Key Verse
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
(Matthew 24:35)
Central Truth
True stability only comes from standing firm in our faith and trusting Jesus.
STANDING AND TRUSTING
I don’t like thinking about the end of the world. (Does anybody?) There’s no doubt it’s going to be rough. Jesus says in Matthew 24:9: “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.” On top of the suffering, it’s confusing. People throw around all kinds of theories and predictions. Some are weird, odd, hokey, scary, and often just laughable. But what does Jesus say about it? Even His description can be confusing to me. On one hand, Jesus tells us that we will be seeing all these signs and therefore know that the end is near (Matt 24:33). But He also tells us that it will come when we don’t expect it (Matt 24:44). To make matters worse, liars will be running around trying to confuse us further! Hmm. Suffering and confusion. What to make of all this? A few things stand out.
The first re-assuring truth is a prevalent theme in the Bible- one that we can bank on. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. (Matt 5:11). If we stand strong and endure in following Christ, even when it’s tough, even when it becomes ridiculously hard, the Bible teaches that we will be blessed for this devotion. Many people will fall away as it gets tougher. So we need to be alert, conscientious and vigilant in our striving. We strive to build Godly character and flesh-out our Faith. It’s a reminder and encouragement for us to do this consistently, over time. This will build the foundation for the unavoidable storms of life that test our Faith.
The next thing that strikes me is how trivial my worries seem in comparison to God’s Kingdom. Yes, stock markets falter, housing bubbles burst, and unemployment rises. As our current wars persist, formidable enemies threaten to instigate additional wars. But, you know what? As terrible as these things are, solving all these problems here on earth isn’t necessarily the point of it all. There are much HUGER things going on behind the scenes, in the spiritual domain. In fact, these earthly struggles could merely be the result of turbulence in the spiritual world: the on-going battle between good and evil. But one day, these earthly problems will all be over and done with. Only God is eternal. All of thiswill be gone. All we wring our hands over, all we toil and sweat over, all this fragile security we strive to protect here on this little ball of dust- all of it will be gone one day, and the Lord and His Kingdom will be all that remains. Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” The footnote in my Bible explains: “Jesus’ words are more certain than the existence of the universe.” Wow. Now that’s huge.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
(Matthew 24:35)
Central Truth
True stability only comes from standing firm in our faith and trusting Jesus.
STANDING AND TRUSTING
I don’t like thinking about the end of the world. (Does anybody?) There’s no doubt it’s going to be rough. Jesus says in Matthew 24:9: “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.” On top of the suffering, it’s confusing. People throw around all kinds of theories and predictions. Some are weird, odd, hokey, scary, and often just laughable. But what does Jesus say about it? Even His description can be confusing to me. On one hand, Jesus tells us that we will be seeing all these signs and therefore know that the end is near (Matt 24:33). But He also tells us that it will come when we don’t expect it (Matt 24:44). To make matters worse, liars will be running around trying to confuse us further! Hmm. Suffering and confusion. What to make of all this? A few things stand out.
The first re-assuring truth is a prevalent theme in the Bible- one that we can bank on. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. (Matt 5:11). If we stand strong and endure in following Christ, even when it’s tough, even when it becomes ridiculously hard, the Bible teaches that we will be blessed for this devotion. Many people will fall away as it gets tougher. So we need to be alert, conscientious and vigilant in our striving. We strive to build Godly character and flesh-out our Faith. It’s a reminder and encouragement for us to do this consistently, over time. This will build the foundation for the unavoidable storms of life that test our Faith.
The next thing that strikes me is how trivial my worries seem in comparison to God’s Kingdom. Yes, stock markets falter, housing bubbles burst, and unemployment rises. As our current wars persist, formidable enemies threaten to instigate additional wars. But, you know what? As terrible as these things are, solving all these problems here on earth isn’t necessarily the point of it all. There are much HUGER things going on behind the scenes, in the spiritual domain. In fact, these earthly struggles could merely be the result of turbulence in the spiritual world: the on-going battle between good and evil. But one day, these earthly problems will all be over and done with. Only God is eternal. All of thiswill be gone. All we wring our hands over, all we toil and sweat over, all this fragile security we strive to protect here on this little ball of dust- all of it will be gone one day, and the Lord and His Kingdom will be all that remains. Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” The footnote in my Bible explains: “Jesus’ words are more certain than the existence of the universe.” Wow. Now that’s huge.
Dan, this was an amazing devotion today. As I sat with my Bible reading the chapter, my heart filled with fear and confusion. This is such a hard chapter to read and grasp. I found the majority of my prayer time centering around the questions this morning. And then I read your devotion. It is so true that there is soooo much more going on in the spiritual world than we could ever possibly know. But what I do know is that God's word will stand forever, and evermore the reason we should be clinging to it, and teaching it to our children. I know without a doubt it is what is going to get Christ followers through the end times. And while we don't know when that will be, it does tell is to prepare our hearts NOW and get ready. I don't know about you, but I am taking that warning very serious! So today, I am thankful for the WORD!!
ReplyDeletecoming from a southern baptist upbringing, i remember so well sermons jimmy waters used to preach from the pulpit about the end of our world. as a child it really did terrify me. as an adult, if i let it, it still terrifies me. your devotion today put such calmness in my heart just knowing i DO have a choice at the end of the world by living as Godly as i can NOW!
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