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THRIVE
MINISTRIES
www.thriveministry.net
from THRIVE'S free Daily Devotionals
Up-dated June 11, 2009
June
1, 2009 – Monday Morning E-Devotions
“THRIVING
On the Brink” – Kent Ross (Ohio)
Our churches have always been interested in Bible prophecy. We
were first banded together by that theme: The Coming Kingdom of God
Inaugurated at Christ’s Second Coming.
Here
in the Northeast Conference we have had two recent Conferences on
Prophecy and they have been well-attended, interestingly and sadly,
weakly attended by younger members.
It
may be that people today, younger members perhaps, are tired of hearing
about the Second Coming, and are unaware of signs of the time that
indicate it may be near. Jesus taught about it as recorded in three
chapters of the Bible – Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21 – a message
about signs that would precede His Return. He says “When you see these
things begin to happen then prepare yourself because my coming is
near.”
But
Peter writes tellingly and knowingly of people becoming tired of that
message. Read 2nd
Peter 3:1-8
–
1Dear
friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both
of
them as reminders
to
stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you
to recall the words spoken in the past
by
the holy prophets and the
command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3First
of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will
come, scoffing and
following
their own evil desires. 4They will say,
"Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever
since our fathers died,
everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5But
they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens
existed
and the earth was
formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters
also the world of that time was deluged
and destroyed. 7By the same
word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being
kept
for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8But
do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is
like a thousand years,
and
a thousand years are like a day.
Sounds
like many people today, doesn’t it? In many churches there seldom is
heard a message or lesson about the Second Coming and less about the
Kingdom of God. That is a terrible tragedy as so many will be caught
aware of it until it is too late.
Paul warned
about not knowing and believing the truth and choosing to believe the
lie. Notice what he wrote in 2nd Thessalonians 2:
"They
perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11For
this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they
will believe the lie 12and so
that all will be condemned who have not
believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
13But
we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the
Lord, because from the
beginning
God chose you to be saved through
the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through
belief in the truth. 14He
called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the
glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brothers, stand firm and
hold to
the teachings we passed
on to you, whether by word of mouth or by
letter."
So
stand firm because He is surely coming back to this planet. We cannot
stop that, even should we want to for some insane reason. All we can do
is ensure that we are prepared for it when it occurs, and teach others
of this wonderful truth!
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