Well, good morning. It is exciting to be back together after missing a whole year last year. So it's just great. And I'm excited to study end time prophecy together. I pray that it will be a blessing to all of us. I know it has been to me just in studying. So before we begin, let's open with prayer. Father, we're so grateful for your word. I just thank you so much that you have revealed so many things to us. And I just pray that we would understand that it is truth. And I just pray that as we study that you would be honored and glorified. And Father, I just pray that it will draw us all closer to you in our walk with you. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Well, Chris just told you that Christy and I will be the teachers this year, and she told you that Christy is my daughter. And in our house, prophecy was always discussed, because my husband, Cecil, taught it a lot. So we were always talking about that. And as we met Christy and I this summer and talking about doing this end-time prophecy study, We were talking about some of the goals that we have for you that we want you to get out of this study. So I want to share some of those right now. The first goal that we have is that we want you to have knowledge of the end times. There's a lot of confusing things out there that you're going to hear on the radio or that you can read online. And we want you to know what is truth from God's word. Earlier this year, I got a call from a friend of mine, not from around here. And she said to me, I have a question for you. She goes, are we in the tribulation? Because I've heard a couple pastors on the radio say that we are in the tribulation. And I said, no, we are not in the tribulation. We might be having tribulation, but we are not in the tribulation. And I explained to her. What causes the tribulation to start and also a couple other things and she goes well, that's what I thought I just forgot about those things but You know, I just heard that and I was kind of confused about it. So we want you to know truth because there's a lot of Stuff out there and the second one kind of goes hand in glove with that, but we want you to be able to refute error because believe me there is a lot a lot of air out there and I just gave you an example of an error. But, you know, we've seen a lot of things out there. We've seen everything in our lifetime from somebody setting the date of when the rapture is going to occur, which is an error, to some really crazy things out there. And hopefully, Christine, I won't have some of those. You never know. But you know, I just want to talk for a minute about all those times when you see that somebody has set a date for the rapture. When you stop and think about that, that is really such arrogance. Because did not Jesus say you cannot know the day or the hour? But somebody has the gall to come up and say, but I have figured it out, Jesus. Maybe you can't, but I can. And what they're really saying is that they don't believe what Jesus said. Because if they set the date, they're not believing what Jesus said that you cannot know the day or the hour. One year when Cecil and I were traveling into the Grand Canyon in one of those southwest states, traveling down the highway and off to the side, there was a huge billboard. that said Jesus is going to return on it and had a date. The problem, the date was passed. So Cecil and I just looked at each other and we started laughing. They need to get that billboard down. But there's been so many times when somebody says they figured it out. They can't. That's an error. And also, if you just did a search on christianbook.org, or Amazon for prophecy books, it is incredible what pops up. I mean, it is crazy. I'm going to give you some examples here. Here are some. Lost prophecies of the future of America. Now, we are so full of ourselves, aren't we, that we are America. We should be in there somewhere. So if we're not, they must have been lost. So I found them for you. So take heart. Or another one was Bible prophecy and Trump. World is uneasy as President Trump fulfills Bible prophecy as the King of the West. Really? All right. Here's my favorite one. Alien Antichrist. The terrifying truth about UFOs and aliens. Antichrist and the end of days. So in case you didn't know it, Antichrist will be an alien from outer space. Do you find that in the Bible? No. No. So, you know, I just could go on and on. There's so many books to avoid out there. There really are. But there are a lot of good ones too. And we will be telling you about some of those. So just be really, really careful if you want to read books about prophecy and stuff, what you get into. If it seems particularly sensational, it probably is. So just avoid that. And also I want to bring out here that we want you to feel free to question what we say. Please come to us if you think that we're way off base about something. We can handle that, I hope. Sometimes I know that we will be sharing our opinions about something hopefully based on God's word But it will be our opinion and if you don't agree with that, that's fine Just come with us come to us and we'll talk that out now you can take to the bank 100% when we say God's Word says but Like I said, there'll be times when we speculate. And there, again, is so much speculation out there. For years, people have speculated on who the Antichrist is. And did you know that some thought President Reagan was the Antichrist? Do you know why? Because his name was Ronald Wilson Reagan all three names had six letters in it So that's six six six, which is in Revelation So obviously he's the Antichrist. I Mean biblical six six six. Yes. I Talk about speculation. You know, and there are a lot of things out there that just, oh, you've got to be so careful of what you get into. So we want you to be able to refute error. Our third goal is