Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
They tell us home invasion is on the rise. What have you done to prepare?
Scripture
Revelation 16:15
A Voice: See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the person who watches and waits, dressed and ready to go, so as not to wander about naked, exposed to disgrace.
Devotional
I remember the days when people didn’t lock their doors at night.
Went on vacation once and forgot to lock the door, but really didn’t worry about it
Then started locking the doors when we left but not when we were home
Then started locking the doors at night
Then started putting gates around our communities
Community watch
Now alarms systems, cameras, guns under mattresses
Prepared for thieves that might try to slip through the gate
If we knew thief was coming
We’d be ready
Doors and windows locked
Cameras recording
Police at the door
Valuables secured
Thief wouldn’t have a chance
Captured and arrested
Thief doesn’t come when we are prepared
Comes when least expected
Comes when our guard is down
Comes at his convenience, not ours
Jesus says He will come like a thief in the night
Be ready
Like the Jews prepared for the first passover
Dressed and ready for a journey
Shoes on their feet, staff in their hand
Everything they need to take packed and ready to go
I attended a funeral just this week for a friend
He was getting ready to take his wife to the hospital for surgery the next day
Instead he had a massive stroke and never regained consciousness
We don’t know how long we have
We don’t know when our next breath will be our last
We may live until Jesus returns to take His bride away
We may be victims of a car wreck or some random act of violence or a freak accident or an illness or any number of things
The message is we need to be ready
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Have you ever thought about what our world would be like if Adam and Eve had not disobeyed God. What would this place be like if Adam carried out God’s plan from the beginning?
Scripture
John 5:25-29
Jesus: I tell you the truth: a new day is imminent—in fact, it has arrived—when the voice of the Son of God will penetrate death’s domain, and everyone who hears will live. You see, the Father radiates with life; and He also animates the Son of God with the same life-giving beauty and power to exercise judgment over all of creation. Indeed, the Son of God is also the Son of Man. If this sounds amazing to you, what is even more amazing is that when the time comes, those buried long ago will hear His voice through all the rocks, sod, and soil and step out of decay into resurrection. When this hour arrives, those who did good will be resurrected to life, and those who did evil will be resurrected to judgment.
Devotional
That phrase in Jesus’ words today, “the Father radiates with life; and He also animates the Son of God with the same life-giving beauty and power to exercise judgment over all of creation”… made me think about those opening questions today.
What if Adam had not disobeyed?
What would our world be like?
What did God really want from humankind?
The Father radiates with life
Triune Godhead present at creation
Created life, not death
Death entered the cosmos as a consequence of man’s disobedience, not God’s creative act
Intends for us to live, not die
The voice of God penetrates even dead, inanimate objects, death’s domain, to restore life
Think about how seeds burst from the ground using nutrients from dead and decayed plants and animals
Life comes from death by a creative act of the Father
Jesus talks about an amazing time to come, though
He will return
The dead will be resurrected
The good to life
The evil to judgment
God never intended for us to die. That was our doing through disobedience. But God’s plan is to restore those who believe in His restorative plan. Those who will follow Him and worship Him will be restored to life eternally. It’s our choice to believe or not. What’s your choice today?
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Did you ever wonder where Jesus and the thief on the cross went when they died that day? Jesus said they were headed to paradise that day. Well then, what is paradise anyway?
Scripture
Luke 23:43
Jesus: I promise you that this very day you will be with Me in paradise.
Devotional
Have you thought much about Jesus’ comment to the thief hanging next to Him at Golgotha?
Criminal
Evil enough for crucifixion
Cruelest form of execution
Today join Jesus in paradise
Paradise
Wikipedia – Paradise is the term for a place of timeless harmony. The Abrahamic faiths associate paradise with the Garden of Eden, that is, the perfect state of the world prior to the fall from grace, and the perfect state that will be restored in the World to Come. in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, a land of luxury and fulfillment.
Is it heaven?
Has the thief already faced judgment and entered into eternity with the triune Godhead around the throne?
Does John’s Revelation and other eschatological writings agree with or refute what Jesus says to the thief?
Arguments by believers and non-believers alike
Does everyone go here awaiting judgment or just believers?
Is this like the lobby to heaven where you get the appetizers before dinner?
