Survive Thrive Guide

CONTENTS Definitions The Working Definitions of Preparing as Used in this Text

Introduction Need—Unprepared Conflict—Can One Prep and Still Be Trusting In, Relying On and Adhering to God? Truth—What God’s Word Says Concerning Preparedness

Preparation Reason—Why One Should Prepare Survive—The Seven Essentials Needs to Prep for to Survive

Thrive—Spiritually Prepared—The Result of a Personal Relationship with the Lord

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1 9 19

29 41 61

Guide—Preparation Needed to Be Able to Guide the Lost Into the Kingdom of God

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Activation Plan—Create Your Own Survive-Thrive Prep Plan 97 Implement—Putting Your Survive and Thrive Plan into Action

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NEED Unprepared It had been an exciting day. Not the kind of excitement experienced by a child on the first day of school, a teenager passing their driver’s license test, a young couple on their wedding day or even the excitement experienced by an exhilarating ride on a roller coaster. No. The excitement we experienced this day was of the uneasy sort, the kind that occurs when the normalcy of one’s life is suddenly and unexpectedly disrupted and one finds themself being forced to face new adventures and the unknown.

It was now almost midnight. We were grateful to be home. We were warm. We were safe yet tired from the events of the day. We were attempting to unwind from this chaotic and suspense filled day before heading to bed when suddenly we heard “it”, an indescribable sound, indescribable because it was totally foreign and unrecognizable. We had never heard such a noise before.

It is unlikely that anyone else has ever heard such a sound. All we can say is that it was an extremely loud, unnerving rattling noise. We determined the sound came from the northwest corner of our house. It lasted for about ten seconds, during which time our entire house was shaking violently.

Asking ourselves “What’s happening now?” we ran outside to investigate and discovered that a passing snowplow had ripped the entire electrical service entrance off our house. Everything was gone—meter box, riser, and power lines. There was nothing left but a void created by the holes the fasteners, which once held the 1

CONFLICT Can One Prep and Still Be Trusting In, Relying On and Adhering to God? To prep or not to prep, that is the question facing many of God’s people today. On one hand there is no question that the world has changed since the “Ice Storm of 1998”. With every day that passes it is easier and easier to see the need to be prepared for the unexpected.

It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about extreme weather events, earthquakes, out of control fires, floods, civil unrest, radical extremism, violent acts of terror, financial disorder or even mental derangement. These types of events are now happening all around us and the frequency and intensity to which they are happening continues to increase at an ever greater and greater rate.

On the other hand, as Christians we believe in a loving God and so we ask ourselves “Aren’t we supposed to trust God?” As those who have faith in our God we ask, “Aren’t those who feel the need to prep just doing it out of fear?” And as children of God, knowing that our Father has promised us He will provide, protect and defend us, we reason and ask, “Since God will take care of us, why do we need to prep?”

These are some very excellent questions and ones that many Christians are now struggling with or have struggled with when deciding whether they believe they are to prep or not to prep. Fortunately for John and I our lack of preparation for a potential extended power loss did not turn out to be life threatening. My father had thought to prepare for such an event so we had heat.

We also had the store facility we could go to if necessary 9

TRUTH What the Word of God Says Concerning Preparedness For God’s people the conflict “to prep or not to prep” can only be truly resolved when one knows God’s will concerning prepping. So to determine God’s will as to whether we are to be involved with prepping or not we must search His Word and find out what is says on the subject. Does God instruct His people to prepare? Is God a prepper? Has He ever made preparations for a calamity?

A word study of “prepare” shows that there are well over 250 scriptures that use this word in some form or other as prepare, preparing, prepared, etc. Granted many of these scriptures talk about preparing something like a meal. These aren’t the scriptures we are looking for. We are specifically looking for scriptures that speak to:  God instructing His people to make preparations in order for them to be able survive and thrive in a cataclysmic event ,  God instructing His people on how to prepare to be a vessel that He can work through  God Himself making preparations.

We don’t have to read very far into the Bible to find the first scriptural account of God instructing His people to prepare for a cataclysmic event. In this first story God told Noah to build an ark. He told him why to build the ark and He gave Noah specific instructions on how to build the ark. He also told him what provisions to stock 19

REASONS Why One Should Prep “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many.

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. . . . But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be . . . But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would 29

come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’� (Matthew 24:3-44) Disasters (earthquakes, floods, wildfires, blizzards, volcanoes, ice storms, tsunamis, hurricane, tornados, wars, etc.), civil unrest and other catastrophic events are going on all around us all the time. Not only are these events happening closer and closer together in time, they are also happening at ever increasing degrees of intensity.

A short list of the events that have occurred since of Ice Storm of 1998 include: 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado 2001 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City 2004 tsunami in Indonesia 2005 Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast 2011 earthquakes and tsunami in Japan 2011 tornado is Joplin, Missouri 2012 Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut 2013 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma 2014 civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri 2015 escalating violence around the world by ISIS terrorists 2015 rioting in Baltimore, Maryland 2016 earthquakes and severe storms continue to increase in number and intensity worldwide There are many more that could be listed. Jesus warned us that this time was coming. He told us that there would be wars and rumors of war, famines, deadly diseases, and earthquakes and all of this would be just the beginning of sorrows, (troubles, anguish, pain, agonies, horrors). He also said that although this wasn’t the end, it all had to happen. Then He told us that for this reason we must be always on alert, prepared and 30

SURVIVE The Seven Essential Needs to Prep For to Survive Clearly there is a “NEED” to prep and it is becoming more and more obvious with each passing day.

