Matthew 24

I recently have had a revelation regarding Matt 24 (you should read it!) which has been such an outstanding truth I now hold on to for comfort. Jesus is speaking to his dearly loved disciples about the end times. He tells them to "watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ', and will deceive many...." (starting at vs 4) He continues on in vs 24 to say "for false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect- if that were possible" AND then He goes on to say in vs 27 "for as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

So first, I want to say it will be SO obvious when Christ actually returns. Vs 29 says, "the sun will be darkened". I can't imagine what it will be like when the sun is darkened and "the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky" besides the fact that it will be freakin' dark! And Jesus says that when he comes it will be like lightning visible from the east to the west, which I can't image that either, I'm sure it will be the brightest light ever because of his pureness, you know? Think about what happened when Moses met with God and came down the mountain, he had to hide his face because God's glory was so brightly reflected off of Moses that the people were scared. So it will be obvious when it is the Lord. But, Jesus also states before (in vs 24) that "false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect (meaning true Christians)- if that were possible." BUT thank God he added 'if that were possible'! When the Antichrist comes people we go to church with people that look like they 'got it' will be deceived. The Antichrist will be that powerful. I mean he will be performing supernatural signs and miracles. That's exactly what Jesus did when He was physically walking this Earth. The comfort I draw from this is that it isn't possible for me to be deceived and the same for you if you truly know God! Jesus refers to us as his sheep and he is his our Shepherd. Did you know that when a sheep learns his shepherd's voice it follows him everywhere? I love this because I have a little dog, Rylie, that follows me everywhere. She watches every move that I make. So she constantly reminds me that THAT is how I must be with my master because I am part of his flock that he tends to. Please read John 10, it will touch your heart! Also, Isaiah 40:11 (He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and he carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.) Oh my, my Lord is so good! Anyway, back to the point, I will not be deceived by the Antichrist because I know my father's voice. Make sense? We have to KNOW him, not know OF him, not know what we have imagined him to be. WE HAVE TO KNOW HIM for the God, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, and Truth He actually is! How do you do this? By praying and reading His word and having the Holy Spirit direct your life and willingly following Him at any cost.

Matthew 25: 11 - 13 "...'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."