If Jesus talks about a judgment day, then what is paradise? A place between death and heaven?
Will good people, but non-believers stay here instead of hell?
Is this the opposite of purgatory for those who earn a better place than the flames or eternal separation from God?
No one knows this side of heaven. We do know some things.
Death is not the final victor, there is something after that – Jesus talks about that
There is a heaven and hell – Jesus talks about both
There will be a judgment day – Jesus talks about that
We determine by our faith and actions now whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell – Jesus talks about that
What is paradise? We don’t really know this side of the curtain we call death. But for believers, whether we are ushered into an anteroom of heaven with Jesus awaiting the judgment that He called paradise when He talked to the thief, or whether we face judgment immediately, or whether time just stops and doesn’t matter anymore once we pace from this life to the next, does it really matter? As long as we are with Him, who cares? We don’t need to be concerned about what paradise is or when it is or what it looks like or if it’s part of heaven or not. Who cares? Just be ready when He comes and you’ll hear Him say, “this very day you will be with Me in paradise.”
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
* Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk With God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
* Do you want to face the new year with your head up or with fear and foreboding? Jesus gives us a clue.
* music intro
* You can subscribe to the podcast, send me comments to let me know what you think of the devotional, and listen to past devotionals at richardagee.com. That’s richardagee.com.
* music intro
* Scripture
* In Luke 21:20-28, Jesus said, “Here’s how you will know that the destruction of Jerusalem and her temple is imminent: Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies. When that happens, there’s only one thing to do: if you’re in Judea, flee to the mountains; and if you’re inside the city, escape; and if you’re outside the city, stay there—don’t enter— because the time has come for the promised judgment to fall. How sad it will be for all the pregnant women, for all the nursing mothers in those days! All the land of Israel and all her people will feel the distress, the anger, falling on them like rain. The sword will cut some down, the outsider nations will take others captive, and this holy city, this Jerusalem, will be trampled upon by the outsiders until their times are fulfilled.
* There will be earth-shattering events—the heavens themselves will seem to be shaken with signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars. And across the earth the outsider nations will feel powerless and terrified in the face of a roaring flood of fear and foreboding, crashing like tidal waves upon them. “What’s happening to the world?” people will wonder. The cosmic order will be destabilized. And then, at that point, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and blazing glory. So when the troubles begin, don’t be afraid. Look up—raise your head high, because the truth is that your liberation is fast approaching.
* Devotional
* Jesus could see what would happen to Jerusalem forty years away.
* Roman siege
* destruction of temple
* killing of innocents
* Jerusalem destroyed
* Gives warning to His disciples to avoid the city to save their lives
* Gives warning about the end of times, too
* Son of Man returning in a cloud with power and blazing glory
* heavens shaken
* signs in celestial bodies
* overwhelming sense of fear and foreboding
* Signs point to the end of time
* Liberation is coming fast
* Don’t be afraid
* Hold heads high
* Victory is near
* Look around
* signs are everywhere
* fear and foreboding seem to cloud the thinking of the whole world
* Syria
* ISIS
* terrorists
* US election
* Son of Man’s return is on the horizon
* Hold your head up, don’t be afraid, He’s coming soon
* music exit
* If you want to know more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
* music exit
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Luke 21:6-17 Jesus: Go ahead, look around, and be impressed; but days are coming when one stone will not be left standing on another. Everything here will be demolished. Crowd: When will this happen, Teacher? What signs will tell us this is about to occur? Jesus: Be careful. It’s easy to be deceived. Many people will come claiming to have My authority. They’ll shout, “I’m the One!” or “The time is now!” Don’t take a step in their direction. You’ll hear about wars and conflicts, but don’t be frightened at all because these things must surely come, although they don’t signify the immediate coming of the end. You can count on this: nation will attack nation, and kingdom will make war on kingdom. There will be disturbances around the world—from great earthquakes to famines to epidemics. Terrifying things will happen, and there will be shocking signs from heaven. But before any of this happens, they will capture you and persecute you. They’ll send you to synagogues for trial and to prisons for punishment; you’ll stand before kings and government officials for the sake of My name. This will be your opportunity—your opportunity to tell your story. Make up your mind in advance not to plan your strategy for answering their questions, for when the time comes, I will give you the words to say—wise words—which none of your adversaries will be able to answer or argue against. Your own parents, brothers, relatives, and friends will turn on you and turn you in. Some of you will be killed, and all of you will be hated by everyone for the sake of My name.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
It seems like the topic of the end times comes up a lot in Jesus’ words. As I looked back over the year I noticed a lot of podcasts that mentioned those earthquakes and famines, wars and rumors of wars. Signs that Jesus talked about that will point to the end of this age and the beginning of the next when we will stand before Him at God’s judgment seat.
