Is it me, or does the chatter in the world regarding the second coming of Jesus seem to be intensifying? I don’t know; I’m over 50 years old and I guess I remember people predicting the end-time events even then. One year after I was born, Hal Lindsey came out with his best-selling book, The Late Great Planet Earth, where he looked at what he viewed as biblical prophecies that would point to the beginning of the end.
Men have been doing this for centuries, and if the Father withholds His Son from returning, they will be predicting Jesus’ return for centuries from now. But here’s the reality: One day, someone may be right in their prediction. Not because they know anything, but because someone just may pick a date from the carousel of prophets who may just get lucky. Here is what we know for certain:
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36 ESV).
The day of the end will be chosen by the Father, and the Father only. The problem with man, is that we want to know everything we can about the end, so we grasp at any verse and make it say what we want it to say. Some read the Bible and see the rapture, a time of tribulation and the battle between Jesus and His army vs Satan and his army, where Satan will be defeated and Jesus will reign over the earth for 1000 years on a throne in Israel.
Others think that the 1000 years (literal or figurative) of plenty and prosperity for the Kingdom of God on earth will immediately precede the coming of Jesus. Still, others do not believe that there is a 1000-year reign of Jesus on earth, but that Jesus began to reign when He ascended to His Father and will continue to reign on the throne of David.
These are very high-level views, and to be fair, people believe in nuanced versions of these basic views, so it would be unfair to push people into one of these broad views. But my point is that there seems to be something in man that wants to figure out that which only the Father knows, namely, how can we know when Jesus will return?
The problem with trying to figure out hints of when Jesus will return, is that the whole basis of “end times prophecies” forget one important and consistent teaching of Jesus regarding His promised return: Namely, when it happens, it will come as a thief in the night, with no warning:
“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” (Revelation 16:15 ESV).
And
“But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.
Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:43-44 ESV).
And
“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2 ESV).
As the Lord says in Matthew 24, since we don’t know when He will return, we need to be ready. And that’s the point. Once the end times events start, and Jesus does return, only those who are ready and watching will be prepared. There will be no death-bed confessions; there will be no opportunities to follow Him. Only those who are waiting and watching will be found prepared for His return.
Perhaps the Father has chosen a fixed date, and when that date gets here, He will send His Son. Or perhaps the Father has a condition chosen and once that condition is met, He will send His Son back. I know some wonder if He is waiting until there is no one left to repent and that’s when He will send His Son back, much like it was in the days of Noah.
Speculating what will precipitate the return of Jesus is just that… speculation. The truth is that only one being knows when this event will happen, and He’s not telling. So where does that leave us? It means that we will need to be ready for His return now. As much as I would love to believe in a rapture where I would have the chance for a “do-over” if I were left behind, I do not see any evidence of people getting a do-over during a tribulation period.
What I see is that Jesus is waiting for His Father to say, “Go, get Your bride.” And when that happens, we need to be His bride and we need to be waiting and watching for our Bridegroom’s return:
“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:7-9 ESV).
So, we will never know what the events are that will precipitate the return of Jesus. What we do know is that the return is imminent. He is returning someday, and when He does, it will be as a thief in the night. Only those who are found watching and waiting, as a bride adorned for her Bridegroom, will be taken home with Him. And there will be no second chances. We only have the here and now to prepare for eternity with Him. Let’s be ready when the Father says to our Bridegroom, “Go, and bring your bride home.”
“For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3 ESV).
So, if we mess up in our walk with Jesus, we have a choice to make.
We can either give up because we feel that we just can’t do it, so why try?
Or we can brush ourselves off, get back up and put our hand back into the hand of Jesus.
We’d do anything to help up our own children when they fall, making sure they don’t give up.
How much more is the perfect Father of us all waiting for us, with His hands outstretched, for us to get back up and keep moving forward?
If we walk away from the Lord, then it’s our choice. God is patient enough to work with us as long as it takes for us to overcome sin through His grace, as long as we are willing, and we don’t give up.
“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 ESV).
Genesis 44 is a chapter of repentance. It’s a chapter that shows growth and a willingness to do what is right, even if that means you will suffer for it. Let me set the stage…
Joseph was hated by his brothers, and they sacrificed him by selling him into slavery. They presented his blood-soaked coat of many colors to their father who concluded that a wild animal had killed Joseph. Decades later, a famine hit the land, and the family heard that the only place that had food was Egypt. So, the boys went to buy food. Little did they know that their brother, Joseph, was the leader of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself.
On their second trip to buy more food, they have Joseph’s younger brother with them. Joseph tests the brothers, who still do not recognize that he is Joseph, by putting his personal cup into Benjamin’s sack and then sending his men out to find the planted stolen goods.
When Joseph’s official overtakes them and makes the charge of theft against them, they become indignant and tell the official that if one of them has the cup, that brother would die and the rest would become slaves in Egypt. But the official says that only the guilty would be punished.
Of course, the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. And here is where we see the repentance and change of heart. Would these brother’s sacrifice their younger brother and leave him in Egyptian slavery as they had done Joseph, saving themselves by sacrificing another brother? The official gave them every chance to do this by telling them that all but Benjamin were free to go. What did the brother’s do?
“Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.” (Genesis 44:13 ESV).
