Unleashing Your Inner Zombie Slayer - 2015 New Year's Resolution

Recently I've been doing a lot of research on The End Times, the Rapture of the Church, and the return of Jesus. Those that know me are thinking, “Oh no! Here we go again.” You see, when I get passionate about something I tend to go a little overboard. For example, I kind of freaked out before Y2K and made my whole family store barrels of water, have a designated meeting place, and forced them all to ring in the New Year with me. Also, I got slightly fixated on the Mayan calendar date 12/12/12 and lived the entire year like a New Year’s Eve countdown.

Due to my recent studies on Biblical prophecy, I’m kind of fixated on 2015 being significant on the prophetic calendar. Oh things like the four Blood Moons occurring on important Jewish Holy Days in 2014/15, this being a Shemitah year (2014/15), the Middle East crisis boiling over, and what appears to be a fanatical-terrorist organization trying to take over the world. So yeah, lets just say that I've decided to throw out (I’m mean relocate) all of my daughters mementos so I can make room for my survival stash of food, water, medicine, and toilet paper (I won’t survive without toilet paper, sorry). I’m telling those close to me (who are starting to worry) that it’s just an earthquake kit. So, this will be our little secret.

Part of my urgent desire for an “earthquake kit” is that I recently had a nightmare. I dreamed that I was sitting in church with a large group of people. We were worshiping God when suddenly terrorists stormed in. They started to pull people out to execute them. I tried to run and hide but…

Well, let’s just say the dream didn't end well and I woke up completely shaken, weeping, and sick to my stomach.

Greatly disturbed by the dream, I pretty much accosted a pastor friend the following morning.  I begged him to reassure me that The Rapture would happen before the Great Tribulation. Very briefly, let me explain that the Great Tribulation is a 7-year period of time described in the Bible where very bad stuff is going to happen: like economic collapse that leads to a one-world government, a one-world currency that pretty much enslaves people to the government, and a mandatory one-world religion that will be forced on people via threat of execution and beheading. You won’t be able to work or buy food without an identifying marker on your hand or forehead. Picture Hitler’s reign over Germany and multiply that by a 100 times worse. The Bible says it will be the worst period in history. Now you understand why the nightly news is freaking me out and all I see are Biblical signs unfolding. 

Now “The Rapture” is the Believers get out of dodge ticket. God will instantaneously remove Believers from the earth and take us to heaven. There are 3 Christian viewpoints about The Rapture 1) we are taken out of here before the start of the 7-year tribulation. Yay! My favorite. 2) We have to suffer 3 ½ years of persecution and then taken up. Option 2 is not great but I’ll take it over option 3 which is we have to suffer through the entire 7-years of Tribulation.

Unfortunately my pastor friend was unable to reassure me because he reminded me that the Bible says, “No one knows the day or the hour.” Bummer! But he did offer me some comfort. He told me, “Yolanda, concentrate on what we know:

1. Jesus died on the cross for our sins so we can have eternal life.

2. Jesus said He’s coming back for us and we can trust His Word. What happens between now and then is out of our control. But God wins so we win.

3. God has promised us a new Heaven and new Earth where God’s presence will dwell and Jesus will reign. So it’s all good, Yolanda!”

Now, I'm using humor in this post because that’s how I deal but in all sincerity my dream has weighed heavy on my heart. Since my mini-panic attack, I've heard two sermons that have helped me “get a grip”.  The first sermon is from my favorite pastor on the book of Revelation (watch video below - Approaching Revelation Sermon). The sermon reminded me that we don’t study prophecy to become fortune tellers. We study it to learn how to live for Jesus today.

The second sermon I heard while driving so I can't remember the pastor's name but boy can I remember the message. He spoke about how many Christians, including himself at times, are feeling fearful because they see the prophetic writing on the wall. He said to overcome fear we have to abide in Jesus and His Word. Abide means to remain, stay, fix, hold on, hang on for dear life, and basically stick to like glue. When we abide in Jesus and His Word, we are reminded of His promises: to return for us, to be our refuge in times of trouble, and that He is in control of the future.

So part of my abiding plan for 2015 is to remove anything in my life that hinders me from sticking close to Jesus. For me, that means donating books and movies that don’t edify my spirit and eliminating anything that harms me physically and spiritually. This will be an ongoing process because I just donated a box of books and movies and I felt as if a piece of my heart was being left at the donation center. But as the Holy Spirit leads, I will follow.

Here is my training manual on how to ABIDE based on the verses below: Live holy, hold tightly, encourage others, and remain in God's Word.

2 Peter 3:9-12 (NLT)

The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise [to return], as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along...

Hebrews 10:23-25 (NLT)

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.  Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

John 15:4-7 (NLT)

[Jesus said:] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me...But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

So I’d like to end with a dream a friend had about me recently. I love this dream and I am embracing it as a prophetic word for my life. In the dream, a few of us where running in a meadow when suddenly I turned and froze in horror. It seems that zombies where coming out of the trees and rushing towards us. I started to scream, “RUN, RUN!” They started running but when my friend turned to look at me, I was standing still. She told me to run but I insisted she go ahead and I would be OK. They ran away but decided to circle around to check on me. I was surrounded and overcome by zombies. Suddenly from the bottom of the zombie heap, I rose up and shone with a bright light that came from inside my soul. As the zombies reached out to attack me, the light caused them to shriek and recoil away from me. As they tried to grab me, they ricocheted off, thrown up and away. Cool dream huh!

I believe my friend was lead by the Lord to share this dream with me to calm my fearful heart, to remind me how to live for today, and give me my New Year’s Resolution. In 2015, I intend to embrace my new identity – powerful Zombie Slayer. And just to confirm that this is God's plan for my life, I read the following scripture verse for the first time while preparing to write this post:

Zechariah 14:12-13 (NLT)

And the Lord will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.  On that day they will be terrified, stricken by he Lord with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand.

My first thought when I read this scripture verse was that it read like a scene from The Walking Dead television series. Even though I plan to be Raptured before this judgment strikes, it confirmed my new Zombie Slayer identity. You see, the Devil (enemy) is always waging war against us. He knows his time is limited and he is like the walking dead trying to infect others. And because the enemy senses, like we do, the end approaching his attacks are coming fast and furious. The enemy and his followers are hell bent on extinguishing our light because they know that the Light of Jesus guides lost souls to salvation. Our only defense against the enemy is to be filled with the light and power of the Holy Spirit. The closer we draw to Jesus, the brighter we reflect His light. The more we study His Word, the more prepared we are for battle. And when we shine bright with the Holy Spirit, in this dark and desolate world, we fulfill God's ultimate purpose for our lives which is to encourage one another because the day of Jesus' return is drawing near.  

So my Zombie Slayer training has started. How about you? Are you up for the challenge of unleashing your inner Zombie Slayer?

“The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out.” John 1:5 (MSG)

Happy New Year!

Yolanda
Dedicated to my fellow Zombie Slayer, C.L., whose awesome dream inspired this post.

Here are some scriptures on the Rapture for your own study 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Revelation 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Daniel 12:1-2, and Matthew 24:29-31. Also read Malachi 3:16-4:3.