2 Thessalonians 2
The thrill of a good carnival ride is when we get taken right to edge of danger… And then we are yanked back to safety. The thrill is seeing the danger and then not going past it.
Our world economy is like a carnival ride right now taking us right to the edge….but this carnival ride is not built of welded steel, it’s a house made from playing cards. How strong can it be?
Are we scared yet?
We are waiting for Jesus. We have been waiting for 2000 years. When will he come? What is he waiting for?
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
We have never been closer to Jesus return than we are right now. The stage of the world, the political unrest, the fragile economy, it could be the his return is immanent, or maybe it’s just one more twist and turn of the carnival ride.
He will return. It could be today.
“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings[c] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
I say this to myself, fear not little one. Your God is able to save you. From the next chapter, “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. ”
There may be a catastrophic global economic collapse. If there is Jesus will be our strength. If the economy recovers Jesus will be our strength. Jesus is our strength. Living for him and telling other people about him, what he has done in our lives does not change. Our master and our mission remain the same no matter where the ride of life takes us.
(Originally posted 2/04/2016)
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