When Will Jesus Return? 

Some folks are looking at the world with pre-Rapture vision, wondering when Jesus will return. “End times” we say, “closer every day”. Well, YES… And YET, should folks ONLY be wondering how bad is bad  enough? Be watching evil as the barometer? Or instead watch for more opportunities to LOVE?… LOVE… LOVE!!!!  Yes, we are distracted by our outrages sometimes: how corrupt is corrupt enough? What’s evil enough or widespread enough? When does the end start? Has it already started? Hmmm… LOVE has always been enough to right wrongs. 

I’ve been watching TV of some sensationalized situations that need deeper delving now that sealed info is unsealed (like the Cuban Missile Crisis in a new documentary on the History Channel about JF Kennedy). I’ve been reading history that is hush hush too, lately intrigued and saddened about the hidden persecution of a particular race of gypsies in Europe, pre and post holocaust, which I was totally unaware of. I heard of the concentration camp-like place when traveling, and crimes of the recent past, not just long past, so sad. All times had evildoers and outrages, so very sad. I’m not going to make any prediction of the end times based on current times, because I only see current times on the surface and have only a small glimpse into surface history, which would surely show the continuous evil influence was deep spread, quite wide and sadly since the near beginning of time. Yet I know it must be coming soon… We need peace. Peace eternal is not by the hands of man, only the Lord God “will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” We need LOVE and LIGHT to overcome.

End times, it is said by Jesus that agape love by the people will wane, but of course I am sure this is an observation of knowledge and Jesus doesn’t hold this barometer to measure – His only cause is to Know – to Love. – and God will not yield this judgment, to destroy evil, with any joy – these times ARE and WILL BE as painful as they always were for Jesus riding in on a donkey to Jerusalem,  in tears for the lost. It says in the book of Revelation of some quite time in Heaven when end times comes – solemn and sad. And therefore we are to work hard to reduce the lost numbers – it is not like Jesus is figuratively watching some countdown clock until His Father, our Father, says “Time!”. Rather, Jesus, always, is continuing to WATCH HIS FLOCK, to go after them, speak until they hear, LOVE them and send His HolySpirit forth. In this “holding time” waiting, JESUSis NOT idle, Nor should we be. We need to LOVE even more. 

Jesus doesn’t hold out, He HANDS OUT the solution to Save: HIMSELF.

So, RAPTURE and end times isn’t about the wicked clicks of time, it’s about the save-able Sands of children slipping INTO Jesus’s Hand. May we focus on LOVING, NEW BEGINNINGS and Salvation as a Season God continues to cultivate. Don’t grow cold, grow BOLD in LOVE. 

I’m grateful Jesus was and is announced, speaking by Isaiah’s proclaiming prophesy hundreds of years prior to His 1st coming (read chapter 61 below): “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives”… “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation”…

I don’t propose any magic calculator for us to decide when God is ready, we are supposed to WATCH WHILE WE WORK, not watch idle like Jonah resting under the shade – warn and wait. We must continue to LOVE with AGAPE, continue our marching orders to proclaim JESUS, the Good News Name…

 “OH when the Saints go marching in!”… I want to be in THAT number…

Amen

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Isaiah 61, NKJV

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the priests of the Lord, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

“For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.”

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

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From Matthew 24:3-8, 36-37

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 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.

…

Day and Hour Unknown – “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man…”