Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Will Things Get Worse? (continued)


Matthew 24:26-28

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.27 For as lightning(A) that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming(B) of the Son of (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:%2026%20-%2028&version=NIV1984)
John 20:26-28
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
For those of you that read my blog yesterday you might have been a little confused!  I had meant to post through verse 28 but only posted through verse 25.  So today, I want to look at verses 26-28 which goes along with the mention of Thomas and the scripture in John 20: 26-28.
In John we see that Thomas was very skeptical of the reports of sightings of Jesus.   I have to think that he remembered the warnings from Jesus not to believe it when people told them about seeing Jesus.  He really felt like these were the end times.  After all, the Christ had been crucified.  Wouldn’t you tend to think that this was the ultimate sin, far worse than in Noah’s day?  Surely the end was here!  How many times do we say the same thing.  We hear of more destruction on the earth, we hear more and more how people are living in sin, we even hear of leaders of our country wanting to take God out of it.  “Wow, this must be the end!”, we say.  I can’t help but think that is where Thomas was as well.  I think He was thinking that Jesus would come down like lightening not raise from a tomb.  He was trying to heed Jesus instructions for the end times, it just wasn’t quite yet the end times.
Now that hits home for me.  I hear of all the birth pains, as Jesus described it, and think that the end is here.  What I don’t realize is that these birth pains could be “Braxton Hicks contractions”.  They hurt and they seem very real yet they are only contractions that tell us that we need to alter our lifestyle.  In a pregnancy the remedy to these types of contractions are to take it easy.  Sit back with your feet up and relax.  As a Christian our reactions should be one of working more diligently for the Lord.  In both cases, these contractions are a wake- up call to do things a little differently.  With true birthing pains things will get worse before they get better.  My thought is that if these are the “real deal” then we need to be diligent in spreading the Gospel and if they are only “Braxton Hicks” we need to be diligent in spreading the Gospel.  Either way we need to be working for the Lord, either way, we will be even more prepared for whatever the future holds.  None of us knows the date or the hour yet we know it is coming. We need to not only prepare those who don’t know Him we need to know Him so we won’t be doubting when the time arrives.
Yes, there is going to be distress in this world.   To answer the question from yesterday, “Yes, it will get worse”.  There will be those who proclaim to be the Christ.  There will be some who do miracles, yet they are not the Christ.  We have seen deception on this earth, we have seen disasters throughout the world, we have seen wars and heard rumors of wars, these are only light contractions maybe even contractions that cause us to change our lifestyle, ones that should wake us up to do what we need to do to for the Lord.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit we need to speak and live the truth so that others may know Him.
Seek Him in order that you may know Him, without a doubt, when you see Him.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila 

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