The mystery about the Rapture, unravelled by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in our text was mentioned by the Lord Jesus Christ in John Chapter eleven, during an important conversation with Martha when He went to raise Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus spoke about the Rapture, neither Martha nor the disciples understood what He was talking about because it was still a mystery at that time.

David, the sweet Psalmist knew how to count his blessings. When faced with any challenge, he always remembered what God had done for him in the past, and thanked Him for it. The children of Israel in the wilderness always forgot their great deliverance from Egyptian bondage and captivity, whenever they encountered a little problem. David praised God and was victorious but the children of Israel perished in the wilderness because of murmuring and complaining. 

There was a time David found himself in a seemingly hopeless and helpless situation. Being a man after God's heart he quickly realised that the only way out was to encourage himself in the Lord his God. The Devil had employed his deadly weapon of discouragement to bring David down, but the Lord delivered him. Many have been destroyed and are still being destroyed by discouragement because of the lack of knowledge - Hosea 4:6.

The journey that leads to heaven is painful but gainful in the end. It is the way of self denial and cross-bearing. Jesus, our example endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. The Lord of glory went through a painful ordeal on earth to gain His place at the right hand of the throne of God in heaven. He was despised, beaten, wounded, bruised and finally crucified to die a painful death on the cross.

As professing believers we are daily exposed to the temptation to behave differently from what we have learnt from the word of God. But according to the Lord, His true disciples are those who continue in the word of God, come what may. As His sheep they hear His voice and follow Him. We must therefore strive to live our lives as His children, wherever we go.