We’ve probably said those words a thousand times, be it in prayers, hymns, or scripture reading. But did we ever stop to think of what they really meant? Especially with all the calamity these days. I hadn’t until I read the article below. It is very timely with all of the talk about the end of the world, first the Mayan’s now the Pope. The end of the world is on people’s minds. God’s word has a lot to say about it if we would take the time to read it.
Maranatha, Lord come quickly!
myblessedhope
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Dec 17, 2012
The end of the world is scheduled for this Friday, December 21, 2012, according to the Mayan calendar, as analyzed by some. Many scenarios of what supposedly will happen on that date have for months–even years— been predicted by the purveyors of doom for Planet Earth. The Mayan “prophecy” goes basically as follows.
The Mayan civilization was extremely advanced in mathematics, engineering and astronomy. They also had an incredible understanding of time and space. Various calendars were in use to track time in linear progressions within cycles. The “Great Cycle” of the “Long Count” calendar equates to 5,125.36 years. The Current Great Cycle is due to be completed on the winter solstice of 2012, December 21. So, it has been interpreted that on this day, the Great Cycle ends, Time ends, so the Earth must end as well. (2012endofdays.org).
The Mayan “Long Count” concludes on the very day the sun lines up with the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It is said that this stellar event occurs every 25,800 years. The end-of-the-worlders predict that a number of cataclysmic things will occur at 11:11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (I think) on December 21, 2012.
A polar shift of planet Earth will occur, bringing about every sort of tectonic plate shift imaginable, thus oceans washing over all the land masses and perhaps the earth, itself, ripping apart in some way. This is the direst of the predictions, I suppose.
Well, not exactly, on second thought. There is some sort of planet that has been hidden from view from astronomers by our sun, according to some who hold to the December 21, 2012, date with destruction. It might suddenly be in direct collision course with the big blue marble on the Mayan prophecy date in question. Such a collision would eclipse even the polar reversal in terms of the severity of impact upon life on Earth. I’ll have to check with the experts on the dynamics of such collisions to determine whether an impact like that would be more catastrophic than a mere polar reversal.
Either way, you get the seriousness of the matters involved.
There are many who are preparing for such an eventuality as predicted. Some are buying/building underground shelters and doing many other things to survive. I’m missing something, in their thinking, I’m afraid. How does one survive an Earth-size, even moon-size object colliding with Earth? Or for that matter, how in the world–pardon the pun—does one survive when the big ball on which we live suddenly turns upside down? Oh, well, I’m sure there are the experts who will chide such an ignorant perspective as mine as completely not understanding the physics of such a thing, should it happen.
They would be right. I don’t even come close to comprehending what would be the chances of survival in such an event. I am dumbfounded over those who will believe a Mayan prophecy–or any other such soothsaying of a now extinct civilization. I am as perplexed over their believing such “prophecies” as many of those doomsday believers are berating and non-accepting of Bible prophecy. To most of these, Nostradamus, or even Rasputin, is given almost mesmerized validation, while Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel–and especially Jesus Christ—are pushed to the back of the line with regard to credence given to those considered to be prophets.
To determine which of the prophets should be given the label of the true prophet, one needs only to consider history of the Jews. The Jews–the nation Israel—exist despite millennia of attempts to scour their likes from the planet’s surface. That attempt continues. Yet, the nation Israel–the Jewish race—is at the center of attention, a blessing to all of mankind, while being hounded and hunted throughout the eras of human history.
Biblical prophets have both chronicled this traversing of history by the eternal Jew and have foretold their place at the very end of the age and beyond. In every instance, the foretellings can be traceable as 100 percent on the mark, right to the present moment.
Here’s what a couple of God’s prophets, one an Old Testament prophet and the other a New Testament prophet, have to say about the Earth and its longevity: “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:17-18).
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Get it? It is a world that will never end! It will be changed; it will be transformed at some future point. But, it is a world without end!
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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.
In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile. He writes:
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5
What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law. But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9
Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved. It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.
myBlessedHope 