THE END

On May 21, of last week, the world as we know it was supposed to end. The Biblical rapture was to take place, as the true believers would be swept up to heaven and those "left behind" were really in for a rough time. This was all publicized by a preacher and his followers who had previously done the same thing, predicting the wrong date for Jesus to return and the beginning of the end to commence. Parties were planned and it was all blown wildly out of proportion as the clock ticked down.

It's hard for me to believe that a preacher, so familiar with the Bible, would predict this date once, certainly he'd know better than to do it twice. Jesus made it clear to his disciples, which is recorded in Matthew and Mark that "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." This is recorded in Matthew 24:36 and again, presumably by Peter in Mark 13:32. Instead of waiting for a specific date Jesus told his disciples to always be ready for his return. In Luke 12:40, Jesus states,"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Everyday may be our last on this earth, whether we leave it unexpectedly, or Jesus comes back and sets the final days of our world in motion. Getting ready for that is as simple as asking Him for forgiveness of sins and accepting him as a personal savior. Many have made this request and received His unending love, forgiveness and mercy all the days of their remaining lives.

It's nice to not have to worry about the end of the world when you can rest assuredly on God's promise of eternal life with Him in heaven. Have a great day, luv,Susan

God's Timing Is Perfect

I believe they said it was the wettest April on record in our area. If the weather pattern doesn't change soon, it will also be the wettest May. I'm still noticing the damage to our yard and trees from last year's drought. His ways are much more advanced than mine, so I'm not questioning the whys. After the tornadoes hit the south, I was watching the national news coverage. In one of the communities, all of the churches' buildings were destroyed except for one. When they interviewed the young preacher of this particular church, his response was a paraphrase of Romans 8:28. He simply said that he knew that all things worked for the good of God's plans for all that love Him. Many of the other churches' pastors also seemed to know this to be true. They and their congregations mostly made comments about the buildings being replaceable and how they knew God would work it all out in the end. I love seeing faith in God on full display to the rest of the nation.

After the huge celebrations in Great Britain over the Royal Wedding and then the devastation of the tornadoes, we, as a nation, are experiencing another ground shaking historical event, the long awaited, coming to justice of Osama Bin Laden. It had reached a point where we really didn't think it would ever happen. It even seemed to have become a running joke. Amazingly, the Saturday Night Live comic, Seth Myers, had just made a joke while standing right next to President Obama at the press corps dinner at the White House the very night before the news release of the actual operation that ended Bin Laden's life. When we now see President Obama's over the top reaction with laughter, we can understand, just how ironic this joke had turned out to be.

I was even shocked at how truly delighted I was at the brutal killing of this man. I was amused that Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice, like all the network programming, was interrupted and replaced with the President's upcoming address to the nation about "something important". When the reporters handling the pre-Presidential message could no longer keep this secret of what the big news was any longer, they blurted it out like a small child telling a juicy secret they're not supposed to tell. I was really knocked off kilter upon hearing that Navy Seals had, indeed, killed this individual who had caused so much pain and suffering for our nation and the world. I continued watching for hours the coverage of this monumental, successful completion of what had become the most publicized manhunt in all of history. Thank you God.

I do realize that some pacifistic people feel that the solution to violence is not more violence. Killing is wrong. I have to disagree here. Ecclesiastes Chapter three states that there is a time for everything.....a time to kill, in verse three. I truly believe that almost ten years after the twin towers toppled, it was time for this coward to be killed. I couldn't believe that I actually had to defend my opinion several times yesterday. I really thought everyone would be giddy over this obvious day of celebration. It takes me back to the verse that says we, as Christians, should mourn with those who mourn and celebrate with those who celebrate. I tried hard not to be offended by those who chose not to celebrate with me. Thankfully, most of those who I work with side by side were in agreement, and most of us were wearing our red, white and blue yesterday and feeling just a little more proud of our President, our Military and our Country.

Well, I know there's plenty I should be doing today, this rainy, rainy Tuesday. I hope you are having a great day and keeping dry. God Bless America............luv, Susan