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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To subscribe to this blog, click here.  To subscribe to this podcast, click here. If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post. ______________________________________   Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post on podcast. https://archive.org/details/www.-10.11.21.-dont-despair.-prepare ______________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, October 11, 2021, and this is Episode #36 of Series 2021. This episode is titled “Don't Despair! Prepare!" _______________________________ Despair may be covering the earth, but it doesn't have to cover your life. This week, I want to encourage you by saying, "Don't despair! Prepare!" Prepare for what?  Prepare for the return of Jesus Christ to remove His followers from the earth! We are living in those "perilous times" predicted by Jesus in the Bible. While it may be a very difficult time to be alive, it is also a very exciting time to be alive. We are the generation that, according to Scripture, will witness the return of the Lord. What does this mean? It means that the Bible is true. Jesus came to earth the first time 2000 years ago as the Savior of the world. He died on a Cross, rose from the dead, and returned to Heaven. Before He returned, He promised that He would prepare a place for His followers in Heaven and then come back for those who choose to follow Him. We find His promise in John 14: 3: "And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am." Jesus cannot lie because He is God. In fact, every prediction He has ever made has come true up to this point. There are still prophecies He made that have not yet come to pass, but they will come to pass just as surely as His other prophecies have come to pass. One of those prophecies is that Jesus will come back to remove from the earth all those who believe in Him and follow Him. When will this happen? We do not know for sure, but Jesus gave us some warning signs and some clues. They are found in Matthew 24. These warning signs and clues are happening right now as I speak. So, what does all of this mean for you? It means that if you are not yet ready to meet Jesus, you had better get ready. Otherwise, when He removes His followers from the earth, you will be left behind. And it won't be a pretty situation. You see, after Jesus removes His followers from the earth, the world will come under the tyranny of the AntiChrist. Yes, tyranny. The AntiChrist's ascension to power will usher in what the Bible calls the Great Tribulation, a seven-year period of horrendous suffering on the earth.  At first, the AntiChrist will seem to be a wonderful, charismatic leader who will bring peace to the earth. But in the middle of his reign, he will reveal his true colors. During the Tribulation, people will not be permitted to buy or sell unless they take a mark on their hands or their foreheads. The Bible calls this mark "the mark of the beast." The Beast is the AntiChrist, and he will be a beast. This mark may be a computer chip of some sort or a tattoo engraved in the skin. Already, we are seeing a precursor of the mark of the beast in the current Covid vaccine. In some parts of the world, people cannot enter certain business establishments without a vaccine passport. In other words, they cannot purchase certain services--like attending concerts, sports events,