So why does Jesus say so much about the end of time and the judgment? Why does He talk about the signs that lead up to those terrible days for those that will face them? Why does He give us so much information about His coming again to take His church to be with Him?
It must be important or He wouldn’t say so much about it. I think He also wants to make sure we are not surprised by His coming. He gives us all the signs. He tells us all the things that will precede His return. All of them have happened. We have had wars ever since He left. I can’t remember a time of peace around the world since He left. There are more than 70 conflicts going on around the world today between nations. He tells us about earthquakes and if you look at the statistics on earthquakes they are intensifying and coming at a much higher frequency than ever before. The world is literally coming apart at its seams.
We are seeing strange weather patterns, odd tides, jet streams, creating unusual weather. We see droughts lasting longer and flooding in 500 year flood plains. All the signs are there. He could come at any time and not do disservice to any of the prophecies about His return.
What does all of that mean? Be ready. I’m releasing this podcast on the last day of 2016. It could be the last day. We might never see 2017. It could happen. I’m hopeful that God will give the church a chance to introduce Him to more people so that His kingdom will grow. I’m hopeful that in this new year Christians will recognize how short time is and take a stand for God. That we will really stand out as followers of Jesus the Messiah. I’m hopeful that the persecutions around the world will be such that those that sully the name of Christ by carrying His name but have no relationship with Him will stop identifying themselves as Christians so that the real bride of Christ can be recognized as the spiritual warriors they really are.
I’m hopeful that real revival will break out and people will understand their broken condition and fall to their knees and seek mercy and forgiveness from the living God who created them and longs to save them from their sins. I’m hopeful for a lot of things in this coming year.
But it all starts with me. Am I willing to be that person who, like the psalmist, falls to my knees and asks God to inspect my heart to see if there is any unclean thing in me. And whatever He might find, remove it at whatever cost so that there is nothing between me and my Savior. Are you willing to be that same kind of person this coming year? If all of us who claim Christ as our Savior will do the same, imagine what a year 2017 can be.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Luke 18:2-8 Jesus: There was a judge living in a certain city. He showed no respect for God or humanity. In that same city there was a widow. Again and again she kept coming to him seeking justice: “Clear my name from my adversary’s false accusations!” He paid no attention to her request for a while, but then he said to himself, “I don’t care about what God thinks of me, much less what any mere human thinks. But this widow is driving me crazy. She’s never going to quit coming to see me unless I hear her case and provide her legal protection.”
Did you catch what this self-assured judge said? If he can be moved to act justly, won’t God bring justice for His chosen people when they cry to Him day and night? Will He be slow to bring them justice? Mark My words: God will intervene fast with vindication. But here’s the question: when the Son of Man comes, will He find anyone who still has faith?
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Jesus poses a very sobering question to those gathered around Him that day. “When the Son of Man comes, will He find anyone who still has faith?” He just used Lot, Abraham’s nephew, as an example of the widespread sin that caused God’s judgment to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah those centuries earlier. Remember the story?
Two messengers from God came to Abraham to tell him that God was about to destroy the city in which Lot and his family resided. Abraham pleaded with the messengers and asked if there were 100 faithful individuals in the city, would God spare the city? God accepted the change and Abraham continued to plead with God and lower that number until God agreed that if even 10 righteous men could be found in the city of Sodom, the city would be spared. But not even 10 could be found.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Abraham had asked if God would spare the city if he volunteered to take God’s message to the city and preach in the streets. I wonder if Abraham offered to tell God’s story to any who would listen in those great cities if God would have delayed His judgment against them. We will never know, but we do know that not 10 righteous could be found among all the citizens of that vast populace. God rescued Lot and his daughters. But even Lot’s wife turned back toward Sodom and was destroyed because of her lust for the sinful pleasures of the city instead of her love for God and obedience to His commands.
