Just minutes ago, rain and heavy gray clouded the lake behind my house. Puddles stand on the drive and a seven foot king snake seeks shelter along the stonework under my covered porch. The thunder still rumbles in the distance but suddenly the gray gives way to glorious light. My granny would’ve said that the devil is beating his wife when the sun shines bright as it rains. I’m not sure where that particular wives tale originated but I don’t believe the devil has a missus. He’s entertained mistresses galore across the ages including Folly and Babylon the Great, but his is a sentence of separation, not of wholeness. Don’t be deceived by his lies.
“Yes,” Jesus told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!”
Luke 10:18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.10.18.NLT
“Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet.
There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.”
Revelation 20:10, 14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rev.20.10.NLT
“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”
Matthew 13:41-43 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.13.41-43.NLT
In the twinkling of an eye, the finality of death and the pain and sadness of separation will quickly be forgotten. The enemy will be crushed for all eternity never to deceive or to kill, steal and destroy ever again.
Jesus is coming back just like he said and He is not slow in keeping His promise. (II Peter 3:9) He is patient, not wanting any to perish. He decisively defeated death and the grave when God called Him out of the tomb on the third day.
“But (when) the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”
“All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
“What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?”
But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body.”
John 2:18-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.2.18-21.NLT
“When Jesus…said, “It is finished!” and bowed his head and gave up his spirit,” it was a deliberate act of surrender.
John 19:30 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.19.30.NLT
“Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?
But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”
Matthew 26:53-54 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.26.53-54.NLT
“For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”
Hebrews 10:10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.10.10.NLT
“And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.
He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.”
Hebrews 9:27-28 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.9.27-28.NLT
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord.
Remember the great reward it brings you!
Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will.
Then you will receive all that he has promised.
“For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.”
Hebrews 10:23-25, 35-37 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.10.23-37.NLT
“He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.”
Revelation 22:20-21 NLT
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