Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – 1 Chronicles 20-24
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 13:5-14
Jesus: Take care that no one deceives you. Many will come claiming to be Mine, saying, “I am the One,” and they will fool lots of people. You will hear of wars, or that war is coming, but don’t lose heart. These things will have to happen, although it won’t mean the end yet. Tribe will rise up against tribe, nation against nation, and there will be earthquakes in place after place and famines. These are a prelude to “labor pains” that precede the temple’s fall.
Be careful, because you will be delivered to trial and beaten in the places of worship. Kings and governors will stand in judgment over you as you speak in My name. The good news of the coming kingdom of God must be delivered first in every land and every language. When people bring you up on charges and it is your time to defend yourself, don’t worry about what message you’ll deliver. Whatever comes to your mind, speak it, because the Holy Spirit will inspire it.
But it will get worse. Brothers will betray each other to death, and fathers will betray their children. Children will turn against their parents and cause them to be executed. Everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to Me. But if you’re faithful until the end, you will be rescued.
You will see that which desecrates our most holy place described by Daniel the prophet out of place.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Lots of books tell us about the end times. Lots of authors write thousands of pages telling us what it will be like and when it will come. What we should expect, what to look for, who the anti-Christ is, what the political climate will be, how we can recognize just when all these things will happen. I don’t know how many times “the day” has been predicted during my 62 years of life. But I don’t think He has come yet. There’s still a lot of His saints still here and it’s been a lot longer than the seven years of tribulation that would have happened if He had already come. If those predictions were true, we’d be in the 1,000 years of peace. I don’t see any peace around the world, so I guess all those prophets must have missed it.
Should we ignore the prophecies? Nope. John wrote in Revelation that those who read and listen to the things Jesus said there would be blessed. That’s a good reason to read it. Will we understand it all if we read it? Not until it is all history and everything has come to pass. Then we can look with 20/20 hindsight and see just what all those crazy sounding things are that John tries to describe with his limited vocabulary and experience.
Should we spend enormous energy and worry about the end times? Nope. If you’re ready for Jesus to return, there is nothing to worry about. He’ll come and we’ll go with Him. We may suffer some before we go, but so did He. He promised the world would hate us because of Him, so we should probably expect some suffering. Is it worth worrying over? I don’t think so. If we suffer, He will be with us through it. If we don’t, we can praise Him for His protecting hand.
Should we be aware of the signs of the end times? Yep. Jesus tells us to watch for them so we won’t be deceived by those who would claim to be Him. He’s coming back and He wants us to know the signs that will herald His return. So we need to keep track of the signs and look for them. We don’t need to put our head in the sand and pretend those birth pangs He talks about aren’t getting closer together and more intense with each passing year. They are. We need to watch and let others know about those signs. We need to let others know what He said about His return. He is coming and it’s closer than it’s ever been. Just look around at the things that He said would happen that are taking place right now with ever increasing frequency. Wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines. Look at the news and they are there. Faster and fiercer than ever.
Should we worry about His coming? Not if we ready. A lot of bad things will happen during the end times. There will be intense persecution. Many believers will be beaten, tortured, and killed. Many believers will lose their jobs, their families, every means of survival. But Jesus warns us about those things in advance. He says to expect them, but it’s okay. He and all the prophets suffered those things from the world, too. It’s because the world hates believers and Satan will make a final desperate effort to defeat God. He doesn’t realize he’s already lost.
So we don’t need to worry about any of those things. We just need to be ready. Jesus is coming again. He tells us all the things that will happen so we know the time is getting close. It gives us hope. It helps us realize it won’t be much longer. The birth pangs show that the labor is almost over. A new heaven and earth are about to come into existence. We don’t need to worry, just be ready.
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