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Day 74 Luke 17:20 Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God comes not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 24 For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. 25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. 31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. People speculate when the end times will come. Some believe we are in the end times now. Hollywood makes movies based on the end times and the Apocalypse, yet no one knows when the end will come, and some believe it never will, but life will continue forever. The Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus told them it was in them. Jesus’ statement birthed a religion that believes God is in everyone and everything. Is that what Jesus told the people? In the creation, God created man by breathing in his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (KJV) Every breath we take, every beat of our heart, is proof that God lives. However, that was not the question the Pharisees asked. Jesus answered the true question when he told them what it would be like when the last days come on the earth. No one knows the day or hour, but we will know when it gets here. People will vanish. Jesus’ church, the body of Christ, will vanish to be with him. Christians know this time as the rapture of the church. It’s a time, believers everywhere look forward to with great joy and anticipation, when they will be with their Lord forever. Jesus gave them signs to look for when the day arrived. Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (KJV) We are in the beginning of sorrows, but not the end times. Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand:) Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (KJV) In the vision Daniel had an angel told him what it meant. He meaning Satan or Antichrist, would make a covenant of peace for one week, seven years. During that time the temple he will build the temple in Jerusalem sacrifice animals on the altar that are abominal to God. Animals God told Israel they weren’t to eat. We know this time as the Tribulation. The end hasn’t come yet. The temple in Jerusalem hasn’t been rebuilt, and the desolation of Daniel isn’t in the holy place. And the whole world hasn’t heard about Jesus yet. There are many places on earth where the gospel hasn’t been preached. Don’t let anyone scare you into believing the end is here, when it isn’t. We have time to preach the gospel. As soon as the whole world has the opportunity to know Jesus as Savior and Lord, the end will come. Then we will be in the end times, the Tribulation of the earth that will last seven years. The kingdom of God is in you because you are made in his image. Let’s pray: Father, thank you for your Word that shows me what to look for when the end is near. Thank you that I am made in your image, and you dwell in me because I accepted you as Savior and Lord. Use me to bring the gospel to the nations, to people who don’t know you and never heard your name. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 4 November 2018, by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay