God is in Charge of Your Life! | Matthew 24:22 | August 19, 2024

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Real Truth Daily

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Hi everybody, welcome back to Daily Truths.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_01]: We've been talking about Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_01]: and basically the destruction of Jerusalem itself.

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_01]: We talked yesterday that 1.1 million Jews were killed by the Romans in 78 days.

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_01]: 1.1 million, right?

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Not just in Jerusalem but around Judea.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And Jesus continues that conversation when he says this in verse 22 about that event.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_01]: And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_01]: In other words, everybody would have died but God was gracious in not allowing it to go any further than it did.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Holy cow! It could have been really bad as bad as it was.

[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Because God was gracious in ending it when he did so that some people were able to escape,

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_01]: go up in the mountains, go across the Jordan River, go up into the mountains,

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_01]: go to that town named Pella as we said a couple days ago.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_01]: God was gracious in cutting short those days of absolute intolerance of the Roman government and the Roman armies.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_01]: But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_01]: So God was able to say, okay, that's enough.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I want to make sure that there are some Jews that are spared.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I won't allow this to go any further.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Wow! What a statement.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01]: That reminds me of Genesis chapter 18 when Abraham dialogue with God and God was going to destroy Sodom.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Remember, and Abraham started with 50.

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_01]: If for the sake of 50 righteous people you not destroy the city and God said I won't.

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And then he said 40, and then he said 30, and then he said 20, and then he said 10.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_01]: And he said for the sake of 10, Abraham did.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: For the sake of 10 will you spare the city?

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And God said for the sake of 10 I will spare the city.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So God was gracious according to Abraham's request there, right?

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_01]: But God still destroyed the city because there weren't 10 righteous people in that city.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And he even spared a lot as you remember, okay?

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_01]: So God is gracious.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And here's another thing you need to remember.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_01]: God is in charge of human history.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_01]: God is in charge of human history and not only that, God is in charge of your life.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_01]: God is in charge of your life.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_01]: He will allow certain things to enter your life to conform you more to the image of his son,

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_01]: to make you more Christ-like, right?

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_01]: The Bible says in Romans chapter 828,

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Other things that happen in your life that sometimes we simply don't understand.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_01]: We don't have the same perspective that God has when he looks at things.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: We don't have that perspective.

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_01]: We're looking through a glass darkly.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_01]: 1 Corinthians 13 says,

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: we look through glass darkly but then face to face.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Now we know in part then we'll know fully even as we're fully known.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_01]: There are many things that happen in your life that we don't understand.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_01]: We don't comprehend but will be fully explained and fully understood when we get to heaven.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Paul put it this way.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Saint Paul put it this way when he said this in Romans chapter 5,

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Rejoice in your sufferings.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_01]: What?

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Rejoice in your sufferings knowing that suffering produces perseverance

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and perseverance leads to proven character.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Proven character leads to hope.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And that hope doesn't disappoint us because the love of God has been poured into our hearts

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01]: by the Holy Spirit whom God has given to us.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_01]: What's that mean?

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_01]: We know that suffering has an end effect.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_01]: It produces patience in us.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And as our patience is developed,

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_01]: as we trust in the Lord,

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_01]: our character is demonstrated to other people.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: You've seen people who are going through very difficult times

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_01]: but they were patient in waiting for God and His will to be executed

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and carried out in their life

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and their character was demonstrated with that unswerving,

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: undying devotion and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_01]: This is what God is doing through our sufferings.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I could talk about my own sufferings, you have your own sufferings

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and sometimes we're scratching our head like,

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_01]: God, what are you up to?

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So here's the bottom line of this devotion.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_01]: The people in Jerusalem,

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: when they saw this siege coming

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_01]: and they had to run for their lives literally to the hills,

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_01]: they had to cross to Jordan River

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and go up in the mountains and go to Pella

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_01]: or wherever it was that they were saved and delivered

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: so that they could go there and be saved.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_01]: They probably wondered, what is God up to?

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_01]: There's times in your life

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and especially in human history right now,

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_01]: the things that we're seeing in the world today,

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_01]: what is God up to?

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's the thing, trust Him implicitly.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_01]: God knows what He's doing.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Nothing will happen in human history

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_01]: that doesn't cross His desk first.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Nothing will happen in your life

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: that doesn't cross His desk first.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: So we trust Him.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_01]: We put our lives in His hands.

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_01]: We put our souls into His keeping

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and we say, God, your will be done in my life

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and no matter what comes my way,

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: enable me to trust You without reservation

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_01]: so that I can run the race to eternal life to completion,

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_01]: fixing my eyes on Jesus,

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_01]: who is my Savior, Lord, Redeemer and King.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And that is today's Daily Truth.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Have a great, great day in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Tomorrow for your next Daily Truth.