Deception :: By Sandy Howard

Disclaimer:

I really did not want to write this. However, I don’t know about others who write for Christian publications, but for me, when a message like this crosses my mind, I don’t sleep well, nor am I able to concentrate fully on anything else until I sit down and start writing the words that are constantly scrolling across my mind. This has been going on now for several days, so I’m giving in to this compulsion, however reluctantly. This has not happened to me for a while, as for the past year, I have had another mission in this life. So, I guess the Holy Spirit expected me to take care of those obligations first.

For the past year, I’ve been helping my sister take care of our momma and then our daddy, both of whom passed away last year, and all the details of re-organizing our lives without them. So, my disclaimer is simply this – I in no way intend to create controversy, debate, or conspiracy. So, if any reader feels inclined to refute or debate, know in advance that I will not take the bait.

My only goal here is to share the thoughts and “what if’s” that have been recently occurring to me. And I will also state up front that I voted for Donald Trump. I think he is the best man for the job right now – especially given the alternative – and say that I even like the man. That said, there are some things that he says and does that I would probably say or do differently, and honestly, that is the case with just about everyone I have ever known, liked, and even loved.

We humans don’t usually agree 100% with anyone else 100% of the time regardless of how much we like, love, and respect them. So, please do not misunderstand or misinterpret anything I am about to say regarding our new president and/or his administration or his policies. I do NOT think or even hint for one second, for instance, that he is the anti-Christ. In fact, if you are familiar with how the Bible describes that lawless one to come, Mr. Trump does not even qualify. And only after we are raptured out of this world will that lawless one called the anti-Christ be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:2-12).

Okay, now that I got all that out, I’ll move on with the reason for this article. I think that we humans have an instinct within us to want to know what’s going on. If an ambulance goes down a street in our neighborhood, we go out on the porch to see if we can figure out what’s going on. Some of us are so curious about what’s going on that we will ask inappropriate questions of others even though, most often, the situation does not involve us, affect us, or is none of our business. We just want to “know what’s going on.” Sort of a strange part of our makeup, but true nonetheless.

God knew this about us, too. After all, He created us and knows all of us and all things past, present, and future. So, He so graciously gave us the Bible and all its prophecies so we could know what’s happened before us, what’s happening now, and what will happen in the future.

I have been studying Bible prophecy since about 2007. And, in those past 18 years or so, while I certainly have not become an expert by any stretch of the imagination, I have learned a lot. The Bible as a whole is about 27% prophecy, some of which has already been fulfilled, some yet to come. To paraphrase the “to come” in part, the Bible speaks of a group of nations/kings during the Tribulation dispensation that will equal 10 (Daniel 7:24). So, in other words, the world will be divided into 10 regions or groups if you will. Meaning that each individual nation, as we know them now, will not exist then exactly the same as they do right now.

In my years of study, I have not seen or learned of any indication that the United States of America, as we know it now, will exist during those seven awful years of great Tribulation. That must mean, to me anyway, that our nation, as we know it now, will either not exist at all somehow or will be combined with other current independent nations to form one of these ten “unions” or kingdoms. In years past, while studying Bible prophecy, I have heard prophecy experts describe us combined with possibly Canada and Mexico to form a North American Union.

In Matthew 24, sometimes referred to as the Olivet Discourse, as in other places in the Bible, Jesus Himself tells us what to watch out for in the last days before He returns to this earth so that we can know “what is going on.” Now, some prophecy experts consider Matthew 24 to be signs given to watch for during the Tribulation, before He returns in the Second Coming (the first coming, of course, was when He was born of a virgin as a human, lived a sinless life, died on the Cross to pay for our sins and rose from the dead, then descended back into heaven to prepare a place for us – believers, the Bride of Christ – the Church). And some experts consider Matthew 24 to be signs given to watch for just before the Rapture of the Church.

