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The Blessing: Australia

More From Matthew 24: The Last Days

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places. All these are the beginnings of sorryow.” Matthew 24:7-8 KJV version.

As we can see from this warning from Jesus, war is not enough. It must be accompanied by other things such as “pestilences, famines and earthquakes in diverse places”

We’re not there yet. We may be heading there. We may even be heading there soon. While pestlence does refer to disease, it’s still only one part of the Bible verse. Is a famine coming, maybe. Some even say probably. But it’s not here yet.

So what should we do?

Prepare, Watch and Pray 🙂

The Blessing: Russia

Not A Moment Too Soon :)

A friend sent this to me. It was so good, I just had to pass it on 🙂

“Did you know that your personal example to others IS VERY important? That your single voice, actions, and fervent prayers make a HUGE difference for others? One does not need to spend a lot of energy to witness these facts in our past and present, with their ripples of impact in our future on this earth. The struggle between both good and evil have long been battled in history. Many moments occurred when good was attempted to be “canceled” by evil. God’s Word captured SO many over and over, recorded for ALL the opportunity to witness. Only through God’s Mercy and Grace was evil trampled over by good. Many were “turning points” and involved “Great Awakenings” of our Heavenly Father’s Holy Spirit, Stirring in the hearts of His Children in action. Without a doubt, Jesus Christ’s suffering, death, and Resurrection IS our greatest Turning Point in history! With the Power of the Holy Spirit being given them, His disciples became His Instruments, after His Resurrection, for the Great Commission. Jesus came and spoke to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:16-20)

Did His disciples face hardships in going out, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and fighting evil? ABSOLUTELY!! Evil attempted to “cancel” them out and stop their voices and actions from being heard and felt. Through God’s Strength and Courage they were given, they shared Him with others with even MORE compassion, caring, and enthusiasm! While many in these times feel like their voices are being suppressed and threatened by evil, are there not any better examples to follow than His disciples? NO! Did you think that being silent against evil works? NO! Can you imagine the world now, without the Gospel of Jesus Christ being spread throughout the earth? NOT GOOD! Truly, it will not become any easier to speak out and stand up against evil. The longer evil goes without resistance, the stronger evil will become. Upon accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, being sent His Holy Spirit, you have been made to be His disciple to observe and take action in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Growing in Him and He in you, you no longer have an excuse to be silent against evil. NOW IS THE TIME!, and not a moment too soon!!

My thoughts and prayers are that you be a Good Example of Jesus Christ. That you are NOT silent, even when evil attempts to “cancel” you out of the picture for good. That you receive His Courage and Strength to fight the Good Fight in the Whole Armor of God! That you fervently pray for God’s Mercy and Grace! That you will hear when He calls you Home to be with Him forever and ever, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace”

Matthew 24: 3-6 The Beginning of the End Times

Only the Father knows when the End Times will truly begin, but Jesus did point out some signs for us to watch for…

In Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked Jesus to share with them what the signs would be. And Jesus answered them, “Take heed that no man deceive you. Jesus goes on to say that many will pretend to be Him and that there will be “wars and rumors of wars”. But Jesus goes on to say, that the “end is not yet”.

He tells us not to be “troubled”.

So clearly wars, in and of themselves, are not a sign that the End Times are here. There have always been wars and rumors of wars. And sadly, there probably always will be. But they are not a sign of the End Times. And if the Bible says it-it’s true!

Trust Jesus, He knows 🙂

The End Times: When & How?

Christians have studied Matthew 24 for centuries in an attempt to figure out when exactly the “Last Days” will arrive. But if there is one thing that is clear, only God our Father knows…

But Jesus did give us some clues that we can look for :). And this next series will attempt to explore some of them.

So let’s talk about what is perhaps the most important comment. In Matthew 24 it seems to imply that “even the elect may be deceived”. Clearly, it is important that we not be deceived by the world or by the many false Messiahs…But how can we protect ourselves from that?

