Being tricked about the »Rapture«.....................................................................................................................................Being tricked about the »Rapture«. .................................................................................................................................... In the final days, the Earth will be covered in spiritual darkness.People will exalt and love evil and hate and rebuke truth.Like in the days of Noah, people will be partying and be selfish right up until it’s too late. But as the darkness covers the Earth, God will pour His spirit on all people.The young will prophecy and have visions and the old will have dreams. The Bible says as much and predicted it thousands of years ago. O_O¡And it is happening right now! ÔoÔ People are having »Rapture« dreams and visions, both about going »¡WOOSH!« but also about what the years of »Tribulation« are going to be like. The »chip« , the »Mark of the Beast« , that whole shebang. Very recently, however, people are claiming September 23rd is going to be the day Christ returns... ¡¡¡Yeah, I’m NOT falling for that again!!! Jesus Himself said: »But of that day and hour, no one knows. No, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.« (in [Matthew 24:36]) . ¡And, despite knowing that, I STILL got tricked two years ago! This is what happened... I had just been called back by God, in October 2023, and started finding preachers, teachers, prophets and testimonies on YouTube. Some were encouraging, some were warnings, some were garbage and some were just flat out lies. Most of the garbage and lies was easy enough to spot and tell apart from the real ones. But one channel got me... -_-;; A preacher streaming on Facebook and uploading the streams as multi-hour long videos on YouTube. Preaching a good game about having a special Hebrew »Bible Code« that, when prayed over, could be interpreted correctly and reveal secrets from God, about people and events, not meant to be understood until now in this day and age. He nick-named his Facebook group »Night Watchers« (or something like that) , which, by the way, I didn’t find a way to join what-so-ever, despite wanting to at the time. Figured it must have been some private club or something. »shrug« He was also very insistent that people should go and subscribe to his YouTube channel, so that it would grow, get pushed by the algorithm, have more people notice it and his Bible code messages would spread to reach more of God’s people... ¿But if he really wanted his channel to grow and be noticed, wouldn’t he have had his comment sections turned on?... Strange... A few times he’d come out with new »Bible Codes« , provided by another guy in a different country. Apparently, he would receive specific dates (like birth dates and other significant dates) , convert them into »Book, Chapter, Verse« messages in the Bible and give that to the preacher to share with the people in the group. This »Bible de-coder« fella, was also writing a book about Bible codes, and was periodically updating the PDF. It ended up being 777 pages long when he was finished with it, right before December 2023. The preacher encouraged people to donate - nothing wrong with that, a lot of ministries do - but some time after the 777 update, the preacher suddenly had the »¡Rapture Confirmation Code!« What he did next sickens me to my stomach... he told everyone to give ALL their money to the Bible de-coder guy, because, according to the preacher: »¿What are you gonna use it for? ¡The world will end before 2024!« Now, I wasn’t that stupid. But believe me when I say that this guy sounded extremely convincing. ._.;; His tone of voice, attitude, expression of emotions, aura of authority and knowledge of the Bible... e-yerp - he was a preacher alright. So far, this preacher had managed to manipulate me into staying up all night - going outside and stare up at the moon and stars, waiting for Jesus to come pick me up, because: »¡Any time this week, it’s gonna happen folks! ¡Be ready!« Oh, and it was DEFINITELY gonna happen at night in America, because it was gonna happen in the middle of the day in Israel’s time. For 3 months, this preacher, this- pharisee ... managed to discourage me, make me depressed, lose sleep, destroy my daily routine and make me give up on wanting to do ANYTHING . Because: »¿What’s the point in starting something that I couldn’t humanly possibly finish, when time was almost up?« That was the solemn somber thought invading my mind. So, I asked God if I should donate to the Bible de-coder guy. Oh, by the way, this Bible de-coder was supposed to become one of the »Two Witnesses« (mentioned in [Revelation 11:3 - 12]), THAT’S why we were supposed to throw all our money away to him T_T God loves a cheerful giver, true. ¡BUT! I didn’t wait for an answer... so... I ended up being manipulated out of... a sum of money I will not disclose -_-; It wasn’t until later that night that my mind went: »Wait - ¡¿What’s HE gonna use the money for?!