{"id":916,"date":"2016-10-05T15:26:40","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T15:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?p=916"},"modified":"2016-10-05T15:26:40","modified_gmt":"2016-10-05T15:26:40","slug":"be-prepared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2016\/10\/be-prepared.html","title":{"rendered":"Be Prepared!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I have been away for a couple of weeks due to back surgery. After some snags, I am on the way to healing. It&#8217;s been harder than I imagined and I hope to make up for lost time.<\/p>\n<p>Before I went to the hospital I made sure to put up meals and have them in the freezer. I changed my sheets, polished silver, put my pots and pans within reach so I would not have to bend down to get them. I bought loose fitting clothes &#8211; nothing binding. I did my laundry, stocked up on groceries&#8230;did all I could to prepare so I wouldn&#8217;t have to bend, twist or lean. I prepared. Because I live alone, I may have over-done it; I just didn&#8217;t want to be caught unprepared.<\/p>\n<p>While recovering, I watched the Presidential debate. Or I should say, I watched part of it. To me it seemed like and exercise in immaturity, name-calling and lack of depth. I got weary of it and knew the next morning all the pundits would tell me what was said. And they did. I was better off getting some sleep.<\/p>\n<p>It appeared to me Mrs. Clinton was well-prepared. She knew the issues and was calm, well-spoken &#8211; even if she was incorrect she came across as in control. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, did not appear to be prepared. He seemed to shoot from the hip. He would make all sorts of statements and follow them up with &#8220;Believe me&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Why should we believe him &#8211; or Mrs. Clinton? Their history is not impressive in the area of truth.<\/p>\n<p>I am not making a political statement nor do I endorse any candidate. Yes, I will be prepared to vote but, this time, it is incredibly difficult.<\/p>\n<p>Being prepared is the subject of this blog &#8211; not politics.<\/p>\n<p>We prepare for all sorts of thing: exams, Christmas, childbirth, old age, buying \u00a0a home&#8230;all sorts of things. Are we prepared to die? The death rate for every generation is 100%. All of us will die. Are you prepared?<\/p>\n<p>How do we prepare for death? Make a will? Maybe buy a cemetery plot? Maybe some of us work harder at being good to earn points with God. Talk to our children. Make amends with those we don&#8217;t get along with. We could work really hard or throw up our hands and give up. We are so afraid we&#8217;ll be caught short &#8211; left out.<\/p>\n<p>There really is nothing we can do to earn place in Heaven. Nothing. We can&#8217;t earn it at all. So are we left on our own &#8211; unprepared?<\/p>\n<p>What a grim subject for a blog! But there is Good News! We have been given a simple way to prepare for Heaven. It\u00a0is guaranteed. \u00a0No-fail.<\/p>\n<p>It is a gift from God. All we have to do is to acknowledge we are sinners &#8211; and we all are. That we are sorry for our sins and ask God to forgive us and take control of our lives. Simple. So simple people think it&#8217;s too easy and they try to make it more complicated. It isn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.&#8221; (John 3:16)<\/p>\n<p>The Apostle Paul wrote, &#8220;If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.&#8221; (Romans 10:9)<\/p>\n<p>And you will be prepared to go to Heaven and meet God face to face as He open His arms wide to welcome you &#8211; His precious child.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have been away for a couple of weeks due to back surgery. After some snags, I am on the way to healing. It&#8217;s been harder than I imagined and I hope to make up for lost time. Before I went to the hospital I made sure to put up meals and have them in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,18,20,27,123,39,14,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-being-prepared-to-die","category-commentary","category-current-issues-in-the-news","category-death","category-eternal-life","category-forgiveness","category-god","category-security"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Be Prepared! - Safe Place with Ruth Graham<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2016\/10\/be-prepared.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Be Prepared! - Safe Place with Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have been away for a couple of weeks due to back surgery. After some snags, I am on the way to healing. It&#8217;s been harder than I imagined and I hope to make up for lost time. 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No stranger to heartache, she seeks to provide a Biblical perspective to her journey of faith. She is warm and talks openly about her own need for a safe place as she journeyed through her husband\u2019s infidelities, her subsequent depression, her divorces, her teenage daughter\u2019s two unplanned pregnancies, another daughter\u2019s bulimia, her son\u2019s battle with drugs, grandson's special needs and returning to school at age 40. Although born into the \"famous\" Graham family Ruth did not feel she had a safe place to unburden the secrets of her life. She felt she had to project and image and wear a mask that she \"had it all together\". She had to meet others' expectations of her. It was not until a mid-life crisis did that she fully discover the unconditional love and grace of God. Her life's passion is to connect people to that same grace and love she found, no matter who they are or what sin. Ruth is an experienced conference speaker and Bible teacher. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows including: Good Morning, America, The Hour of Power, Focus on the Family, Moody Broadcasting, Fox &amp; Friends, CBN, Life Today and CNN. She has worked in publishing for over 14 years and is the founder of the Ruth Graham &amp; Friends Ministry. Ruth has three grown children and nine grandchildren. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 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