Matthew 24:21,22
“For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”
Jesus is teaching His disciples about the end times and things to come. He is telling them that the extent and intensity of these times will be greater and more severe than we have ever known. Think about some of the greatest atrocities and darkest travesties that have been committed in this world, and Jesus says the end will be worse. That is quite a statement, but the next one speaks even more to me.
Yes, it will be terrible and almost unbearable, but what do we see shine through all of that? God’s beautiful and powerful mercy! He says those days will be cut short for our sake! Even in the midst of His judgment, we find His mercy! Yes, it will be hard, yes, it will be terrible, yes, it will dark, but it won’t be void of His mercy! That, my friends, is encouraging to me. It speaks of the heart of our God, He requires and desires obedience, and there will be a penalty for disobedience, but at His core, He desires to show us mercy over punishment.
All throughout the Bible, it says that God will do things for His Name's sake, yet here we see it is for us that He cuts it short. How great is our God that He would care about us this way, even though we deserve every ounce of wrath and judgment that He has. Amazingly beautiful and all powerful is our God and worthy of all praise. But make no mistake: if we refuse Christ, we refuse this mercy and are left with only one option, wrath and judgment. So let today be the day of salvation, not only for you but your entire household with you. He is extending His hand in peace; will you take it and find yourself standing in faith on that day?
John 12:46-48- “l have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.”
1 Chronicles 21:13- David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for His mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”
God bless! I love you all, but His love came to save and set us free! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!
Matthew 24:23-25
“At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.”
If this wasn’t very important, then why would Christ warn us ahead of time? As I read and pondered this, the Holy Spirit pointed out that the signs and wonders are going to be great. They will be extravagant and even awe-inspiring shows of power and strength, but they will not be of the Lord. Christ warns them and us that they will be enticing and even sound and look legit, but at the core, they are deceptively wicked and evil through and through. I can’t completely imagine or fathom what they may be, but I do know they will be evil, wrapped up in a religious-looking bow.
Christ warns them and us about this and the other things that are to come at the end because it’s going to be hard. It’s not going to be something we just breeze through unscathed but will literally be a fight for our souls in this physical realm. But if we are not reading God’s Word and Christ’s warnings, then how will we know what to do? How will we stand if we don’t stand on His Word? How can we live if we don’t live by it? How will we know what is pure versus what is perverted if we’re not spending the time reading the Word of Truth? We must be saturating and indulging in His Word today if we want to stand firm tomorrow.
There are different thoughts about who the elect are, and we’re not going into that here, but we can all agree that the elect are special, strong, and set apart to the Lord. So we need to pay attention when Christ says that even they are in danger of falling victim to this deception, and we, like them, must be on guard! Stand firm in the faith and His love today!
Matthew 24:12,13- “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
God bless! I love you all, but His love is the open door to the Father! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!
Matthew 24:42-44
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”
This is not a post about eschatology; it’s not a debate about post-, pre-, or mid-tribulation. It is a post about readiness, because we can all agree upon that truth. Christ stresses the importance of readiness because if we aren’t ready, we will regret it forever. Being ready is a choice; each of us must make it and take the necessary steps to live it out. This day is a day we must decide if we will ready ourselves by serving, seeking, and following Christ, or will we walk in the ways of the world?
Too often, we wrap up the ways of the world with Christian wrapping paper; we may look holy and God-fearing on the outside, but inside, we are dead and defiled. My friends, God knows our hearts, the secret sins that lie within and what we do when no one is looking. He does not sleep, nor does He miss a thing, and despite all that He sees and knows about us, He still wants us all!
It’s amazing to me to think that the God who watched me walk away from Him for so many years never stopped pursuing me. Though I ran to ways of the world and the fleeting desires of my flesh, He never once gave up on me. I want you to know this so that you may have hope in your life. For my life was ruined according to the world’s standards, but by God’s, it was just beginning. I may have wasted a lot of time wallowing in my sin, but because of Christ, my eternity won’t be wasted but will be spent in worship!
So let us ready ourselves today so that tomorrow we may stand firm! A couple quick ways to prepare: daily Scripture reading, daily prayer, daily surrender, daily obedience to God (even in the small things), serving/loving the Lord through the way we treat those around us, and daily worship. Let us practice these in increasing measure and watch the roots grow deep in Him!
Matthew 24:12,13- “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
God bless! I love you all, but His love is our life-jacket in this fallen world. Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!
Matthew 24:48-51
“But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Authenticity is a must in this walk with Christ! In this parable, Jesus teaches us about two types of people that will be in Hell; the wicked servant who openly rejects the Master (God) and the hypocrite who claims to love God but inwardly serves the god of this age and their own flesh. A quick word-study on the word hypocrite leads us to the term dissembler, which by definition is as follows:
a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.
Jesus is subtly warning people who live this way that their actions will result in their damnation. That to claim to be Christ’s and to actually be Christ’s is, in fact, two different things. We can call ourselves whatever we want, but that will not change our heart or our end. It has to be an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ because there is no other way!
This is not to guilt us or shame us but to warn us that the outward appearance is of some value, but the inward condition is of the greater value! Jesus also teaches us that if the inside is good, then the outside will follow, remember that God looks at the heart. He sees below the surface and judges based upon that.
So, let us not deceive ourselves and think we can fool the God who created us and paid for us! As we focus upon Him and all the He is, let us remember that He is looking within each one of us to see who or what truly has our heart. Let it be His both now and forevermore! Thank You, Jesus!
John 6:38-40- “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
1 John 1:23- We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands.
God bless! I love you all, but His love reigns eternal! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!
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