Why should we raise ourselves up in times of such distress?

Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am a lousy editor.

We learn about what seems like scary and dire times. The bible says many their would be great anguish. Yet the bible tells us to stand up straight and lift up our heads. This is a sign Jesus is seated on the throne and deliverance is near. The things that are occurring are occurring because Satan and the demons know they do not have much time left and that the new system is very near and will restore the earth to what it was originally intended to be. A paradise like with no suffering or death. Many will walk through the great tribulation into the new system. Some of us may have to flee or go into hiding but we have no reason to fear if we remain faithful and loyal to God. In times past God’s people have had to flee and go into hiding when he had judged nations. This is will be the final time and things like this will never occur again. I had discussed how the disgusting thing was the beast mentioned in Revelation. God will cut it’s attack on those who worship in truth short. Their destruction along with their allies will be sudden. Just as in times past when God judged a nation the destruction was very sudden. All who opposed God or did not heed his warnings were destroyed when those nations were destroyed. So to escape we have to pay attention , listen to the warnings so we know when it is time to flee or hide.

Why in these times we should be happy? I will discuss this next.

(Luke 21:25-31) ²⁵ “Also, there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation. ²⁶ People will become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ But as these things start to occur, stand up straight and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is getting near.” ²⁹ With that he told them an illustration: “Notice the fig tree and all the other trees. ³⁰ When they are budding, you see it for yourselves and know that now the summer is near. ³¹ Likewise also you, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.

(Luke 21:20-24) ²⁰ “However, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near. ²¹ Then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains, let those in the midst of her leave, and let those in the countryside not enter into her, ²² because these are days for meting out justice in order that all the things written may be fulfilled. ²³ Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! For there will be great distress on the land and wrath against this people. ²⁴ And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.

(Mark 13:14-20) ¹⁴ “However, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader use discernment), then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. ¹⁵ Let the man on the housetop not come down nor go inside to take anything out of his house; ¹⁶ and let the man in the field not return to the things behind to pick up his outer garment. ¹⁷ Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! ¹⁸ Keep praying that it may not occur in wintertime; ¹⁹ for those days will be days of a tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation that God created until that time, and will not occur again. ²⁰ In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones whom he has chosen, he has cut short the days.

(Mark 13:14-20) ¹⁴ “However, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader use discernment), then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. ¹⁵ Let the man on the housetop not come down nor go inside to take anything out of his house; ¹⁶ and let the man in the field not return to the things behind to pick up his outer garment. ¹⁷ Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! ¹⁸ Keep praying that it may not occur in wintertime; ¹⁹ for those days will be days of a tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation that God created until that time, and will not occur again. ²⁰ In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones whom he has chosen, he has cut short the days.

Just as in Noah’s day some will survive and make it into the new system and work to restore the earth. There will no longer be world wide division but there will be peace and those living on the earth will not fight wars they will be the meek. There will be no more suffering no more tears and no more pain. Seeing these things occur lets us know Jesus is starting to set matters straight. It may seem like God is delaying but he desires none to be destroyed so until every sheep is found the destruction will not occur. God is also giving people time to repent. He can read peoples hearts and know if there are others who will return to pure worship. So if things seem delayed we know there are still those out there who need God’s word and are searching for God. As this system winds down the distinction between those being called by God and those who oppose him is becoming clearer and clearer.

(1 John 2:15-17) ¹⁵ Do not love either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; ¹⁶ because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. ¹⁷ Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

(Zephaniah 3:8, 9)  ⁸ ‘So keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ declares Jehovah, ‘Until the day when I rise up to take plunder, For my judicial decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them my indignation, all my burning anger; For by the fire of my zeal the whole earth will be consumed.  ⁹ For then I will change the language of the peoples to a pure language, So that all of them may call on the name of Jehovah, To serve him shoulder to shoulder.’

(Psalm 37:27) . . .And you will remain forever. ²⁸ For Jehovah loves justice, And he will not abandon his loyal ones. ע [Ayin] They will always be guarded; But the descendants of the wicked will be done away with. ²⁹ The righteous will possess the earth, And they will live forever on it.

(2 Peter 3:8-13) ⁸ However, do not let this escape your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance. ¹⁰ But Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be exposed. ¹¹ Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, ¹² as you await and keep close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, through which the heavens will be destroyed in flames and the elements will melt in the intense heat! ¹³ But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.

(Romans 2:3-11) ³ But do you suppose, O man, that while you judge those who practice such things and yet you do them, you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, because you do not know that God in his kindness is trying to lead you to repentance? ⁵ But according to your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of the revealing of God’s righteous judgment. ⁶ And he will pay back to each one according to his works: ⁷ everlasting life to those who are seeking glory and honor and incorruptibleness by endurance in work that is good; ⁸ however, for those who are contentious and who disobey the truth but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress on every person who works what is harmful, on the Jew first and also on the Greek; ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace for everyone who works what is good, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹¹ For there is no partiality with God.

