Happy Sunday!
I hope you had a wonderful week! Also I'm thankful that your world did not end on September 23, 2017. It may seem comical after the fact, but many people may have really believed that the end had come. I happened to listen to a TED Talk this week. The young man recounted being a child in a small Texas town in 1999. He and his family were members of a church that believed the world would end and the rapture would occur as the year 2000 began. They all knelt at the altar praying fervently awaiting the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. What shock, horror, and disappointment they all felt when life continued even after y2k. This event has scarred this man and caused him to doubt God, and the people of God. I'm saddened for him, but I can recall several scriptures that could have brought clarity in this situation. The Bible reminds us that wisdom, and knowledge are necessary to live a victorious life. Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:"(KJV).
Even Jesus did not know when the world as we know it would end. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."(KJV). What Jesus stressed more so was readiness. Matthew 24:44 says, "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."(KJV). Read Matthew 24 for yourself. Yes, I have to admit the things that Jesus described are definitely happening in our world today. He said there would be wars, and rumors of wars, famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes. But in Matthew 24:8 he warned that, "All these are the beginning of sorrows."(KJV). WOW! That's scary! This is only the beginning? Yes, he goes on to describe even more trouble..."Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and killed. People all over the world will hate you because you believe in ME. During that time many believers will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe things that are wrong. There will be so much more evil in the world that the love of most believers will grow cold. But the one who remains faithful to the end will be saved. And the Good News I have shared about God’s kingdom will be told throughout the world. It will be spread to every nation. Then the end will come."(Matthew 24:9:14, Easy-to-Read Version).
Don't miss this! 1 John 3:8 says, Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. When we follow Jesus, his mission becomes our mission! Our purpose and life goal should be to destroy the works of the devil everyday! In Matthew 24, Jesus said the Good News that he preached would be preached to the entire world, then the end will come. Each day as you do your part to fight poverty, ignorance, sickness, injustice, homelessness, hopelessness, depression, sadness, and sin...you are helping to bring the return of our Lord closer.
It will take time and effort to study the Word for yourself. But in the Bible times, even the blind and lame were made to work. OK, I know what you are thinking...she's really lost it now! But read it for yourself. The blind and lame were taken to the local thoroughfares by their families to beg. Sounds like work to me. No disability checks! No welfare! They were expected to use what they had to improve their lives, even if it was just their voice used to ask for money! Jesus told a story in Luke 16:19-20, "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was LAID at his gate, full of sores,"(KJV). Mark 10:46 says, "And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, SAT by the highway side begging."(KJV). And Acts 3:2 says, "And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they LAID daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;"(KJV). So there is no excuse for us! If you miss out on God's best because of your own laziness and ignorance don't blame the Man.
Love and prayers, Cynthia
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