What's Happening in the World Today...

I've been starting to stress a bit about getting a new post put up but I don't want to write for the sake of writing. I want to have something that I feel the Lord would like me to put up here. Not just empty words.
I feel the Lord laid something on my heart yesterday while I was at work. So, here it goes....
I feel that I should make a comment on what has been going on with earthquakes and such over the last little while... New Zealand and Japan, being the latest hit.

Here's the 24th chapter of the book of Matthew.

¹ As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. ² But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

 ³ Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?^[a]”

 ⁴ Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, ⁵ for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. ⁷ Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. ⁸ But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

 ⁹ “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.^[b] 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. ¹¹ And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. ¹² Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations^[c] will hear it; and then the end will come.

 ¹⁵ “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration^[d] standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) ¹⁶ “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. ¹⁷ A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. ¹⁸ A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. ¹⁹How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. ²⁰ And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. ²² In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.

 ²³ “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. ²⁵ See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.

 ²⁶ “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! ²⁷ For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man^[e]comes. ²⁸ Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.^[f]

 ²⁹ “Immediately after the anguish of those days,

   the sun will be darkened,
      the moon will give no light,
   the stars will fall from the sky,
      and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.^[g]

 ³⁰ And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.^[h] 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world^[i]—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

 ³² “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. ³⁴ I tell you the truth, this generation^[j] will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

 ³⁶ “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.^[k] Only the Father knows.

 ³⁷ “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. ³⁸ In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. ³⁹ People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

 ⁴⁰ “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.

 ⁴² “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

 ⁴⁵ “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. ⁴⁶ If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. ⁴⁷ I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. ⁴⁸ But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? ⁵⁰ The master will return unannounced and unexpected, ⁵¹ and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In this passage of Scripture Jesus tells us what it will look like in the times before His second coming. I can promise you one thing... it will happen exactly the way He said that it will. I know many in pentecostal/charismatic traditions who, when they hear of economic upheaval or the world turning upside down respond by saying that they don't believe those things. They say that God, being a good God (and He is, make no doubt, however as good as He is, He is equally Holy), would never allow such a thing, only blessing all the time. 

Don't be mislead. Jesus' return will happen just the way He said it would... and every day leads us closer, now.

Are these earthquakes and disasters God's judgement?

First of all, God is not particularly angry at Japan or New Zealand. However, imagine for a moment that you gave you child an expensive gift for Christmas or for their birthday. As soon as they freed it from the wrapping paper they threw it on the floor and shattered it into a thousand pieces without taking a second to so much as say, thank you. Would you be upset?  

In the book of Genesis we see God creating all... the earth, the creatures of the sea land and sky... everything! Then he gave dominion to man. In other words He told man to rule here for Him... as representatives of Heaven... like ambassadors or governors. Then we plunged it all into sin.

Since that day all our ingenuity has been used to rob, pillage and plunder God's creation in a fruitless effort to satisfy our greed and lust. So, many of our inventions are eventually used to kill one another or to profit a tiny handful at the expense of the masses.

The laws, principals and precepts that God has given to us through His Word (the Bible) are not given to spoil our fun. Laws concerning generosity and showing love to one another (for example) are laws that, not only bless us by making our lives richer, but also maintain the fabric of creation.

In Romans 8:18-20 it says," ¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. ¹⁹ For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. ²⁰ Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, ²¹ the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay."

This passage says that Adam subjected all of creation under the law of sin when he rebelled against God. Now all of creation waits, groaning under the burden of the law of sin until God restores all things.

Creation is groaning under the load of our rebellion. By living for ourselves and rejecting God's way of doing things we are tearing at the fabric of creation.

The Bible says that the last days before the second coming of Jesus the world would be as it was in the days of Noah. The story of Noah's day tell of how lawless the people were and finally they were destroyed in a flood that covered the whole earth. Today lawlessness is running rampant in the world. We live for ourselves, driven by greed and lust for power... for whatever reason mankind seems driven to have control over one another. Now, just as in Noah's day, when the sin of mankind tore at the fabric of creation until it all came crashing in, our sin is tearing at creation and things like the earthquakes we have been witnessing are but one result.

Just as it says in Matthew chapter 24 it will get worse rather then better until Jesus returns. Things are going to continue to happen in areas all over the world, earthquakes, storms, droughts all resulting in economic upheaval and eventual collapse (the systems that are now in place have to be removed so that the end time system the Bible foretells, one world government, economic system and religion, can take its place).

However, God will take care of His people. Just like He had a place for Elijah to retreat to during the years of drought in Israel, where He provided food and water for him. So, will He have places of retreat for His people all over the world. There He will provide for them... So, don't live in fear of the things that are happening or of the things to come. Remember the message that the Spirit of God was sending out before the coming of Jesus through John the Baptist, "... Repent, for the Kingdom of God is drawing near!"  

This is the same message that the Spirit of God has begun to deliver in our day as Jesus is preparing to return. Repent! We can no longer live for ourselves. We can no longer get by living for earthly gain and living out the plans that we have designed for ourselves, thinking that these things will be the things that will bring us happiness and fulfillment. 

We must draw nearer to the Lord than ever, and set ourselves in pursuit of His plans and His way of doing things. If we do He will lead us to a place of refuge where He will take care of us through the coming times.

Understand that if we choose not to, it wont be as though He will send judgement out to get us. But we will be choosing to be out in the world where everything will be coming apart. We will have, in effect, chosen to be out in the storm rather then coming in under His protective presence. Our lives will come apart and we wont be able to rightly blame Him. It will be because we chose it.

Is judgement coming upon the earth... Yes, and it has already begun. 

Is it happening in specific areas because God is particularly angry with those people... No. At this point its happening here and there but it will cover the whole world.

Now, is the time to draw near to Him, so that we can live in confidence and not fear. He is faithful to take care of His people!!