Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Watch and Pray

Memory Verse of the Week ~
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26
What will the children of God have to endure? War, Famines, Earthquakes—do you feel it—or hear it even now? Yes. They are happening today.  These same disasters are foretold to occur during the Tribulation. Hopefully by then the children of God will have been raptured. We have to trust God for His mercy and protection. Only God knows the hour or the day of the end times.
Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Matthew 24:7-11

In the prophetic book of Revelation it is noted that during the Tribulation there are seven seals that are broken. When the fourth seal is broken it proclaims that death by the sword…or war…and famine will occur to a great part of the world’s population.
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, "Come!" I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals. Revelation 6:7-8
The sixth seal deals with an earthquake.
I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. Revelation 6:12

Wars. Wars are occurring today…although we are not in the time of the Tribulation. In recent history we can see statistics from Afghanistan, Mexico, Yeman and Syria where over 20,000 thousand people in each country were killed in conflicts during 2018.

Famines have been part of history forever. Look at Abraham. God was with him and he had to go through famines. Have you ever been hungry…truly hungry? People are starving due to famines right now somewhere on earth. Just look at the news.

Have you ever experienced an earthquake? I’ve seen the ground swelling—like a wave—and then felt that wave move through our home where we were living in Okinawa. I’ve felt a couple of other tremors—but never experienced a real ground shaking, walls and building falling earthquake. They happen every day around the world. Check out a website like earthquaketrack.com or earthquake.usgs.gov. There were 12 earthquakes around the world with a magnitude over 2.5 on the day I last check the usgs site. Those are of small magnitude, but recordable and certainly felt by someone in the immediate vicinity. There are predictions for a big earthquake to occur along the Cascadia fault in the Pacific Ocean off the Washington coast sometime soon. Time will tell, but only God knows exactly when anything will occur.

Persecution. Not a word we like to hear any more than wars, famines or earthquakes, but it is a word that affects Christians around the world, daily. When it affects our brothers and sisters in the Lord, it affects us. We are part of the body of Christ. Do you feel hated because you are a follower of Jesus Christ? You may one day soon.

Again Jesus warned His disciples…don’t be deceived. Watch and wait for Jesus—the true Christ to return. Don’t be deceived by false prophets.

Psalms give us some encouragement and hope.
God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it. Psalm 46:1-5
We don’t have to fear…
For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. Psalm 84:11

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31
Replica of old watch tower.
Israel
Watch and pray.
Trust God…He has a plan and offers salvation to everyone who believes. Salvation from sin. Believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. He is the Messiah for Israel and the whole world.Watch and pray.

Prayer ~ Lord Jesus, I hear your warning…wars, famines, earthquakes and persecution. But I trust in You for salvation…and protection. I praise You—for You are that true God—the living Messiah—who came to set us free. Thank You.

Daily Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 28-29
© 2019 Text and Photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
www.blueletterbible.org/dailyreading

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