Nougat 30

Based on all Jesus said about The End, we know that we are not yet in the thick of it. Nevertheless, since we haven’t completed our readings yet, please consider today’s Holy Nougat

“At that time many will fall away. They will betray each other and hate each other. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭CEB‬‬

The Tipping Point?

It is exceedingly difficult to imagine a season of spiritual lack that is lower than the present. And yet, in reflecting on the course of biblical history, we remember that the entire nation of Israel turned idolatry several times, seemingly with no justification or provocation. Remember the Wilderness Wandering … forty years of deprogramming secular, enslavement mentality, and at the first temptation in the Land of Promise, idolatry set in. How much more so with a Tipping Point?

A Tipping Point is the ‘exact moment’ when the impact of (consistently) smaller events realize that oftentimes unexpected and visible transformation. One could say for example that a military coup is a tipping point, for it usually represents the moment when conditions have shifted enough for the military to forcibly take control of the nation.

The current situation in Niger brings this home even more directly as it is the last remaining civilian-led francophone nation in the Sahel to fall prey to a coup, destroying all illusions about anti-coup mechanisms in the region. http://www.trtafrika.com/…/why-nigers-coup-is-unlike…. And, the presence of Russia’s paramilitary Wagner group also betrays a deeper dissatisfaction with Western European interventions.

Given the various signs of The End Time: national and global skirmishes, internal family conflicts, natural disasters, scams and false prophets, prevalence of Antichrists, increased hardship for believers; one might see the potential for Tipping Points escalating. And, with apparent anarchy against God’s rule on earth as in Heaven, it is easy to see increased blasphemy, betrayal, deception (spiritual and other),persecution, and outrageous acts of hatred towards each other. When this presents as being orchestrated by believers and worse yet, with God’s permission, as with the Children of Israel, it is likely that idolatry will be rampant.

As the time moved closer to His Crucifixion, Jesus took care to inform the disciples of the pending event so that they would not despair. While we might not have the capacity to prevent the buildup to that End Time Tipping Point, we do not need to despair. Despite what will present as reality, we are confident that God will be with us (see Psalm 46:5). We won’t crumble.

Tipping Point or no, we know Whose we are, we are forewarned so we will not give in to fear!

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May all we seek be found in Christ