Signs All Around Us

Signs All Around Us

“I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.                             Acts 2:19-20 (NKJV)

My husband and I were watching the World News and they were showing one disaster after another.  There were people being bombed in Iraq, and blown up in St. Petersburg, Russia, while dozens were killed with poison gas. In extreme proportions, tornadoes and high winds, floods, cyclones and landslides have killed many people around the world.  At the same time, they were issuing warnings of more to come.

Taking in all of this within 5 minutes was like watching the end of the world.  We just sat and looked at each other, knowing that within a minute, our world as we know it can be instantly wiped out. I don’t mean to scare people, but these are signs all around us; signs like Jesus Christ, himself, prophesied in Matthew 24. 

Driving around you come upon many signs that tell you to go, 4-way stop, wait, slow and stop.  We see these signs and obey, because they are showing us what’s ahead and what’s dangerous.  We know we need to follow these because it means life or death.  The same is true for those who ignore the signs in the Bible; Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Matthew, Timothy, Thessalonians, Peter, Jude and Revelation are filled with signs. Even our police are being hunted down and killed.  We have to ask ourselves what kind of a world are we living in.

We really shouldn’t be shocked because we have been warned in the Bible that these things are going to happen. It isn’t that they haven’t happened before, but it has been building up to more and more tragic events and is worldwide. People have always killed each other since Cain killed Abel, but in our country alone, people are abstractedly killing one another.

We might ask ‘Why?’ is all this happening?  I can only say, “These are the times that were predicted would happen.” Look in Revelation 6:4 “Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.”

If you were driving down the road and a stop sign was ahead of you, what would you do?  You could get killed if you ignore it, or you decide it’s safer to obey the sign.  If you heard there was going to be an avalanche, would you go sit in its path or would you get away from it?  If you were warned there was a tornado coming toward you, would you just stay there and wonder if it was going to hit you, or would you run for a place of safety?

 Even though you say you have waited for Christ’s return, you still will not expect it when it comes. “For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2)   Do you really believe it could happen any day? If you know that God has said this will happen, can you be sure?  Only if your faith is full and fearless.  You must be prepared because God told us that it is so.  We must believe the Word of God.  Matthew 24:30-31 “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. 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—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.”

Don’t be like the others who say, “Here is what I think, this is the way it is today and I’m going to live like most people do.”   Hosea 4:2 says, “You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another.” Yes this is one of the signs of the time that we live in today.  Is this what you really accept as the way of life? 

The signs are everywhere; it is up to each person to decide to follow Jesus and be obedient to him, or choose to ignore the signs.  I always remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7:14, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” This scripture tells me how few people make it into God’s Kingdom.  This is not an easy thing and those who truly follow God, but God’s GRACE is sufficient and many times I’ve had to receive His grace to continue my walk with him.

Now, if the time of his return is near, listen to this familiar verse in Matthew 13:3-9 “Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 

What I am going to say is my understanding of this scripture.  Four seeds were sown, but only one of them survived and the crop was that one seed and it was fruitful.  In words I believe only one out of four people will make it into heaven by the grace of God. We are a rebellious people who do not want to believe the signs when they see them, so beware, the signs are all around us. Hang fast to the faith that you have, because one day He will return.