I’m writing from the seventh, perhaps now the fifth or sixth largest city in the United States today. And I wonder, if God’s messengers were to come to this city, how many righteous men would He find? There are churches everywhere. There are people who sit on the pews of those churches every week, sometimes several times a week. But how many are really righteous and doing all that God asks of them? How many really stand up to the scrutiny of the messengers if God were to send them into the city to examine our hearts today?
I think the people in Sodom and Gomorrah were surprised that God found them sinful and evil. I think most thought they were okay with the Creator. I think most attended their worship services regularly. No doubt few, if any, worship the God of Abraham, but some may have said they did. Some probably heard Lot’s words when he told them how he gained his wealth and came to live in the plains of Sodom and Gomorrah. Some probably even added a prayer to this God of Lot’s so that He wouldn’t be left out in their pantheon of gods to be honored and worshiped. They thought they were okay.
I think our cities today are in much the same place Sodom and Gomorrah were. We abuse physically, emotionally, and spiritually those that come to our cities. We laugh at those who contend that Jesus is the only way to heaven. We push aside those that dare to tell us how to act and speak and love our fellowman. We think those that really follow God’s rules a little on the insane side. Surely God doesn’t expect us to follow those archaic laws in this modern era. Things have changed. He can’t expect us to worship Him like Abraham and David and Daniel. That was Old Testament stuff. We have been enlightened in this age, right?
Not so fast. We haven’t changed. We have the same DNA. We have the same basic desires as our ancient ancestors. We need food and shelter just like they did. We want to be loved and we want to love just like our forefathers. We have this spiritual makeup that craves to worship something whether we want to recognize it or not. Oh, we have new toys and disguised idols rather than gold and silver images of some deity, but if you watch our behavior, we have raised a lot of things as our gods today. Jobs, houses, sports, money, leisure, even our families tend to get our worship instead of our Creator. We set things up as gods and worship them as surely as those in ancient times bowed to those wood and gold and silver icons.
So Jesus question today is as critical as it was 2,000 years ago because God will come as He did in the days of Noah and Lot. “When the Son of Man comes, will He still find anyone who has faith?”
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus: Or picture the kingdom of heaven this way. It will be like ten bridesmaids who each picked up a lantern and went out to meet a certain bridegroom. Five of these women were sensible, good with details, and remembered to bring small flasks of oil for their lanterns. But five of them were flighty, too caught up in the excitement of their jaunt, and forgot to bring oil with them. The bridegroom did not turn up right away. Indeed, all the women, while waiting, found themselves falling asleep. And then in the middle of the night, they heard someone call, “The bridegroom is here, finally! Wake up and greet him!” The women got up and trimmed the wicks of their lanterns and prepared to go greet the groom. The five women who had no oil turned to their friends for help. Ill-prepared Bridesmaids: Please give us some of your oil! Our lanterns are flickering and will go out soon.
But the five women who’d come prepared with oil said they didn’t have enough. Prepared Bridesmaids: If we give you some of our oil, we’ll all run out too soon! You’d better go wake up a dealer and buy your own supply.
So the five ill-prepared women went in search of oil to buy, and while they were gone, the groom arrived. The five who stood ready with their lanterns accompanied him to the wedding party, and after they arrived, the door was shut.
Finally the rest of the women turned up at the party. They knocked on the door. Ill-prepared Bridesmaids: Master, open up and let us in! Bridegroom (refusing): I certainly don’t know you.
So stay awake; you neither know the day nor hour when the Son of Man will come.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Another story that should warn us about being unprepared for Jesus’ coming. Once again, those around Him understood the customs well and got the nuances of the story we probably miss. A few days ago, I mentioned the wedding practices of Jesus’ day in which the Father decides when the wedding will take place. He determines the additional room on the family’s house is sufficiently prepared for his son to bring in his bride and tell his son, “Go, get your bride.”
That’s the day the wedding takes place. No other announcement. That’s it. People in the village looked forward to the wedding feast and knew it was near as they watched the new construction near completion, but not until the father told his son to get his bride did anyone know the wedding would take place that day.