In my opinion, it is both. That’s because I believe the Second Coming of Christ is a 2-phase event. The first phase is when the Father tells His Son, Jesus, to “go get Your Bride.” In that first phase, called the Rapture, He will step out of Heaven onto the clouds and shout with the sound of a trumpet, “Come Up Here,” and all who are dead in Christ (believers who have passed away) will rise first to meet Him in the clouds, then those of us who remain alive and are believers will be changed into our new heavenly bodies and rise to meet Him in the air, to be forever with Him wherever He is, for all eternity (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). In the second phase of His Second Coming, at the end of the Tribulation, He will literally and physically touch down on this earth during the battle of Armageddon.

So, in Matthew 24, starting with verse 3, it says that Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, and the disciples came to Him privately, asking him to tell them when He would return and what the signs to watch for would be, so that they could be prepared to know what’s going on and when to expect Him. He tells them that no one knows the day nor the hour except the Father; however, they can know when it’s getting close by paying attention to what’s going on around them to discern the things He says will be happening on that day.

The very first thing Jesus said to watch out for, and mentioned 3 more times in the following verses, was deception! He mentioned it FOUR times! That must mean that it is pretty important and pretty dangerous and pretty telling of where we are in His timeline (Matthew 24:3-44).

Let me also preface my final thought with this: God already knows everything that is going to happen and all the things and people that will implement all the pieces falling into place to arrive at the eternity future that WILL come to pass. That means that all these things will happen, just as He tells us, and there is nothing we can do to stop it, ease it, or change it. All the things He prophesies WILL happen. He so graciously gave us His Word in order that we could also know what’s going on and, therefore, know how close we are to His fulfillment of all He has told us. The prophecies given centuries ago that have been fulfilled already were fulfilled with 100% accuracy 100% of the time. So, we can trust Him to fulfill the coming prophecies the same.

So, having said that, all we can do is to watch what is going on around us and be aware of how close we must be to the end of this age and, with that knowledge, warn others to get ready, if not already, and to pray for discernment lest we be deceived. But we believers are not to fret and worry, as these things will happen (2 Thessalonians 2-12). But for those not saved, there is plenty (eternity) to worry about.

Believers have our blessed hope (Titus 2:13), but if you do not have that, I implore you to NOW make a decision to change your destiny and share in that blessed hope. Romans 10:9-11 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'”

I believe that some of the terrible things to come, especially during the Tribulation, are now being set up and put into place so that when the Tribulation begins with the revealing of the anti-Christ (I type it this way because I refuse to capitalize his filthy name), he will be ready to go on day one. And I believe that there are good people who will most likely unwittingly implement policies, laws, procedures, etc., that will factor into fulfilling coming prophecies.

Hence, my final thought: when I heard on the news that Donald Trump was thinking about adding Canada, the Panama Canal, and/or Greenland to United States control or actually taking them over as part of our nation, my first thought was, “Wow, I wonder if that is how we will become one of those 10 nation kingdoms mentioned in the last days.”

I had a similar thought when it was announced that Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg et al were aligning themselves with this new administration, and I wondered if they would have the influence to implement AI and digital currency, which I believe has to be done in order for the lawless one to come to be able to control every person left behind on the planet during the Tribulation. I don’t mean to indicate that I think these folks have an agenda toward helping the anti-Christ! Nor, honestly, do I think the current administration, wicked as I think they are, has an agenda toward helping the anti-Christ. I do believe they each have their agendas, for sure, but don’t actually realize that what they are doing could lead to that end.

So, there you have it. My thoughts about what is going on. Why does the Holy Spirit seem to want me to share my thoughts? I don’t know for sure, but I had to do it. I hope and pray with all my heart that neither I nor you will be deceived by anything that is going on. And that we will all know and recognize how close we are to the end of this age. So, please, please, again, if you have not yet accepted the pardon that Christ paid for on the cross for YOU, please do so now before it is too late.

Sandy

The post Deception :: By Sandy Howard appeared first on Rapture Ready.