Tag: bible study

“Coincidence” – or – We are living in the final 7 years?

(This is a link to the podcast on Spotify for this post, if you prefer to listen.)

Wake Up. When the world took notice of the “pandemic” in 2020, it made me wonder: Is there more significance to this? Affecting the entire world, is this a “wake up” call from God? I think it was. It is now 2022 and the “signs” have not ceased, they have increased. Most who study bible prophecy and are honest about what they discover, will tell you, we won’t know for certain when the final 7 years starts, but approximately 3.5 years into the 7 years, we will know (once the man of lawlessness, AntiChrist, is revealed). Until then we will only see signs, Jesus tells us those signs in Matthew 24.

Preparation Time. I’ve been thinking that we might be in the final 7 years and while the timing of it shouldn’t be our focus, the preparation should. I feel a sense of urgency knowing how long it took me to “get my life in order” (meaning with God). It wasn’t overnight! I can see other people that I care about are just like me before my eyes were opened – so that is what concerns me and brings out this sense of urgency. We may not have much time, but others don’t feel that way or see the urgency like I do. I know I can’t do it for anyone, but I care about them. It is exhausting having conversations when you know that someone doesn’t see it, understand it or doesn’t believe it and I can’t force a belief on anyone, all I can do is pray, which I do. If someone believes, they will take action, if they don’t, they will stay the same. The urgency is always present because we are not guaranteed to live “X” number of years, anything could happen at any time. So the urgency is present whether it is 7 years from now, or if God says our time is up unexpectedly. It is a race against time in that regard.

My Question to God. As I mentioned, it’s not enjoyable telling anyone that there may be a short time before Jesus returns, so I prayed (2/12/22) and asked God if we are in the final 7 years and asked what should I be doing right now? As I’ve done before, in prayer, I ask God about something, then open the bible to see what scripture shows up (it is consistently relevant to me). When I asked the question above, this was the page I opened to:

Then I called my sister and told her what happened and said this doesn’t say anything about the final 7 years so I guess I should back off a bit. But she pointed out, you asked 2 questions: one was is it the final 7 years and the second was what you should be doing. She had a point. So I told her I would try again and let her know.

My answer. I prayed again and asked God to show me something that would let me know if we are in the final 7 years. I didn’t want to affect the outcome of what page was opened (i.e. knowing what part of the bible is Old Testament vs New Testament and turning to a certain area of the Bible influencing the outcome) so I placed the bible on the spine of the book and let it open. Well first, the cover opened and it was a blank page, Second the same think happened, then the 3rd time it opened to Ezekiel 38 (about Gog and Magog). When I saw that I called her again and said this is about the time after Jesus returns, so I guess we are not in the final 7 years. And I went about my day, not giving much more thought to it. But then I watched this video and Amir mentions Ezekiel 38 unfolding! That certainly caught my attention: click here for the video but it was too late at night when I watched it, so I decided I would look into that scripture more the next day, which I did, I searched for studies on God and Magog; I watched this and then re-read the scripture, I can see the third opinion: This war likely will be a long war that could begin before the man of lawlessness is revealed and finish at Armaggedon, when Jesus returns. It was certainly an interesting theory, one that I hadn’t heard before and certainly made turning to Ezekiel 38 more relevant regarding the final 7 years. It seemed to be an affirmation to me. I wouldn’t jump to this conclusion if I didn’t have prior questions answered in this way, some that were future events that occurred the way the scripture indicated, and not the way I hoped it would be. Another point, it’s always God’s will, not ours and no matter what we plan, God’s will/His word, will prevail. This is a humbling experience because we realize we ultimately don’t have control of anything. If you haven’t learned that yet, just wait, you will learn that eventually.

What is next? God doesn’t reveal things without His purpose in mind. As I was reading prior chapters in Ezekiel to get a better understanding, I read Ezekiel 33, verse 6: 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ It made me reflect, I don’t want to be responsible for someone’s demise, if God is showing me this and telling me we are in the final 7 years, I need to communicate this!

All Christians: I think this applies to you right now too: If your eyes are opened to what is going on in the world, use that wisdom to help those who are not yet aware.

Maybe someone will be impacted by what happened to me, maybe by you, or various sources? I know what happened to me a couple days ago, what has happened to me in the past and what time period I believe we are in right now: The End Times. Even if I am wrong, if I misunderstood or let my personal thoughts influence this, the final 7 years doesn’t matter, but preparation does. (Technically there is a benefit to getting right with God sooner than later, you could possibly not die an earthly death, you could ascend to meet Jesus when he returns, but that shouldn’t be the goal, it is just a benefit if a person has prepared prior to Jesus’ return and is living righteously) 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NOW is the time to prepare, no matter if we are in the final 7 years or if it turns out to be far into the future. Being prepared (spiritually) is the most important thing to do right now. Pray to God, reconcile with God, repair that relationship, ask for His Spirit to guide you daily and give you wisdom and discernment about what is happening right now. If we seek Him, He will reveal Himself in a personal way to each of us. Don’t put this off. What if war happens unexpectedly and somehow you or I am in the area of destruction? Will you be ready? Have you told God you want His presence? Don’t fear what can happen to the body, fear what can happen to your soul. (Matthew 10:28)

God has amazing plans for us in the future, when we become immortal! You don’t want to miss out on this! Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 I can’t wait for this period; I’d like to miss the in between period, but that is not likely!

by Categories: bible study, Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, priorities, RELATIONSHIPSTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Deity of Jesus Christ