(Isaiah 11:4-9) ⁴ He will judge the lowly with fairness, And with uprightness he will give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth And put the wicked to death with the breath of his lips.  ⁵ Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, And faithfulness the belt of his hips.  ⁶ The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them.  ⁷ The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull.  ⁸ The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake.  ⁹ They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea.

(Revelation 7:11-14) ¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying: “Amen! Let the praise and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” ¹³ In response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” ¹⁴ So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. . .

(Revelation 21:1-4) 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. ² I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

(Revelation 7:1-3) 7 After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding tight the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. ² And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise, having a seal of the living God; and he called with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³ saying: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the slaves of our God in their foreheads.”

(Matthew 25:31-46) ³¹ “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right: ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. ³⁵ For I became hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you received me hospitably; ³⁶ naked and you clothed me. I fell sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous ones will answer him with the words: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ In reply the King will say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left: ‘Go away from me, you who have been cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. ⁴² For I became hungry, but you gave me nothing to eat; and I was thirsty, but you gave me nothing to drink. ⁴³ I was a stranger, but you did not receive me hospitably; naked, but you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, but you did not look after me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they too will answer with the words: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying: ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of these least ones, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ These will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life.”

We can find comfort in knowing Jesus cares about us. When he was on earth he perfectly reflected his heavenly father Jehovah God. Here cared enough to give his life for us. He suffered as we suffered so we can find comfort in knowing he understands our trials and tribulation and wants nothing more then to end the suffering. Death will be no more, Jesus defeated death when he died sinless and resisted all temptation and remained faithful and loyal to God. So the final act Jesus would do in fulfilling God’s will is to bring death to nothing then he will hand the kingdom back to our heavenly father Jehovah. We will not even remember the bad things that occurred in the new system because the bad memories will be replaced with good memories. In the new system the bible tells us when we pray before we call out God will hear our prayers. While we are yet speaking he will hear those who make it into the new system.

Since we know these times are very very near we can be sure God and Jesus care and even death cannot separate us from their love. Jesus was taught by God when he was along side him in heaven and we seen how he healed the sick, felt compassion for those who were hungry. He showed his sorrow when someone died and even showed he had the power to resurrect the dead. So very soon if we remain faithful , loyal and strong we may see our loved ones we lost in death. We only have a short while longer things have rapidly sped up and this wicked system does not have much time life and happy and joyful times are very very near.

(Matthew 9:35-38) ³⁵ And Jesus set out on a tour of all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the Kingdom and curing every sort of disease and every sort of infirmity. ³⁶ On seeing the crowds, he felt pity for them, because they were skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples: “Yes, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

(John 18:35-37) . . .” ³⁶ Jesus answered: “My Kingdom is no part of this world. If my Kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my Kingdom is not from this source.” ³⁷ So Pilate said to him: “Well, then, are you a king?” Jesus answered: “You yourself are saying that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of the truth listens to my voice.”

(John 10:16-18) ¹⁶ “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷ This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my life, so that I may receive it again. ¹⁸ No man takes it away from me, but I surrender it of my own initiative. I have authority to surrender it, and I have authority to receive it again. This commandment I received from my Father.”

(Acts 24:14, 15) . . .. ¹⁵ And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

(1 Corinthians 15:20-28) ²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. ²¹ For since death came through a man, resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. ²² For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each one in his own proper order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who belong to the Christ during his presence. ²⁴ Next, the end, when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all government and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet. ²⁶ And the last enemy, death, is to be brought to nothing. ²⁷ For God “subjected all things under his feet.” But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’ it is evident that this does not include the One who subjected all things to him. ²⁸ But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.

(Isaiah 65:17) For look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be called to mind, Nor will they come up into the heart.

(Isaiah 65:24) ²⁴ Even before they call out, I will answer; While they are yet speaking, I will hear.

(Romans 8:35-39) ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ Just as it is written: “For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we have been accounted as sheep for slaughtering.” ³⁷ On the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through the one who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers ³⁹ nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(John 8:27-30) . . .. ²⁸ Jesus then said: “After you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing of my own initiative; but just as the Father taught me, I speak these things. ²⁹ And the One who sent me is with me; he did not abandon me to myself, because I always do the things pleasing to him.” ³⁰ As he was saying these things, many put faith in him.

(John 6:37-40) ³⁷ All those whom the Father gives me will come to me, and I will never drive away the one who comes to me; ³⁸ for I have come down from heaven to do, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose none out of all those whom he has given me, but that I should resurrect them on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who recognizes the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life, and I will resurrect him on the last day.”

(Hebrews 12:1, 2) 12 So, then, because we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also throw off every weight and the sin that easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² as we look intently at the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus. For the joy that was set before him he endured a torture stake, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.