My thanks to al of you who sent me suggestions on dealing with my toothache pain yesterday. There were some ideas that I already knew of and some that I had never come across before. Thanks for caring. I see the dentist in a couple of hours and I'm sure he'll give me a permanent fix.

As Kathy and I came home from a prayer meeting last night we noticed that the moon was beautiful. There was just enough moon showing at just the right angle to look like the smile of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland.

It was beautiful and delightfully silly at the same time. All that was missing were a couple of stars for eyes.

Had those stars been there, no doubt several things could have happened. Someone would read it as a sign that Jesus was coming tomorrow. Someone else would have claimed to discover a new god and started a new cult or religion. It would have given me strange nightmares about giant, hookah smoking cats in the sky.

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but the Lord is highly unlikely to give you or I special divine insight into the hour of His return. New gods and religions come and go all the time. Nightmares about smiling cats can just as easily be explained by bad pizza as a sign in the sky.

Many people are living in fear because of events in the Middle East and the possibility of terrorist attacks. They are convinced that events in the news are definitely "the sign" that the end times are here. These things are nothing new, they have been happening since before the days of Noah. The scale of events is larger perhaps, but that's not necessarily the indicator that now is the time.

Jesus is coming back. The Bible is clear that He is returning and will appear suddenly. The Bible is also clear that we won't know exactly when

If he returns tomorrow, don't be surprised. If He doesn't return in the lifetime of our grandchildren don't be surprised. When it does happen, we'll be too caught up in the wonder of His presence to worry about whether or not our end times theology was correct.

It's interesting to speculate, but don't put too much weight on the pundits and forecasters who claim to know the hour of His return. Instead live each day as if He was coming tomorrow and rejoice in each day He delays. Each day He delays means that more souls are being saved for the kingdom.

What Satan plans for evil in the world, like the Middle East situation, doesn’t catch God off guard. He will still use it for good.

The analogy of birth pains in Matthew 24 isn't there by mistake. Birth is painful and messy but the result is beautiful and miraculous. So it will be with whatever happens in the world, our world is in a mess and we need to attend to it, but what will follow on His return will be more miraculous and wonderful than any birth that has happened yet, including the birth of Jesus in the manger.

Until next time, may you live in joyous anticipation of His return, knowing that whenever it occurs the timing will be perfect and we have nothing to fear in the interim. Instead of living in fear and being paralyzed, live in trust of the Lord and continue to serve Him in power.

Be blessed.

Hallelu Yah (Praise God)!

Kevin

If you haven't made the decision to accept Christ as Lord