chosentofollowhim

Many followers of Jesus who have grown up inside the walls of the church establishment have a story. From physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse, the tale told is one of sadness and betrayal. Beyond the hurt, there is also confusion regarding theology and doctrine. There are false gospels that have been preached. And sadly, there are divisions among the body of believers, instigated by the church itself. It is a crux that has weakened and cursed the church for many millennium and is currently coming to light as the second coming of Messiah approaches. However, these are the days of a prophetic shifting, healing, breaking off of chains, a shattering of the religious spirit, and where God is merging Jewish and Gentile believers in order that we may become a bride ready for her bridegroom. There is only one bride and one body, with Yeshua as its head. As the body of Messiah today, we need to become refined and ready for the wedding day, mature and unified. Our goal is to align with everything that is most dear to the heart of the Father. Our Maranatha cry must grow from deep within. The beautiful and prophetic words, “Come, Lord Jesus” should be rolling off our tongues daily and we must start looking at the world through the Maranatha (come, Lord Jesus) lens! The birth pains are about to begin and the stretch marks are coming.

Jesus left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many people. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains. -Matthew 24:1-8

In the twenty-fourth chapter of the gospel of Matthew is the well known Olivet Discourse where Yeshua describes to His disciples the end of the age, before His return. The message is full of vivid imagery with the goal to prepare His followers and impart wisdom on them for those days. Yeshua’s words are a culmination of various prophecies given throughout the Old Testament. He reaffirms what the prophets declared before His first coming, and points His people to the glorious day which tends to get less mention in the church these days, and that is His second coming!

Jesus is returning soon! Maranatha!

Throughout the ages people have debated all the things regarding eschatology (the study of end times); from the second coming, to the tribulation, God’s covenant with Israel and the rapture. The who, what, when, where, why and how are the issues for scholars and even simple-minded believers. However, I’d say many questions are clearly answered when we seek to understand the greater picture which God has magnificently painted for us from Genesis to Revelation. The prophecies and covenants are unchanging. God is unchanging. And the future coming of the Lord should be where our eyes remain focused.

This time in history is unique, there has never been another like it. The nations are raging. Hearts are growing cold. There is evidence of apathy and shallowness in the church. A falling away has begun. Evil is not hiding its face any longer. Information overload is crippling us and what is on the horizon is bleak in many respects. However, there is nothing new under the sun. Jesus spoke of these things and so did the prophets, the apostle Paul, and John, the beloved disciple, in the book of Revelation. There is a bright future for those bound to Yeshua, but there will be dark, as well as glorious days coming, that will refine and prepare us for the restoration of all things.

DANIEL 9:24-27

“Seventy weeks (70 groups of seven year periods) have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place (New Jerusalem). So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come (Anti-Christ) will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will confirm a covenant (demonic affirmation of Israel’s right to the land which leads to the building of the temple) with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate (abomination of desolation on Temple Mount), until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”

ROMANS 11:25

For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness (quantity and quality) of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”

REVELATION 6:9-11

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?” And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants (martyr and witness church) and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also.

Much needs to happen on earth before the Son of Man comes riding in on the clouds to slay the beast and it is evident that we are getting closer to that day. As followers of the Messiah, it is our responsibility to be wise; with our hearts and minds aligned to what God is doing in these times. Be on guard and get in the Word. Know for yourself what the days ahead will potentially look like; not only for yourself but for the nations also. There is no excuse to be in the dark on the issues concerning the end of days. It is time to grow in spiritual maturity and be set apart; ready for the coming King! Maranatha!

In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 Paul writes, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,  treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.”

And in 2 Thessalonians he writes, “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,  that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.  Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.  Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,  and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Repent and turn to Yeshua for the Kingdom of God is near!