"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes.
For the Lord shall be your confidence, and so keep your foot from being taken."
Proverbs 3: 25 - 26.

If ever there was a word or two of encouragement needed at such a time is this, the words in the above Bible verses would have to be among them.

At a time when even the ground beneath our feet is not a safe place to be anymore, and we hesitate to find out what is going on in the world, we need to hear from somebody who knows the end from the beginning to calm our troubled souls and to steady our minds.

Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that we would be witnessing so many troubles and heartaches? Who would have thought that between the last blog entry I wrote and now, so many significant and life altering events have happened in the world, in our neighbourhood, or closer still?

Suddenly daily living has become uncertain let alone the reliability of making long-term plans! It is easy to become fearful as that sense of overwhelm is ever present.

How good it is to be intimately acquainted with the One who is not surprised or shocked about anything that is happening all around us. After all, He lives outside of our time domain and has already seen what we do not see just around the corner. He already knows what the outcome is.

He who inhabits eternity is the One in whom we can safely trust.
He has got everything in complete control even though it doesn't look like it right now! 

Even while writing, my mind is thinking of what took place in the garden of Gethsemane. It was a dark night in all sorts of ways, and our beloved Lord had just risen from excruciating prayer in which He anticipated what He was about to go through within the next few hours, when a band of soldiers with swords and staves came to take Him away… Judas the betrayer leading them!

If we had been there at that time after having followed the Lord for three years prior to that event, we would have been wondering what on earth was happening? We would have been wondering who was in control when everything looked like it was falling into chaos. From our perspective the events of that night would have been devastating after getting to know this altogether lovely Man intimately for the past three and a half years. 

But we would not have known there and then that this was all part of what must happen in order that the will of God be fulfilled concerning the question of sin. It looked like the enemy was having a field day and winning the battle. For all intents and purposes this appeared to be the case … ‘but God’!

Of course from our perspective now we know what was to follow - a mock trial, cruel beatings, a gearing crowd, the cross! It all appeared to go from bad to worse … ‘but God’! The enemy of our souls meant everything to meet his evil plans ‘but God meant it for good’. This was the way it had to be so that the question of sin could be dealt with once for all, and that you and I good live in the benefit of a work that was accomplished and completely satisfying to God. The cross was the essential part of what God foreordained from before the foundation of the world.

It has been said that no matter how bad a situation appears to be, God is always good!
God will never stop being good!

So here we are over 2000 years since that event and we are facing dark and uncertain days. We maybe facing trials we were totally unprepared for and we can’t help but wonder who is in control? Sudden fear has taken hold of us and it is suffocating! The Word of God encourages us not to be afraid of that ‘sudden fear’ that has a tendency to hit us blindside.

How can we avoid succumbing to the fear that these calamities bring into our lives? The answer lies in the encouraging words from the book of Proverbs quoted above. ‘When’ calamities come, not ‘if’, but when they do, we need to not be afraid because… the Lord shall be our confidence, and He shall be the solid ground upon which we stand. We can be sure that this ground will not move under our feet! 

Standing firm in personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the solid rock that will keep us steady when the trials of life hit, and they certainly will! And having trusted in Him as personal Saviour an incredible life begins from that moment on. It is a spiritual journey and a practical one also, which comes into play in reality when we face the trial of our lives.

Everyone, no matter who they are goes through troubles and trials, but some choose to go through them on their own without the living God in their lives to give them hope, comfort, strength, and encouragement. Others in faithfulness and humility having trusted the Saviour with all their heart never go through their trials alone.

It is possible, like the companions of Daniel in the Old Testament to go through a furnace experience and come out of it without any evidence of having been there! No scars, no damage, and no pungent smell of scorched clothing. Or to put it in everyday terms; it is possible to go through trials and suffering without acquiring a bitter spirit and scarred emotions, but to emerge from it with the fragrance of Jesus in our character. How can this be possible? Only in the very same way it was possible for Daniel’s companions … as the Lord was with them in the furnace, so He will be right there with you as well

There is only one way to have that type of confidence, and to enjoy that type of victory, and that is for the Lord to be yours personally, and to know Him that well that your mind can be at rest while going through impossible circumstances.

Let Him establish you. Let Him carry you. Let Him comfort you knowing you could not leave yourself in better hands, and He who knows that your heart is breaking will not waste a single tear. Your trial and mine has a significant meaning and an eternal weight of glory. Just trust Him in it knowing that one day soon you will know even as you are known. And what you discover as a result is that God never failed to be good when everything looked so bad.

