Devotion for 10-21-20 6 Minutes

Good evening everyone watching by video this evening,,, it's time for our weekly devotion.

And the scripture will come from my morning devotion book from Billy Graham titled "Unto the Hills" that I read this morning.

The scripture for this evening is 2 Thessalonians 1:2, 7

I'll be reading from the King James Version.

2 Thessalonians 1:2, 7

2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this evening.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this evening,,, with all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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Billy Graham focused on the first few words in verse 7 most of the time during his devotional this morning,,, and those words were,,,7 And to you who are troubled rest with us .

We are going through some tough times in this country,,, and ,,, really,,, all over the world if you include the covid pandemic.

Which of course would be hard pressed to be left out.

But,,, he was talking about the unrest and divisiveness that just seems to be getting worse and worse.

Of course this book was published in 2010 but the events he's describing can be applied today and they seem to be getting worse.

He said that others have said that this era will be known "As the age of violence".

Now,,, I don’t know what it’s going to be called,,, and neither did Billy Graham,,, but we know that the future belongs to God.

He said to you who are troubled by the events you read about in your newspapers,,, to you who are disturbed about the things you see on your television screens,,, the apostle Paul says, “Rest with us.”

What he is saying is, “Relax.” "Don't worry"

Billy Graham says that there are three problems we have never been able to solve.

The first is that of human iniquity.

He used the city of Pittsburgh which is the headquarters of over a hundred major corporations as an example.

The city has solved some great human problems through technology.

It was in Pittsburgh that Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine.

Here is a city that could teach the world a few lessons.

But there’s one problem none of our great cities has solved—the problem of human iniquity: lying, hate, lust, greed.

But he said that when Christ comes back,,, He’s going to solve that problem.

The second problem that has not been solved:

the problem of human suffering.

Modern civilized man is developing a high suicide rate.

He may live in the finest home in town,,, and yet suffer from a broken heart,,, loneliness,,, boredom,,, physical or mental suffering.

Christ at His return will take away suffering; He says He will wipe away all tears.

There will be no more backaches or headaches; cancer and heart disease will be eliminated; mental illness will be no more.

All the diseases of mankind will be cured when Christ comes back.

The third and greatest unsolved problem of all is

the crisis of death, which each of us has to face. “It is appointed unto men once to die,” says the Bible.

But when Christ returns for His church,,, those redeemed ones who are alive will not die but will be caught up to meet Him in the air.

For them,,, death will be ended.

When Christ comes,,, peace will come.

Our greatest statesmen and scholars are seeking a way for peace,,, but they are attempting to do it without the Prince of Peace.

Man cannot bring enduring peace.

Enduring peace will be brought only when the Prince of Peace comes and sets up His great and mighty Kingdom.

Graham, Billy. Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (p. 334). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.