Luke 17:20-37

I didn't get to go to Bible study tonight because my baby girl is a little sick with sore throat and had a temp of 101. I hate that she's not feeling well, and I hate that I missed out on the study tonight..but I know there are reasons for all things. In doing my study in preparation for tonight (before baby girl got to feeling bad and I thought I was going) I happened on the scripture above and it jumped out at me. You may or may not have heard about the man that is predicting that this Saturday will be the return of Jesus, the Rapture, the end of the world..however you want to name it. If you haven't, here's a few links to  articles about him and what he is saying:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/19/dr-manny-end-coming-21st/

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/19/news/economy/may-21-end-of-the-world-finances-harold-camping/index.htm

http://reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/harold-camping-doomsday-prophecy-may-21-2011/

I can't say if this is going to happen, but I know this is what the Scripture says that Jesus himself stated when asked about the Coming of the Kingdom of God:


20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[a]
22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day[b] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [c]
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

( I copied and pasted that from this website: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+17%3A20-37&version=NIV)


You know how you get those emails from websites that you might frequently shop offering discounts and reminding you that the time to use that discount is about to run out?
I don't know if Jesus is coming back Saturday, Sunday, next year or even in our lifetime, but I do know this...we aren't going to get an email from him stating that it's our last chance to use our "get out of Hell free" coupon. There is no wait for tomorrow to get your life straight and then ask for forgiveness and salvation. Frankly, without Jesus, you won't get your life straight.



Romans 10:5-15 (New International Version)

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”[a] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[e] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[f]
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
(copied and pasted from http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2010:%205-15&version=NIV)