a little nugget of truth just the way I used to back when I was learning. We can never know what word will whisper an invitation into the hearts of the lost or how a needed expression of encouragement might come at just the right time for the newly found.

I haven’t begun printing the cards out yet, but I will start by using some of the Bible verses that I’ve included on the back of my Where Do You Find the Missing People? letter. Along with each verse, I have included one or two sentences that highlight the significance of the verse and how only Jesus saves and offers the hope of eternity in heaven. This will be a no-thought-required activity to get me going. Along with those, I intend to create index cards with favorite verses and ones I come across wherever I am currently reading. I plan to make one or two cards per day, then my “assignment” for the rest of the day will be to make several copies of those cards. To build on this task daily will eventually create a vast assortment of ‘food’ to scatter around my home without it being too time-consuming or overwhelming. I hope you’ll join me in this effort.

Feeding the Shepherd

This mission of scattering food for God’s little lambs makes you an earthly shepherd. There’s no better time than now to stop and ask yourself if you’re up for the task. You can’t give what you don’t have. You, beloved sheep and shepherd, must be well fed in order to feed well. With that in mind, my challenge to you is that you lean into Jesus yourself so that you receive the bread of life and living water that nourish. Are you in the Word daily? These days, we would all do well to stay in the Word hourly or even minute by minute.

In your preparing-a-sanctuary season, make time for a personal quiet time each day. Look for verses to share. Go back to your earliest learning days and recall verses that helped you get to know Jesus. Pray for guidance. Once you come up with one or two verses, write a brief explanation or your thoughts on the verse or even how it’s impacted your life. In my previous article, I asked you to consider what legacy you want to leave behind and what you want them to know of you. This is your chance to allow them to get to know the person who loved them enough to invest in their future and especially in their eternity.

Keep in mind, as we covered above, to make sure verses and explanations you leave behind are simple to understand. If you can’t explain the truths and beliefs you hold to, then begin to dig deeper in your quiet time. Learn to express your thoughts in ways new or unbelievers can grasp. Not only will this be of benefit to the one who reads them, but it will help grow you at the same time. Never, not even here at the very end of the end times, should we stop growing in our own walk with Jesus.

This topic of us staying close to the true Shepherd so that we can feed His lambs is one that burns in my heart, so I hope to resume my Prepare the Heart series after the first of the year. Whether we have a longer-than-desired wait ahead or if we all get “caught up” next week, we have a primary objective: Be with Jesus, grow with Jesus, and lean into Jesus. Only then will we have food to share before and after the rapture.

Though I’ve come to the end of the Prepare a Sanctuary series, I know many more ideas will come as I continue to prepare my own home. I’ll include additional thoughts on the Daybreak with Lisa site under the Preparing a Sanctuary tab if you want to check in occasionally.

Newly available:

All my Rapture Ready articles can be accessed in one location to help you catch up on previous series or follow along with upcoming articles. Lisa’s Rapture Ready Articles

If I don’t see you in heaven before then, I’ll see you back here in January.

Grace and peace throughout the New Year,

Lisa

Free Resources:

Daybreak, Last Days of Light – Free ebook download

How Do I Share What I Know? Lisa’s Rapture Ready Series

Prepare Your Heart – Lisa Rapture Ready series

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About Daybreak with Lisa:

Daybreak is a way of life, one of exposing the rising darkness and telling of the soon-coming Light. We only have so many daybreaks remaining before that final sunset when we, as believers, are caught up in the air to meet Jesus.

As an author, Lisa Heaton is a storyteller with a heart for truth. Her greatest desire in her fiction and nonfiction work is to challenge the reader to discover the truth of who Jesus is and who they are to Him. Now, here as we wait for the any-minute arrival of Jesus for His church in the rapture, Lisa’s latest mission is to warn the lost and wake the found and to help others discover their unique voice to share the truth of our times. More at DaybreakWithLisa.com. Contact Lisa at Lisa@LisaHeatonBooks.com.

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