When The Deceivers Charm!

"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 this 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 charmed.  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." (Matthew 24:3-8 NIV)

Not too long ago, there were Tweeters posting the end of the world on September 25, 2015. At least that's the date I remember, I could be off by a day or two. I remember seeing the Tweets, but I refuse to engage in the rhetoric.

Jehovah Witnesses have proclaimed the return of Christ for decades and will debate the issue and charm those who do not know what Jesus said and why.

There have been people all over the world, proclaiming when the end will come and because foolish people would rather believe those who deliberately deceive, they are manipulated by them.
How about this? Let's all read the Bible, seek understanding, and then just believe what The Word says. "NO MAN KNOWS WHEN JESUS WILL RETURN--NOT EVEN HIM--ONLY THE FATHER!" And since His return will be as a thief in the night, there will be no warnings of His imminent return--we simply need to be ready and not deceived by those who know how to charm the foolish!

What happens when deceivers charm? People commit suicide influenced by false leaders. They pack suitcases waiting for that "ride" to heaven. They sell their homes and businesses and empty bank accounts. They build bunkers and hoard food and water. WHEN THE END COMES--WE WHO BELIEVE WILL BE GONE BEFORE WE CAN BLINK OUR EYES AND THERE WILL BE NO NEED FOR FOOD, WATER, TICKETS, OR LUGGAGE!

I'm praying for those who are consistently deceived by those who do much talking and manipulating of The Word in order to convince others they have been chosen by God to proclaim His return--specifically by date and year. God didn't choose them--at least the God of Heaven didn't choose, but the god of this world--most certainly did. 

Let's stop being foolish and supporting fools in their attempts to be more than they are.

God's Word is true and everyone who is not saying what God has said is a liar and deceives the easily charmed.

Dead or Alive!

"He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him" (1 Thessalonians 5:10 NIV)

With the promise of the second coming of the Lord and all of the speculation as to when that will happen, we who have a relationship with Him and understand His Word, know when He comes is of no great consequence. Whether we are alive or dead--when He comes--we are assured of our living with Him for all eternity.

We have heard that Jesus is coming back for hundreds of years and He has not made it yet. The delay in His return should not be our concern. If we know we have received Him as our Lord and Savior and we are obedient to His Word, whenever He comes back, He will receive us unto Himself. This delay (or at least this seeming delay) has given the scoffers fuel to add to their derision of our faith. The delay has also caused some--who claim to know the Savior--to err in their need to proclaim exact dates as to when He will return. One group of people has said in their doctrine that He has already returned (my response to them was since I had not seen any dead people walking around, I'll keep waiting).

What the speculators and scoffers have missed is understanding of The Word. In this passage of scripture we see that the Lord will return as a thief in the night. Not many thieves will "announce" their coming in advance. Jesus has said that "But about that day no man knows the day or hour, not the angels in heaven, and not even the Son,only The Father" (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32) And my personal favorite  is this one--"With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

So, take comfort with this final thought. Jesus will return, whether we are asleep in the grave or alive, and it will not matter to Him because "the dead shall rise and those who are living will be caught up in the clouds and meet Him in the air, to be with Him forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:17 NIV).

Lord Jesus, whenever You return, we await that day with great expectations of living for all eternity with You.