« ¡UGH! >_< I felt so... ¡stupid! A) Because I didn’t think of that before donating.andB) Because I got tricked... ¡AS AN ADULT! It’s one thing to be a young teenager and be tricked into giving money away to some guy, just because he tells you a long sob story about wanting to save young girls from being raped in a foreign country... But it’s another thing to be tricked as an adult, because some preacher talks a very convincing game and manipulates you to do the exact same mistake. ¡AGAIN! (That first one, happened in the Christian boarding school by the way... ¡I blame the teachers for even allowing that charlatan to come spew his lies in the first place!¡14 year olds are still children, you’re supposed to protect them! ¡You can’t expect them to know better yet!) Anyway... ¡Talk about double the shame! -~-;; So... 2023 passed... we didn’t celebrate Halloween or Christmas, (which is probably a good thing. According to some sources, Christ’s birthday is on the 29th of October, and Halloween glorifies the devil -_-) ... but rapture didn’t happen. So, checking in on the preacher’s channel, not ONLY was he making excuses as to why rapture didn’t happen, ¡but THIS wasn’t even the FIRST time he’d done so! EVERY year, for SEVERAL years, his excuse was: »Guys, we didn’t have all the information and details - we didn’t know as much then as we do now about de-coding Bible codes. The code changes with new knowledge and- « ¡¡¡Blah blah blah BLAH BLAH!!! ¡¿WHY didn’t I investigate SOONER ?! ¡Stupid, stupid, STUPID! Sad to say, but it took a whole year to recover emotionally from that one.¡Not to mention faith and trust-wise! O_O I have forgiven the pharisee preacher, the Bible de-coder, and even the teachers from way back in the day, since then. It was a lesson about trust and betrayal, learned the hard way. But this is why I’m on higher guard this time. It’s good to have hope, but foolish to have your whole life fall apart because you’re convinced about something. And even if rapture DOESN’T happen, or , it happens and you’re left behind , what matters is to keep trusting God to guide you. Both on your good days and your bad days, as well as on your best days and on your worst days.....................................................................................................................................trophyplay_arrowgifZeffra's Testimony - Part 4 - God called me by name and guided me (for a little while anyway).....................................................................................................................................Part 4: God called me by name and guided me (for a little while anyway) ..................................................................................................................................... Jumping to another subject. Now... I've read the Bible, cover to cover, beginning to end 4 times. (And I'm not saying that to brag) . But that was before my late teens / early adulthood. But, about the same time I asked God back into my life, I began searching in the Bible. (Keyword »searching«... not just »reading«, but searching ) . Asking God to guide me to something he wants to show me, every day. And, for 3 weeks, every time, the Bible opened up on passages to either answer me with something on a very personal level, or point me towards Revelations (the last book in the Bible) . Revelations, Revelations, Revelations. One day, while hanging out, I even heard a voice call my name. Not a physical voice, not my own head-voice nor an imaginary voice. It was a gentle, warm and clear voice. It came from the direction where the Bible was laying. On the sofa. So, I walked over and picked up the Bible, of course. This was exciting! Then the voice said »Corinthians 1« . And, once again, it was an answer to something personal. The voice spoke again the next day. I was asking God what my purpose was. What was His plan for my life? What was He gonna use me for? While closing my eyes to listen I tapped on my heart with the »Italian hand-gesture« . What I heard I will not say. It's private. But, at the time, it comforted me. Warmed my heart and made me smile. And then... silence. 1 week of silence. Oh how the anxiety kicked in. The longing to hear that voice again. To be guided again. Wondering:»Why the sudden silence?« I picked stuff to read in the meantime, and it usually referred to the End Days. But it was still silent and un-personal (by comparison anyway) to before... until an evening in November (2023). The thumbnail for a video (»Why God is silent«) (Or something like that) had popped up a few times for a couple of days, but it was only 3 or 4 days later that I decided to watch it. »God wants to take your faith to a new level« . That's the message I got from listening. Tears were streaming down my face. There was my answer, yet again. I wanted to share this to the preacher who posted that video, almost immediately after watching it, out of thankfulness. But, as a comment, it was quite long. And it failed. I took it as a sign to not post it there as a comment, but instead turn it into an animation (or something) and then share it. Days passed. Weeks passed. More videos came across my screen. More videos where my heart felt like:»I should share something here!« . Only for my mind to stop me and make me hesitate with clicking the »post comment« button... And ultimately, delete the comment before it ever got posted. Eventually, there were two videos from someone , where the strongest messages I got from them was: »Don't be afraid to share your testimony.