One day people were standing around talking about the Temple, remarking how beautiful it was, the splendor of its stonework and memorial gifts. Jesus said,
"All this you're admiring so much - the time is coming when every stone in that building will end up in a heap of rubble."
They asked him, "Teacher, when is this going to happen? What clue will we get that it's about to take place?"
He said, "Watch out for the doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, 'I'm the One,' or, 'The end is near.' Don't fall for any of that.
When you hear of wars and uprisings, keep your head and don't panic. This is routine history and no sign of the end."
He went on, "Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over.
Huge earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. You'll think at times that the very sky is falling.
"But before any of this happens, they'll arrest you, hunt you down, and drag you to court and jail. It will go from bad to worse, dog-eat-dog, everyone at your throat because you carry my name.
You'll end up on the witness stand, called to testify.
Make up your mind right now not to worry about it.
I'll give you the words and wisdom that will reduce all your accusers to stammers and stutters.
"You'll even be turned in by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. Some of you will be killed.
There's no telling who will hate you because of me.
Even so, every detail of your body and soul - even the hairs of your head! - is in my care; nothing of you will be lost.
Staying with it - that's what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry; you'll be saved.
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If you take any time at all to just stop and look at what surrounds you, it can be pretty discouraging. We're in a season right now, in this nation and really all over the world where there is a lot we feel like we could legitimately worry about. The Lord is clear with us that times of hurt and dissapointment and persection will come. He lets us know that it is only going to get worse and worse. But don't forget! Don't lose heart! As children of God, every detail will be saved if we stay with it. How awesome. In these times where our nation and much of our world is at such a low, we have such an open door. We must arise with confidence and with passion, with boldness and joy.
We must make up our minds now not to worry!
Everything we need will be given to us!
Our God is passionate about us! He will provide all we need and more!
What could happen if the church would step up in hard economic times with their giving?
What could happen if the church would have joy when everyone else is worrying?
What could happen if we walked around in the confidence of knowing we are the conquerors?
What could happen if we walked in the wisdom that He promises to give us if we ask?
What would happen if we became passionate about all these things again?
What happened to your passion? Where is the fire that kept you going? Where is that overwhelming desire to reach out to the lost and the hurt and the dying?
Where is your excitement and confidence about the call God has placed on your life? What happened to always seeing the joy in the chase? Where is your delight in the journey?
You see, it doesnt take much to be happy and excited and passionate when everything is hunky-dory. What is different about us right now? When were are in a season of plenty and everything seems to be going good, the world is happy. and the world is excited. and the world is passionate. If you notice, we aren't looking much different than that. We act like just because we have hit a rough spot, we can just stop and complain and blame it all on the enemy, or on other people...
Have you looked lately? Our Bible promises us that these difficult times will be here. These are the times that we actually are given a clear opportunity to shine. We just have to live what we know to be the difference in these days. When everything is going great, often times the world is actually more passionate about their beliefs, because we just use ours as a convenience.
We use good times to just chill out and say God is blessing us, and we use the bad times to grumble and complain. WHERE IS OUR ACTION? We can't let our only actions be sitting on our backsides till we find something to complain about.
LETS ACT! BE ENCOURAGED! WE ARE THE CONQUERORS!
IT IS TIME
that we as the body of Christ, remember that when we turn to the back of the book WE ARE THE VICTORS!
We must KNOW that we can conquer any work of the enemy.
We must BELIEVE the Word when it says we WILL overcome.
We must TRUST that God keeps His promises.
And we must WALK in the power of His Spirit.
So I declare right now to myself and the rest of this body of Christ--
Wake up! Arise! Be strengthed! Stop Worrying! Trust again! Be full of Joy again! Walk this out and be the difference! Remember that you are His! Remember His passionate love and be that love to the world!!
God right now, I praise You for who You are. I am so thankful that You give us Your Word to lead and guide us and direct us. Thank You for giving us the promises that You will keep us and hold us safe and for being honest enough and loving enough to warn us about the trials that are to come. Teach us true love-- Your love. God I pray that You instill in us the courage to truly believe once again in Your faithfulness. Thank You for letting us know that we really can trust You. Thank You that You never go back on Your Word. God we want our passion back! We want our joy back! Lord pour out Your spirit on our dry and thirsty souls! God we don't deserve it, but You love us anyways. Thank You for that. Lord, we just want You. We want to glorify You. We want to be light to darkness. We want to have faith in Your word. We want to trust You with everything. We want to look like You. We even want to want You more than we do now. So Lord fill us. Infiltrate our lives with Your presence so that we just become so addicted to Your presence that we never want to leave. And God teach us that we never have to leave. God we choose not to worry. We choose to walk in the wisdom and the passion and the fire that You are putting in us even now. Thank You Father. Lord, we know You are with us. God, keep on kissing us. We love Your face. Your kisses are so amazing. God there is nothing better. So we choose to stay with it! We will stick it out till the end! You are all we want! You are all we have ever needed! You are all we want! Help us know You are near!
Amen.
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