Still, I See the Signs

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1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.


Sometimes I look for the Lord's coming,
seeing the world unfold around me.
At other moments I want to watch those precious to me
bask in all the good He offers.
I am told we will not know
the day or the hour, (Matthew 25:13)
still, I see the signs.

Voices tell me the day is on the horizon,
they predict days and times
or the colors of the moon.
I say,
only God in His wisdom
holds that knowledge,
we have no right to it.
He has not shared this single thought
with the angels
or His son. (Matthew 24:36)

There have been false messiahs.
The temple lies in ruin.
Wars and famine,
earthquakes and persecution,
have come,
gone and returned.
Still the Father has not uttered the word
to send His Son. 

I could spend my life waiting to hear the trumpet
and not live.
I could spend my life waiting to see the dead rise
and never have walked among them
when they were alive.
I could spend my life waiting to see a prophecy fulfilled,
Jesus descending from the clouds,
and never have come to love Him.




 copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr


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