« and »Your testimony could be the key to someone else's salvation.« I'm not really afraid of sharing, so that second statement hit me the hardest. THAT'S why I'm sharing this. And this isn’t even ALL of it! I could have talked about The time I saw Demon Lights as a child . Or about The time God saved me from falling into a river . Or about The time God touched me and made me laugh when everyone else was crying . Or about The time I yelled at God and He ALMOST struck me O.O;;N...not proud of that one =( Or about The time God covered our car with flowers .This happened fairly recently actually. Or about How God showed me which bible to get / read .This happened very recently! Or about The time God showed me and let me understand that He is the Creator !!!This happened super recently!!! Or about how my walk with Jesus is currently going… spoilers:I think he »called me higher« too soon… the struggle is real… and... what once comforted me, now makes me doubtful and uneasy... I still choose to trust in God's plan though. »His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.« But this is quite long and it's taken many writes and re-writes to get this much on paper. (Y'know - without adding TOO much detail... or leaving too much out) . It was only near the end of 2024 that I finished writing everything down into a text document on my computer. Or, everything so far . I don’t think any of our testimonies are truly finished until the day we die, because God will continue to work on us for as long as we are alive. If you want to read the other stories, follow the links. There's many other people, both men and women, who've been obedient and shared their testimonies. What they shared helped me in my walk with God. I'm grateful to God and happy for everyone He has saved. ^_^ Maybe my testimony, or at least part of it, can help someone else too. If it is His will, He will make sure that this reaches whoever it needs to reach, at the exact time they need to hear it.....................................................................................................................................The time God showed me and let me understand that He is The Creator.....................................................................................................................................The time God showed me and let me understand that He is The Creator ..................................................................................................................................... On the 25th of November 2024, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, my husband and I were in the middle of watching the movie: »Leap of Faith« (1992 comedy/drama) , when he got a phone-call from somebody that needed his help and advise with their truck. While he was on the phone, I took the opportunity to go outside and feed our 3 dogs and keep them company while they ate their very late breakfast. The weather was mild. Not too cold, considering it was technically winter. A gentle breeze was blowing and causing leaves to fall off the trees. »It would be cool if one of the leaves fell into my lap.« , I thought and smiled to myself. »But, God, you don’t have to do that.« A couple of minutes went by and, lo and behold, a leaf fell and landed straight into my lap. »Hehe, thank you God.« I looked up and smiled, then started studying the leaf while while reminiscing about the other time earlier this year where a similar situation had happened. (The Dogwood flowers on our car) . The leaf was elliptic in shape, thin, had a jagged toothed edge and felt coarse on the surface. Fuzzy but rough. While looking closely at it, another leaf fell into my lap. A different type of leaf. This one was round, maybe slightly oval in shape, thin, had a smooth edge and felt silky smooth to touch. Feeling the texture difference of the leaves between my fingers and observing the shape difference, my mind began to wonder:»Why bother having such different designs in the first place?« . I already believed that God created everything, but also believed that everything evolved over a long period of time. Afterall, it made sense that He would »automate« His creation to take care of itself after designing it and bringing it into existence.(Like a programmer) . But I didn’t understand it... From an evolution point of view, if things really started as micro organisms in the ocean and took millions and billions of years to evolve into plants, then into small water animals, then fish, then reptiles that somehow end up on land, which evolved into dinosaurs, then into feathery birds and all other kinds animals with fur, skin and scales. Why bother with so many forms? As far as animals go, wouldn’t 2 forms be sufficient? One perfect predator and one perfect prey? Okay, so maybe a few more that would »evolve« or »adapt« to the different climates and seasons, but hundreds and thousands of species?? That didn’t make sense. Somehow, the thought entered into my mind that:»Well, I like designing and creating different characters, that each are different species, have different colors and textures and personalities... as do many other artists with their hundreds of fan characters and original characters...