lots and lots on end times…

wondering why there is so much being posted on end times today on my blog?

on sunday night i am speaking to our young adults service about on the topic of end times.

its been fun reading the Word about end times and i find my heart inspired and excited afresh by all that God is doing and will do the the glorious promise of victory and just how powerful Jesus Christ is!  it fills my heart with hope and faith knowing that i am a child of this King, that i am part of this victorious kingdom!

the end times is a bit weird and wonderful and i shy away from saying this is this and that is that, but my  message is a call to be faithful and endure and trust God and to make sure our names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life, to be ready and let others know what is going on…  to be alert and faithful.

i always appreciate prayers, esp when i am preaching, because i am jsut is vessel.  i the other day was thinking that in a way i am just the lens of a torch, a flashlight.  i am just the piece of glass that the light shines through and i reflect or project the light out – the bulb, the electircity is what makes the light, the lens does not make the light, it shines the light out.  i want to shine the light of God and his truth and message out to those around me.

People Get Ready

I believe that in the heart of every believer, since the very first disciples, God has placed within us all a longing for the return of Jesus as mighty King.  In every generation since the first church they have declared that Jesus is coming soon.  They were not mistaken.  They were not deceived.  They were drawing near to God and hearing his heartbeat for the redemption of the world.  Our soon is closer than their soon.  The signs are there.  Open your eyes and look and believe and trust God and live in the light and be ready.  Be ready.  Have your name in the book and take as many other people as possible.

We Talk of End Times….

“We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first.” — Oswald J. Smith

End Times Victory

The LORD will have his day. And when it comes, everything that was ever taken from Jerusalem will be returned and divided among its people. But first, he will bring many nations to attack Jerusalem–homes will be robbed, women raped, and half of the population dragged off, though the others will be allowed to remain.  The LORD will attack those nations like a warrior fighting in battle. He will take his stand on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem, and the mountain will split in half, forming a wide valley that runs from east to west. Then you people will escape from the LORD’s mountain, through this valley, which reaches to Azal. You will run in all directions, just as everyone did when the earthquake struck in the time of King Uzziah of Judah. Afterwards, the LORD my God will appear with his holy angels. It will be a bright day that won’t turn cloudy. And the LORD has decided when it will happen–this time of unending day. In both summer and winter, life-giving streams will flow from Jerusalem, half of them to the Dead Sea in the east and half to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Then there will be only one LORD who rules as King and whose name is worshiped everywhere on earth.   Zecharian 14:1-9

Thrones were set up

while I was watching,

and the Eternal God took his place.

His clothing and his hair

were white as snow.

His throne was a blazing fire

with fiery wheels,

¹⁰and flames were dashing out

from all around him.

Countless thousands

were standing there

to serve him.

The time of judgment began,

and the books were opened. I watched closely to see what would happen to this smaller horn because of the arrogant things it was saying. Then before my very eyes, the fourth beast was killed and its body destroyed by fire. The other three beasts had their authority taken from them, but they were allowed to live a while longer. As I continued to watch the vision that night, I saw what looked like

a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven,

and he was presented

to the Eternal God.

He was crowned king

and given power and glory,

so that all people

of every nation and race

would serve him.

He will rule forever,

and his kingdom is eternal,

never to be destroyed.

Daniel 7:9-14

I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea. Then I saw New Jerusalem, that holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband.  I heard a loud voice shout from the throne:

God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people.  He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.

Then the one sitting on the throne said:

I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted. Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty. All who win the victory will be given these blessings. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  Revelation 21:1-7

I Believe In End Times

“We are to expect the literal advent of Jesus Christ, for he himself by his angel told us, ‘This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven,’ WHICH MUST MEAN LITERALLY AND IN PERSON. We expect a reigning Christ on earth; that seems to us to be very plain, and to be put so literally that we dare not spiritualize it.