that we want you to get to know God better. This is his plan for the world. It is his purpose. And as we study these things, his character will be revealed. I know there are some people out there who really struggle with revelation because it's such a terrible time. It really is. And they say, my God would never do such. But this is scripture. It's true. And it reveals who God is, not who we want God to be. In revelation, you will see the wrath of God revealed against sin. I was reading a devotional by Selwyn Hughes one day, and he was talking about the wrath of God, and I thought it was really good. He said, and I quote, wrath is not a defect in the divine character. Rather, it would be a defect if wrath were absent from him. Those who see God's wrath as a retaliation, inflicting punishment just for the sake of it, or in return for some injury received, do not really understand it. Divine wrath is not vindictiveness. Rather, it is divine perfection issuing forth from God because it is right. Divine anger must never be confused with human anger," unquote. And I want to read to you a couple of verses in Psalm 9, Psalm chapter 9, verses 7 and 8. It says in these verses, the Lord reigns forever, He has established his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness. He will govern the peoples with justice. So it says in Psalms, he established his throne for judgment. He is our judge. And that is part of who God is. And that is a good quality in God. We want you to come to understand that. And then the fourth goal we have is we want this study to strengthen your walk with God. and to give you a stronger desire to live a godly life because of God's grace to you if you are a believer. And if you're not a believer, we want you to come to trust him as your savior if you haven't done that. That is our prayer. So those are our goals, our primary goals. And now we're going to take a look at what we call God's plan for the ages. You have a copy of it on your tables that you can keep and look at and bring if you want to. It's going to be up here too. This is what Cecil developed when he taught prophecy and we're going to use the same thing. And in the future, for those of you that might be listening online, Pastor Jake was going to put a link to this online. hopefully somewhere close to where the talk is. So if you're listening online, you can click on that and either print it out or just look at it. But I'm going to go over to some of the basics on this. I've always wanted to use a pointer, so I'll get to you now. So much fun. Simple things make me happy. OK, this outline starts in the Old Testament with Artaxerxes' decree for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Now, I'm going to give Christy the hard task of teaching Daniel the next two times. And there are amazing truths in Daniel and the 70 weeks. So she's got two weeks to do that, our next two sessions. So she's going to be teaching about that. I'm not going to go in great detail about these things, because we'll be talking about them as we go through the lessons. After that is the first coming of Christ, his birth, death, and resurrection. And then soon after that was Pentecost, the start of the church. And this is the church age. And that's where we are right now, somewhere in the church age. After the church age will come the rapture. That is when Christ comes in the clouds and takes believers up to meet him in the air. And after the rapture, those of us who are in heaven, those of us who are believers and have been raptured out, we will be at the judgment seat of Christ. It's not a judgment for our salvation. That's already been determined. We are in heaven, but we will be rewarded for what we have done, for the works that Christ has given us to do. Down here on earth is the tribulation period, which is most of what Revelation is about. And we'll be talking more about that. That's seven years, also Daniel's 70th week. And then is the second coming of Christ, when he comes and sets foot on the earth. Brings in the millennium that thousand-year reign or the kingdom of Christ or God After that is the great white throne. That's a judgment for unbelievers Then the new heaven and the new earth will come and then the eternal state So that's your basic outline I want to bring out a couple of things here and One thing that people seem to really get confused about is when someone talks about Christ coming back. For some, their mind immediately goes to the rapture. But that's what we're talking about when we're talking about Christ coming back. Some, their minds go to the second coming. After the tribulation, that's what we're talking about when it says Christ is coming back. And sometimes it can get confusing, even in the scripture sometimes. For example, I have heard Christians say that the rapture cannot come until Matthew 24, 14 is fulfilled. Now, Matthew 24, 14 says this. It says, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. So they think, OK, he's not going to come till we get the gospel preached to everyone. But who is Jesus talking to here? He's talking to his disciples, Jewish people. They were asking about what? They were asking about when the kingdom would come. And they also had no clue yet. God hadn't revealed to them the church age. He hadn't revealed to them the rapture yet. That was still future for them, but God would reveal those things to him. So when they ask what is the end of the age, I believe that that verse will be fulfilled and we'll talk about it more when we get there. I believe it will be fulfilled during the tribulation time. when all the nations will be preached to. And then, this is the end he's talking about, the end will come. Now, let me make it very clear, that doesn't let us off the hook for fulfilling the Great Commission. We want to do what we can, especially as we look at end