👉🏿You Aren’t Seeing It All👀

Just when you think you’ve seen it all.

2 Thessalonians 2:6 (KJV) And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

As I read that verse this little phrase jumped out at me “And now ye know” a man by the name of Paul Harvey had a radio broadcast called the Rest of the Story. This broadcast was on the radio from 1951 to 2008. After telling the story of someone or something he would always end his broadcast with these words “and now you know, the rest of the story.” Wow! I think the more we know about what our Bible teaches, the easier it is to see evil or wrong doings. Just because it sounds good doesn’t mean it’s right nor just because the majority like the idea doesn’t make it right either. How would you feel if the majority of people said they didn’t like you and they all decided to beat on you until you were dead. Would that make it right? No, it wouldn’t and why is that? Because there are laws that say you can’t and if you do then there will be punishment applied. Is this not what our Bible says? If you murder someone no matter what the reason then there is a price to be paid. If you steal then there is a punishment that will be applied. Bad laws are made because people don’t know or understand what is right. There was a day when people said that Sunday was different from any other day of the week. Where did they get that thinking? I think it was from the Bible. We read in 

Exodus 20:8 (KJV) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. On Sunday it was a day when very few things were open and many kept it holy. Today most businesses are open, they may open later and close a little earlier but they are still open for business. Have you heard we are open 24/7? Some would argue that the sabbath day was Saturday and they would be right. Others would say that Sunday is the day of Worship but either way all would have to agree we are not keeping any day holy. Take a Bible hand to the average person and ask them to open it to the book of James. How many could do so without first looking at the index? Now here in the book of 2 Thessalonians Paul wrote and told them “And now ye know” the preaching of the Gospel, in its power and purity.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 (KJV) For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. Sin is already at work and the only thing keeping it from working more than it is are those that know the difference because of the Holy Spirit within them.

John 14:17 (KJV) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

You think it’s bad now, oh it’s going to get worse; you see when God and His people have all left and the man of sin has been revealed. All I can say is you haven’t seen anything yet. 

👊🏻Good Job 👏

 Get Active Make a Difference

2 Thessalonians 2:5 (KJV) Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? In order to remember one first has to know. I can’t express enough of our enemy that is out on a search and destroy mission. When laws change people may think that doing wrong is right. The bad thing is that some how they take Gods Word and try to make it agree with their sin. Have you ever heard this saying “God made me this way.”  

Mark 4:19 (KJV) And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. How then is one to prevent this from ever happening? Great question let’s see what God Word has to say. Hebrews 3:13 (KJV) But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Exhort, what does that mean? “to encourage” Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. Encouragement works both ways encourage each other. It’s mine and your  job to daily encourage others. At the end of the day I should look back over the day and ask myself who did I encourage today? One might say I am an introvert I have a hard time doing that. What about those you come in contact with on a daily basic could you not say I like you tie, shirt, I like the way you _________. There is always something you can find to encourage another. Don’t you yourself like to be encouraged? You did a great job with that project, I am glad you work for us and not our competitor. A few years ago when I was trimming houses my boss told me I had to get this house finished and put a day I had to have it finished. I worked fast and hard and I had it finished on time. When my boss came and looked at the house to make sure it was ready he only saw and said one thing. It wasn't the words of encouragement oh no it was a mistake I had made and that is all he pointed out. On that day an opportunity was missed to encourage but it also it was a day of learning for me. What could I have possibly learned on that day when I could have been encouraged but wasn’t? I saw the value of encouragement.  I told myself and asked the Lord to help never to make anyone feel like I felt that day when the words of encouragement would have meant so much. 

🧎🏻‍♀️‍➡️Not Me🧎‍♂️

It's Never Wrong To Do The Right Thing 

Mark Twain  

In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 we read these words “that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”

We are not to be deceived then in verse 4 we read.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 (KJV) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Timing is everything, who is this man of sin? Well I don’t know but I have learned that I don’t need to know everything I just need to know and look out for those who exalteth themselves above God. We have an example of just that in a man named Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. He makes an image of gold.

Daniel 3:1 (KJV) Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Why did he make this image of gold? Nebuchadnezzar wanted all people, nations and languages to fall down and worship this image. If they refused then they would be placed into a fiery furnace. As you read about this in Daniel chapter 3 we read of 3 men who would not do such.  They were brought before King Nebuchadnezzar for not doing as they were told to do. When they refused to worship this golden image and were told they would be placed into the furnace their answer was simple. Daniel 3:18 (KJV) But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Daniel 3:21 (KJV) Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Oh my how awful. Nebuchadnezzar got mad and had the furnace turned up so hot that killed the king's servants that took these 3 to the furnace. What happened next is amazing and something that our God can only do.

