Jesus Speaks of the Destruction of Jerusalem

Luke 21:20-24 (GNT)

²⁰ “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that it will soon be destroyed. ²¹ Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills; those who are in the city must leave, and those who are out in the country must not go into the city. ²² For those will be ‘The Days of Punishment,’ to make come true all that the Scriptures say. ²³ How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! Terrible distress will come upon this land, and God's punishment will fall on this people. ²⁴ Some will be killed by the sword, and others will be taken as prisoners to all countries; and the heathen will trample over Jerusalem until their time is up.

Unforgiveness (Part 1) - the condition of your heart is of primary importance to God.

Leprosy Of The Heart

And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' Then He put out His Hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' Immediately the leprosy left him.

Luke 5:12-13 (NKJV)

From Carey Lewis, founder of AMTC (Actors, Models, and Talent for Christ)  She sends me these and I'd love share them!

Consider heart leprosy. In the Bible, God calls its victims, 'Impudent and hard-hearted' (Ezekiel 3:7). They become unfeeling: 'Being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart' (Ephesians 4:18).

'Lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them' (John 12:40). Heal them? Yes! Internally and externally. Mentally healthy minds and physically healthy bodies come from spiritually healthy hearts. Therefore, the condition of your heart is of primary importance to God.

Leprosy of the heart is caused by unforgiveness, which is caused by anger, which is caused by pride: the sin of Satan, who grew to consider himself equal with God.

Being equal with God would mean that He (and we) believe we know what is best: we are qualified to determine both crime and punishment. Because when we refuse to forgive anyone for anything, we make ourselves equal to God--or even superior to Him.

Because He commands us to the opposite behavior. Because He put His Money where His Mouth was: by Jesus, He forgave us.

Therein, harboring unforgiveness causes leprosy of the heart, and we who live with this evil spirit are indeed 'Unclean! Unclean!'

I Alone Am the Lord, the Only One Who Can Save You

“I alone am the Lord, the only one who can save you. I predicted what would happen, and then I came to your aid. No foreign god has ever done this; you are my witnesses. Isaiah 43:11-12 GNT

Troubles and Persecutions (continued)

Luke 21:10-18 (GNT) He (Jesus) went on to say, "Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another.  There will be terrible earthquakes, famines, and plagues everywhere; there will be strange and terrifying things coming from the sky.  Before all these things take place, however, you will be arrested and persecuted; you will be brought before kings and rulers for My sake. This will be your chance to tell the Good News.  Make up your minds ahead of time not to worry about how you will defend yourselves, because I will give you such words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to refute or contradict what you say.  You will be handed over by your parents, your brothers, your relatives, and your friends, and some of you will be put to death.  Everyone will hate you because of Me.  But not a single hair from your heads will be lost.  Stand firm and you will save yourselves."

Troubles and Persecutions

Luke 21:7-19 (GNT) "Teacher," they (Jesus' disciples) asked, "when will this be?  And what will happen in order to show that the time has come for it to take place?"  Jesus said, "Watch out; don't be fooled.  Many men, claiming to speak for Me, will come and say, 'I am He!' and 'The time has come!' But don't follow them.  Don't be afraid when you hear of wars and revolutions; such things must happen first, but they do not mean that the end is near."

He went on to say, "Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another.  There will be terrible earthquakes, famines, and plagues everywhere; there will be strange and terrifying things coming from the sky.  Before all these things take place, however, you will be arrested and persecuted; you will be handed over to be tried in syngogues and be put in prison; you will be brought before kings and rulers for My sake.  This will be your chance to tell the Good News.  Make up your minds ahead of time not to worry about how you will defend yourselves, because I will give you such words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to refute or contradict what you say.  You will be handed over by your parents, your brothers, your relatives, and your friends; and some of you will be put to death.  Everyone will hate you because of Me.  But not a single hair from your heads will be lost.  Stand firm, and you will save yourselves."

Jesus Speaks of the Destruction of the Temple

Luke 21:5-6 (GNT) Some of the disciples were talking about the Temple, how beautiful it looked with its fine stones and the gifts offered to God.  Jesus said, "All this you see - the time will come when not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one will be thrown down."

"I Trust In God Wholeheartedly and My Needs Will Be Met"

Just sharing this 'cause it melted my heart. THIS is an example of having a strong relationship with the Lord:

Today I reading in an article in the Los Angeles Daily News about the U.S. government shutdown and in the midst of it when it got to talking about the impact on some government employees, it quoted one employee as saying:

"I know some other employees, if you don't have money saved, it's going to be difficult," said Thelma Manley, who has spent seven years as a staff assistant with the Internal Revenue Service during a 30-year career in government.  As for herself, she said, "I'm a Christian.  I trust in God wholeheartedly and my needs will be met."

It so good to hear in the newspaper what is written in scripture how many times? And even written on our money: In God We Trust!

If you feel the same way, please share! 

God bless you!