2446AFC111524 – This is a Big Deal! ← 😊 PODCAST LINK
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Daniel 12:1-3 – 1 “At that time Michael*, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
*Michael – (ME-KAW-ALE) – who is like God. He is a Spiritual Warrior, perhaps the commander of the Warrior angels. He battles against evil in order to establish Justice for all of God’s people – starting with his Chosen Nation – and is especially the chief enemy of Satan and all the evil spirits who were swept away with him..
Psalm 16:7-8 –
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. (↔ Music Link)
Hebrews 10:14-18 – 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds,”
17 he also adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
The Necessity for Watchfulness (↔ Music Link)
Mark 13:33, 37 – 33 Beware, keep alert [and pray]; for you do not know when the time will come. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. This Sunday, the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we will be You may have noticed that the Key Verse image is very big. That’s because this subject is a very big deal.
When we talk about The End Times we are in a discussion about eschatology. Talk about a strange world! I recall that in high school I wrote a term paper on that subject. I have no idea why, or how it turned out. I remember my mom helped type it out on our old Royal Typewriter. That was a very satisfying machine to use – once you got used to having to correct your errors!hearing a little Scripture on “The End Times.” You may have noticed that the Key Verse image is very big. That’s because this subject is a very big deal. When we talk about The End Time we are in a discussion about eschatology. Talk about a strange world! I recall that in high school I wrote a term paper on that subject. I have no idea why, or how it turned out. I remember my mom helped type it out on our old Royal Typewriter. That was a very satisfying machine to use – once you got used to having to correct your errors!We know that’s important, because we know nothing enters Heaven that is not Holy – wholly perfect. Most of us – we presume – will have a chance to get straightened out before we die, and most of us – we assume – will not be present when The Christ of God returns in Glory with all the Angels and Saints. But getting ready seems to be a difficult process and staying ready seems, frankly, impossible. There is no BIC White-Out for our correction. That’s because we have something way better. Our sinful hearts, minds, and souls – our God-given selves – are not whitewashed and then overlaid with what looks proper. We are not called to live with a false and ornate façade hiding a clean, but empty heart because are sins are swept away. Our hearts are completely wiped clean, they are restored to their Original Innocence – plus a dab of the Original Sin unto which all of us are born and must live with as long as we draw breath on Planet Earth. It is indeed difficult to stay on the Sonny Side of Life, but since “With God all things are possible,” we must align our lives with the impossible. It is not “Mission Impossible” (↔ Click Link) for us!
Why should it be? We have God’s inspired Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, the B.I.B.L.E., as our guide. It will show us how to find the narrow way and the narrow gate. I recently saw a meme on Facebook that said something on the order of, “If you can trust the manufacturer of a puzzle to be certain all of the pieces are in the box, you should trust that God has put in place everything you need.” He did, you know. And in that Operators Manual he told us to watch and wait, to wait and watch. WE are not called to passive waiting. Something has to be going on inside us – meditation, anticipation, elucidation, edification, just a whole bunch of –ation words. Those words describe the actions, the processes, of DOING something. Or, to jump to a fantasy writer of the Harry Potter series, and we have the character of “Mad Eye Moody” depicted as repeatedly proclaiming something on the order of “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” Absolutely! In harmony with Sir Winston Churchill we proclaim “Never, never, never, never, never quit …” Never quit what? WATCHING! Watching for what? All the eschatological hints in Daniel, Revelation, Psalms, all the Prophets, and Matthew 24 – IMPORTANT (↔ Click Link) and in Mark and Luke as well. It is in those passages that the Christ of God tells us he is on his way.
We have been told for centuries that Jesus can return “any minute now.” Well, that is true, and while we Believers have nothing (we hope) to fear about that, there are billions of people we don’t really know who don’t know he’s coming, and furthermore, don’t really care that he’s coming. Sadly a portion of folks in that group claim to be Christians, and that they wait only passively, being certain that they can explain some sort of answer to the question “What have you done for the anawim?” And most certainly there is an immensely larger group that think the whole thing is just a fairy tale to placate our primordial fears of death. As we often say here, all of those folks are in for one Hell of a surprise!
ʻŌmea, shall we watchfully wait together; share what we see and hear and know; encourage, challenge, and Love one another as he has Loved? You wait with me, or I’ll wait with you, or better WE wait while we watch, and watch while we wait. What we’re waiting for is worth watching for. What we’re watching for is absolutely worth waiting for! AMEN? (↔ Music Link)
A-a-a-a-a-a-MEN! If HE built it, he WILL come! And so, Belovéd, let us wait together for his coming. When others ask us, “What are you waiting for?” our answer ought to be, “Not what, but Who.” We are waiting for Christ, but many will be waiting for the Deceiver, the guy on a White Horse who wears a false crown and has a plan to restore Peace and Prosperity to all the World, especially Israel and the nations ranged against it. They want the “White-Out” version, the whitewashed tombs, the empty promises of deceivers. Those are the persons our Lord God described as the ones committing sins and lawless deeds in their rebellion against God. I ask you to reread Hebrews 10:14-18 either in the Key Verses section or follow that link. It is a reference to Jeremiah 31:33-34 where God decrees that people will not feel they must be obedient because they are supposed to, based on their teaching, but rather will do what is right because they want to, and they will want to because they can. God’s Laws will no longer be external guardrails. He says, “they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” Now, Belovéd, THAT is a Big Deal!!
Our iniquity – our lawlessness – and our sins will be forgotten. Not merely forgiven, but pardoned and forgiven. A pardon removes all the legal liabilities of punishment, and forgiveness removes all the claims for requital because of the offense. In our earthly courts, some pardons can be conditional – the pardonee must accept the responsibility of compliance before the pardon takes effect. This is one reason we must always continue to see, ask, and knock (See Matthew 7:7). We must call out toward God and ask with importunity (persistently, demandingly, unrelentingly, avidly, forcefully, eagerly) with excellent attention to diligence, and our efforts shall not be in vain. Seek unrelentingly for the Power in his Word through the Holy Spirit, and we will discover all our needs will be met with God’s impeccable generosity (he always Gifts the Right Stuff). You will receive what you need based on your request – if it is agreeable with God’s will. The gate to God’s storehouse of Mercies will be opened, and you will receive more than you can hold (so you’ll end up sharing it, because God has given everything without counting the cost – and so must we!)
This Very Big Deal (deal as in event, not bargain – although it is a bargain too because Christ paid the price) is not a “one time only” kind of event, it’s not advertised as “limited quantities available.” It’s more of a Gift than anything else.“I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” The only stipulation is that we must accept and use the Gift. Therefore we say with the Psalmist, “I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Jesus himself tells us it is a Gift which fully satisfies all the Law and the Prophets. It is Christ’s Law of Love. When that Law of Love is engraved in our hearts, we know where, why, who, when, what, and how to obey our Father in Heaven. That is important, because on that day about which we do not know the time or hour of his coming, Christ will be HERE, and then: “At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book.” (↔ Music Link) There will be a lot of commotion because some will be swept away into eternity – some “shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.” We do well to take the Prophets’ wise advice to do what is right and good because “the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.” The Victory is won, and it is ours through him who brought it. “Paid in full” is a very Big Deal because it is a very Good Deal. Trust and obey, ask, seek and knock. If our hearts are of flesh and not of stone, if they are engraved with the Word, that Valley of the Shadow of Death will become the Valley of Peace. (↔ Music Link) That’s a mighty fine Big Deal, too! After, YOLO-F!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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