times and see what's ahead, but we want people saved. So we still want to do that. But for that verse to be fulfilled before the rapture comes, I believe that's an error. The rapture can happen at any time. Right now would be a good time. I look forward to that. Okay, so what is the deal about signs? I'm going to get a sip of my water here, forgive me, but I get dry. In this Matthew 24 passage, and Pastor Mike preached about it and did a really good job, the disciples asked Jesus what would be the signs of his coming. And remember, they're talking about the second coming of Christ, because they didn't know anything about the rapture yet. So when we see certain signs happening, what does that mean for the rapture? I read it explained this way and it really helped me, so I hope it'll help you too. It's getting to the point that time of year when you see all signs of Christmas coming. There's Christmas trees and we walk in the Hobby Lobby, it's Christmas everywhere. Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, you know, it's all out there. We don't see much for Thanksgiving out there, you know, that's kind of the forgotten holiday. But when we see signs of Christmas coming, We know that Thanksgiving is going to come before it, so we know it's not that far away. So that's kind of what we look at, too. When we see signs for the second coming of Christ, we know that the rapture is even going to come sooner than that. So we need to be ready. But those signs, they can be a real hang-up for some people. And honestly, some see a sign in everything. And the information I'm going to give you now is from a book called aftershocks Christians entering a new era of global crisis it is by Jeff Kinley and I'll just mention here As a way, you know, I told you all the books and crazy books you can get out there when I was looking at books this year I saw this book and I didn't know who Jeff Kinley was. So what I did, what I always do is, I mean, the title looked good, but I clicked on the author's name. I found out that he was a Dallas Theological Seminary graduate. They're usually pretty solid, aren't they, Elizabeth? So that was a plus. Plus, there was recommendations from authors and Christian leaders that I did know. and highly admire. So I thought, okay, I think this book is safe. I'm going to buy one. Well, I've ended up getting all of them. They are really good. They're easy reads, but he's right on. And he does a good job. So if you want good prophecy books to read, I recommend Jeff Kinley. But this is what he has in this book. He has a section about signs, and I really appreciated it, so I would like to share his points with you. So don't give me the credit for this. He gives seven solid principles to guide us and to help us to avoid those traps when we're looking for signs. The first one he has is, the first principle is, current phenomenon, like natural disasters, pandemics, cosmic events, etc., they are not specific fulfillments of end times Bible prophecy. So let me repeat that, current phenomenon, I know some of you are trying to write that, I should have a PowerPoint, but I don't know how to do that. Current phenomenon are not specific fulfillments of end times Bible prophecy. For example, if you remember this summer, some got so excited about the blood moon. Remember that? There was a blood moon. There were books coming out about it. People were speculating about that. Could this be the rapture time? The truth is, blood moons happen every once in a while in nature. They just will. All the past blood moons, the rapture has not happened during them. Why do we think this one is going to be when the rapture happens? And another thing, the rapture is never associated with coming with a blood moon. The Bible doesn't say that. The revelation, we know in Revelation, yes, it kind of points to that, it reminds us of it, that the moon will turn red in Revelation. We'll be getting to that. But we really have to be careful of taking things that are happening now and trying to place them in Revelation during the tribulation time. It points to that, but they're not specific fulfillments of that time. The second principle is some prophecies contain missing pieces of information supplying us with only part of a much larger puzzle. So, again, some prophecies contain missing pieces of information, supplying with this only part of a much larger puzzle. There are many individual prophecies that serve as a clue to a greater mystery that is yet to be revealed. For example, in the Old Testament, there were many prophecies about Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection, But they weren't all in the same place. You would get a clue here. You would get a clue here. Someone else would have a prophecy about it. And together, they all gave us the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. But they weren't all together. They were individual clues. The third principle is some supposed signs may look like prophecy in the making, but in time prove to be something different. or even unrelated to scripture altogether. Some supposed signs may look like prophecy in the making, but in time proved to be something different, or even unrelated for scripture. For example, back in World War II, Many thought that Hitler was the Antichrist. And why wouldn't you? He was out to annihilate the Jews. And isn't that what happens during the tribulation? Yes, it is. So many thought he was the Antichrist. But now we know he was not the Antichrist. Not at all. It looked like it, but it was not. The fourth principle is some prophecies are in progress. For example, technology. You can see that. I mean, when John wrote those things in Revelation, I wonder if he thought, how is this ever going to come true? But now we see with the technology, we can see it easily happening. So technology is one of those prophecies