Daniel 3:24 (KJV) Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

Daniel 3:25 (KJV) He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. It never fails to serve the living God. There will come those who will try to get you to worship them; they will sit in high places. They will say wrong is right, even make laws that allow wrong without punishment. I must say we need to know like those three Hebrew men who we are going to serve and obey. 

🪤Deceived 👀

 Knowledge of God's Word is a bulwark against deception, temptation, accusation, even persecution.  Edwin Louis Cole

2 Thessalonians 2:3 (KJV) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Friends, we are living in a day of deception; long ago I was deceived out of about $650.00 by a clever person. The older one gets the more others will try to take advantage of them by deception. Here in the verse above it’s not after earthly possessions it’s after the greatest possession you and I have and that’s your soul. Most everyone believes that there is a life after the one we are living now. Some believe that if you live a good life here you might come back as something good. On the other hand, live a bad wrongful life and you will come back as something bad or evil. The Bible is simple: accept Jesus as your savior and heaven is your home, reject Jesus and hell will become your new home. Just like those on the internet who deceive others there are those who deceive others about going to a place called heaven. It’s a slow process and it has to be if it’s going to be effective. Over time we have had to make a choice of which version of the Bible to read. Did you know that there are over 450 versions in English? Wow, that is mind blowing! When I read that I had this though. Take an original and copy if over and over and over and before long it will become unreadable. Do you think that 450 versions of the original of anything is acceptable? I would say no! Over time the Bible has become weakened by all these translations. Therefore the Churches have been weakened and things that are acceptable now would never have been 40 years ago. Churches had revival meetings that went for a whole week. Today you would be hard pressed to find a revival that went for a week. The bottom line is that over time deception has crept in and there has been a falling away. The enemy is on the move and slowly over time we have been exposed to so much that we don’t even give it a thought. Could it be that this falling away has happened right under our own noses? The language we hear daily, the advertisements, the TV & Movies, the internet just to name a few. What is acceptable today wasn’t years ago. It wasn’t! A few years ago my wife and I went with another couple into a small restaurant. While we were sitting there 3 men came in and sat at the table across from us. Their language was awful and loud. After a while I got up, went over to their table and in a kind way asked if they would not use those  words. No expression of anger, I didn’t say if you keep that up I will… no, no threat. I just asked and they apologized and that was it. Now years ago that would have never been. We are falling away and being deceived and many don’t even realize it. It’s the plan of the enemy, deception. Point man, back in the sixties during Vietnam there was a man who  walked in the front on patrols. His job was to be looking for things that didn’t look right or out of place.  Point man! What does it look like? It doesn’t look right proceed with caution. 

🤗Open Door🚪

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” ~ Mark Twain ~

I’m sure you have seen the signs. No, not the Chil’s sign saying straight ahead 3 miles on the right. Nor the Rac Trac sign that reads 5 miles on the left. No, I am talking about the ones that some think are real goof balls that have nailed to a tree that read “Jesus is Coming.” No, the ones who nailed that to a tree understand what the Bible says, that Jesus is Coming back. 

2 Thessalonians 2:1 (KJV) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

Many may say that’s not going to be. May I tell you something that you already know the majority is not always right. Just ask those in the days of Noah. He preached that a disaster was coming and no one believed him.  

Genesis 7:11 (KJV) In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. It was fast I would say “all the fountains of the great deep broken up” It was more than just rain. What were the fountains of the great deep? I’m not sure, but the rain came down and a lot of water came from somewhere else and washed those away that were not on the Ark. Some would say that wasn’t fair. Think not? What about the week that Noah and his family were on the Ark with the door wide open? 

Genesis 7:1 (KJV) And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

God says “Come thou and all thy house into the ark”  Genesis 7:4 (KJV) For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

Seven days passed by but no one went aboard. Then it happened Genesis 7:16 (KJV) And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. When the last minute of opportunity has passed there will be no more time. When Jesus comes back, returns, rapture; call it what you may, when it happens there will be no more opportunity to be saved. The door is still open but the day of His coming is closer than it has ever been. 

🤬The Chair 🪑

 Faith is not in seeing but trusting in the one you can’t see. 

2 Thessalonians 1:10 (KJV) When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Place that day where you may but that day is coming. The day is described as “When he shall come” not if the Lord will come but when He comes! How do I know that? If you have ever read the book of Acts we are told that the Lord is coming back.

