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Stand and look up, Luke 21, the Son of man coming in clouds, coming of Christ
When you're tempted to get overwhelmed with the world, Jesus says "look up!"

Troubling Times: Lift Up Your Heads, Redemption Is Near

There’s one thing the Christian community at large seems to agree upon, regardless of denomination: the world is on the cusp of full-blown chaos.

“For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land’ “ (Haggai 2:6).

There have been earthquakes in regions that don’t usually have quakes, and inexplicable sounds in the sky following them. We will soon see an increase in tsunamis, both in frequency and destruction. Financial institutions and the international economy are being shaken as well. Even while there are wars and rumors of war, Islam is breeding a gruesome barbarism across borders with which the modern world is unacquainted.

Jesus told His disciples to expect that, “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26).

But then Jesus says this: “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:27-28).

I sense The Lord saying to me, as I wonder–really wonder–whether my children even have a future, “Look up.” As I’m tempted to turn on the news or pull up Drudge, I hear Him say, “Eyes off the news and on Me. Look up.” Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in You.”

As the late Bible teacher Derek Prince once said, “Christians are not waiting for the Antichrist to appear. We are waiting for Christ to appear.”

What does it meant to you personally when Jesus says “Look up”?

About Emily Tomko

Emily Tomko's radical encounter with the Lord while at a nightclub changed her life forever and inspired her first novel, College Bound: A Pursuit of Freedom. She is the author of seven books, including 31 Thoughts on Prophecy and Leaving the Shallows: igniting the faith that overcomes the world. Her tastes tend toward vintage and she's a Germanophile, having spent a year in Bremen and Nuremberg. Emily loves the scriptures and writes with fierce compassion and a deep desire to see people freed from the miry clay of this world and walking in the truth.

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7 comments

  1. Stephanie Hanouw

    Emily, it seems to be a theme with our writers that peopley need to start to prepare for eternity while they still have a choice of destinations!! Thank you for making the considerations so clear to our unsaved readers!

  2. There have been earthquakes followed by sounds in the sky? Tell me more. See my article, “Strange Trumpet-like sounds coming from the sky.”

    • John, I saw your article posted the same day as mine and thought that was uncanny! livescience had an article about mysterious booming sounds heard, and there seem to be new sites and youtube videos posting all the time about unexplained sounds coming from the earth at the time of earthquakes.

      CBS local news of San Francisco last August reported dozens of bay area residents reported flashes of lightening following the Napa quake. This quote from a seismologist I found interesting: “There are things that we still don’t understand about the earth, so why not accept unusual, exceptionally unusual phenomena taking place? And the light outburst from the ground is one of them.”

      One seldom sees a scientist admitting to the media there are some things for which science has no answers!

  3. When I took roller skating lessons they said, “Don’t look down (at your feet) or that’s where you’re going to land keep looking ahead where you want to go.” “Look up,” to me means He’s telling me that I need to focusing on Him in order to get where I want to go.
    The things of life can drag me down and distract me from what is really important.

  4. Wow, there’s an analogy that’s going to stick in my mind! “Where you look is where you land.” Thanks for that insight, Melinda.

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