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I believe those who are in good standing with the Holy Father will be taken and those whose lives are not will be left. We should always be ready. We should live our Christian life as if today were the last day. Always be ready. Matthew 25 teaches us to love as Jesus loved. This is our mission.

Jesus is telling us that no one will know when the Day of the Lord is. It will be sudden and without warning. We should always be ready for His return. We should be vigilant. We will want only the Lord no material possessions. They are not important. All eyes will be on his coming. Our thoughts will be on only this.

When we see lightening we see it from great distances and it lights up a big area. When Jesus come ALL will see and know.

I feel the Kingdom of God was present in the Person and the ministry of Jesus in that Jesus is part of the Triune God and He knew the Kingdom of God. Therefore his ministry was about the Kingdom and how to live in eternity with God. today the Kingdom of God I feel is within each of us as we allow it to be. Depending on our faith and how strong we believe our lives reflect the Kingdom of God.

The Lamb is God the Son and worthy to be praised.

The Lamb is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because He was slain and with his blood was he purchased men for God.

The Lamb itself represents Jesus Christ. Standing after being slain indicates the resurrection. Horns represent power. Eyes represent wisdom, seeing and perception. The number of seven carries the idea of perfection, or completeness. The Lamb has the qualities of the resurrected Lord who is powerful and all knowing, omnipotent and omniscient.

The Lamb is called "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" and "the Root of David", because Jesus is a direct descendent of this tribe and of King David. These strong titles mean victory, triumph!

This is most important! Celebrating the Lord's Supper in Heaven with Jesus. If we are believers, true believers with saving faith we will live in eternity with the Father. We will celebrate this wonderful Passover meal with Him. He has said he will not drink of the fruit of the vine until he celebrates with us in His Father's Kingdom. AWESOME

It is important to forgive those who have offended us before partaking of the Lord's Supper because he first forgave us and promptly forgot our sins. They are no more. In the Lord's Prayer it says "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." In order to be forgiven we must forgive. Forgiveness is part of the greater plan and it involves love. We cannot love without forgiving. we all sin and we all need forgiveness. What we have done for another may well have been Jesus Christ himself!

The words, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" fills me with sorrow because he sacrificed his life or his blood for the forgiveness of my sins. He died for me. They fill me with joy because no one loves me as much as He does that He lay down His life for me.

I see some similarities and some differences in the Jewish Passover celebration and our Lord's Supper. Each element of each is blessed. We sing, we pray and we do in Remembrance of Him.

The blood on the doorframes of the houses protected those in the house. We are saved by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. He died and bled for us. He saved us from the sins we will commit today tomorrow and next year. We belong to Him.

I have placed my life in God's Hands. He is mold me and tempering me daily. Jesus died for my sins. I sin daily and need forgiveness. I ask for forgiveness many times a day. We do not sin on purpose, it happens or it does with me. I try and even when I begin to get upset I pray a Bible verse. My husband has advanced cancer. I have secondary progressive MS. Nothing either of us can do. We have place ourselves in God's Hands and He will do what is best. We will accept any decision that he makes for us. Our worries, cares, and our finances we give to him. We do our part. We pay our bills, tithe, give to missions and help the poor. God makes it work for us. As long as we trust, serve and worship him Satan will take a back seat. Once we let fears or doubts in Satan takes over.

According to the slave-ransom analogy we are the slaves. We are enslaved by an empty way of life. Not having Christ in our lives. The ransom is offered by Christ's blood on the cross. Since we are slaves of sin, Satan is involved because he depicts and is sin. Satan is not paid a ransom because of Christ's blood Satan loses his power when we are forgiven. I think it is more important to in the New Testament to focus on the forgiveness and the repentance and erasing of the record.

I look at the statement "You are not your own, you were bought with a price" as God created us in His image. We were set upon this earth to worship and to serve the Father. Along the way we got lost. God gave us another chance by sending His Son Jesus to walk with us. Jesus took all our sins to the cross and died. He was the Sacrificial Lamb, without a blemish, and we killed him. We nailed him to the cross. But because he loved us He forgave us and now intercedes to the Holy Father in our behalf. We should remember every day of our lives we have someone, Jesus, who loves us so much he died for us. He died to save us from ourselves. We must strive to become more God-like each day.

We could compare Jesus and the role of the Old Testament Kinsman-Redeemer in that he was ransomed for us. He rescued us from death and gave us eternal life. Jesus also delivered us from our sins.

Slaves were freed by payment of a redemption price. We are all slaves to sin if we let it be so. Christ redeemed us on the cross. If we serve the Kingdom of God we are free. This analogy was used because so much of the world in the time of Jesus was using slaves. We too like I said are slaves to sin if we let it become so.

I believe that Jesus meant entering God's Kingdom takes a lot of courage, strong faith, determination and endurance because of all who do not believe. Because of the pulling and tugging of others who do not believe standing firm requires a lot of conviction, trust and faith. It can be done!

Continual asking, seeking, and knocking is essential to our looking forward to the Kingdom because seeking the Kingdom is a constant striving quest. The more we ask the more will be given, the more we seek the more we will find. The thirst is unquenchable. The love we find is limitless. I do not know why people give up. The closer I get the more I want to know. God knows our heart. We can hide nothing from him. Be bold and persistent in asking. My husband had a transplant at Duke for multiple myeloma. I can do nothing to help him. Only God. I prayed and placed my husband in his hands. No matter the outcome He has a reason. If the transplant works, to God is the glory, for the great thing he has done. If it does not work, God has a reason and to God is the glory for my husband will touch the face of God.

I believe "seek first his Kingdom" means to turn to God for everything. God is to take up your thoughts and desires. We should pattern ourselves after Him. Seek him in all that we do until it becomes just like a breathe. Seeking God's righteousness is thirsting after him wanting more and more. If we know God and serve him and try our best the rest will be given to you. The promise is to serve God and thirst for more always wanting more and He will take care of you. We can serve God in the workplace as well.

Jesus pointed out that one cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money. Being wealthy or even having some money is not a sin. It is what you do with your money. Does it consume you? Do you try really hard not to part with it even for a good cause. Do you give freely. God loves a cheerful giver and He also said to take care of our neighbors. Is this what you do with your money. Or do you give just enough to get by. I believe this is meant literally. Wealthy people can serve God. They just need to prioritize with God being at the top. Tithing is very important. And, the tithing should not be to yourself.

All of the thorns Jesus mentioned are dangerous if not checked. Materialism. Those who strive to constantly have more is dangerous. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy, but it is in what you do with it. Do you help the poor and unfortunate? All the things mentioned are cause for worry if used to excess. We need to be nurtured like a sapling. If we are around the wrong type of nutrients we get into trouble just like a sapling receiving the incorrect type of nutrients. Moderation and being careful. The Christian life is filled with good fun. We place our concerns with God. We do our part and place with him our concerns.

Jesus teaching in Matthew 13: 20 - 21 tells us people fall away because they have no roots. The message received does not take hold of them. They are distracted by the things of life and the message is quickly gone. In order for the message to last one needs the company of other believers, to read the scriptures and pray. When you are distracted you cannot spend time with God.

The New Testament passage which best sums up the lessons in Isaiah 53 to me is Romans 3: 24-25. "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished." Jesus acted wisely. He was a man of sorrows, many rejected him. He did not open his mouth at the trial and he was led like a sheep to the slaughter. Jesus was punished for us.