Friday, May 20, 2011

Is it the End?

Every once in a while, I am faced with a question.  Some people approach me lightly because it can be a sensitive subject, others just come right out with it.  In the past few days, two folks have come right out with it.  So I thought I would would go out on that limb.

Have any of you heard that the world is supposed to end on Saturday, May 21st at 6:00 PM?
 
I hadn't.  But apparently many people have.  The rock I have been under and all!  I don't know the exact details of the prophecy nor do I feel I need to -personally.  However; because there are so many folks out there whom I love dearly and am praying for faithfully, I wanted to share my understanding of the matter.

So follow along if you will.  If not, that is OK too.  I won't be offended nor will I be ashamed.  If I didn't love, I wouldn't bother.

When will the world end?

Matthew 24:36-44 (NIV)
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 (NIV)
1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

Do not be deceived.

Matthew 24:1-8 (NIV)
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3 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 the age?”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

What should we do?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 (NIV)
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
God's Promises.

Hebrews 6:13-20 (NIV)
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Salvation.

John 14:1-7 (NIV)
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Romans 10:8-13 (NIV)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If you've made it thru to the end of this post, then I want to thank you for going out on a limb with me on the proverbial Tree of Life. 
It is not often that I refrain from fun and mischief, however there is no greater exception to be made. 
I fully realize this post may be difficult, thought provoking 
or encouraging. 

Above all things, I hope it relieves you of any fear or doubt.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

That said...I will close by saying...
"See y'all after 6pm on Saturday!"

22 comments:

  1. It would be a glorious thing if He did come tomorrow! But the Bible is clear – God says that no one knows the day or the hour. The audacity of men to make claims to know what God says they can't know! Study and learn what will happen - it's not pretty. Are we in the end times? I believe we are. But we rest in this: Isaiah 43:1 "Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine." He says I’m His. How awesome is that???

    Praise our Lord Jesus Christ who was, and is, and is to come!!

    Di - I'm so proud of you and I'm out on that limb with you!

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  2. Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.

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  3. I think Erin has the right idea: Mimosas all around Sunday morning!

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  4. I love you sis. I needed this tonight and that is why I came to you today :-) God is good and I believe deep within my heart that we will all be together when the time comes. I just needed to hear it (and read it) again. Thanks and I love you. See you in the morning!

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  5. Amen, sister!!! There's nothing like Scripture!!

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  6. AMEN sister, and thank you for this beautiful post. Even if its things we all already knew it is so comforting to read it again.
    God bless you and your and keep you.
    And we will meet on the other side.

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  7. SuMu, yes ma'am I had a very good soldier who fought right along with me back then. Course you'd know that now, wouldn't ya? Thanks for always being a great source of guidance and love. xoxo

    Ruta, you go right ahead and plant that apple tree! It will grow nicely!

    MamaPea, count me in! See you on Sunday with drink in hand!

    Jen, it just wouldn't be right to leave so many questions unanswered. I, like God, will always be there for you!!! I am glad we had the chance to talk and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow...and Sunday!

    Julee, can I get an all caps AMEN, sister?!

    Peakview, you betcha! It's always the place to go and it never fails!! Never.

    Stelly, even for me it was good to write, good to talk about and good to hear from you too! Someday we will meet up, this I know!

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  8. I have way too much sewing I need to get done to go anywhere!

    SORRY...had to lighten it up!

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  9. I can honestly say that I can hardly wait for that day. In the meantime, I try to live out Psalm 37:3 - "Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness."

    Of May 21st though, this isn't the first time this guy (Harold Camping) has predicted the end of the world.

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  10. Amen from this follower, now if you could just take Thomas [ doubting]out of my life , no joke intended-my brother-in-law in brained sends me scripture every day ,he is trying to be my salvation. I don't know if it is the opposition in my way or my own stubborn hide ,but some-days I make it a lot harder then it is suppose to be--bless you APG

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  11. Jan, so long as your heart is in the right place with God and ready, you can sew away till the cows come home...oh Him. Whichever comes first.

    Leigh, that is a wonderful passage! And yes, this man has been wrong before which further proves he is wrong. Prophets have to be right 100% of the time to be true. His batting average right there proves him False.

    Judy, sounds like you have someone who loves you and is hoping to get you out of your own way. That's usually who is in our way, huh? Ourselves. Read Matthew 18:4 and go like a child. xoxo

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  12. Amen, Sister. Very well stated. It was good to see it all stated in one post. Thank you for the reminder! I've often made the claim that I'm not a religious person, but I am a spirtual one. I think "Man" has twisted religious faith into a commodity. Spiritual faith on the other hand is personal between me and my God. That's how I like it best. My heart to yours.

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  13. Our plan: margaritas tonight, mimosas tomorrow morning LOL

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  14. I am pooped. So its ok with me if it ends. I need a rest anyway :)

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  15. Tami, yup, don't rely on "Man", God is sufficient!

    Erin, hope your hair of the dog works out! ;)

    Jane, no rest for you my friend!

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  16. Thank you my sweet niece for sharing this. Can't wait to meet you. Love you

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  17. I am really glad that I came to catch up on things and read through this today. I, for one, am certainly a believer and confidant in my heart that I will be saved. However, I am not knowledgable about the specific passages and was thinking to myself amidst all of my crazy life right now, I needed to read things like what you posted. I need to dive deeper into my faith and learn SO much more to continue to be solid as a rock in my beliefs.

    Thanks, Di!

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  18. Chels, you are most welcome! I am very glad that it inspired you. We always have more to learn but it sounds to me like you are in the right place in your heart. That is awesome!!!

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  19. Hiya darling!
    Sorry I have not commented much lately.
    Remember in the Book of Genesis it warns of false prophets. I would say the man who started this May day ending is one of them. I do read your blog I am getting more committed to more comments. I love them. Thanks for the comments.
    Melissa

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  20. Melissa, I found it funny that this man refused to proclaim himself as a prophet. Probably because he himself knew that since he had been wrong before...well who wants to be associated with 'false'?

    Thank you for the encouragement! No worries about commenting, we all struggle to keep up and I am pretty sure you have your hands full with your family and health. You just keep on staying healthy, that is what is important!

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