Last week, my husband and I decided we needed a day trip to the mountains. I felt I needed to see the mountains to be reminded of how big God is and find rest for my soul.

We ended up on the streets of Blowing Rock, N.C., in the late afternoon. With no warning, two military planes, like the one in the picture above, flew so close overhead and so fast they broke the sound barrier. Breaking the sound barrier creates a sonic boom which generates sound energy sounding similar to an explosion.

Everyone on the street froze. We stood staring at those planes, waiting for what was to happen next.

I stood frozen at a street corner beside my husband thinking, we need to find shelter, and then looking around at all the other people, who needed to find shelter. The planes passed. No bombs dropped, and the silence that followed was broken when one young man’s loud, nervous laughter reverberated through the crowd. Everyone looked around, several shrugged, and we all continued down the street.

My thoughts lingered on the fact that you could tell we all thought bombs were being dropped on us. We were at war. With all that is going on in the world at present, it is a valid assumption.

Are we ready for a war? Would we know how to react if war broke out on American soil?

This weekend I heard two different sermons from two different pastors. The bottom line for both sermons was a call to Godly living. The first sermon made the point of… just because people want to live a life that opposes what scriptures tells us is right, it doesn’t change the scripture. God’s words stand firm and do not change just because someone decides to live outside of them. When people choose to live a life of sin, God still gives them up to a “reprobate mind”. (see Romans 1:28-31)

A reprobate mind produces a hardening of the heart to the extent it is virtually impossible for them to come back into a right relationship with God. For those that seem so hard-hearted, we frail humans cannot possibly see a way for them to be redeemed, but there is always the “perhaps God” or “it may be that the Lord will work for us” story of Jonathan and his armor bearer in a battle you can read about in 1 Samuel 14. And sometimes, it takes a much stronger faith, prayer, and fasting to reclaim a heart for God. (see Matthew 17:14-21) In verse 17, Jesus calls the people a “faithless and perverse generation.” Sounds like He was calling them to Godliness.

The second sermon I heard was on right living. The pastor challenged his people to be aware of what they were watching, how they were presenting themselves on social media, and he pointed out that television shows things now, that would have been unthinkable to show ten or twenty years ago. He made it clear that living in sin was not condoned in the church, which lines up with 1 Corinthians 5:9-13.

God has given us everything we need to live a life of Godliness. Romans 6 shows us that Jesus’ death on the cross broke the power sin has over us. And, 2 Peter 1:3-4 tells us this… “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (ESV)

Our job is to make our “calling and election sure” so that we are provided “an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:10-11.

When a town full of people see fighter jets and hear explosions, they feel the end is near. When people feel the end is near, some want to make things right. Some wait until it is too late. Others stay hard-hearted to the end.

In Dr. David Jeremiah’s ESV study Bible on page 1750, he has written about prophecies from the Bible that are yet to be fulfilled. He says:

“What is the likelihood that so many prophecies in the OT (Old Testament) would find fulfillment in one individual, Jesus of Nazareth? To the present day, not a single biblical prophecy concerning the Messiah or anything else in Scripture has been left unfulfilled if its time has come.”

He goes on to say: “The Rapture of the Church… when Christ comes to gather deceased and living Christians to Himself “in the clouds” (1 Thess. 4:13-18)—is imminent; it could happen at any moment. All prophecies leading up to the Rapture have been fulfilled, so prophetically speaking, nothing else has to happen before Christ appears in the clouds to remove His church from earth.”

Dr. David Jeremiah says: “Prophecy is never given to simply satisfy our curiosity about what the future holds. It is meant to motivate us to holy living in the present by building up God’s people, by exhorting them to stay committed to Christ and the truth, and by comforting those who are suffering trials.”

Where are you at today? Do you have a relationship with Jesus as Your Savior? (See Romans 10:9-10,13) Are you allowing yourself to be motivated to Godly living?