‘Living As GOD’s People While We Watch and Wait for Jesus’ Return’

Most people today can’t tell time!  Understanding the days in which we are living is not as easy as looking at your watch or your iPhone.  Jesus criticized the religious leaders in HIS day because they could not rightly interpret “the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3).  All the prophecies of the coming Messiah pointed to Jesus, but they couldn’t and wouldn’t see Him as the fulfillment of God’s promises to send a Savior.  So it is today, and so it will be as we approach the return of Jesus Christ!  While many in the church claim to believe Jesus will come again, few seem to be able or willing to discern the signs of the times today.  Most choose not to think about it until something like what happened in Israel forces them to at least consider that what the Bible says might be true!!  Yet very quickly people choose to believe other explanations or interpretations of the events going on around us.  What does GOD say?  Having spoken to the Thessalonians about the “rapture” of believers at the return of Jesus, Paul went on to explain the reality of the coming wrath of God that will be poured out on mankind following the Rapture of the Church.  His purpose was once again to offer encouragement to those who believed in Jesus Christ by assuring them they were not destined to endure God’s wrath, but rather, to obtain salvation.  Endurance and perseverance are common themes in the New Testament, reminding us that living as disciples of Jesus Christ in this world has never been easy, and it will require preparation if you are to be ready for what lies ahead.  God does not keep His children in the dark, but rather, gives us all the information we need to understand “the signs of the times.”  Of all the generations who have lived upon the earth, we who are alive today must be sure we have the right perspective in order to live as “children of light,” holding on to the sure and certain hope of salvation in Christ!  The “day of the Lord” will come, but “God has not destined US for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (I Thessalonians 5:9).