The first time I heard about the tribulation and rapture, my young mind went wild. From then on, whenever I couldn’t find my parents in a grocery store, it hit just a little differently. When I woke up and the house was quiet, I would wonder, Is this the end of the world? Did the rapture happen? Have I been left behind?
As I got older, I spent more time studying Scripture, looking for clues on when the earth as we know it would come to an end. What I found was this: no one has concrete answers on the day and time it will all go down—“neither the angels of heaven nor the Son—[no one] except the Father” (Matthew 24:36). And that’s more than okay. Still, there’s something in our human nature that leaves us longing to know everything. We want answers, and we want them now. But God doesn’t ask us to know everything. He asks us to trust Him.
In Mark 13, Jesus’s disciples asked Him about the end of the age. They knew everything was going to change, but they wanted specifics. They wanted to know the details, what signs to look for so they could prepare themselves (v.4).
Jesus talks about the end of the age and warns them that in the days ahead, there will be false prophets, wars, famine, and turmoil (Mark 13:5–6). The disciples would go on to face persecution like never before, but their calling would remain the same: to preach the gospel to all nations (v.10). And instead of the end of time, these signs would represent the start of something new. When Jesus left, the Holy Spirit would come in His place, and His followers would never be alone or without Him again (v.11).
I imagine that was a lot for the disciples to hear, let alone understand—that even when everything seems like a mystery and feels confusing, in reality, God remains on His throne. He remains in control. And when He comes again, we will see that He still holds all glory and power (vv.26–27). Knowing this, Jesus makes a promise to His disciples:
“Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:31).
Only God knows what is to come. Some things are just not for us to know. As followers of Jesus, our job is to trust, watch, and stay alert. In the meantime, how we live and wait for Him matters (vv.32–37). One day, the earth will wear out like a garment; nothing in it will last (Isaiah 51:6). Nice cars, expensive shoes, dream jobs, money, and power—it’s all passing away. But God’s salvation and righteousness will last forever. That is what we cling to. That is the only thing we need to know.
Leave a Reply
60 thoughts on "Jesus Predicts His Return"
Such a complicated passage of scripture but the point is, Watch! Be alert! Be ready for the Lord’s return. Make heaven crowded by sharing the good news of the gospel to those around you.
Wow, this is such a powerful devotional!
I loved this devotion. So good.
Amen
Test post
Lord i thank you
❤️
Such a powerful devotion today.
@Tina- thank you for those beautiful words!
Yesssss Bev I totally agree!
This was amazing ❤️
Sorry for all the duplicate posts!
Thank you for sharing your story and your encouragement, Natasha R. Hugs and prayers of blessing to you, sweet sister ❤️❤️❤️
The word of the Lord endures forever! Such good reminders this morning.
It says only four of the twelve asked Jesus the coming again question….. where were the others?
What a wonderful study we have today. My journal is filled with verses and insights! This life we have is temporary and fleeting, and the end of it is actually just the beginning! Similarly, this world we have is temporary, and its end is also a grand beginning. I knew this all in my head for a long time, but the knowledge was only imprinted in my heart (a deeper “knowing”) when my dear dear husband passed away from a heart attack last year. It was very sudden, and I had no idea that our goodbye kiss that day before he headed off to work would be our last. Through all the grief and shock, I knew in my heart that he was not “gone”, he had just “gone ahead”. His new life had begun, and my time will come too, though I don’t know when that will be. His death completely changed how I see our earthly life and focused my vision on what really matters. I now live each day with presence and gratitude, enjoying this life (because it is still so so good) while keeping my eyes on Jesus. ❤️
I pray to love of his relationships, me and my neighbours, that is really hope of my Love. Amen.
The next study is Thessalonians………not to get ahead of this week but just sayin- it will be a good one I’m sure!
Heidi, praying for you and your husband. May the Lord open the eyes of understanding for your husband to see and be encouraged.
Today’s devotional was such a good reminder of where we need to put our hope. Our hope is in Christ. He is the only thing that won’t pass away. As we look forward to celebrating his first coming this Sunday, I pray we can remain alert and awake for his second coming. Happy Holy Week ladies!
For the Son of Man is as a man taking a FAR journey, who LEFT his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Lest coming suddenly he find you SLEEPING. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.
Let not the comfort of this life, the “security” of predictable routines, the exhaustion of a long wait lull us to sleep. Often the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Father, give us strength to keep watch and pray, keep the fire burning within us to do the work You give to each person. In hope, I wait for your return.
EDIT- “feel “god” is responsible (for the false teaching), not man’s misinterpretation.”
