Thursday, April 7, 2011

April 8, 2011

"Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."   Matthew 24:1-14

Have you noticed that dire predictions about the future are being issued by politicians, environmentalists, talk-show hosts, sociologists, theologians, economists, movie producers, educators, and bloggers world-wide?

Rarely do these folks agree on anything but all agree that the future does not appear especially bright. There is a prevailing sense of doom permeating our planet. You really only need a casual knowledge of history to know how unregenerate human beings are bent toward self-destruction.

So, whose predictions should we pay attention to? Whose advice should we heed?

You make the call for yourself, but when I plan my future I will get my information from the One Who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Who better to depend for end-time advice than the One Who stands apart from time and sees the whole continuum of history? Afterall, history is HIS STORY!

Also, His track record is perfect! Everything that He has predicted has happened or is in the process of unfolding. What He forecasted to His disciples in this portion of Scripture did, in fact, happen. And the suffering He said would come, happened to Him! While His prophecies are dire like all of the other predictions, His have a happy ending!

So, as you look for someone to believe about the future, trust Him for your predictions! And, oh, by the way. Also trust Him for your protection!

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:1-3