that is in progress that make it possible for those prophecies eventually to be fulfilled. The fifth principle is some prophecies are on the horizon, and that means we can kind of see them, but we can't tell. Some people think they're right near, and so they start talking about that. But if they're on the horizon, we can't really tell how far away they are. So they might be near, they might be far, but we've got to be careful. It's like standing on a mountaintop and seeing things in the distance. We don't know how far they are, so some prophecies are on the horizon. The six principles are, is some signs are not prophetic at all, but rather manufactured sensationalism. Some signs are not prophetic at all, but rather manufactured sensationalism. So many things can fall into that category. You know, we've talked about the blood moons. There's people that study planetary alignments all the time. He gave an example in that book. I was going to read it, but I was so confused by the time I got to the end of it. I thought, eh, I'm not going to read that. I mean, there was 12 stars, and it was the woman in Revelation, which wasn't even talking about the planet, but you know, and Jupiter was the king because it's the biggest planet, and you think, You know, so it's just sensationalism. It has nothing to do with prophecy. So many things fall into that category. You know, people point to catastrophic weather events and UFO sightings, and we just need to be really, really careful about those things. And then the last one, the last principle he has is caution about personal revelations. Caution about personal revelations. Be very careful of those who say that they have received a message from God that something is going to happen. I love what Pastor Kinley said about those, and I'm going to quote his quote. He says, and I quote, I do not believe new or ongoing special revelations are still being given to the church. Rather, God wants his people to know and study the extensive revelation he has already given to the church in the Bible. Sadly, many Christians today are quick to ignore scripture while confidently trusting in their own experiences and emotions." And we've seen that happen with people. You know, God told me, and You know, it's contrary to what His Word says, so you know it can't be true, but people love to go by their experiences and emotions instead of digging into God's Word and finding out what it says. And I totally agree with him on that, that we need to be in the Word and not go by our experiences and our emotions. So, with those principles to guide us, what are some actual signs that tell us that the time is getting near? There are a few. The first one is that the Jews return to the Holy Land. It doesn't take you long when you read the book of Revelation that for all those things to be fulfilled in Revelation, Israel has got to be a nation. It just has to be. And that little nation is a miracle of God. It really is. Do you realize that Israel became a nation because of World War II? And, you know, I was thinking about that the other day. You know, Satan must have been furious when he had Hitler try to annihilate the Jewish nation. And all of a sudden, because of that, God gets them back to their homeland. I mean, talk about Romans 8, 28, about bringing good out of something. It's amazing. And it's amazing when you think about it. And God's hand is still on that nation. I would like to read you an excerpt from another prophecy book, Amir Stefadi. He is a Jewish believer. Actually, his home overlooks where the Battle of Armageddon is going to be. But he says, I don't worry about it because I won't be here. But he has a couple of good books, too. And this is from The Day Approaching. And just let me read these stories to you. It's amazing. He says, there is no reason that my fledgling country with its tiny military should be able to withstand the Arab onslaught. We had two planes in our Air Force. With one hand, the pilot would steer with the stick. And with his other hand, he would throw out the bombs. We had a total of five armored vehicles. And most of our army was made up of Holocaust survivors who had never held a weapon in their lives. Yet they devastated the well-equipped and well-trained Arab countries that came up against them. How? It was God. This was true in 1948 and again in 1967. Numerous times in both wars, Arab platoons fled from what they were sure was a massive Israeli attack. All the sights and sounds around them indicated that they were about to be overrun. Later, it was discovered that there were no Israeli soldiers in those areas at the time. God, in a very real way, sent his heavenly armors to fight for his people. In another situation, a platoon of Israeli soldiers found themselves in the middle of a minefield. One wrong move could cost the lives of many soldiers. What made the matter worse was that daybreak was not far away. Once the sun came up, they would be exposed and become sitting ducks to the Arab armies. Together, these soldiers prayed for God to intervene. Suddenly, a wind began to blow. It grew in intensity so that the troops had to duck down and cover their eyes and ears from the swirling sand and dirt. This wind blew for 20 minutes, then as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Rising up from the ground, the platoon looked around to discover that all the buried mines had been exposed. The soldiers walked out safely just before the sun rose. It was not the power of the Israeli army that brought victory. It was God who put the nations to shame. Just makes me want to cry, doesn't it? I mean, what an amazing story. And there's more like that. You know, God has his hand on his nation of Israel. And we need to pray for them. You know, it's just good to think about those things. It just reminds me of stories in the Old Testament, you know, where