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When God Springs a 'Suddenly' on You
Jesus will
come, and you will be caught by surprise
Author F. Dean Hackett
Could it be
that we didn't see it coming because we weren't paying attention?
God must love
surprises. He seems to always break in on the human race when we least expect
Him.
Maybe we're
just not paying attention.
I find it very
curious that God often calls it a mystery, yet He sends a myriad of warning
signals.
"For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the
ark,39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all
away ... " (Matthew 24:38-39).
How can that
be? Noah preached to them and warned them for 120 years.
Every day they
were watching the progress of the ark being built? How could they miss the
arrival of all those animals on the Noah estate?
Yet, surprise!
Here comes the water.
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way
... " (Matthew 1:18).
Think about
all the things that led up to His arrival on planet Earth.
Zacharias had
an encounter with an angel that left him speechless until the birth of his son,
John.
Mary's divine
conception and Joseph's encounter with Gabriel. The shepherds spread their
story of encountering angels and a heavenly choir throughout the community of
Bethlehem.
News of the
prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna encountering the baby Messiah when He
was eight days old was told over and over.
Two years
later, the city of Jerusalem was again filled with reports about this baby born
in Bethlehem.
This time, Magi from the east followed a miracle star to very
place the child was living. The wise men said, 'He is born King of the
Jews."
The baby was
raised in Nazareth and encountered the priests and theologians at age twelve;
leaving them in wonder, surprised at His wisdom and understanding of the Word
of God.
They missed
it!
These same
spiritual leaders were surprised time and again during His ministry; only a
handful got it right.
When Jesus
stood before the High Priest and the full Sanhedrin, they were surprised and
angry when He confessed to being the Son of God.
They were surprised
even more three days later when news arrived of the empty tomb.
What about you and me and the Christian church today? Jesus
said, "When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your
heads, for your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28).
Do we have
cotton in our ears or spiritual cataracts?
For decades God was whispering to His church, "My
Son is coming soon."
May 14, 1948: Israel became a nation again after 1,900 years.
June 7, 1967: For the first time in 1,900 years the Jewish
people had full control of their capitol city and the times of the Gentiles
came to a close. Decade after decade, God's voice has been getting louder and
louder.
January 22, 1973: Roe v Wade decision; natural
disasters coming one upon another; record economic collapse; rise of the Muslim
caliphate;
Sept. 11, 2001: Terror attacks followed by the worst weekly
decline in the New York Stock Exchange history.
2014: God's voice began shouting. Many have spoken and written
disparagingly, even mocking, about the emphasis given to the tetrad blood moons
of 2014-2015.
The question remains, "Was
God speaking to the human race?"
What cannot be denied is
each of the four blood moons were on major Jewish holidays. A full solar
eclipse took place exactly in the middle of the four blood moons, March 20,
2015.
It was also on a Jewish
holiday. Is that God's voice we hear?
June 26, 2015: Between the third and fourth blood moons, the
United States Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage was legal in all 50 states
and the decision was celebrated by lighting the outside of the White House in
rainbow colors.
June 30–July 1, 2015: A conjunction of Jupiter and Venus took
place, visible to the naked eye, and appearing so close they seemed to be as
one.
This was the first such
conjunction of these two planets since the Magi saw them when Jesus Christ was
born in Bethlehem's stable. Can you hear Him now?
Aug. 10, 2015: the Hindu goddess, Kali, shown brightly from the
Empire State Building covering the city of New York with the image of the idol
of destruction.
These are only a few of
the many messages God has been sending, calling for His church to awaken from
her Laodicean slumber. God is not whispering now.
He is literally
shouting. My mystery is being revealed. "When these things begin to
happen ... ," the Second Coming of My Son is almost upon you. Lift up your
heads. Your redemption is near."
Oh I know, many will say, "Blood moons and solar
eclipses have happened all through history. There have been many market
declines and we are in another one now. You are just exaggerating the
significance of these things."
The Scripture
speaks about such people of the last days in 2 Peter 3:1-4. Jesus will appear
in the sky, in a moment, when you least expect.
Just like the
days of Noah. Just like the religious leaders of Jerusalem.
He will come, and you
will be caught by surprise.
Dr. F.
Dean Hackett has served in full-time Christian ministry since October
1971. He has ministered throughout the United States, Canada and Europe,
serving as pastor, conference speaker and mentor. He has planted four churches,
assisted in planting 15 others, and currently serves as lead pastor of Living Faith Church in Hermiston,
Oregon. Dr. Hackett founded Spirit Life Ministries International in 2001
to facilitate ministries in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina and to open a
training center for workers in those nations. You can find him at F. Dean Hackett - Foundational, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
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