DEANNA-
What a testament you are to the definition of devotion- not to a religion or system- but to your God. To your Savior. To recognize the teaching was false. The people responsible were wrong. The God- He was (and is) always good and always true. Keep telling your story- especially to those who have a bad experience (as we all do with MOST THINGS and don’t give up on them..) and feel “God” is responsive, not man’s misinterpretation. ❤️
Abby asks us to trust in God. This last year it seems that is what I have done. No not just because of the pandemic but because I have had a loss a family member — she was more than my niece, she was like the daughter I never had and a roommate and a friend. The Lord has gotten me this far and I know I can depend on Him to be there through out. Abby’s words “Some things are just not for us to know.” rang home and I will be putting them up where I can see them. But the main thing I and all of us need to remember is what Abby said about salvation and that this is why Christ came and died for us. This is ours for the taking, God gave it freely and lovingly.
Sisters have a blessed day.
Catching up from yesterday and the things that are standing out to me are my need to surrender everything to the Lord, to trust Him, to love Him above anything else in my life, to act according to His will, how I live matters, and to keep my eyes focused on things above. How I struggle with all of those things regularly. Thankful that Jesus made a way when there was no other way <3
What a wonderful reminder that the things of this world- good and bad- will pass away. Only the things of God are eternal!❤️
I loved today’s study. I have so many notes written in my book. It reminds me of how temporary this life is and to not hold on too tightly to it. To lift my eyes up to the Lord and remember my salvation will be forever.
Loved today’s reading
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Pray and rejoice continually ❤️
Was it really just yesterday we were anguishing over the widow who put her last two cents into the offering plate asking, “If the Lord asked me to give away all my possessions could I do it?”
The right question is, “Can I view ALL my worldly possessions as nothing more than ‘worn out garments’?””
I pray to be so Kingdom-minded, open-handed, and trusting with all my assets and relationships confident that everything is under God’s timing and control.
Heidi praying for you and your family.
This is the only thing I need to know. Jesus is coming to take us home someday ❤️. I can’t wait! It’s going to be a glorious day! The best day ever! Meanwhile, TODAY, I celebrate the birth of my wonderful son Caleb. I cannot believe that he is 20 years old. The Lord knew I needed this wonderful blessing.
Not knowing leaves us free to enjoy this blessed gift of life Gods has graciously bestowed on us. No need to worry. God is in control.
@heidi. Praying for your husband. Wrote you & him down in my Val Marie paper prayer journal – check them out if you need a wonderful tool to keep track/remind and encourage your prayer life. Their blog is also full of wonderful free tools :)
Also, yes yes YES! To recommending The Chosen!! I mentioned at the beginning of this study that the show seemed to go right along with the first few chapters in Mark – will be watching it through again for the third time this week/weekend!
Have a blessed Tuesday of Holy Week ladies
I also struggle with the not knowing, but am understanding now that life couldn’t be lived to the fullest if we knew. If I know I’d never reach a dream, I’d lose the fire for it. If I knew when Christ was returning, I’d just wait and not bother trying to build a life for my time here. Not knowing allows us to focus on the here and now.
I am so thankful the future is in His hands.
❤️
Amen!❤️
You have my commitment to prayer for you and hubby, Heidi.
@ERB – Thank you for sharing this! I have heard good things about “The Chosen” and have wanted to watch it – I will be downloading the app to begin watching while making dinner this evening. Thank you!
Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, I had a completely different understanding of Mark 13:30. JWs use a convoluted misinterpretation of Daniel to arrive at 1914 being the year when God cast Satan out of heaven to roam the earth, and the “generation” of “witnesses” was said to be those alive to observe the events of 1914. (Fast forward to the 1990s, when they changed their interpretation so as not to get tripped up by their false teachings – that’s when I left false religion behind).
When I read the scriptures that were structural to my false religious beliefs, I have to pray each time for an appropriate mindset. I feel the burden of years spent misleading others through false interpretation. And I am blessed, yet again, by His grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
“Lord, may we truly know your Word. May we be careful so as not to lead any astray by either our words or our actions. Your will – always.”
