“Woe to the earth and the sea, because
the devil has gone down to you! He is
filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
Rev. 12:12
Rev. 12:12
The secret power of lawlessness is already at work;
but the One who now holds it back will continue to do so till He is taken out
of the way (the Rapture). Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord
Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendor
of His coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan
works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders
that serve the lie, and all the ways that
wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they
refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will
believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but
have delighted in wickedness.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see
to it that you are not alarmed. Such things
must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various
places. All these are the beginning of birth pains (which increase in intensity
and frequency)…
Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last
days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud,
abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love,
unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as
its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.
Even so, when you see all these things,
you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this
generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
(2 Thess. 2:7-12; Matt. 24:6-8; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Matt.
24:32-34)
Our world is changing rapidly. Hostility to God
Almighty is fierce. Opposition is
*persistent (with a goal to wear one down),
*promotes deception (through propaganda and
twisting/denying truth),
*instills fear (which distracts, discourages,
paralyzes, steals joy & causes retreat),
*and is very personal (isolates then pounces). ~Neh. 6 is an excellent case study.
*and is very personal (isolates then pounces). ~Neh. 6 is an excellent case study.
Yet
we can take heart: He, God, who is in the Believer, is greater
than
he, the devil, who is in the world. 1Jn. 4:4
How do we access God’s power? Spend TIME with Him.
Immerse ourselves in “True reality” by immersing ourselves in His Word,
worship, prayer. See Pv.1-2
Living in light of authentic reality and His
unfailing love, xo. ~Shaun and
Betsy