God intervened. And it just shows that we still have the same God. He still is in control. The second actual signs that tell us the time is near is globalism and a one-world government. We'll be talking more about this in the days ahead. If you're paying any attention at all, you know it's coming. We know that the world is pushing toward that end, and we don't like it. I was talking to a friend at Kearney. I went out to Northside this past weekend and stopped in to see a friend at Kearney. And she was asking me about some of these things. And so I was telling her about some of these things. And she goes, you know, we can see it coming. But I don't like it. We don't. I know that. We see things in our world that really bother us. And we can see things like COVID-19 are becoming factors in pushing toward globalism, advancing globalism. And we can be concerned about those things. We are concerned about those things. But we should not panic. You know, a few months ago, Pastor Mike was, he's back there doing my sound. So he, I told him I was going to talk about him today. He was preaching on, you know, he went through the book of Matthew, he was preaching on Matthew 24. And he was talking about verse six, where Jesus said, you know, they had asked him what were the signs. And verse 6 says, you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. And he was focusing on that must happen, but the end is still to come. And then he brought out, Pastor Mike did, Matthew 26, 54, where Jesus was being arrested, and his disciples tried to stop it. But Jesus told them it must happen this way. So now, thanks to Pastor Mike, every time I see that little word, must, in my Bible, I am circling it. And guess where I found it? In Revelation chapter 1, verse 1. It says, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. So all the things in Revelation, we don't like them. God says they must happen so the end can come. So we can take comfort in that. You know, we need to remember that God is in control. Some people's whole focus right now in this day in which we live is on the government. People are so upset with it, and things being done in the government, and I understand that. But I love what Jeff Kinley said in one of his books. He said, and this is an exact quote, but it was something like this, because I didn't find it. But he said, the government has never once led one person to faith in Jesus Christ. And that is true. That is so true. So why we are concerned our government, pray for it. Where is our focus? Is it more on our neighbors not knowing Christ, or what the government's doing to us? It kind of shows us where our hearts are. So that's another sign that is advancing globalism and one-world government. Another sign is the push for peace in the Middle East. Every US pastor in modern history has proposed plans for peace in the Middle East. And someday, there is a treaty that will be given. The Antichrist will do it. And that will officially mark the beginning of the tribulation. So there's always that push for peace in the Middle East. The fourth sign is the Jewish temple rebuilt. Now, I cannot wait to see how God accomplishes this. Because as you know, right now, there's a Muslim mosque sitting where the temple is supposed to go. But it will get done somehow, and the Jews are getting ready for it. That's why this is a sign. You know, they're now a nation, and now, in 1987, the Temple Institute was founded in Jerusalem in anticipation of that temple. They have blueprints drawn up. They have made temple vessels. They have priestly garments. They are doing training classes for their priests. So they are getting ready. So once God makes that available to them, it will not take them long to get that going. And this is a good example of where God's certain truth and speculation might come into play, especially when I'm teaching. We know 100% sure the temple will be there because God's Word says so. Now Nancy might speculate on how that's going to get done. You know sometimes I wonder is it a war maybe that'll wipe out that mosque? Is it an earthquake maybe that'll take it down? Sometimes I wonder if it will be part of the treaty that the Antichrist makes with Israel. But that ground is going to be yours. And so the mosque has come down and the temple be rebuilt. Maybe he'll do that. I don't know. That's my speculation. I don't know how God is going to do it. But I know he's going to do it because the Bible says it's true. So the fifth sign is a growing apostasy. And this is a sad sign, but it is coming true. Apostasy is a departure from the faith or what one believes 1 Timothy 4, 1 says, the Spirit clearly says that in later times, some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits. And we see in these days such a tendency to go away from the faith, to compromise instead of standing on the truths of God. It's not politically correct. to say what God says in his word. It just isn't. It goes against the grain. And so some people are saying, well, I believe in salvation, but I'm really not going to believe that part. That's an apostasy. It's falling away from God's true, whole, written word. And we're living in those days. You know, I know I'm getting old, but I never thought I would see the day when Christians are perceived as the bad guys. I really didn't. And listen to this. This shocked me. It says in a 2009 document released by our Department of Homeland Security, certain right-wing extremist groups are listed as potential threats to the government. Among these are groups, movements, and individuals that are opposed to abortion. and certain radicals who believe in end times prophecies. So that's me. I guess they consider me a threat to the government. Don't I look like one? But you know, I never thought I would see that come, you know, and it's here. So we just need to stand firm on