{"id":9945,"date":"2021-10-26T06:37:09","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T11:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/devotional-on-matthew-24\/"},"modified":"2021-10-02T13:17:38","modified_gmt":"2021-10-02T18:17:38","slug":"devotional-on-matthew-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/devotional-on-matthew-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Devotional on Matthew"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_15686\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15686\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/100_2642.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/100_2642-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"541\" class=\"size-large wp-image-15686\" srcset=\"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/100_2642-1024x577.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/100_2642-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/100_2642-768x432.jpg 768w, http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/100_2642-1536x865.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/100_2642.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15686\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">2014 &#8211; Arches National Park, Utah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When it feels like the end of the world<\/p>\n<p>Matthew 24: This is no sign of the end.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cend times\u201d information given in Matthew 24 is hard to understand.  Some of it has to do with the generation Jesus is addressing in this moment.  Jesus says, \u201cI\u2019m not just saying this for some future generation, but for all of you.\u201d  Some of the stuff in this chapter has already happened.  Still, we know that there\u2019s been no trumpet blast and we haven\u2019t seen the \u201cone taken-one left\u201d event take place.  Part of the mix is that some events that feel as though they must be part of the end of the world are just common history.  Jesus says reports of war, famine, and earthquakes aren\u2019t signs of the \u201cbig event.\u201d  Of course, for those in the middle of a bombing, or facing starvation, or experiencing a major earthquake it may very likely be \u201cthe end.\u201d  However, when we hear of such things (and hopefully respond with Christ-like compassion to them) we\u2019re not to panic, thinking \u201cthis is it.\u201d  Instead, God\u2019s people are to trust him to be with us when we experience the painful side of life.  We\u2019re to stay true to the Lord even when we face opposition, and take advantage of the opportunity offered by unwelcome events to share the Good News with those who are desperate for some good news.  I know it\u2019s easy for me to sit in a comfortable chair and write this stuff and not so easy when the world feels like it\u2019s coming apart.  Still, if our faith is what we say it is and if it does for us what we say it does, it has to hold up even in the middle of the chaos the world sometimes throws our way.<\/p>\n<p>Take Away: Not every horrible event is a sign that it\u2019s the end of the world, but even in horrible events we can respond with compassion and hope as a people of God.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it feels like the end of the world Matthew 24: This is no sign of the end. The \u201cend times\u201d information given in Matthew 24 is hard to understand. Some of it has to do with the generation Jesus is addressing in this moment. Jesus says, \u201cI\u2019m not just saying this for some future [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1518,1428],"tags":[1188,1207,511,564],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9945"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15687,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945\/revisions\/15687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/pastorscott\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}