So the rest of the story. These were a big deal in a small village. It meant not just the expansion of the family, but the perpetuation of the family name, succession of property, passing of the family legacy and so much more. The wedding was a big deal. But to go to the wedding you had to join the wedding party as it passed through the narrow paths between the bride’s home and the groom’s home. If you missed the procession, you missed the wedding and you missed the feast.
When the revelers saw the times was getting close, they often stayed at the ready. Not knowing exactly when the father, son, and the rest of the wedding party would come by, people would wait by the roadside so they could join in and not miss it. That’s whats happening with these bridesmaids. The ten wait by the road expecting the wedding party to come by at any time. But they don’t know exactly when it will be because the father hasn’t released his son to fetch his bride yet. They know it is soon because the room looks like it’s done. They better be ready.
Five had the appearance of being ready. But it was just appearance. They looked good on the outside, but didn’t have everything they needed. They didn’t bring any oil. Maybe they expected the party to pass by in the daytime. Maybe they expected the party to pass by at least by early evening. But for whatever reason, the father delayed the coming. Those unprepared were left out. And like with Noah’s ark. Like the untrustworthy servant. These unprepared bridesmaids found themselves shut out.
They missed their chance. They knew what they needed to be part of the feast. They had part of their equipment, but didn’t pay attention to the details.
How about us? We know what it takes to get into the wedding feast. It takes confessing our sins, asking forgiveness. Believing in Jesus, God’s Son, as the means of our salvation, the one who sacrificed Himself to pay the penalty for our sins. It takes true repentance, turning away from sin and toward obedience to God. We know what we need to make it to the feast, but have we prepared? Have we accepted Him as Lord? Are we watching for Him and keeping at the ready for the moment He passes by?
Only you and God know the answer to those questions. But you can know. And in just a few moments in prayer with Him, you can have the assurance that you are ready and waiting at the roadside. If He tarries before coming, it means keeping oil in your lamp, staying prayed up, keeping Him as Lord, living the life He wants you to live.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 24:36
No one knows the hour or the day, not even the messengers in heaven, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
I’ve got to tell you, today’s verse confused me for a long time. Jesus is fully God and fully man. So how could Jesus, the Son of God, part of the triune Godhead, not know when He was coming back to retrieve His bride the church if there is only one God represented in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I still can’t to a great extent. But I’m human, not God.
Maybe some of my thought process could help someone else if you’ve ever spent more than a minute or two thinking about that question, though. So here we go. First, let’s think about the culture of the day and understand why the Father knows the information about the wedding between the groom, Jesus, and His bride, the church.
In Jesus day, families didn’t build separate houses. When a son became engaged, those were arranged marriages, by the way, his father had him start building a room or two on the family home for his new bride as a place to begin their new family. The family property was often bounded by a fence or wall to keep wild animals out and the families animals in, so the son would build within the confines of that structure. The extended family would share kitchens, common areas, storage space, usually only bedrooms were separate. And the son, his wife, and as many children as would fit in the bedroom slept together in that room.
The father determined when the son’s room was sufficiently prepared to house his new bride and accommodate the making of his new family. The wedding date wasn’t up to the bride, the son, the in-laws, the father made the decision. People in the village knew it was getting close as the new room got closer to its finished construction, but the wedding didn’t happen until the father said, “Son, go get your bride.”
And on that day, a wedding happened. No six-week notice in the mail. No engraved invitations. No twitter or Facebook save the date. The father said, “Go get your bride.” And that was the day.
So now you know a little more about why the Father knows the day and not the Son as to when the wedding takes place, when the Son will come to retrieve His bride, the church, to bring her home with Him. But how could Jesus not know if He is God? That’s the dilemma that always confused me.
So here’s how I figured it out one day as I was sitting around thinking about who Jesus is and what He did for us. God’s word says He is fully God, yet He is also fully Man. As I continue to read scripture and study Jesus’ life I get more and more amazed at what I see when I watch His life when He lived along side us. There is no question in my mind He is God incarnate, God in the flesh, God presented in the form of Man. But as I look at what He did on earth, I see more and more of His human side while He lived among us and communed with His Father side in heaven.