God's word. It's not going to be popular. Many people are going the way of apostasy, falling away from the truth of the scripture. You see it in mainline churches, that they've just eroded the teaching of the word to be so watered down that it doesn't tell them anything. So we just need to be solid on the truth. And that means we need to get into it and know it. The sixth sign is the mark of the beast. Now it's not here yet. Don't panic. We'll be talking about more in coming lessons. But it's a sign because it's not a matter of technology anymore. It's a matter of practicality. They have the technology to do it. So it is coming. The only question is when it will be mandated. And we can rest easy because we know that that will not be fully implemented till during the tribulation. So that helps us relax a little bit. But we see the foreshadowing of it coming. And that's what it is. I should have said, too, that there are people who believe that the rapture will happen in the middle of the tribulation. Some think the end. We hold to the beginning, and when we get to that, we'll teach why we believe that. But they're good, solid people, good, solid Christians that believe the other way. So if you're one of those, you know, we're not going to, you know, we'll just show you why we're right. No. Please take that with a grain of salt. My sense of humor comes out too much. And I think, maybe people didn't understand that as humor. OK. The seventh sign is increasing persecution. It has come. And it is still coming. Across the world, there's a lot of persecution for believers, and we haven't felt it to the fullest extent here in America, but it could be coming. You know, we should be prepared for that. The last sign, and it's an exciting sign to me, is the Mount of Olives. And you think, how is that a sign? Listen to this verse in Zechariah 14, 4. And it's talking about the second coming, not the rapture. It's talking about the second coming. It says, on that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. So how is that a sign? Well, in 2004, a three-year study by the Geological Survey of Israel discovered that the Mount of Olives is to be at imminent risk for an earthquake. And what's even more amazing is that they detected the fault line running right through the middle of the mountain. Guess what direction? East to west. How could it not be? It's God's word. I mean, just, it gives me goosebumps thinking of those things that, oh, we're discovering this now, and yeah, God knows that. It's God's word. Well, I hope you're looking forward to the next lessons because there's a lot to digest there. There's amazing truths of God that we need to focus on. But in closing, I want to challenge you with something. Remember that I said one of our goals was to help us in our walk with God. And I found this truth in one of the many books that I read this summer about end times. And I can't tell you how many times it has fortified me. Pastor Kinley was talking about a verse that probably we're all familiar with. Psalm 46, 10. Be still and know that I am God. And you know, I always took that to mean that we need to be quiet before the Lord and just listen to his promises and claim those promises and just be still. And that's a very good thing to do. But I found out that the literal meaning of be still is, it means to relax, to let it go. Warren Rearsby says in his, and maybe everybody knows that but me, but you know, I was excited to see that. Warren Rearsby said in his commentary, literally, let go of the reins. You know, and things I cannot control. things that really frustrate me in this world, God says, let it go. I am in control. Now that doesn't mean, please don't get me wrong, that we don't do things to try to make things right. It doesn't mean to let go and let God that we just don't do anything. It doesn't mean that we stop praying about things because God's just got it. It doesn't mean that we have to keep our mouth shut about everything, but it means that when we see things unfold in our world, as we get closer to the end, just relax, because God is in control. He's got this. Does our government really frustrate us? Maybe we need to relax and let it go, because after all, scripture says, Who raises up Kings? God does. Does all the stuff with COVID really bother us? Vaccine, no vaccine? I just get so tired of that stuff, ladies. I really do. Maybe we need to relax and let it go if we can't control it. You know, and that Psalm 46, 10 verse, we need to remember it in its context too. The Psalm 46 starts out this way. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Now, I don't know about you guys, but if the earth started giving way and the mountains started falling into the hard sea, I think I might fear. But the psalmist says, be still, relax. God's in control. He is our refuge and our strength. And I got to thinking about that when that really happens in Revelation when the earth is just giving way all around them. Won't that psalm be such a comfort to those believers that come to know God during the tribulation? And it's a comfort to us, too, because, you know, I I'm not so concerned about myself, but my kids and my grandkids, you see this world and what's happening and it can start fearing me for them. So remember that song, make it your anchor. God is our refuge and strength and ever present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. Let's pray. Father, you are so good to us. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your revealing your truth. I pray that we would walk in obedience to you. And Lord, I know my prayer for myself has to be to let me know when I need to let go, to relax, and to just trust you for what's going on around us. Pray that you would give us wisdom as we live through this age. Guide and direct us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.