Tina, you speak the words so many of us feel. As I realize here in my 60’s that I am “on the down side” I crave passing on the things my mother and grandmothers taught me, to speak the wisdom of my earthly father (that I am fortunate enough to still have) to my children and grandchildren. I have been blessed that I was raised by Christian parents and have never known a day that God was not there. I have slipped in and out of corporate church in my younger days, not behaved as a child of God many times…But God…I always knew he was there and the good Shepherd that he is would always bring me back to the fold. In this Holy Week I reflect on the walk Jesus took that week. The knowledge he had of what was to come. His earnest teaching to the disciples what would happen and what they must do. Dear, Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus, that he would take on the filth of our lives that we could one day live in your presence. What Grace you show. ♥️
For those of you interested in watching The Chosen, a crowd-funded multi-season show (the 1st of its kind) about the life of Christ and seeing Jesus through the eyes that knew Him) they are live-streaming the 1st season for FREE all this week starting tonight at 8:30pm EST you can watch via YouTube Live, Facebook Live, or download and use The Chosen app. Then on Easter Sunday 8pm EST they will air the season 2, episode 1 premiere!!! Super EXCITING!!! And PERFECT for Easter!!!
It might be important to note here that the concept of “the rapture” — the one that terrified generations of kids — is never actually mentioned in the Bible. As I understand it, the entire doctrine was devised in the mid-1800s by theologian John Darby. People just latched onto his idea and here we are, nearly 200 years later, still seeing bumper stickers about the rapture.
The teaching is taken from 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. I’ve heard many interpretations of this passage, but wanted you to know that those who believe it have a Biblical basis. “Rapture” is a Latin word meaning “carried off”. I don’t know who coined the phrase. Whether right or wrong, I think the takeaway is to make sure you’re a believer. Rapture or death, one way or another we’ll all come face to face with Jesus Christ.
3 scriptures stood out to me when reading today…
1) Mark 13:11 ..I love how it encourages us to wait on the Lord, shut my flesh out and let the Holy Spirit do the talking!!
2) Mark 13:9-13 …reminded me of the Holocaust, and also what is happening in today’s world.
3) Mark 13:25 …the stars will fall from the sky, I have been studying and reading the Bible for years and this verse never stood out to me!!! I am SO glad it did this morning!!
…and I don’t know if any of you ever read the little picture passages by Biblia/FaithLife that are connected to the Bible verse links in SRT (I usually do) most of the time they end up connecting perfectly with what we’re reading and what God has given me. It’s a very cool tool!!
Today’s picture verse was Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place keeping watch on the evil and the good.”
This verse prompted me to read the entire chapter Proverbs 15:1-33 and WOW there are SO many nuggets in there!!! And they are all relatable and relevant to what we are studying!!! If you have the time READ it!!!
A very BLESSED Tuesday to all you wonderful warrior ladies!!!
In a world full of fear & pain and heartache….Jesus felt it, He experienced it, He lived it, He understood suffering, loss, betrayal, heartache then and now…Mark 13:19 talks about days of affliction coming…reality…ouch….but the chapter doesn’t end there…he reminds us that our redeemer is coming and we need to be ready for Him and to be praying and watching and thinking about Christ’s return! I just read in proverbs 30 this am (since it’s april 30) that the ants are small but mighty because they prepare…we may feel small in this massive world but we can be mighty if we prepare…prepare for the only thing that really matters…eternity!!!!!
Lift up your eyes to the heavens (Isaiah 51:6) …and trust the God who made them…don’t look around this earth at all the sin and emptiness and fear and worry, stop looking down, lift your eyes up!!!!! …everything on this earth will perish, but lift your eyes up!!!!!! …wait for it….
because the end of verse 6 says “my salvation shall be forever” …mic drop!
let’s keep our eyes up, watch, pray, and trust our Creator today no matter what.
Praying for your family, Heidi!
I was just thinking this morning, maybe I shouldn’t expect to have all the answers to everything. It brings me comfort that the disciples display this… This human desire to have it all figured out. Jesus was okay with not knowing something- the day of His return. I think that’s powerful. He just trusts – continues to trust- His Father.
May my faith be greater than my knowledge.
Holy Week as a child was always exciting to me. As an adult who is taking greater ownership in my faith journey over the last year Holy Week is still exciting but also somber. Slowly walking through each day and trying to see it though each participant’s eyes. Jesus knowing what is coming and asking his Father if there is another way….this is now so comforting to me. We can focus on walking in obedience with God and it is still ok to wish for a different plan as long as we follow God’s will in the wind. It is ok to want an easier way….that is our human nature. Even Jesus in his humanity wanted a different plan but in the end he knew he needed to follow his Father’s will.
Dear Lord, I pray you open my eyes so I can follow you. Please help me not to be deceived by those who come saying “I am he.” Help me to always keep my eyes open for your coming so I am not caught sleeping. Lord help me to follow your will and not my own even when it is difficult. Help me not to hold my own comfort up as an idol over following you. Amen
Heidi- you and your husband will be in my prayers today ❤️
So powerful. So grateful to be “in the know” and to stay alert
Amen!