“We anticipate a first and a second resurrection; a first resurrection of the righteous, and a second resurrection of the ungodly, who shall be judged, condemned, and punished for ever by the sentence of the great King

“We foresee from the word, despite its obscurity, that strange and wonderful events will happen, such as are depicted by vials, and warriors with avenging swords, and falling stars, and shrivelled sky, and a reeling earth, and I know not what beside; but when we have put all together and have been sore amazed at the visions that flit before us like visions in the night, we rejoice to learn at the end of them all, “All these things are ours, whatever they may be.”

from CH Spurgeon on the return of jesus

and me.  what do i believe?

i believe in the return of Jesus as mighty king.

i believe in angels and spiritual creatures of good and evil.

i believe in signs and wonders in the sky and on the earth.

i believe there will be tribulation, war, destruction, death, sorrow.

i believe there will be an outpouring of God and salvation.

i believe people will harden their hearts even more against God.

i believe there will be an antichrist.

i believe in the rapture, but have no worries in saying i dont know where on the timeline it is.

i believe the end times is for us to endure and rejoice and have faith in God.

i believe that God will provide all our needs and will be our rock and security.

i believe in a physical return of Jesus.

i believe in being ready for it to be soon and ready for it to be several generations away.

i believe it will be unexpected and expected.

i believe it will be amazing and awesome.

i believe God has put it in every persons heart in every generation since Jesus to long for his return as king – that is why we all say “soon”.

End Times In The Bible

Matthew 25:31-32 When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all of his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats.

Matthew 25:13 So, my disciples, always be ready! You don’t know the day or the time when all this will happen.

³⁶No one knows the day or hour. The angels in heaven don’t know, and the Son himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows. ³⁷When the Son of Man appears, things will be just as they were when Noah lived. ³⁸People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day that the flood came and Noah went into the big boat. ³⁹They didn’t know anything was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man appears. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the same field, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be together grinding grain, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. ⁴²So be on your guard! You don’t know when your Lord will come. ⁴³Homeowners never know when a thief is coming, and they are always on guard to keep one from breaking in. ⁴⁴Always be ready! You don’t know when the Son of Man will come.  Matthew 24:36-44

Matthew 24:27 The coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning that can be seen from east to west.

Matthew 24:29-31

Right after those days of suffering,

“The sun will become dark,

and the moon

will no longer shine.

The stars will fall,

and the powers in the sky will be shaken.”

Then a sign will appear in the sky. And there will be the Son of Man. All nations on earth will weep when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. At the sound of a loud trumpet, he will send his angels to bring his chosen ones together from all over the earth.

We believe that Jesus died and was raised to life. We also believe that when God brings Jesus back again, he will bring with him all who had faith in Jesus before they died.Our Lord Jesus told us that when he comes, we won’t go up to meet him ahead of his followers who have already died.

With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God’s trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life. Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever. Encourage each other with these words.  1 Thessalonians 4:14-18

When our Lord Jesus returns, we will be gathered up to meet him. So I ask you, my friends, not to be easily upset or disturbed by people who claim that the Lord has already come. They may say that they heard this directly from the Holy Spirit, or from someone else, or even that they read it in one of our letters. But don’t be fooled! People will rebel against God. Then before the Lord returns, the wicked one who is doomed to be destroyed will appear.He will brag and oppose everything that is holy or sacred. He will even sit in God’s temple and claim to be God. Don’t you remember that I told you this while I was still with you? You already know what is holding this wicked one back until it is time for him to come. His mysterious power is already at work, but someone is holding him back. And the wicked one won’t appear until that someone is out of the way.Then he will appear, but the Lord Jesus will kill him simply by breathing on him. He will be completely destroyed by the Lord’s glorious return.

⁹When the wicked one appears, Satan will pretend to work all kinds of miracles, wonders, and signs. Lost people will be fooled by his evil deeds. They could be saved, but they will refuse to love the truth and accept it. So God will make sure that they are fooled into believing a lie. All of them will be punished, because they would rather do evil than believe the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

End Times

whatever happens and in whatever timeframe – i think these two relevation verss are pretty key and easy to discern their meaning and then go and make it real in our lives.