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven and for the promise of His coming
It's as simple as 'ABC'

~~~~~

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

I was interested to discover a few days ago that according to a number of well renown nuclear scientists we are just a few seconds away from midnight on the ‘Doomsday clock’. Such is the greatness of concern about the demise of the earth and its inhabitants, they are fearing the worst in just a short period of time. 

‘The Doomsday Clock’s time is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board with the support of the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, which includes 10 Nobel Laureates. Previously, the Doomsday Clock had been set at 100 seconds to midnight since 2020.’ - Gayle Spinazze from thebulletin.com

The antics of the Russian President Mr Putin and his threats of nuclear warfare is a very real threat. Anyone who crosses his pathway or makes his agenda feel threatened he holds everyone to ransom with his ‘nuclear card’! And there is of course the background and fast coming forward perceived threat of ‘Climate Change’, to name only two factors, which has accelerated the feeling of fast approaching ‘doom’.

Appeals have been made to world leaders to attend to these issues while there is yet time before we past the point of no return. However, the last time warnings like this were heralded, the warnings appeared to go unheeded! 

Those of us who observe Bible prophesy are reassured to know that this is all part of end time events. We know that absolutely nothing is going to happen without God’s divine permission. Everyone who has been saved by the grace of God has absolutely nothing to be afraid of because as bad as events appear to be happening we know that we are not going to be here in the not too distant future.

In Luke’s Gospel chapter 27 the Lord Jesus tells us of future events and the mindset of people who do not want the living God in their lives. They want nothing to do with our beloved Lord and Saviour. He spoke in great detail of what this world is going to be like during ‘doomsday’! And then He said something very interesting:

“And when these things begin to come to pass,
then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
Luke 27: 28.

We are seeing all these things happening right now! It’s there on the news, on our devices and even right on our doorstep! As gloomy as this appears to us all, there is a wonderful element of encouragement as well, because something glorious and truly wonderful is about to happen for all of God’s people!

The Lord Jesus made a precious promise to His disciples just before He went to Calvary to die for our sins on the cruel cross, and He will keep it. One soon day this precious promise is going to be fulfilled much to the great delight and comfort of His people… especially those who are earnestly awaiting His return!

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also.”
John 14: 1-3

If things are getting pretty grim here on earth and we wonder how long we have to wait until our ‘blessed hope’ is fulfilled, let us take courage in knowing that every day that Jesus hasn’t come yet is not another disappointing day for us, but rather, it is another opportunity to tell someone about Jesus who is our only hope, and to encourage them, and to pray in earnest for the souls of our of our unsaved loved ones before it is too late. And every passing day allows us the opportunity to get to know our beloved Lord Jesus a little deeper.  The longer we wait, the greater our appreciation that day of rejoicing will be when at last we will hear the call of our beloved Lord Jesus to rise up from this place to meet Him in the air to be with Him which is infinitely better.

If there are a number of people in the secular community very aware of the peril this world is in and are sending out warning signals to the powers that be to do something about it, how much more ought we to be prepared for that glorious event that is set to happen ‘before midnight’? And how much more diligent ought we to be at sounding the warning as well and pointing them to the Way God has provided to escape.

'Doomsday' will not be permitted to happen while God’s people are still here!
We will have to be removed to a place of safety first!

The Word of God clearly tells us that His trusting people are: “serving the living and true God, and waiting for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” (See 1 Thessalonians 1: 9-10.)

And Jesus Himself told us that: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly …” Revelation 3: 10-11.

I don’t suppose it could be more clear and more encouraging than that, could it? Dear friends, we are not going to be here for much longer … Jesus is coming, like He promised He would. He is coming for all those who have humbly trusted in Him as their Lord and personal Saviour. He is coming for all those who have been ‘born again’. He paid the highest price to make us His own and He is coming to take to Himself all who belong to Him.

Maybe we can do a thing or two to improve the moral, climatical, or geopolitical environment in which we are living, but let us not forget that this world is headed for judgement for its rejection of the only means of salvation He has provided. And when He is done, He is going to wrap this all up one day and create: "according to his promise … new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3: 13.  This will be an eternal state which we as God’s people are very much looking forward to … but not before we have the unspeakable joy of being with the One ‘who loved us and gave Himself for us’ …  forever!

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

“… Now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”
Romans 13: 11

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven and for the promise of His coming
It's as simple as 'ABC'

~~~~~

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
James 4: 8.

What better way to start a brand-new year than to draw near to the One who knows the end from the beginning, whose timing is perfect, who knows what is best, and whose burden is light?

