Our Father
Who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be… Thy Name,
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth, as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day
Our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors,
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power
and the glory forever.
Amen
This was a particularly hard post to write. I asked the Lord what I should put in it. I feel, personally, God is speaking and what He wants us to know pertains both to what is happening now and what will happen, as it is written in His Word. It may sound harsh in places, but my hope is to draw you closer to Him because He is our refuge in times of trouble.
Each day we wake up and listen to what the news has to say about what happened overnight.
Then we go off to work and worry that the sky is falling.
Then later that evening they watch TV with programs depicting a secular world where immorality, profanity, LGBTQ activists are portrayed in every program as if all this was normal and completely desirable. Which over time all filter down to our culture and consciousness influencing our very thoughts and actions trying to reshape our beliefs. I’m having a hard time finding programs, even those I used to like, due to content, disturbing and at times hard to continue watching. Day after day we are inundated with messages that contradict Gods Word.
But all in all these are some of the signs of the times.
The signs of the times are directing us right to the Great Day of the Lord.
What is the “Great Day of the Lord”? This Great Day is the day of worldwide judgment. It’s the day the Lord gets angry and declares an intervention, not just to judge the wicked on this earth, but to deliver those who love Him and continue to seek Him and who promote what is right in our corrupt society.
Let me draw your attention to some of the signs of the times which inevitably lead up to that “Great Day of the Lord”.
When you look at the world as a whole, what do you see and hear?
Over the centuries of the world we’ve had people who want to rule supreme, such as Germany with Adolf Hitler, China with Mao Zedong, and Cuba’s Fidel Castro where communism left the people trapped and treated as lesser human beings.
In 2020 we also have people who want a one-world government and will try their level best in bringing down their own countries to kneel to them, with promises to give everyone everything they need, as long as we tow the correct party line, without God, with a focus that they think they know more than He does.
History is hurtling toward a global conflict and the Middle East is ground zero. But——that’s just what is predicted in our Bible. Over past times for example Noah’s day, God was disappointed with the way people were living with the increase of wickedness and violence and decided to start over by bringing a flood over the earth and start fresh with a family such as Noah’s who lived according to God and walked with Him. The times we live in are just as bad as in Noah’s day.
There was a point in time when God went silent for 400 years and didn’t speak again to His people until He decided to say one more Word by sending His Son Jesus to die for all, that whoever put their trust in Jesus would have an abundant life ever after.
So when we read the papers and hear the news about the disasters and floods, and hurricanes and pestilence and wars, why should we be surprised as the Bible depicts all of this will happen. For instance in Matthew 24:3-8 and Mark 13:5-8 Jesus tells us, “…. ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors or wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginnings of sorrows.” Just the beginning.
- Deceivers – people who lie to us. Deception will run rampant. Multitudes of people will be deceived, hoping for stability and direction in difficult times.
- The wars are ethnic and territorial conflicts. We see these now in the Middle East especially.
- We will have famines and pestilences. In Africa today, in 2020, locusts are destroying crops. And now we have a virus known as Coronavirus spreading throughout all countries.
- The earthquakes like never before are killing hundreds, not just shaking the ground.
All these things we are experiencing in the world today, are just a back-drop of what is to come but with more intensity, before Jesus’ return draws near. Lawlessness, 1 John 3:4, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” God is holding back the one who will unleash lawlessness like never before…I don’t want to be around for that.
Then violence, everyday there is another shooting, or stabbing, someone is doing harm to another. What is it that makes people so angry at each other?
Then we have the love of money. All that money you think you’ll need one day will come to nothing, as money will be worthless. Ezekiel 7:19 reads like this, “They will throw their silver into the streets and their gold will be like refuse; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they will not satisfy their souls, nor fill their stomachs, because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.” When the evil one is unleashed, the Antichrist will declare that money will be useless and unless you receive his mark, you will not be able to buy or sell anything. Those who do not receive the mark will surely die. Those, however, who do accept the mark will be owned by Satan and will never enter the Kingdom of God. Revelation 13:16-17, “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” But God provides us with knowledge, so we don’t accept this mark by telling us in v. 18, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”
God wants us to be ready and aware of this and be comforted in that when we have Jesus at the core of our being and we are His children then we will be saved from such atroscity. Revelation 14:9-11, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength in to the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” This isn’t me making up stories here, this is the Word of God. The Book of Revelation may read like a Si-Fi novel but it’s words are warnings and instruction and comfort to us that He is in control and we need not worry.
None of these things should trouble Gods people, because God is in control and what He has ordained as we know through His Word, the Bible, will come to pass. God’s plans for the whole human race and the universe as a whole.
When you see people who claim to be Christian – cursing and angry and shouting hateful things – know this – they are not of God – they are souls in turmoil and need restoration and reconciliation with the Lord. Don’t believe them – seek out the truth in Jesus and you will see the Christian who really follows Him.
As media reports on this latest virus fill our TV screens, airwaves, news feeds and inboxes, pray and seek God’s guidance in the days ahead. We need to ask God for His wisdom, help, and provision. During times like these, Christians are specifically called to walk by faith. When you don’t know what the future holds, remember Who holds the future. Gods Word gives assurance from the past, peace in the present and hope for the future. It strengthens, encourages and comforts those who love Him. If you don’t know Jesus but want to, I encourage you to heartfelt sincerity pray this little prayer and ask Him into your heart. He loves you so!
Know that when adversity comes, and it will,
we have to trust the One who holds our times in His hands.
If His eye is on the sparrow, it’s most definitely on us too!
As the song goes “Don’t Worry….Be Happy! We are covered in God’s love always.
One another note…anyone interested in “What Does The Bible Teach About Pestilence, Plagues, and Global Pandemics?” here is a factsheet prepared by Joel C. Rosenberg, which you may find interesting https://www.joshuafund.com/downloads/FACTSHEET-BibleAndPandemics.