Acts 1:11 (KJV) Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Here in 2 Thessalonians we read of when the Lord Jesus returns “When” the Lord Jesus returns He will be “glorified” then we read of those that will glorify and admire The Lord Jesus “admired in all them that believe.”  To believe in something is to have assure reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. You walk into a room you have never been in and walk over to a chair you have never sat in and you sit down. Why? Because you have trust in the chair to place all your weight in. Why? You have never seen that chair before and now without one thought you walk over and place all your weight in it? Well you might say I trust the ones who placed the chair here. You say from past experience I know that this chair will hold my weight. Well we all do that without ever checking to see if the chair will hold our weight. Now when it comes to placing our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, well then we want all the information we can get and then many still question. Look around and see those whose lives have been totally changed by putting their trust in Christ Jesus. I didn’t say you had to like them nor even be their friend but look at them. What changed that person so complete that it changed their vocabulary from 🤬to 🤗happy instead of going to the nightclub 💃to the Church house 💒? They got religious, you say? Did they now? They may have received Christ Jesus as their savior. They may be one of the ones that 2 Thessalonians is speaking of “When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe” do you know anybody like that? I’m sure you do. I have seen fire and I’ve seen rain and I’ve seen days I thought would never end.  I could write about a lot of sorrowful times and days but I won’t. The greatest day of my life was when I trusted Jesus Christ as my savior. Oh what a day, you could say I got religious oh but it went way beyond getting religious you see nobody made me go to church. Nobody made me buy a Bible. Nobody made me start reading that Bible. Little by little day by day as the Lord began to reveal Himself to me as I read and as I talked to Him I got more excited of what He was showing me. The fears the Lord has taken away from me are without question. Am I just religious? I would say no I’m not because religion soon wears off but Salvation never wears off. In other words I got the real thing, Jesus! I already admire the Lord but one day I’ll really understand what admiring the Lord will be like. Will you be with me? Are you willing to sit in that chair? Are you already sitting in that chair? If you look there’s a leaver on the side that will let you lay back and get relaxed. Quit trying to find rest within yourself and rest in The Lord.  The Apostle Paul said this  

2 Timothy 4:6 (KJV) For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:            

2 Timothy 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Don’t you just Love Him!

2️⃣ Short 🩳

 Life is too short to spend hoping that the perfectly arched eyebrow or hottest new lip shade will mask an ugly heart.  Kevyn Aucoin

2 Thessalonians 1:8 (KJV) In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Last time we wrote about knowing God. Also about disciplining our children for doing what we asked them not to. We didn’t talk about what kind or punishment nor how long. I remember when I was in my teens and I spoke to a man in a way I should have never spoken. That man went to my Dad and told him how I acted and what I said. Now my Dad disciplined me very sternly. I remember I couldn’t do anything but go to school; not going out on the weekends, no phone calls, no one visiting. I was cut off from everything but going to school. After about 3 or 4 weeks my Dad said if I were to apologize to that man he would remove the punishment. I refused to do so and continued with what punishment my Dad had placed on me. Know why I did that? Because my punishment had an end to it. Now this punishment of God for disobeying has no end. We are told it’s “flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God” oh my but it goes on.  

2 Thessalonians 1:9 (KJV) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; It goes on and on and on and on “everlasting destruction.” No one will ever hear God say “are you now willing to obey me now?” I wish that were so but when I read these words “everlasting destruction”I got interested in that word “everlasting” . Here it is used as “everlasting destruction”; the word “everlasting” is mentioned 26 times in the New Testament. The first time is in the book of Matthew and we read of “everlasting fire”

Matthew 18:8 (KJV) Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

The second time is also in the book of Matthew but this time it speaks of  “everlasting life.”

Matthew 19:29 (KJV) And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. One speaks of being cast into, the other speaks of being inherited.  In the day of Adam and Eve it was don’t eat of the tree of good and evil. In our day it’s come to Jesus.

John 7:37 (KJV) In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

“If any man thirst”not if anyone is WORTHY, QUAlIFIED, TRAINED or MATURE. “If any man thirst” not if anyone has the right SKIN CALOR,INCOME LEVEL, no background checks will be made, there is only one QUALIFICATION “If any man thirst” Are You THIRST? The Offer “let him come unto me” His direction is Clear “come unto me” not SIP, TASTE, SAMPLE but GULP. To drink to receive Jesus into the driest parts of our lives.

Why were they cast into “everlasting fire?” We are told “that know not God” because they knew not God they “obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:” What is the Gospel? Well we know it’s the Death, Burial and the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the book of the Revelation we read this  Revelation 14:6 (KJV) And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

Revelation 14:7 (KJV) Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. The Gospel being preached. Who is it being preached to? “unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” What’s being preached? The Gospel! Better “Fear God” also “give glory to him” that’s not all “worship him” Bottom line can’t do any of those without first Knowing God personally. Are you certain that you know what 2+2 is? That’s how certain it is to know God. This life is too short and eternity is too long for one to be wrong.