❤️❤️
When Jesus splits the eastern sky and comes back, who would dare to question His timing? Until that day, rather than wondering about the date of His return, it would be better to share the Good News we do know.
Amen and Amen!
Jesus’s work on planet Earth was coming to a close, (for a while). HE KNEW his in-person time is limited with the disciples. He does not worry, HE KNOWS, the Comforter or Holy Spirit is coming, to indwell His disciples and future Jesus followers (that’s us) until…the day when He returns to take us Home with Him.
HE KNOWS holy week will be full of highs and lows. HE KNOWS it will be excruciating and He will pour himself out completely. He willingly steps forward.
HE KNOWS His Father, and HE KNOWS Heaven, and He wants both of those things so much for us that HE WILL endure. HE SEES the cup laid before him, overflowing with all the sin, pain, and evil of the past, present, and the future. HE SEES his sleeping disciples and KNOWS He is their (our) only hope. HE, God had a choice, and He chose us.
In He Reads Truth today it says, “We are in the midst of an unstable and expiring world, but the promises of God have no expiration and shall endure eternally.” JESUS KNEW what was before him. JESUS KNEW every moment of his disciples lives. JESUS KNEW every moment of our existence, including today, and our tomorrows. JESUS also KNEW that the promises of God are worth the today’s and HE, our Savior and Lord, made a way where He knew we could not.
Thank you Jesus.
I find myself emotionally not really wanting to read this week’s layout of passages/commentary. I have a desire to read SCRIPTURE and take in His wisdom, but I know where THIS particular week is heading and getting there in such slow, intentional steps is literally causing a knot in my stomach. I put my thoughts then on Jesus and try to relate as, minimally as I can, of what HE felt each morning. “This is the last Tuesday I’ll spend as a human on this earth…” silly, but still… and then taking it further- having all knowledge, even of the excruciating pain that would be inflicted on him. The emotional abandonment he would soon endure. The physical torture. Begging his own Father to, if possible, come up with another plan (while his disciples SLEPT… a bit ironic to me now after reading today’s verses..). And still going through with it all. It’s good to not rush this week. But it is hard for me- it’s almost impossible to not see how sinful and in-need we all are/I AM for THAT to be the way salvation had to come. It’s much prettier and nicer to just think about the mercy and grace and forgiveness I get, than to have to sit and immerse myself in HOW I came to receive those things in the first place.
**I know there are some real “praying women” on this post each day. I would like to ask for continuous prayers over my family- my husband in particular. Struggles in his heart and mind that he doesn’t always have the ability to see. I’m working to make prayer a practice in my life over the last few weeks and I’ve noticed a difference in me, my perceptions, my reactions… it’s been a blessing to have. God is showing up in unexpected ways for me and I’m so grateful. And I hurt for my husband who’s eyes aren’t always open to see the enormous grace and mercy that have been freely poured all over him. But I know God can soften hearts and Open up minds and i just pray for that for him…
Abby wrote: “One day, the earth will wear out like a garment; nothing in it will last (Isaiah 51:6). Nice cars, expensive shoes, dream jobs, money, and power—it’s all passing away.” I would add that poverty, sickness, hatred, and all that is evil will pass away too! Thank You, Lord!
Stay awake and pay close attention to all things going on around us in the world. I loved todays writing. I use to think the same thing as a kid until I started reading scripture and truly understanding the awakening and rapture.
Stay Awake!!
ABBY FLYNN what truth you speak.
In the last six years, I have said goodbye to my father and 5 of his siblings.. I had a sudden fear as I spoke to one of the two still living uncles, and it was that, all I have known from my childhood is going, passing away, and soon my generation will be the grown ups…I hold the memories of the past, I need to pass them on.. Scary stuff, when the realisation is that, nothing is permanent, NOTHING, except God, there at the beginning (Genesis), still, now, and will be at the end…
Yesterday, today, for always..
Thank you God. Thank you, for your Word that sustains, brings hope, love, wisdom, grace, mercy. Your Word that bring life, when life seems to be slipping away..your Word, as sure as the sun rises, remains and reminds us of our salvation and your righteousness, here, now and forever( until the end of time), and in these days that feel like we can’t hold it together, You Lord can and do.
But God…
Bless the Lord oh my soul, bless His Holy name..
Thank you Lord God, Thank you.
Amen.
Happy Tuesday my friends. Be blessed abundantly whatever your day looks like.. ❤