Discussions about Jesus. This was on my mind this morning when I woke up, probably due to recent as well as years ago conversations, all through social media. In person conversations I’ve had typically don’t address the subject of Jesus. I’ve spent time and enjoyed being with people of various faiths: various denominations of Christians, Jews and Muslims. The ones whom I’ve spent time with, are people whose character and friendship I respect, our beliefs didn’t affect our relationship with one another none of us tried to convince the other of anything different regarding our personal beliefs. Was this right or wrong to be this way? Years ago, I think we were taught that faith was a personal choice and along with politics, those topics should always be avoided. Faith being a personal choice IS truth but should it be avoided? I don’t think it should be avoided, IF there is a willingness or curiosity to understand the other view, but it should be avoided IF there is a motive to force a belief on someone else with the attitude of “I’m right, you’re wrong”- that’s not a loving conversation, instead it’s a self-centered approach. We may each have strong beliefs because of many reasons such as: we grew up in the community (that was the first belief we knew) or we had a religious education (years of hearing the religious doctrine) or our family was a devout (whatever religion) person and would be upset if we went against that belief. Those are just some of the thoughts that came to mind, I’m sure there are more reasons. I understand why older generations enforced what they hold as a strong belief: because they believe they are correct and others are wrong and they have the responsibility to raise their children accordingly; that’s what happens when a belief is strong for someone. But at some point in a child’s life, that belief will get questioned, by those with different beliefs, and that is why I’m writing this article. Conversations of differing opinions are beneficial because it gives us the opportunity to exchange ideas, think for ourselves and realize our level of knowledge, understanding and faith in our own personal belief; it causes us to look deeper into our own beliefs and most importantly GROW! It allows us to know what is truly in our “hearts.” It’s an opportunity to pray to God for wisdom and understanding, get closer to God.

The Deity of Jesus. This is the primary separation of beliefs: who is Jesus? Yes, this is a doctrinal belief, but it is more important than tradition, customs or anything related to a specific religious doctrine. As written in the Bible, this belief matters most of all. (If you’re not sure about trusting the Bible, read this)

Why does this matter? Because our belief will have eternal consequences for each of us, personally.

The following are statements revealing who Jesus is, using the Bible as the reference source:

  1. Jesus was involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth. The following is an interesting find (to me) because I grew up Christian and didn’t learn Hebrew, but now with the online translation ability comparing many translated versions of the Bible, we can find clarity with the original words used in scripture: www.blueletterbible.org So when there is a verse that is confusing, it is helpful to use this website, because some concepts do get lost in translation. If I didn’t reference this, I wouldn’t know that in some scripture where it references “God”, the original Hebrew word is “Eloha,” which is singular but in other scripture, the original Hebrew word, “Elohim,” is plural! Genesis 1:1 is the plural version (click on Strong’s column for this additional information). I need to clarify here, that I don’t believe in multiple gods, there is only ONE God, but it is this relationship between God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit that is challenging to explain or comprehend. The best way that I can explain this unity is to compare it with a physical, material comparison: a 3-in-1 coat: the outer waterproof shell (layer 1) zips onto an insulated layer (layer 2) and this has a removable fleece liner (layer 3); each piece can function independently or together as one. In Genesis 1:2 the Holy Spirit (God’s spirit), the Hebrew word: “Ruah,” is present. Jesus was with God before the world began also. (John 17:1-5)
  2. Jesus existed before Abraham. (John 8:58) Jesus told this to the Jews.
  3. Jesus is the Messiah (Christ), the Anointed One, the Son of God and is God too (John 1:18). In Psalm 110:1, David says “The Lord (Yehova) says to my Lord (Adonay)” and Jesus points this out to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-45, when they say the Messiah is the Son of David and Jesus responds with the quote from Psalm 110:1 asking why would David call his son “Lord”? This point was also made when Jesus was talking with his disciples and asked them who they thought the “Son of Man” is; Peter replied: You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus told Peter the only way he understood this was from revelation by the Father. (Matthew 18: 13-20) (John 4:25-26)(John 7:25-52) (John 8) (John 10) (John 11:25-27)
  4. Jesus came to fulfill what the Prophets foretold. (Matthew 5:17-20)
  5. God is the Father of Jesus, but Jesus has the authority of judging who will enter Heaven; (Matthew 7:21-22) Jesus gives eternal life. (John 1:1-5, John 4:14, John 6:25-71) (John 14:6-7) The connection between God and Jesus is explained in (John 5:16-47) (John 12:47-49) (John 14:10) (John 14:23-31) (John 16:27-33)
  6. Denying Jesus will exclude us from living in eternity with God. (Matthew 10:32)
  7. Jesus is God’s chosen servant. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 42:1-4 as explained in Matthew 12: 13-21
  8. Jesus considers those who do the will of God as his brothers and sisters. (Matthew 12: 46-50) We are part of God’s family; his children.
  9. God told people Jesus was his son. Jesus took 3 disciples with him to a high mountain where they witnessed the heavenly splendor of Jesus, saw Moses and Elijah and heard God speak saying: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him! (Matthew 17:1-13) (John 12:27-36) (Mark 1:9-11)
  10. Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)
  11. Jesus will return. Jesus replied to those who were going to crucify him when they asked him if he was the Messiah, the Son of God: “From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64) Jesus remained silent during much of the questioning because if he spoke, he may not have been killed. If he was not killed, he wouldn’t have obeyed the Father, and the ransom wouldn’t have been paid. If the ransom was not paid, people would not be saved (have eternal life with God as an immortal beings). No person is righteous enough to be in the presence of God, we are not perfect and perfect is required to be in the presence of Holiness. That is why Jesus was the only one (the only perfect one) who could “pay the ransom” for our lives. The only appropriate response that Jesus could say at that time, was there will be a return! The return is what we await. (Revelation 22:12-20)
  12. Jesus will rule when he returns. Jesus died and resurrected 3 days later, then visited people. Jesus’ message to the original 11 disciples after his resurrection was: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)
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