Signs of end times, be careful that no one deceives you.

In Matthew 24:4 Jesus says to the apostles: Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying “I am the Christ” and will deceive many. He goes on to say you will hear of wars and rumors of wars and directly tells them to “not be troubled” for all these things must come to pass, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will also be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places and all these are the beginning of sorrows.

This next part is alarming, but if you’re a child a Christ you know not to be worried because Christ is already telling you ahead of time this will happen to some people. He says in verse nine, “they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake”. (If you are a child of God, you know not to fear those that can judge you here on earth but, “who” judges where you spend eternity, and that is God himself) Then He says, many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. Are we not seeing that right now? Across the world?! Next, He tells us that “many” false prophets will rise up and deceive many. So, when I read this I feel like these are all distractions keeping you from Gods word and what He is calling you to do. They will lead many astray, and we pray that we will all stay focused on God and His word during these times. And because “lawlessness” will abound the love of many will grow cold. Is this not what we are witnessing right now?

And then He says to us, He who endures to the end shall be saved! And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

What does this mean for the true Christian? It means God is coming to take His people. I don’t know about you, but to think you could be left behind for the coming wrath is a little frightening to me. If you watch what is happening right now around the globe all the natural disasters are escalating. And God says these are the beginning of birth pains. If you have ever been in labor or been around someone giving birth you know it starts out small and increases as the baby is getting closer to being delivered. This is our warning from God, saying this is the beginning of the sorrows before He comes back to get His own.

This story is not to bring you fear, because fear does NOT come from the Lord. If you are a child of God, he will give you peace and knowledge about what is coming, and he will prepare you and your family. Your job is to read your Bible, pray, repent and let him lead your steps. He will speak to your heart, and you will know what to do and peace, he will give you. If you do not have peace in your heart right now, then you need to be praying out to God and asking Him what it is in your life that you need to fix. You may need to forgive someone, or you may just need to release something back to Him and ask Him to forgive you so you’re not in sin and struggling with strife, anger, hate, jealousy, envy, adultery, fornication, lust, coveting etc.

We are praying for you today. May God be with us all, and may we be vigilant in hearing and doing what He is calling us to do. Amen!