If we are not in the habit of doing so already, now is as good a time as any to start! And, what a wonderful habit this is… making the time each day to draw near to God our Maker and Master Planner.

He knows us better than we know ourselves and has blessed us with the wisdom of His Word for our guidance. What immeasurable grace He has bestowed upon us in expressing His desire for us to go to Him for guidance, for strength, for wisdom, and for everything else that we need.

He knows how prone we are to be diverted from our path, and lose our way, getting ourselves snared, distracted, or even in danger. But those who draw near to Him are in a place of security and safety. Nothing can harm us without His permission. In fact everything that comes our way has to pass through his divine filter first!

The end from the beginning...

That is why when living in a world that is so uncertain and filled with despair, God’s people can move forward with confidence because we are linked with the One who knows the end from the beginning, and everything in between. He has everything in His complete control. 

The insanity that we see around us would cause us to despair, were we not to know that this is the characteristic of end times, and although it is not nice to witness or even live in, we do know that this darkness will soon give way to light and to joy. This gloom isn't going to last forever for God's people. Jesus our beloved Lord and Saviour said: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16: 33.

Because He has overcome the world, we can also! When we “draw near to Him” we get to see amazing things happen. We may have to pass through some choppy waters, or fiery furnaces, but He has promised He would always be with his people, and we can rest with confidence in Him who always keeps His promises. All of this what seems like endless suffering is not going to go on forever, it will come to an end, and the best is yet to come for His trusting people… very soon!

Perfect timing...

Every one of us who knows something of the certain future for God’s people have a tendency to want it all to happen now! We want to be with the One "who loved us and gave himself for us." Galatians 2: 20. The thought of waiting any longer is daunting! But all of our times are in His hands as He waits for others to come into the good of His loving and tender mercy. The good-news message of the Gospel is still being heralded far and wide, and while this is so, people are still coming to the Lord Jesus for the salvation of their precious souls. 

When He comes for His people one day very soon, may it be at a time when we are ready and waiting as well. While we are busy with our daily responsibilities, may it be with 'an eye on the sky’ while doing everything we do for His honour and glory.

“Draw near to Him”; for the closer we walk with Him the more acutely aware of how perfect His timing is, and the greater will be our ability to wait patiently.

He knows what is best... 

Sometimes we find ourselves in prayer about something of importance to us and we wait for an answer from God. Sometimes He says ‘No’, sometimes He says ‘yes’, sometimes He says ‘wait’. There are times when we might question why God has allowed something to happen in our lives because of the pain it may have caused. But be comforted by the fact that He knows about it all, and is monitoring every moment of the trial with the intention of teaching us priceless life lessons or elements of His glorious character. Upon hindsight, we would not forfeit what we know for an easier life… ever!

“Draw near to God”; for it is easier to trust in Him when our knowledge of Him grows deeper each day, and when we are acutely aware of His promise of nearness.

My burden is light...

We often carry unnecessary burdens that were never meant for us to bear. We overload our days with responsibilities until we reach breaking point, and our lives feel like they are about to implode. However, the Lover of our souls has a burden tailored especially for us that is designed to build us up, and not wear us out! But how can any burden do something like this when after all,  a burden is … a burden!

There is a reward when we respond to the invitation of the Lord Jesus to:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11: 28-30.

What an irresistible invitation this is! The Lord Jesus Himself is inviting the likes of you and me to come just the way we are with all of our burdens, whatever they may be.

For some, it may be the burden of their sin. One day long ago He bore that burden on the cross at Calvary so that we could be free from sin’s burden, and all the guilt and shame that comes with it, with the awful, and eternal consequences. With drops of His precious blood He paid in full the debt we owe to God so that we can of a certainty know the joy and comfort of His promise to: “Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.”

To those of us carrying burdens of the weight of our cares and concerns comes His promise of rest for our souls when we bring them all to Him. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5: 7. He cares for His people with a tender loving care like that of a shepherd caring for his sheep.

But how is this accomplished in our lives? The answer is in the burden the Lord invites us to carry instead of the burdens of our own making. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

There is no safer place to be, than to find ourselves in the place where Mary of Bethany was found ‘at His feet and hearing His word.’ (See Luke 10: 39.) The more time we set aside to learn of Him, the more of a wonderful habit it will become until we find that this is an absolute necessary occupation each day of our lives for the rest, the calmness, and the serenity we need in our busy lives in uncertain times like these.

“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” said our Lord, and when we do our part and “draw near to God” we will find that He will keep His side of the promise and “draw near to us”, and we will not ever be burden bearing alone again! Walking with our beloved Lord yoked together with Him, we will move with Him, stop when He stops, go this way and that way wherever He so desires, and soon learn to anticipate His movements because we will begin to understand His mind and will.

