Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A spiritual decline and falling away from the truth are earmarks of this rebellion. The current state of our nation would be a good example, giving rise to curiosity about the emergence of the one who will lead the world into its final destruction.

But hold on.

This letter to the Thessalonians is much more a warning guarding against being deceived than a footnote about revelation of the Antichrist.

Whether it speaks about today, tomorrow, or years from now, the command is “do not be deceived” about the coming of the Lord. A lot of things still need to happen.

So in the interim, how do we guard our hearts and minds from would be deceptors and their seemingly convincing messages?

At the same time these deceptions are emerging, notice all the public figures, entertainers, and sports figures coming out of the woodwork for Christ. Notice the rise in bold defenses of our faith and values at great social, professional, and political cost.

The lines are being drawn and rebellion is in the air.

Read, understand, and live your bible. Gather near to godly people. Immerse yourself in truth and prayer for wisdom.

Act like tomorrow may not come and if so, may increasingly not arrive as we might hope or expect.

Guard against being deceived more than discovering the identity of the man of lawlessness.

His time will come.

Your time is now.

For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

All days are last days. There is no preparation except to know Christ and in doing so, to live on as instructed.

Though the evidences appear to mount daily, they are yet just speculation on circumstances, not destinations to get caught up in as so many are doing and losing sight of the remaining mission at hand.

Live fully like today is the last day and tomorrow might just be payday.

I was invited to a business networking breakfast yesterday as a prospective member and introduced myself and our nonprofit as a fine agency with 10,000 new clients every year, all of whom have absolutely no benefit to anyone in this room except me.

Serving the underserved, the forgotten, and those on the margin’s edge is not a pretty cause but the results can be a thing of beauty.

Experiencing people, seniors, and entire families once homeless on the streets lifted out of the rolls of poverty, into good housing and good jobs, and into a renewed hope for a thriving future is an incentive to show up every day rarely found in for profit work.

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A life lived holy is one that sets itself apart from things that would steal away our conscience.

Every person we have slept with has stolen a small part of our heart and soul leaving us a little less gratified than the carnal experiences might suggest.

My “body count” as they refer to it anecdotally is shameful and the losses of my heart and soul should have left me bereft of both.

But amazing grace saved a wretch like me when I went celibate over a decade ago and God restored all that I’d lost in my selfish pursuits.

My former off trail escapades served a purpose though, and enlarged the capacity of my heart and soul for people in my pathways today.

Far from pure, most importantly I’m forgiven.

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To disarm literally means to take one’s weapon by surprise, rendering them harmless.

The laws, rules, and traditions under which people had been governed were weapons instantly snatched away, proclaimed in a single act of Jesus, defying a stupefied class of elite Jews.

The converted commoner was instantly released from the burdensome Jewish weights and measures of righteousness, traded for freedom through faith in Christ and His work on the cross.

To be a disarming people today, we must break from Christian stereotypes and provide others with the same unexpected love, care, and compassion shown to us, and demonstrate our salvation in action in an unforgiving world.

No weapons formed against us can succeed against that.

Isaiah 54:17

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I wrote a story once about a man, fresh out of prison, who jumped head first into a hole of fresh sewage to rescue a 3 year old from drowning. https://www.lifemeanssomuch.com/a-mouthful-of-raw-sewage…/

If you’ve never been rescued by someone, it’s hard to grasp its significance. But it changes you.

And as if the rescue wasn’t enough, in doing so to also forgive your past mistakes and move you to an entirely new kingdom in the process is an unfathomable act.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Just when you’re submerged in raw sewage drowning in a gruesome death as sin would predict, Jesus takes your hand and raises you up freed and without blemish to new life.

I’ve been there.

My story is not unlike yours or that of a helpless 3 year old little girl who lost her way.

It changes you.