The “CONFLICT” to prep or not to prep is honest. We must renew our minds to God’s perfect will by learning how to completely trust in the Lord for protection and provision. The “TRUTH” is illuminating. From the very beginning of life on earth God has instructed His people when and how to be prepared. The “REASONS” are convincing. When we are prepared, not only can we survive, but we open a door to being able to help others.

So now it’s time to start looking at how one goes about being prepared. Our objective is to identify the seven “ESSENTIAL” needs everyone has and discuss the basics for being prepared to meet these needs during or after an event of a cataclysmic nature. But before we get to the actual essential seven we need to first define the various time periods for which we must prep and look at the conditions we can expect to be living under during these times for these factors will determine what specifically we need to prepare for. Once we know this then we will have the information we need to know how best to prepare to meet the essential seven.

There are three distinct time periods for which one must consider prepping for. These are: Immediate—This is the first 24-72 hours immediately following an event. It is a time when a community is operating under extreme emergency conditions and there is a constant sense of urgency. The 41

THRIVE Spiritual Prepared, The Result of a Relationship with the Lord When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice . . .

(Proverbs 29:2 NIV)

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV) There is no doubt that today our world is changing rapidly.

Not only are we experiencing catastrophic disasters (both natural and man induced) at levels [NOTE: If you have never never before imagined, but made a personal decision we are also witnessing the for the Lord Jesus Christ long term effects that then we strongly encourage you to read the next accumulated emotional chapter titled “Guide” wounds have inflicted before you read this upon those living in this chapter. Once you have world gone crazy. We have made the decision to seen the youth of our receive the gift of salvation society so filled with that God has prepared for emotional pain that they you and which Jesus accomplished on the cross murder their schoolmates then the door to greater and then kill themselves. understanding of this Other members of society chapter will be opened to lash out by going on you.] rampages of shooting, vandalism, arson and/or looting that leave a wake of 61

destruction in their path and spawn more emotional turmoil. Still others use the internet and social media to make sure everyone knows how they were offended by someone else. And then we can’t forget to add to all this the acts of terrorism that are continuing to escalate around the world breeding fear.

In the last chapter we looked at the essentials one needs in order to be prepared to physically survive. But just being prepared to survive doesn’t give a person too bright of an outlook or any hope to hold onto. We should seek therefore to do more than simply exist. We should desire to rise above the devastating and catastrophic circumstances and thrive—to grow, to flourish, to succeed and to prosper in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in.

If one wants to move beyond mere survival and be able to thrive in the environment they are in, then their spiritual needs must also be met.

Meeting one’s spiritual needs all begins with a relationship with the Lord. Knowing Him and having a relationship with Him is what John 17:3 defines as eternal life. It is the beginning of being spiritually prepared, the ultimate in preparedness.

Why do we need this relationship with the Lord?

Most of us are quite familiar with the major reason— accepting Jesus and having a personal loving relationship with Him is the only means of salvation that we have. There is no point in doing everything necessary, spending time, money and energy, to prepare ourselves to survive in the event of a crisis event only to end up spending eternity separated forever from the love of the heavenly Father. The other extremely important reason is that when we make Jesus our Lord, spend time with Him and live according to His Word we are destined to grow and be successful and prosperous or put another way, destined to thrive.

How will being able to thrive help in a disaster situation? One major way will be helping you to handle the many new emotional challenges associated with living in the aftermath of a disaster, those challenges 62

GUIDE Prepare to lead others to Christ with the Gospel “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV) “. . . you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) “For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) Gospel—the word simply means “good news”.

Throughout the pages of this book we have talked about the impending doom of civil unrest, disasters (natural and otherwise), catastrophes and even eternal damnation.

But where is the good news in all of this? Is there any good news? Any hope? If so, where do we find it? How do we access it? We are delighted to say that yes, there is Good News! Seeking this Good News, THE miraculous message that has the power to change lives, and sharing it with others are the goals of this chapter.

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PLAN Create Your Own Survive-Thrive Prep Plan “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:2) It’s time to begin making your own individual Survive-Thrive Prep Plan.

Everyone’s prepping needs will be different; therefore, everyone’s preparedness plan will be different. In this chapter you will determine what kinds of events you are prepping for and the skills, equipment and supplies you will need in order to be prepared for those events. Your focus for the survive part of the plan should be on ensuring that you incorporate at least all of the seven essential needs for survival into your plan. You will do this in four parts: Part 1 Determine the needs for your ideal individualized long range prepping vision Part 2 Evaluate your current level of preparedness.

Determine the skills, equipment, supplies, etc. you need to acquire Part 3 Make a list of the skills, equipment, supplies, etc. you currently lack Organize and prioritize your list Part 4 Execute the plan, periodically revaluate, update and modify To help you to with creating your Survive-Thrive Prep Plan we have prepared a worksheet to get you started. You need to be aware that completing this worksheet does not mean that your plan is complete.

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