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They all went back together, demonstrating that they would not commit the same sin that they committed with Joseph. They did what was right, even though it might cost each of them their lives or their freedom. Verse 13 is a microcosm of the wonderful journey of repentance and redemption that we see in the family of Joseph.
No matter what our past, there is room for the Word of God to transform us into something better than what we are. The past can be just that- the past- if we let the Word into our heart and pave the way for repentance and change in our lives.
Do you feel burdened by a sin that weighs you down? Release it through a true repentance and be set free by the power of Jesus’ Word in you. It can change you and make you someone that He wants you to be. None of us have to be held captive by sin or our past. We see it in the brothers of Joseph, and the same truth can be ours today.
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32 ESV).
I believe in the power of prayer. I believe it can accomplish tremendous things.
Recently, I have been on a productivity spree like none other in my life.
I purchased and assembled patio furniture, lights, and I am looking at starting some new yard and landscaping projects.
I have coordinated a number of purchase returns and replacements.
I have helped to proactively take care of Ryder to ensure that his mother is uninterrupted during both illnesses and times of intense work scheduled.
I have taken care of extended family needs that came up unexpectedly.
The last few weeks of my life have been the most productive of my life, and I am still moving forward in a strong way with more future plans.
At first, I felt proud of myself for this new-found energy and productivity. But yesterday, when I was in the car with my wife, something hit me hard, because this is so unlike me. I turned to my wife and asked in all seriousness…
“Have you been saying any specific prayers about me lately?”
I believe in the power of prayer, even if the prayers are from someone else that may impact me in answer to their prayers.
I never did get a straight answer from my wife, but I’m not complaining. I’m enjoying this new-found productivity!
Have you ever wondered why God made the universe so massive? With 200 billion trillion (200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) estimated stars, it hurts our head just trying to think about such a large number.
And with the distance in space from one end of the universe to the other end so expansive that we will never be able to travel or explore even a minute part of it, why so big?
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1b ESV).
God created something so grand for His own glory. If He is the Creator, how can anyone walk away from any other conclusion but that He is a mighty and powerful Being full of glory? And to accentuate this, the Psalmist says,
“He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.” (Psalm 147:4 ESV).
Every single one of them. All 200 billion trillion of them.
Yet, our Creator knows this as well:
“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7 ESV).
So, if God knows every star in the massive universe He created, how wonderful and glorious is it that He is immensely interested in this small blue speck of a planet where He pours out His grace upon the insignificantly small being that He created in His image?
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4 ESV).
And that is the most glorious thing about God in my humble opinion. He created a mind-blowing, massive universe for His glory and still is intimately aware of me and every hair He made on my body.
That is my God!
Today’s post is a little different from most. It’s more of an admonition than an encouraging post. And I fully expect many people not to agree with me on the premise, but it’s something I feel compelled to share.
According to the Atlantic (June 23rd, 2014), an Ohio State University research study found that men think of sex on average 19 times a day. While some of those thoughts may be wholesome thoughts between a man and woman in marriage, it’s not a stretch to conclude that many of those thoughts are of an impure nature.
While other studies found different results, it’s obvious that men think about sex a lot, and research is bearing out that this isn’t only a male problem. If we are not careful, we can accept these behaviors as natural and just part of how we are made.
But the truth is that God did not make us to sin. Jesus says,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28 ESV).
Rather, we need to be putting the building blocks of pure things into our hearts. What we watch, what we listen to, what we read, what we say, where we go… all of these things will put in the raw material that will determine what we think about 19 times a day.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8 ESV).
I wonder what the people in the days of Noah chose to put into their hearts? Whatever it was, it had a devastating result that brought about judgment upon them from the Lord:
“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5 ESV).
Before we get too comfortable saying that thinking about sex 19 times a day is just natural, let’s remember that we will only think about what we put in our hearts. Whether it is good or evil, it is only natural to think about what we choose to consume in our hearts and minds.
Happy Father’s Day to my Dad. He instilled a faith in me that didn’t just teach me the family religion but he taught me how to seek after God. When I went out on my own and struggled with God, the lessons he taught me kept me grounded in what was important.
I hope that one day my own children will look at me the same way I look at my father.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for giving me bread and fish when I was going after going after serpents and stones.
If you want to get the most out of the book of Job, take the time to read it straight through in one sitting. If you jump in the middle of a speech given by a main character, you may walk away with the wrong message.
Job is adamant about his innocence and tries to make sense of his circumstances without sinning against God. However, he is harsh against his friends and at times he is very sarcastic. Without reading through the book, it would be easy to miss these touches of sarcasm and accusations.
Job is a man who is wrestling with his worldview that is being shattered by his current circumstances. And his friends are not making it easy by trying to get him to admit to fault in something that he knows he isn’t guilty of.
Have you felt this way before? Are you struggling with something that is testing the way you think about how the world works, especially a world where you know that God is sovereign?
If so, why not set aside a couple of hours and read Job in a way that you may never have read it before? You may be surprised at the insights you might walk away with.
Thought Question: Do you have a standard that you bring to the Bible, and as long as the Bible fits your standard, you follow the Bible,
Or do you learn the standard of the Bible, then apply your beliefs and practices to the Holy standard?
This small distinction in words makes all the difference in our lives.