As Jesus spoke to His disciples that day and shared with them only the Father knows the time and day of the Son’s return, I think it tells us Jesus will return again in His fully human, fully God form once more. His human side had the limitations we have because He was human. He could do miracles because He had the presence and power of the Father and Spirit with Him. So did Peter, James, and John with the help of God’s Spirit.
The human side of Jesus didn’t know when He will return, but He will return, fully human, fully God once again. But next time, I have a feeling His human side will take the backseat instead of His God-side taking the backseat. When He came to live among us before, He limited His power and lived with us and like us experiencing every emotion, every pain, every temptation we experience. He didn’t sin, but He experienced all the things we experience.
When He comes back, God the Father will tell the Man/God Son, “Go get your bride.” And the God/Man will come back in His glory to take us home. We will see Him in His glory, fully God, and fully man. Jesus, the Man, doesn’t know when that will be. Does Jesus, the Godhead, present at creation? That’s a question well beyond my feeble attempts to understand. I’m just waiting for the Father to nod His head with a smile and tell Jesus to go. That will be a great day for His church.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 24:29-31 Jesus: And as the prophets have foretold it: after the distress of those days,
The sun will grow dark,
and the moon will be hidden.
The stars will fall from the sky,
and all the powers in the heavens will be dislodged and shaken from their places.
That is when the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. All the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming; they will see Him powerful and glorious, riding on chariots of clouds in the sky. With a loud trumpet call, He will send out battalions of heavenly messengers; and they will gather His beloved faithful elect from the four corners of creation, from one end of heaven to the other.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
What an incredible day that will be. Song writers pen marvelous lyrics about that day. The music is always upbeat, uplifting, exciting. It makes your heart beat a little faster and puts a smile on your face. It reminds you that Jesus is coming back to retrieve His bride, the church, from this wicked world and take us to live with Him for eternity.
But it will be a sad day, too. Jesus will come and many will find themselves on the wrong side of His grace. His battalions of heavenly messengers will gather the faithful, but those who are not of that number will be left behind. Books and messages and songs have been written about those, too. Those songs are not so uplifting, so beautiful, so exciting and upbeat. Those are somber, dreadful, dreary songs and books and messages.
But the truth is that many will see God’s messengers sweep across the world to take His children home, but as much as they plead to be taken along, it will be too late. Time will have ended. The opportunity to receive His grace and forgiveness will have passed. The judgment of all mankind will have begun. The awful Day of the Lord will by on us.
At one time I hoped to live to see the day when Jesus returns. I don’t think I want to see that anymore. As I see all the evil and carnage that man can level against man, that is enough to shake me to the core. But as I read the descriptions of the end times and all the things that happen just leading up to the tribulation, the birth pangs that show it is coming, I really don’t want to go through those times.
Then if all those things, the wars, the famine, the earthquakes, the signs in the sky with the darkening of the moon, sun and stars. If all those things are just the beginning of the tribulation to fall on us, I kind of hope my years are over before those days come. I think now about my children and grandchildren and hope they do not have to go through those things either.
But the signs get closer every day. Like a woman getting closer to childbirth, those pains just get closer and closer together and they get more intense with each passing day until final full labor begins. Then those hours of labor are just miserable. That’s what the tribulation will be like. We’re just in the birth pangs now, but labor will begin soon and the labor will be absolutely miserable. The worst pain imaginable.
There is an end to it though. Jesus will take His faithful home. We will be with Him forever. His heavenly messengers will sweep across the earth to gather us together to join with Him for eternity. We will be spare the rest of the outpouring of God’s wrath, but those that are left will not. In the blink of an eye, we will be gone. The rest of humanity will face the worst God has to offer them. What is that? The absence of His presence. He will let them loose to face themselves without restraint of evil.
Can you imagine a world with no restraint on evil? Our world is a pretty wicked place right now, but there is still a strangle hold on evil for the sake of God’s faithful. God’s spirit is still in control of this place. He hold reign over Satan and his minions and will not let them loose to do as they please. But imagine if He opened the gates and let Satan do whatever he wished for a time.
We think about some of those seemingly soulless people we imprison for the rest of their lives – serial killers, serial rapists, those with no conscience that seem to thrive on the performance of evil and terror against others. Imagine a world full of those people running loose to do whatever they choose. That’s the world after the faithful are taken home with Christ.
