Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Mark 13:31
Two truth snowballs hit me one day. I was planted on the sofa by the window where I always sit for my TEA time with Jesus. That day’s Bible reading took me to Mark 13.
Jesus was talking about the trials of the end times. He told His followers:
And pray that your flight may not be in winter. Mark 13:18 (NKJV)
As I read this, I glanced out the window at two feet of new March snow. Oh, I was so tired of winter! We had such a hard season already, and now we had more snow. To imagine fleeing tribulation in winter would be awful. Yet persecuted Christians in other countries already endure such tragedy.
Jesus doesn’t often tell us specifically what we ought to pray except here, “Pray that Your flight won’t be in winter.” And so, since Jesus told me to, I prayed that I would not be fleeing in winter. I prayed my loved ones and I would all be with Him before any tribulation comes. And Jesus promised me in Revelation 3:20 that He will keep me from that hour of trial. This promise is also for you!
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Revelation 3:10 (NKJV)
A few hours later, I was at church for our Sunday service. One of the songs was Amazing Grace with the verse:
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
That afternoon, since the sun was shining and the temperature had risen, I went for a walk along the cleared highway, noticing the snow was already being eaten by the Chinook winds blowing from the mountains. The song from church popped into my head, “The earth shall soon dissolve like snow…”
If you haven’t seen a Chinook wind’s work, please see the photos in this devotion. The first is on a Thursday when we received almost two feet of snow. The second is three days later on Sunday when I noticed the Chinook winds starting to eat the snow. The last is on Wednesday just six days after the two feet of snow hit us, not a speck to be seen!
The snow dissolved in a matter of hours and days! That is what will happen to the earth in the last days, according to Scripture…
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:10 (NKJV)
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Revelation 21:1 (NKJV)
Can you imagine that? All of a sudden, Jesus will come like a thief in the night. The heavens and earth will be burned up with a loud noise, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. It could happen quicker than our snow melted!
Today’s TEA CUPP: I encourage you to read Mark 13 and Revelations over the next few days to get a bigger picture of the end times. The battles and judgments are not something we want to endure. Let’s look with joy and hope to Jesus’ promise of taking us to heaven first.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NKJV)
Ten and nine, eight and seven,
Six and five and four,
Call upon the Savior while you may;
Three and two, coming through the clouds in bright array,
The countdown’s getting lower every day.
(a favorite Awana song)
Scripture from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.