The time is here …what if the time is now?  Romans 13.11

This life is not all there is . . . one thing is sure—all of us will die.  Folks say there are no guarantees, that one hundred percent of us is going to die, and not on our own terms.  Paul wrote, “It is now time for you to wake up from your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

Hmmm . . . I live in a beautiful area, in a beach town in Southern California.  Sometimes, on my way from ‘here’ to ‘there’, I drive down the highway, and I see the light play of the daylight and the clouds, and the sun dipping into the Pacific Ocean, and I marvel at the majestic beauty that my eye beholds.  Occasionally I think, ‘maybe this will be the day . . .’  ‘Maybe this will be the day the Lord will return—the trumpet will sound, and the Lord will descend from Heaven with a shout!

But truthfully, whether he returns for me, or I return to him before that great day, one day is a-comin’.  And I am not the one in charge of the day or the time…. he is.  What did Paul mean when he said, ‘the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night’?  The date of Jesus’ coming will not be known, and it will catch unbelievers completely off-guard.  For hundreds of years, individuals have announced exact dates, and they have all been wrong.  Recently, we have had Harold Camping proclaiming two different dates for this year alone!

The Bible is clear that ‘no one knows the day or the hour,’ and there should be no fear for the child of God.  That Jesus is coming back for his beloved is a guarantee; that knowledge should influence how we live, for we should not live just for today.  Jesus told us to ‘watch and be ready.’  ??We know from Old Testament prophecy that certain things would take place in the world to set the stage for Jesus’ return.  Among other things:                                          ->Israel would reform as a nation -- prophesied in Ezekiel 37.12-- happened in 1948                                                                               ->Nuclear capabilities developed so great that catastrophic destruction possible -?prophesied in Zechariah 14 and Ezekiel 39                                  ?         ->“There will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences;? and there will be fearful sights and great signs from Heaven.” (Luke 21.11?)  How about ‘Katrina,’ the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, AIDS, famines, Haiti, Japanese earthquake, rampant world hunger?                                ?  ->Great moral decline – “in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be? lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient?  to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control,?  brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather?  than lovers of God.”  Paul writing to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3.1-4.  ??

It is no secret that men are looking for someone to rescue them from the ensuing chaos—from their financial ruin (August, 2011 stock market!) and wrecked families and lives. . . it is easy to see that the one who comes on the scene with apparent answers will surely be welcomed.  To Israel, this leader will have a peace plan, and a plan to rebuild her Temple; Israel will embrace him.  The establishment of the European Union and the move toward a single currency gives us a glimpse of how he will implement a one-world order and a universal cashless system of buying and selling.  More on that later, but it is neither man nor government we should place our trust in, but God only.?

The time is here . . . what if the time is now?  You and I should be living as if it were.  It is time for you and I to awaken from our sleep, because salvation is nearer now than when we first believed!

Christine