« . Then something clicked. All these different species. All these different lifeforms. All these different designs, shapes, sizes and colors... It had to have been created by a CREATOR! God loved to design and create so many different things, both animals and plants and everything else! That made sense! »Thank you for finally making me understand!« I praised God. I brought the two leaves inside and washed them with soap to get rid of any potential germs. While showing and telling my husband about this sudden revelation or epiphany, I got very emotional. Tears wanting to well up, throat tightening up, that sort of thing. It was just so incredible and overwhelming to finally feel like I actually fully understood this! And anxious and frustrated that I might not be able to convey this to him. That he might not understand the same way that I understood it. But, he nodded and said it was cool. »Yep. Whether God created everything or creation is part of Creator, doesn’t matter. We must respect it. People gotta believe in something. It’s good, as long as they don’t hurt anybody.« , he concluded. »Now, come on, let’s watch the movie« . Hehe... I tried to compose myself as fast as possible to keep him from waiting, but it was difficult. It took a couple of minutes. (Like mentioned before, I was very emotional) . His beliefs are noble and he does his best to help people, even if they hate his guts. Smart and selfless. Not many people are that way. The only reason I can’t believe the way he does, is when it comes to worship . Doesn’t it make more sense to thank and pray to a superior being who lives outside the constraints of time and space? Someone who is like a good father who loves us and wants to do what’s best for us? That’s just my conclusion though.....................................................................................................................................The time God saved me from falling into a river.....................................................................................................................................The time God saved me from falling into a river ..................................................................................................................................... Remember the two sisters mentioned earlier ? Here’s a story with them, a neighbor and me. We were hanging out and walking on a sandy forest trail, when we came upon a bridge and decided to take a break there. We were looking at the shallow sparkling water as it flowed out from under the bridge. Somehow, we got the idea to take a handful of dry sand and pour it into the creek a couple of meters below. Watching it slowly sink and being carried a little ways under the water. One handful turned into several, and it was very fun. But our small hands could only hold so much, so we got the brilliant idea of taking off our shoes and fill them with the sand instead, as they could hold much more, and then pour the sand out into the creek. That was even more fun, because we could pour for longer and almost make a steady sand water-fall. And then the neighbor girl accidentally dropped my shoe. I panicked because I was afraid my mom would get mad at me, but one of the sisters snapped me out of it by tugging on my shirt and pointed to the neighbor girl, who was silently staring out at the water, but had tears streaming down her face. Quickly regretting blurting my concerns out loud like that, I tried to make her feel better. Telling her it was okay and that we would figure something out. She was also the youngest among us. So all 4 of us looped around the bridge, ran down the slope and started chasing after the shoe down the creek. The water getting murkier and faster as the creek widened and deepened into a river. Staying on land, we tried using sticks to fish the shoe in, but eventually I had to go into the edge of the water to reach at all.(Hey, my shoe, my problem) . Caught it pretty much last second. Not too much further ahead was an iron grate. The bars wide enough for a shoe to slip through, but not wide enough for a child. The waters were strong, so after getting my shoe flung onto dry land, we all cheered. They were on the one side, I was on the other. But the grassy, muddy ledge gave way, causing me to sink waist deep into the water. Now, scared and clinging on for dear life, unable to get up on my own, it took everything I had just to stay still and not slip further down stream. Somehow, the older sister (who was still younger than me) , managed to run from the other side of the river, quickly reach me and pull me up and out from the steep mud-slope. We all took a moment to breathe, then happily gave thanks to God for making the sister fast and strong enough to save me. We all walked back to the bridge, then parted ways to go home. Me, soaking wet and barefoot, carrying my shoes by their laces. But grateful for how things turned out. If you’re curious, once I got home and explained to my mom what had happened, she just chuckled and said that if the shoe had been gone, it would have been gone, and that we would just have bought me a new pair. XD....................................................................................................................................