And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these things are the beginning of sorrows.”     Matthew 24:4-8

I don’t know about you, but when I read these words, it sounds like a typical news feed. Jesus mentions this is the beginning of sorrows. This means it’s going to get worse. He goes on to say in verses 9-12, “They will deliver you up and kill you and you will be hated for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

This is why when people come to me and say, “Did you hear…?” I often respond with, “It’s biblical.” The devil wants us to be distracted by all the awful things that are going on in this world today. He wants us to get upset and take our focus off of Jesus Christ. We are told in John 10:10 that the thief, meaning the devil, seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.

All of this sounds like a lot of bad news, I know. But Missionary Spencer Smith has a saying, “Things are looking really good because things are looking really bad.” You see Jesus said in Matthew 24:13, “But he who endures will be saved.” He goes on to say that the gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and the end will come.”

In John 10:10, Jesus speaks of the thief coming to kill steal and destroy but ends the verse by saying, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” In verse 11, He says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

All that is going on now has already been spoken of in God’s Holy Word. If you are in a right relationship with Jesus Christ, you need not fear. He’s got this. Trust in Him. Matthew 6:33 tells us if we focus on Him, He will take care of us and provide all we need.

We are told in Philippians 4:8 to focus on all that is good, and there is nothing better than Him.

When we take our focus off of our Lord and Savior, we are easily deceived. Don’t focus on all you hear, focus on God’s word. Trust in what you read there. Study His word so you are not easily deceived.

And allow me to ask you, “Did you hear we serve a risen Savior who has conquered death?” And did you hear God loves us so much that He gave His only Son for us so whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16)?

Don’t worry about what’s in the news today, we can’t even be sure what is true and what is not in these reports. But we know from John 14:6 that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except through Him.

Man will deceive you and betray you. We cannot trust politicians to turn the world around, more likely they will just turn it upside down. You can read all about that in Revelation 13:1-18 that speaks of the Beast and the Antichrist. And in Revelation 19:20 you can read about how the beast was captured and he and the false prophet and those who worshiped him were thrown into the lake of fire.

Don’t worry about what you hear, focus on what you study in God’s word. When we study His word, we can rest assured He’s got this. Oh, and FYI the news reports can’t save you, but Jesus can.

Have a great day!