June 10, 2008

It’s not going to get any better

Perilous Times – America has been blessed throughout its brief history.  America has only been a country for 232 years.  In fact, The Roman Empire had a 200 year run of total peace called the Pax Romana. 

We have had God’s hand on us for most of our run and I say most of our run because America has forsaken the Lord in the last few decades.  Abortion, gay marriage, permissicuity, evolution, and religion are some of the things that have basically replaced God.  What I mean by replacing God has to do with saying God I don’t want to worship you anymore but instead I want to do my own thing and worship has to be replaced with something so we replaced serving God wholehearted with lies.  We would rather believe lies then serve the Living God in America.

The number one god in America is the almighty dollar.  I know we need money to survive but at what cost.  Is it really worth it to work work work so you could have just a little bit bigger house, a little nicer car, an extra vacation, and all the latest toys when your family is crumbing because you are never with each other to build a great family. 

We are too busy working for the American dream to have time for our family let alone to be serving the Lord Jesus Christ.  And we are a Christian Nation the last I heard.  In my humble opinion, we haven’t been a Christian Nation since the Pilgrims landed in our country.  We can say our four fathers were all about God but were they?  Yes they believed the Bible as God’s Word but it takes more than just believing the Bible is God’s Word, you have to follow the God of the Bible and serve Him only.  Have we ever done that?  If you took the time to find out what our four fathers were into, you would tremble and say Jesus have mercy on our country. 

America is blessed no doubt but we have some terrible times ahead of us.  It’s not going to get any better.  I put gas last week in my car and it cost $4.50 gallon or so and I put gas again yesterday and it was $4.61 a gallon.  Gas increased eleven cents in less than a week and it’s not going to get any better. 

Food has been skyrocketing as well.  Milk has jumped at least one dollar in the last few months.  Eggs have gone up along with bread.  It’s says in the book of Revelations that a loaf of bread is going to cost a day’s wages in the last days.  My friend that day is not far from us.  It’s not going to get any better.  What we need to do is repent of our sins, get closer to Jesus, and trust that He will get us through these perilous times.  All of these things are a part of the last days.  These are birth pains the Bible says.  Jesus talked about the signs of the times and the end of the age in Matthew chapter 24.  As we look at this chapter, The Lord told the disciples what to look out for in the last days and these warnings are for all of us to look out for as well.

Matthew 24:3-14 (New King James Version)

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

3 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?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all[a]these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,[b] and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 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.

In verse 3, Jesus is letting the disciples know what will happen at the end of the age.  Jesus is discussing the end times with the disciples.  The disciples ask two things here, the first, when will these things be meaning we want to know the time and the second thing being what will be Your sign or what sign will You give us before You come back 

They were concerned about what was going to happen and they wanted to be ready for the Lord’s return.  We can learn a lot from their concern.  We need to be ready as well but in our time we are too busy about now to think about the end.  I shudder at the thought of having an entire generation that doesn’t give many thoughts about the next life which is where we will really live.  Rick Warren said in the Purpose Driven Life, “there are only two choices where we will spend eternity.”  Basically, Rick Warren is saying this life is preparation for the next so as we live our thoughts should be on God and when He will come back so we can be ready.  There is going to be lots of people not ready for the Lord’s return and of these people, many of them will be so called believers in Christ. 

In verses 4 through 14, Jesus gives clear signs to look for during the end times.  These are warnings that Jesus is giving to all who will listen and follow after Him; these are the beginning of birth pains.  Jesus never told us the specific date or time He would return but He gives us signs to look for if we are looking.  Jesus is not hiding His return so there is no excuse if we are not ready. 

Jesus says watch out for false prophets and false Christ claiming to be Him.  He says they will deceive many including you if you are not prepared.  Jesus says watch out because deception can overtake anyone.  Jesus says there will be wars and rumors of wars but to not be troubled by that because the end is still to come.  He says nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom meaning civil war within countries and big countries attacking little countries because they can. 

Jesus says there will famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  Africa is decimated by famine and there have been earthquakes in the Chicago area recently.  What Jesus is saying is the chaos on our planet will be happening everywhere all in the same season.  I know we can think to ourselves and say these things have anyways happened but earthquakes happening all around especially in places that never have earthquakes.  Earthquakes almost never happen in the Midwest but lately they have.  Could we be in the last days?  If we are, doesn’t mean we go live under a rock, it means let’s get closer to Jesus and be all we can be for Him now so we can advance the Kingdom mightily.  Live life like Jesus is coming back any minute but continue to be productive and plan for the long haul on earth.  It’s all about the attitude of our heart.  There is balance in life and if our heart is right, God will show us the balance in life. 

Jesus also gives some bad news to true believers.  He says they will hate you, deliver you up to tribulation, and ultimately kill you because of you following Me.  That is bad news but to the true believer that is good news to be counted worthy to be persecuted for the name of Jesus Christ.  To die for Jesus is truly an honor.  I wonder sometimes what will be my end and will I be ready to endure a martyr’s death for Jesus Christ.  I like to believe I would be ready for that and I pray you will be ready for that as well.  It’s not going to get any better.

Jesus says that betray, and hatred for one another will increase in these terrible times.  People will basically just hate one another and won’t even think twice about betraying one another.  Again, The Lord says again that false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  I can think of all the false religions in the world and how they are thought of as the truth deceiving many people.  It seems like in our time, the only religion people think is false is Christianity and every other one is the so called truth.  It’s the opposite today and that is a lie from the pit of hell and we know who is behind that abomination. 

Jesus says that love will grow cold amongst people because of the rise of lawlessness.  What is good will be thought of as evil and what is evil will be thought of as good.  Chaos will cause people to grow cold because there is no absolute truth.  Oh people will think everything is okay but it’s far from okay and we don’t want to hear that anymore. 

Jesus says he who endures to the end shall be saved.   How can you endure if you don’t have a clue it is the end or you don’t want to believe there is actually an end and it’s not going to get any better. 

The true sign of the end of the age is the preaching of the gospel in the entire world as a witness to all nations.  With technology being so advanced, literally, the gospel can almost reach the entire planet at any given time.  We are not quite there yet with the gospel being preached everywhere but it’s coming sooner than you think.  May it be soon because even though it’s not going to get any better here on earth, I heard it’s going to be pretty good in heaven.  To God be all the glory.

The Challenge – Start getting closer to Jesus and fall madly in love with Him again because that is the only way to be ready for what is about to hit the world.

Remember, don’t lose heart because God is not asking you to live behind a rock but if it comes to that point, God loves you so much to give you signs to prepare you for the end of the age and with Him, you can make it through anything.  It’s not going to get any better on earth but when you are done here, life is just beginning for you.

Be Blessed,

Joey

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