Hi gang!  I hope you enjoyed a blessed Resurrection Weekend…and that the celebration of our risen Lord continues every day of your life!

 

This week I launch a new session of the study, Looking for the Blessed Hope, and I’m very excited about that!  It is a home-based Bible study focusing on Israel and Bible prophecy concerning end times.  In order to understand prophetic events, we must recognize Israel’s place as God’s chosen land and chosen people.  With God’s Word as our source, we’ll lay the foundation of Israel’s history, then build on that foundation by looking through the lens of Scripture to understand current events.  We’ll also study what God’s Word tells us about prophetic end times.

 

Would you like to follow along?  I’ll do my best to share bits and pieces of the study here on this blog as I present it live here in Phoenix.

 

To move in that direction, let’s focus on Mathew 24:42-44 that encourages us to be on the alert because we do not know when the Lord is returning…but we must be ready!  Here is my challenge to you!  That passage begins with the word “Therefore….”  An astute Bible teacher once taught me that, when you see “therefore,” stop to see what it is there for!  (In other words, back up a few verses to see what “therefore” refers to.)   So, here is your assignment:  back up a few verses and study Mathew 24:32-44, then answer these questions:

 

1. Who knows the day and hour of Christ’s return?  (Verse 36)
2. The coming of the Son of Man is compared to another Biblical event.  What event is it compared to, and what is the comparison?  (Verses 37-41)
3. What is the exhortation in verse 42?
4. According to verse 44, why must we be ready?

 

Friends, when I look around, I see a culture that closely resembles that of Noah’s day.  People didn’t believe Noah’s preaching that God’s judgment was coming, and they weren’t ready when it did.  Today, many do not believe in Jesus’ imminent return, and will not be ready when He does.  Verses 32-35 tell us how to recognize the season at hand!

 

Believers, wake up….be alert! He is coming again and we must be ready!

 

If there is a theme song for our study together, it is Casting Crowns’ While You Were Sleeping.  Take a few moments to stop, listen, and contemplate.

 

Please follow along as we study together, and I’ll do my best to take you on the journey with us.  Blessings, dear friends!