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Luke 21 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

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  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
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  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. When you're ready, let's dive
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  into God's Word together. In Luke chapter 21, Jesus
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  teaches about what will happen as we grow closer and closer to
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  His return to establish His permanent Kingdom.
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  We hear of calamity and false teaching, persecution and
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  betrayal. Times of difficulty are surely
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  coming, but even more assuredly we know that Christ is coming to
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  set all things right. And with that two pronged
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  reality in mind, that tribulation is on the way and
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  that the King is returning soon, Jesus instructs his followers,
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  both his disciples in the 1st century and us today, how we
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  ought to live. Listen to Jesus words in verses
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  34 through 36 of this chapter. He says, Be on guard so that
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  your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and
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  drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come
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  on you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all those who
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  dwell on the face of all the earth.
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  But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have
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  strength to escape all these things that are about to take
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  place and to stand before the Son of Man.
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  In a parallel passage in Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul
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  puts it this way. Therefore be careful how you
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  walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your
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  time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but
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  understand what the will of the Lord is.
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  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.
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  But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in
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  psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
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  with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all
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  things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the
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  Father. And be subject to one another in
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  the fear of Christ. To sum it all up in a word, we
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  must be ready. Be ready for that day.
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  And how can we be ready? We acknowledge that life is
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  short and Jesus is coming soon, so we make the most of the time
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  we have. We guard our hearts against sin.
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  We stay filled up with the Holy Spirit and avoid being filled by
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  all the things the world passes off as solutions to our
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  problems. We hand our anxieties and
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  worries over to God rather than permitting them to blind us to
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  what is real. We allow our words and thoughts
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  to overflow with gratitude. We honor and encourage the
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  brothers and sisters God has placed around us.
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  We live lives of prayer, of holiness, of dependence on God.
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  And we live lives full of faith and hope, eagerly awaiting the
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  return of our King, who is coming soon.
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  So receive this charge today. Do not waste the time you've
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  been given. Redeem it.
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  Make the most of it. Live a life of eager
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  expectation, a life of hope. Jesus is coming.
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  Be ready.