Today Our Daily Bread Matthew 24 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Matthew 24:1-51
Jesus Foretells the Future
1As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. 2But he told them, "Do you see all these buildings? I assure you, they will be so completely demolished that not one stone will be left on top of another!"
3Later, Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and asked, "When will all this take place? And will there be any sign ahead of time to signal your return and the end of the world F132 ?"
4Jesus told them, "Don't let anyone mislead you. 5For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah.' They will lead many astray. 6And wars will break out near and far, but don't panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won't follow immediately. 7The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come.
9"Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because of your allegiance to me. 10And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11And many false prophets will appear and will lead many people astray. 12Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13But those who endure to the end will be saved. 14And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then, finally, the end will come.
15"The time will come when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about: the sacrilegious object that causes desecration F133 standing in the Holy Place"—reader, pay attention! 16"Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17A person outside the house F134 must not go inside to pack. 18A person in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for mothers nursing their babies in those days. 20And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For that will be a time of greater horror than anything the world has ever seen or will ever see again. 22In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, the entire human race will be destroyed. But it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones.
23"Then if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Messiah,' or 'There he is,' don't pay any attention. 24For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. 25See, I have warned you.
26"So if someone tells you, 'Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,' don't bother to go and look. Or, 'Look, he is hiding here,' don't believe it! 27For as the lightning lights up the entire sky, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near. F135
29"Immediately after those horrible days end,
the sun will be darkened,
the moon will not give light,
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers of heaven will be shaken. F136
30And then at last, the sign of the coming of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the nations of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. F137 31And he will send forth his angels with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
32"Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know without being told that summer is near. 33Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34I assure you, this generation F138 will not pass from the scene before all these things take place. 35Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever.
36"However, no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. F139 Only the Father knows.
37"When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. 38In those days before the Flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39People didn't realize what was going to happen until the Flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
40"Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. 42So be prepared, because you don't know what day your Lord is coming.
43"Know this: A homeowner who knew exactly when a burglar was coming would stay alert and not permit the house to be broken into. 44You also must be ready all the time. For the Son of Man will come when least expected.
45"Who is a faithful, sensible servant, to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his household and feeding his family? 46If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47I assure you, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48But if the servant is evil and thinks, 'My master won't be back for a while,' 49and begins oppressing the other servants, partying, and getting drunk—50well, the master will return unannounced and unexpected. 51He will tear the servant apart and banish him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
FOOTNOTES:F132: Or the age. F133: Greek the abomination of desolation. See Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. F134: Greek on the roof. F135: Greek Wherever the carcass is, the vultures gather. F136: See Isa 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10. F137: See Dan 7:13. F138: Or this age, or this nation. F139: Some manuscripts omit the phrase or the Son himself.

Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

~Lena’s Journalin’ Today~
Good morning!, Today in all of this I especially see one thing…but those who endure to the end will be saved.
What does endure mean in this context?
What is enduring? The person’s body? Their soul? Or their spirit?
Or all three?
Here’s the Greek definition of this word for today.
Endures-
to remain
to tarry behind
to remain i.e. abide, not recede or flee
to preserve: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one's faith in Christ
to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments
Translated Words- synonyms in the Bible
KJV (17 instances) - abide, 1; endure, 11; patient, 1; suffer, 1; take patiently, 2; tarry behind, 1;
NAS (17 instances ) - endure, 3; endure...with patience, 1; endured, 5; endures, 3; patiently endure, 1; perseveres, 1; persevering, 1; remained, 1; stayed behind, 1

I believe what is being referred to here, is one’s faith. One’s faith in Christ stays with them is unquestioned, immoveable, no matter what.
Do you have that kind of enduring faith?
Do I?
Good question for us all today.
Can anything, anybody, any circumstance, shake our faith?
I mean really, sometimes we should ask ourselves the hardest questions, go the places we don’t want to go. IF__________________would I still love God?
There will be tests to prove our love to ourselves. May as well decide now ahead of the tests that we pass, that our love cannot be shaken? Was His love shaken at all for us, all of us?
The answer to that is yes. We spat on Him, tore out His beard, pierced Him through, mocked and cursed Him and he still loved us, enough to do whatever it would take to win us, and forgive us.
That’s enduring love, the most enduring kind. The God-kind of love.
Jer 31:3 The Lord appeared from of old to me [Israel], saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.