In A Moment

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”  Jeremiah 8:20

 

Driving home from the sleepy town of Bigfork, Montana the other night, my family and I were listening to a CD.  Suddenly the CD went silent then resumed.  Ahead the should be yellow flashing caution traffic light had went out, the CD went silent again, once again resuming.  As we turned on the highway heading towards Kalispell, I looked just to make sure the glow of lights from Kalispell was still apparent in the distance, presumably the CD probably has a scratch or a fingerprint on it. 

 

Heading down the highway I began to contemplate the reality of the world we live in.  The uncertainty of a normal tomorrow, the unknown lying ahead.  As a Christian, I know that if the Rapture occurs I will meet Lord in the air, along with my wife and son.  Yet the troublesome times that we live in often has my thoughts comprehending the possibility of disaster striking the United States before that awesome Day.

 

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you sorrow not as others who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.  For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shouted command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together at the same time with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.”  1st Thessalonians 4:13-18

 

As I continued driving down the highway, watching out for deer as it was well past evening and into the late night hours, I wondered what would happen if a major city had just been nuked or an EMP had struck the United States.  Yes, while I certainly don’t know the future, my mind is occasionally troubled at the prospect of such horror.  There are so many unanswered questions and concerns regarding the direction that the United States has taken in the past many years, that simply don’t get addressed.  I’ve addressed those questions before and won’t do so again now.

 

Last year was the most costly year on record for natural disasters in the history of the United States.  I ponder, why wasn’t it worse during previous administrations, why now?  While I will stick to the sound thought that in order for America to be great again we need to repent and return to our Creator, still hasn’t some common sense from the current administration been implemented?

 

“O Israel, return to Jehovah your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.”  Hosea 14:1

 

“Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, O backsliding Israel, says Jehovah; and I will not cause My anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, says Jehovah, and I will not keep anger forever.”  Jeremiah 3:12

 

Could not the same be said about any country that abhors their ways and returns to their Creator?

 

Is not the federal mandate taken away that all public schools have to allow so-called transgenders to use the bathroom of the opposite sex, as well as shower with the opposite sex?  Is not some of the rules regarding forcing private non-profit organizations to provide the day after pill through medical insurance relaxed?  Are not transgenders banned from signing up to the military, at least until the courts make up their final decision?  Did the United States not bow out of the Paris Accord, in regards to the ridiculous climate change treaty, one that defies what the Bible says about the end of this world?  Did not Jerusalem just get recognized as the Capital of Israel?  What gives?  Perhaps it is that ‘price’ that Israel had to agree to in order for President Trump to declare Jerusalem the Capital?

 

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the peoples all around, and it shall also be against Judah in the siege against Jerusalem.  And in that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall be slashed; cut to pieces. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.”  Zechariah 12:2-3

 

“Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there; and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.”  2nd Chronicles 6:6

 

Certainly if I were in the position to be able to have declared Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, I would have done so, agreeing with the Bible, yet with absolutely no stipulations whatsoever.  Who is man to mess with God’s chosen land, His chosen people?!  Certainly not a wise thing to do.

 

“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of My people and My possession, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and divided up My land.”  Joel 3:2

 

I’m not the only one who has looked upon these major natural disasters that we have had over the past several decades, on average getting worse and worse.  This, seeing first hand with the horrific fire seasons of recent in Montana.  Yet I can’t declare that these are definitely God’s judgment upon this country, though the evidence strongly suggests that they are.  The moral decline and the rebellion against our Creator has surged, just as the annual average cost of natural disasters.

 

“Beware that you do not forget Jehovah your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I am commanding you today, lest, when you have eaten and been filled, and have built beautiful houses and dwelt in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget Jehovah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with the fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land with no water; who has brought water for you out of the rock of flint; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers had not known, to humble you and to test you, to do you good in the end; you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have acquired me this wealth.  But you shall remember Jehovah your God, for it is He who gives you power to acquire wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He has sworn to your fathers, as it is this day.  And it shall be, if you cease caring, to forget Jehovah your God, and have walked after other gods, and have served them and bowed down to them, I testify against you this day that you shall perish to extermination.  As the nations which Jehovah is destroying before you, so you shall perish, because you would not obey the voice of Jehovah your God.”  Deuteronomy 8:11-20

 

We could look at our now debtor nation, and the immense amount of household debt held by the average American.  We could look at many different things, but one thing would be certain, in a moment things will change.

 

Perhaps one day the lights will go out, even in Montana.  Perhaps one day millions will have been killed in a war from abroad, and it might not be North Korea that fires the first shot, we have other countries who knowingly despise us.  Maybe one day the Trumpet will sound, before any major catastrophic events hit the United States?  With the recent earthquake activity along the West Coast, maybe the big one will final hit?  Even here in Montana we had a decent shaking not too long along.  Man doesn’t know the future in such terms, but in regards to knowing that one day those who are alive and remain and those who sleep will meet the Lord in the air, we do know that to be certain (1 Thes. 4:17).

 

We know that absolutely one day the Lord is going to appear and take us Home.  We have confidence in this, we know we won’t be here during the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7), better known as the Tribulation.  I simply can’t stress the importance of the seriousness of this situation enough! 

 

As the opening verse states, there were come a time where those who are not saved are just that, not saved.  What exactly will you do?  Why do you refuse to repent and by faith believe into the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?  What is it that you are placing more importance to, than repenting before your Creator?

 

“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Mark 8:35-37

 

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves dig through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not dig through and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21

 

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has established a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has appointed. He has given assurance of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”  Acts 17:30-31

 

Who knows what the future may hold in regards to the United States, war, natural disasters or economic troubles?  In a moment things will eventually change, whether it be the starting gun of the Rapture or another major problem faced by the world or this country.  Will you be ready?  Will you be watching and waiting?  Or will you be one of those who will only have deep regret or caught off guard, having squandered your opportunity to avoid such troubling time?

 

“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord comes.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief comes, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be dug through.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man comes at an hour you do not expect.”  Matthew 24:42-44

 

“Then the kingdom of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  And five of them were wise, and five foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,  but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all nodded and fell asleep.  And at midnight there was a cry: Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!  Then all those virgins arose and prepared their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.  But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us!  But he answered and said, Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes.”  Matthew 25:1-13

 

There may come a night when my family is traveling across Montana where the car simply ceases to operate, the lights from homes and ranches in the distance go out.  The sparks from the transformers fly into the air, a sure sign an EMP has went off somewhere.  There may come a time when I wake up in the morning and turn on the news, only to find that a major war has erupted or millions are presumed dead in a single or many major cities in the United States.  There may be a day when my home begins to shake again, this time in a more violent fashion, causing extreme damage.  These things I do not know for certain and hope that none will come to pass, but I do know that there will be a Day when either I sleep awaiting my Lord or being alive I meet Him in the air.  This I know for certainty, can you say the same?

 

“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.  For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we watch or sleep, we should live together with Him.  Therefore encourage each other and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”  1st Thessalonians 5:8-11

 

Amen!