There is coming a day when Jesus returns to take His faithful home. The question to ponder today, Will I be part of the crowd His heavenly messengers gather to be with Him, or part of the crowd left behind? It’s my choice as to which side I’m on. He’s ready to take Me with Him on that day fateful day, if I just repent and follow Him today.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 24:23-28 Jesus: I cannot say this clearly enough: during this time, someone will say to you, “Look, here is the Anointed One!” or “Aren’t you relieved? Haven’t you seen the Savior down there, around the bend, over the hill and dale?” Do not believe them. False liberators and false prophets will appear, and they will know a few tricks—they will perform great miracles, and they will make great promises. If it were possible, they would even deceive God’s elect. But I am warning you ahead of time: remember—do not fall for their lies or lines or promises. If someone says, “He’s out there in the desert”—do not go. And if someone says, “He’s here at our house, at our table”—do not believe him. When the Son of Man comes, He will be as visible as lightning in the East is visible even in the West. And where the carcass is, there will always be vultures.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
My wife and I were fortunate enough to purchase land the day our subdivision opened lots for sale and chose the highest lot in the neighborhood. From our backyard we can see the Tower of the Americas in downtown San Antonio, twenty miles away. From the front of the house we can see the city of Boerne eight miles away. The vista is beautiful. We see miles in every direction from our little piece of the world.
One other thing happens on the top of this hill, though, that I really enjoy. I kind of like thunderstorms. In thunderstorm, we see lightning strikes everywhere around us. We’ve never been hit by lightning, but because we can see so far in the distance, when thunderstorms hit, we see them forever. The skies are bright for a long time as they advance toward us and as they retreat from us. Especially in the middle of the night, the light shows are magnificent.
Some of you might think I’m a little crazy because I think storms are so beautiful. My dog thinks so. He’s terrified of storms and hides when they come around. But I’ve always enjoyed watching them. The shear power and majesty hidden in the clouds helps me recognize once again the absolute authority God has over this earth.
But those thunderstorms also remind me of these verses in Matthew and Paul’s description of Jesus’ coming again in 1 Corinthians 15. Jesus says everyone will know of His return. Like lightning in the East is visible in the West. That’s the way it is on my hilltop. Sometimes I don’t know where the lightning is, I just know it’s really bright because it stuck somewhere around us and whole sky lit up when it did.
That’s how it will be when Jesus returns he says. His coming will be like lightning. Paul says it will happen in the blink of an eye. Just think about how fast the blink of an eye. It’s measured in milliseconds. And just that fast, Jesus will come, take His redeemed with Him and be gone at the rapture. That’s fast. It’s like a lightning strike He says. Ever try to capture a lightning strike on film. You almost have to take a move and then capture the one or two frames within the movie on which the strike occurs. If you wait to push the button to activate the lens when you see the strike, you will already have missed it. That’s how fast Jesus’ return will be.
So I don’t listen to anyone who says, “Follow me, I’m the one.” There are a bunch of them out there, though. Some of you are old enough to remember Jim Jones and the purple cool-aid. Then there was David Koresh and the Waco bunch. Those made national news, but they are not the only self proclaimed messiah’s in the world. Lots of people follow lots of false messiahs who tell them what they want to hear. They give them false hope or tickle their ears with good sounding words, but end up eternally with the same fate as those in Waco and Jonestown. Death. But spiritual death. Eternal death.
But if Jesus’ return will be as quick as lightning, no one who sticks around longer than a couple of milliseconds is Him. That should be our first clue about anyone who claims they are the anointed one, the messiah, God’s special messenger come to take us home. If we would just read God’s word and understand what it says, we could not be fooled by such cult leaders who get so full of themselves they can’t see past their ego and then blind others with what they think is their wonderful message. It’s only more garbage.
Remember that lightning analogy Jesus uses? Remember that blink of an eye analogy Paul uses? It won’t take long for Jesus to take His own home with Him. Everyone will see Him, just like I can see the light from thunderstorms light up the sky all around my house no matter which direction the strikes happen. They are so brief, but in that moment, they turn the night into day. And just that quickly, one day I’ll be caught up in the air with Him when He comes again.