What a precious promise God makes to those who dare to do as He asks, and what better time to do so than right now, this moment at the beginning of 2023? 

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
James 4: 8.

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
Numbers 6: 24-26.

With love and every blessing for
Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven
It's as simple as 'ABC'

~~~~~

It is humbling to think of the mighty stoop the Lord Jesus made when leaving the heights of Heaven and His Father’s Throne to come into this sin sick world to be our Saviour. He could have been born into a noble family surrounded by palace guards and finery, but rather it was to a young virgin maid betrothed to a humble carpenter that our Saviour was born. These were people who knew what it was to be on the poor end of the spectrum. Perhaps eventually so that no one would feel unqualified, but everyone from the poorest of the poor right upwards would qualify for the blessing of sins forgiven and being reconciled to God.

What ought to be our response to such unfathomable grace and love? Surely we ought to have the attitude of humility and never take for granted His demonstration of that ultimate giving! It is all too easy perhaps to get used to the fact that we are saved by the grace of God because of the Saviour who went all the way to Calvary to die in our place. However, may we keep fresh in our minds that although we are unworthy, we are loved all the same! And make it a regular habit to bow the knee with a sincerely thankful and praise filled heart to our ‘Saviour Divine’, ‘who who loved us and gave Himself for us.’

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Well, I got beat by the clock this time around and didn’t get my song for Christmas finished on time, but almost! For those who do not know, it was written with my Mum in mind who has been seriously unwell for quite some time and underwent an operation from which there was a very slim survival rate! But by the grace of the Lord she pulled through and is doing remarkably well. This is such a gracious answer to prayer.

She has on many occasions asked me to do a recording of the beautiful Carol “O Holy Night”, and after some time alone with the Lord in prayer it was laid on my heart to do this song for Christmas…  after I thought I had missed my opportunity to do this for her earlier. And so after finding out a thing or two about the original version, knew I would be able to alter the lyrics to give them more clarity, being a little more honouring to the truth of the Gospel message, and the impact the 'Saviour Divine' can have on all who trust Him fully!

Yes, it has been sung to the original tune and recorded and will be published Online in video format at YouTube in the not too distant future, (albeit a little out of season!) :)

Oh Love Divine

 Oh wondrous night when stars were brightly shining
There on the night of our dear Saviour’s birth!
God in a tiny human babe abiding
Jesus had come - as promised to the Earth.
The precious Hope which souls had long for waited
To bring the light and chase the dark away …

 Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices:
‘A Saviour divine to you this day is born.’
Oh love divine,
Oh love, oh love divine. 

 Truly this precious Man was like no other,
Fragrant and pure to His Father’s delight.
And all would through His words and deeds discover 
God’s final answer to Earth’s hopeless plight.
He came to break the bond of sin forever, 
Now purest joy His trusting people know …

 Christ is the Lord!
Oh bless His Name forever. 
All power and glory be to Him forevermore. 
Oh love divine, 
Oh love, oh love divine.

 Fall on your knees,
And bring to Him your praises.
Oh Saviour divine, no greater love than His!
Oh Saviour divine,
Oh Lord…
Oh love divine.

 “O Love Divine” adapted from original Carol “O Holy Night”
by special request
A song for Christmas 2020 by AleB

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Courtesy of Pixabay.com

With every blessing and love
Amanda

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven
It's as simple as 'ABC'

~~~~~

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

The Bible is filled with promises about the future, and how every true believer on the Lord Jesus Christ has so much to look forward to.

It is wonderful beyond words to know that God has made provision for people like ourselves to be assured of all our sins forgiven, and the promise of a home in heaven awaiting us at the end of our journey.

All that we live through from day to day; the greatest of joys or the deepest of sorrows cannot be compared to, or spoil all that our loving God has in store for His people.

But what about now?
What do we have to get us through today?

We read In the Bible of so many incredible things happening in the past, and sometimes we wonder what it would have been like to have lived to see those things with our own eyes. 

Perhaps we would have loved to have seen the Red Sea part to allow the children of Israel to pass through to safety, and witnessed the sea closing in on their Egyptian pursuers who were following closely behind.

Or how about the battle on mount Carmel between the prophets of Baal and Elijah about who was the true and living God? To have watched the prophets try in vain all day to arouse their false god to consume by fire their offering, and then to watch as Elijah’s God consumed his drenched offering, the alter upon which it was presented, and the trench of water around it about with fire from heaven! Wow!!

