Surprise, Surprise?

Some things are a complete surprise, like the vehicle that just crosses over into your lane without warning.  But, if you are sick, many times your body tells you something is wrong.  If your first-grader comes home with a sniffle and complains their head is hot, its no surprise if the next day you begin to feel a little "out-of-sorts".  Like that, there are warning signs for cancer too and this chart lists ten of them.  Warning signs can save your life and here are some from Jesus himself.....

Matthew 24:1-44 (WEB)


2) But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”


4) Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.




8) But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

9) Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.

10) Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

11) Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.

12) Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.

13) But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.




17) Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out things that are in his house.

18) Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes.

19) But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!

20) Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath,


22) Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.

23) “Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it.


25) “Behold, I have told you beforehand.

26) If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it.


28) For wherever the carcass is, there is where the vultures gather together.

29) But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;


31) He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

32) “Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near.

33) Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34) Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished.



37) “As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.



40) Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left;

41) two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left.

42) Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes.



Jesus was at the temple, talking about the temple and the judgement soon to come upon it.  He spoke to his disciples and told them that their generation would not pass away until the judgement of which he spoke happened.  Did it?  Yes, Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 a.d..  Just as judgement came upon the Jews, so it will eventually come upon us all; someday there will be a penalty for evil and a reward for good.  Look at your life; what is it like?  People are not stupid (at least not the vast majority)!  Change what needs to be changed and get ready for any little surprise that may come your way. 

NT Reading 4/15, 4/16

Apr. 14, 15

Luke 9

Luk 9:1 He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

Luk 9:2 He sent them forth to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

Luk 9:3 He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey-neither staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats apiece.

Luk 9:4 Into whatever house you enter, stay there, and depart from there.

Luk 9:5 As many as don't receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them."





Luk 9:10 The apostles, when they had returned, told him what things they had done. He took them, and withdrew apart to a deserted place of a city called Bethsaida.





Luk 9:15 They did so, and made them all sit down.


Luk 9:17 They ate, and were all filled. They gathered up twelve baskets of broken pieces that were left over.

Luk 9:18 It happened, as he was praying alone, that the disciples were with him, and he asked them, "Who do the multitudes say that I am?"

Luk 9:19 They answered, " 'John the Baptizer,' but others say, 'Elijah,' and others, that one of the old prophets is risen again."


Luk 9:21 But he warned them, and commanded them to tell this to no one,


Luk 9:23 He said to all, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.






Luk 9:29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling.

Luk 9:30 Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah,

Luk 9:31 who appeared in glory, and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.



Luk 9:34 While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud.

Luk 9:35 A voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!"



Luk 9:38 Behold, a man from the crowd called out, saying, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.


Luk 9:40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they couldn't."

Luk 9:41 Jesus answered, "Faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."




Luk 9:45 But they didn't understand this saying. It was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.


Luk 9:47 Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their hearts, took a little child, and set him by his side,



Luk 9:50 Jesus said to him, "Don't forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us."

Luk 9:51 It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem,

Luk 9:52 and sent messengers before his face. They went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for him.

Luk 9:53 They didn't receive him, because he was traveling with his face set towards Jerusalem.


Luk 9:55 But he turned and rebuked them, "You don't know of what kind of spirit you are.

Luk 9:56 For the Son of Man didn't come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." They went to another village.

Luk 9:57 As they went on the way, a certain man said to him, "I want to follow you wherever you go, Lord."


Luk 9:59 He said to another, "Follow me!" But he said, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."

Luk 9:60 But Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce the Kingdom of God."

Luk 9:61 Another also said, "I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to bid farewell to those who are at my house."


OT Reading 4/14

Apr. 14

Numbers 19, 20

Num 19:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Num 19:2 This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, and on which never came yoke.

Num 19:3 You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face:

Num 19:4 and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times.


Num 19:6 and the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.




Num 19:10 He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever.

Num 19:11 He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days:

Num 19:12 the same shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he doesn't purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

Num 19:13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn't purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Yahweh; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet on him.




Num 19:17 For the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:

Num 19:18 and a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave:

Num 19:19 and the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify him; and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

Num 19:20 But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh: the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

Num 19:21 It shall be a perpetual statute to them: and he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until even.

Num 19:22 Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.


Num 20:2 There was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

Num 20:3 The people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh!

Num 20:4 Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?

Num 20:5 Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

Num 20:6 Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces: and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them.

Num 20:7 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,


Num 20:9 Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him.

Num 20:10 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring you water out of this rock for you?

Num 20:11 Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

Num 20:12 Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, Because you didn't believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.


Num 20:14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus says your brother Israel, You know all the travail that has happened to us:

Num 20:15 how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers:

Num 20:16 and when we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of your border.

Num 20:17 Please let us pass through your land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king's highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.

Num 20:18 Edom said to him, You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you.

Num 20:19 The children of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then will I give its price: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.

Num 20:20 He said, You shall not pass through. Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.






Num 20:26 and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.


Num 20:28 Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