There are three ways! The first is to pray to the Holy Spirit that we will always see the truth-God’s Truth. The second is to read the Bible. When Christ comes again, He will not contradict what God has written :). And lastly, in verse 30 & 31 in Matthew Chapter 24, it says:

“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

Blessed are we that is very clear that we won’t miss Christ’s Return 🙂

Anger At God Really Comes From Fear!

There are many who are angry at God right now. They question why He doesn’t “fix” things. Make the Covid-19 virus go away. Make the riots stop. Right the country. But God gave us free will. We, ourselves, get to choose our own path. And right now, some are making very poor choices.

It’s okay for us to feel anger at the situation. But we need to keep talking to God about it. Tell Him how we feel! Believe me, He understands! And when we feel those angry feelings rising up, we need to recognize them for what they are-feelings. And as my Dad used to say, feelings lie. We know the Truth-We just need to remember it-God uses all things, even the bad things, to the good of those who love Him.

Also, this isn’t Heaven! In Heaven, all will be perfect. There will be nothing to fear! And although this isn’t Heaven yet, one day we will be in Heaven together, and we need to hold onto that 🙂

And we also need to understand why we feel angry. The root of all anger is fear. There are some who are afraid that if bad things are happening, that means that God does not love them. Nothing could be further from the truth! God loves us!

In the Bible it warns that we “will have troubles”. Jesus warned us of this so that when the “troubles” came, we would would not fear and we would know that He still loves us. All of us!

Do not fear my friends, Jesus has it all in hand, even our “troubles” and He loves us all-each and every one.

While There Is Much Too Fear From The Last Days-There Is Also Much To Hope In!

“ And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”-Daniel 12:1 KJV

Much has been written about the Last Days. But even in the passages that strike great fear in even the most faithful, there are passages of hope.

Such is the case in Daniel 12:1. We are the “children of the people” that this passage talks about. Archangel Michael comes to “stand for us”, to protect to us. Sent by God Himself because He loves us. Clearly there will be times of great trouble, but our Lord will not forget His people-nor their faith in Him.

And we will “be delivered”, for those who have truly accepted Jesus as their Savior WILL be “written in the book”. So hang in there!

Prayers will still be heard and answered. And God will still love us. And we will go to Heaven. Even in the Last Days.

A Warning For All!

From https://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Amos/Amos%20Chapter%204.html:

“Verses 6-11: Past warnings were futile, a fact repeatedly emphasized by “Yet you have not returned to Me” (verses 6, 8-11).

Before confronting sinners in final judgment, God has often used drastic measures, in this case, famine (4:6), drought (4:7-8), the devastation of crops (4:9), plague (4:10, and warfare (4:10); in an effort to get people’s attention and bring them to repentance. Still, Israel would not return to Him. Every person must “prepare to meet … God”, either as loving father or as divine Judge (Heb. 10:31; Rev. 20:15).”

We love messages of God’s Mercy, and this, believe it or not, is a Great Mercy. Because God loves us, He warns us. We must turn back to Him or face the consequences…

For a list of some of God’s previous warnings, read Amos 4. Although this happened in the Old Testament, that does not mean it will not happen today.

While we can’t control what others choose, we can control what we choose.

“And as for me and my house-we will serve the Lord. I hope you to choose to do so too ?

May Revival Start With Me!

We all, no matter how faithful, have room to grow. Whether there is a sin we need to rid ourselves of, or that we just need to grow in our love for our Lord and all of His people-there’s always room to grow in our faith.

I heard an interesting thing once, “if we expect others to believe what we believe, than we best believe it ourselves”! It makes one think…

If we truly believe that Heaven awaits only those who accept Jesus as their Savior, than we must share that knowledge with others. If we truly believe that there is one God, and only one God, that can protect us, than we must share that as well! And if we truly believe that the Holy Spirit has come to be our Comforter and Friend, than if we love others, we need to share that!

Because if we truly believe all of that, and if we truly believe the only way to Heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ, than we don’t want to leave anyone behind 🙂

As for Revival, we must pray that it starts with each of us. Let us love God and all God’s people with our whole heart and soul. May the Holy Spirit fill our hearts with that love and the courage to share it, for we were born for such a time as this.