Or maybe, we would have loved to have been among the crowds that listened to the words of the Lord Jesus. Or seen Him use the tiny provisions of a young lad, and with five loaves and two small fishes how He fed to satisfaction a multitude of people! 

Who like Jesus could heal like He did? Oh, to have seen the joy of a leper discovering he was cleansed, the joy of the one who could see for the first time after being born blind, and the joy of the paralysed man being given the strength to walk all on his own! Or how about witnessing the deliverance of a poor man filled to the brim with demonic entities, then later discovering him ‘clothed and in his right mind’ after being in torments for who knows how long previously?

I wonder what it must have been like for those to hav seen the Lord raise from the dead their beloved brother and friend Lazarus after being in the grave for four days!

Or even to have been among those who saw the risen Lord Jesus after He was crucified, died, buried and risen from among the dead Himself on the third day!

What wonderful days they must have been! How privileged those people were to have lived way back then… but what about today?

So much wonderment in the distant past to thrill our souls,
and so much glory in the not too distant future to greatly look forward to,
but what about today?

What do we have to hold on in our every day lives, especially when life gets tough? Can we expect such a God of greatness to be an integral part of our lives in the here and now? Well, we can expect all this and so much more! Because the living God does not want to be a part of our lives but He wants to have all of our lives.

To be truly blessed in ways beyond our reckoning we must totally surrender to Him who not only gives life, but is life! He not only gives peace, but He is our peace! He not only gives strength but is our strength.

The Christian asks the questions: “How could anyone possibly live without Him?” Or “How did I ever manage on my before I trusted in Him and before He saved my soul?” Because once we have tasted of the bounty there is in this wonderful Person, there can be no looking back; for He is greater than the greatest, and better than the best!

But how can those of us who are trusting in this magnificent Person live in the good of trusting Him now, when we cannot see Him? The answer comes to us in these wonderful words:

“Jesus Christ
the same yesterday,
and to day,
and for ever.”
Hebrews 13: 8.

From these words we can conclude that the One we read of in so many accounts in the past, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament of the Bible is exactly the same in character and in power today, and forever will remain exactly the same!

If Jesus has told us without doubt: “I and my Father are one” John 10: 30, and God the Father says: “I am the Lord, I change not…: Malachi 3: 6, then we can rest in the assurance that the One who calls upon us to come to Him is worthy of our complete surrender and wholehearted trust.

This precious One who touched the lives of countless people in the past and revealed His glory and power is sufficient for our daily needs this very day and time in which we live. There is no need that we have that is overlooked by such a One as He. Nothing in our lives is too small and insignificant for His interest, or too great for Him to remedy.

We are thinking about God the mighty Maker of the universes beyond our skies, God the mighty Creator of the earth upon which we live and everything that is on it. We are thinking of the One with whom nothing is impossible. The One who holds everything together, and yet knows the fall of a tiny sparrow that most if not all of us would overlook.

But Jesus told us that we are of greater importance than many sparrows and not one of us are overlooked by such a loving and caring God as He.

Therefore we could not be entrusting ourselves into safer hands.

If sometimes we feel that our day to day living is a burden too great to bare, let us take a look for a moment of time at the beloved Lord Jesus who bore a greater burden than we could ever imagine. The Bible tells us He bore our sin on the cross upon which He was crucified. In His own body He bore its awful curse and the wrath of God against it. This is what our sin deserved and the payment that God required for it, because it is so dreadful!

That love He demonstrated for poor lost sinners back then in those dark hours all alone so long ago is the same love that He loves us with today! Remember, He is the same forever, He never changes!

There are so many people are roaming around in the dark without the Lord as their life, their peace and strength.  People without hope in life or anything to look forward to after they pass away. Maybe that is you!

It would not take too much to understand that times in which we are living are perilous! They perfectly fit how the Bible describes what the world is going to look like in end times. The Lord Jesus told us: “When these things begin to come to pass, then lookup, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21: 28.

All that we see going on all around us all over the world today clearly indicates that time is running out. This world is heading for the wrath of God and judgement. There is only one escape. Only one provision given by God, because only one way is necessary… that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is coming a moment of time very soon when Jesus is going to come and call all of His trusting people away from this world to be with Him where He is. This is something He promised to his people long ago and He is about to fulfil that precious promise. (See John 14: 1-3.)

The time of God’s mercy is fast running out and to put off being reconciled to Him would be foolish because tomorrow could be too late. So I appeal to you not to wait a moment longer… What About Now?

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven
It's as simple as 'ABC'

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