This means that God’s people must learn to endure and be faithful!  Revelation 3:10

God’s people must learn to endure. They must also obey his commands and have faith in Jesus.  Revelation 14:12

they will be part of my message this week to our young adults church.

In Your Presence

in your presence God, we find hope
in your presence we find life and love
all we need is found with you.
when i am with you i know you are with me
and i never walk alone
so i turn my eyes
towards you
gazing with trust and surrender
knowing you are with me and i am never alone
i walk not by sight but with faith in you
your presence gives me hope
your presence gives me peace
with you i am found and am complete and whole
in your presence God, i find all the answers
in your presence its okay not to know
i will trust you all my days
i will walk and obey
your presence gives me life and hope
it is where i know i belong
poem by me )

Call To Me

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.  Jeremiah 33:3

God has the answer.

God knows the answers to the questions you havent even thought of yet.

God knows what is going on with your husband/wife/kids/friends/the world.

often we run round trying to find our own answers.  we get worn out trying to figure life out for ourselves.

God says ask me, call to me, and i will answer and i will show you great and mighty things which we do not know.  he will hear us and answer us and show us the things we do not yet know.  he gives wisdom and revelation and reveals truth and hope to us.

in every situation God has an answer.  in every situation God IS the answer.

prayer should be a first resort not a last resort.

make it a practice to call to GOD, seeking his answer and wisdom with faith.

note there is no qualification attached to this – it is not for some people and not others.  there is no who can and who cants.  it just says call to me.  call.  ask.  ask God.  call to Me, your heavenly Father.   this is for YOU.  this is for ME.

I can call to God and I can ask and he will answer ME and show ME great and mighty things that I do not know.

lets be people who find our hope in God.

lets be people who seek God and his answers.

lets be people who call of him and hear his voice.

I Do Not Know That Man!

before you read this passage about peter denying that he even knows Jesus – think about this one thing – how did this end up in our bible? how do we know this happened?

While Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, a servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus from Galilee.”

But in front of everyone Peter said, “That isn’t so! I don’t know what you are talking about!”

When Peter had gone out to the gate, another servant girl saw him and said to some people there, “This man was with Jesus from Nazareth.”

Again Peter denied it, and this time he swore, “I don’t even know that man!”

A little while later some people standing there walked over to Peter and said, “We know that you are one of them. We can tell it because you talk like someone from Galilee.”

Peter began to curse and swear, “I don’t know that man!”

Right then a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered that Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went out and cried hard.

This account is found in Matthew 26.  It is found in each of the gospels.

We know this account happened because Peter didnt hide it away and keep it to himself.  He told his friends, the other disicples, and he told new chrsitians and church leaders and the gospel writers.  he shared about this dark sinful regretful shameful moment of denial.  he didnt cover it up.  he exposed himself.

we could of being left thinking that he stayed strong and didnt deny jesus.  we could of being left thinking he was uber faithful and a super disciple.  instead we see a fallen man, facing fear of man, denying his friend and lord, crumbling under the pressure.

but we also read this with hope.  because we know that peter was specially called to the tomb by jesus (make sure peter knows was jesus said to mary) and that peter delivered the first sermon on the day of pentecost and went on to become a great leader in the church and write 1 and 2 peter.

he repented.  he was restored.

we make mistakes.  we sin.  we deny jesus in our words and our actions.  and there is hope.  we can repent.  we can be restored.

peter was humble.  he shared his story of failure so that we could rejoice in the victory God gives.   peter was humble and he made sure that we all knew what happened in that time so that we would know the grace of God.

we can see that God transformed peter.  peter went from denying jesus to preaching on the day of pentecost.  he went from hiding away to standing for his faith.  he went from being fearful to being bold.  there is transformation available for us too by the power of the Holy Spirit living within us.  be like peter, surrender.

i have hope, because of Peter.