End Days - Mathew 24:29 - Stars will Fall from Heaven

 

By Odon Bulamba

Mathew 24:29, today we are going to talk about the stars.

It is written in the Bible that stars will fall from Heaven.  Imagine the stars falling.  What will happen on the earth if they fall?  We don’t know how big they are or the damage they will cause to the earth.  Normally stars are another type of Christian who don’t shine that much and don’t produce light to show us the path.  Those type of people are Christians are really far from God.  When you meet with them and you are told that this person is a believer, you are shocked because the way they live does not reflect God’s light, at all.

When I was growing up we had kerosene lamps to light the house but without the kerosene oil, the light starts to die.  Today, the number of Christians that are like stars are more than the true Christians.  You can visit churches all over the world and see a greater number of Christians whose light is failing compared to the true Christian that is shining the light of God.

Satan is called a star, God is called a star, we are called stars, and there are stars in nature.  Satan was a star but was kicked out of heaven because of pride, he wanted to be worshiped. In Genesis 15:4-5, you will see Abraham was visited by God and going through a serious problem of not having a child and God told him, “Come outside your tent,” and come out.  He looked towards the heaven, and God said, “Count the stars.  Then the number you have counted will be your descendants and your children”. 

Have you tried to count the stars?  You won’t have time to bother yourself because there so many that you can’t count them.  My mum used to ask me, “How many children will you have when you grow up?”  I wanted a small number but for Abraham God is asking him to count the stars to determine the number of descendants you want. 

How many stars will you count?  How many children do you want Rebekah?  Four.  Not 4 hundred?  We all believe we don’t need many children because the more children means the more trouble and challenges we will face.  All of us are Abraham’s descendants.  How many stars did he count?  Many.  Once you count a big number, you get lost. 

As we are born again and the light of the world, God asks us sometimes to come outside from our tent to start to count the number of believers that are not shining anymore.  He asks us to count the number of those that are counted as Christians but are no longer the light for God because their light is hidden.  Once counted, we will take the responsibility of becoming their parent, care for them, look after them, pray for them, fast for them, preach for them, come close to them and treat them like our own children.

Someone can be older than you physically but can be younger than you spiritually even if they met Jesus before you.  How much do you care for you children?  When you think about your children, how do you feel?  You may see hundreds of children at school but when it’s your child, you give them special attention.  You go to school because you have a child there and you prepare them to go to bed, feed them and be there 24/7 to protect your child.

Abraham was given this huge task of becoming a watchman.  Are you a watchman of those who are not shining anymore?  Those stars will fall.  When satan was thrown down, he was thrown to the earth.  Our bodies came from the earth and that is where physical life is, eating, drinking and sinning. 

Many of those who are not shining the light of Jesus, they continue to fall in sin, they are sinners.  Once they were saved but have decided to go away from the gospel and live like sinners, they are falling.  Now fallen, we don’t know who will pick them up again, this is the big responsibility we have.

Pray you will never be like a star.  Many people have created gods around the stars.  We have no choice than to come outside and help stars.  The message of Jesus was to make disciples.  We have these disciples who are lost and they need to come back. 

For example, Trish’s cat Cody got lost because Trish moved houses.  He kept going back to the old house.  Trish would do her best to bring him to the new house but he kept going back.  She tried her best and she loved Cody but Cody doesn’t care about Trish’s love and care.  Imagine how hard it was for Trish that her cat is back and she has happiness but after some time he disappears.  She keeps hoping he will come back to join the family.

When a child of God leaves His family, God sends someone to bring him home but even when they come back to church, they leave again.  Do we get tired?  Do we give up?  God has been encouraging us, don’t give up, don’t get tired.  If just one soul is saved, it is a big party in heaven.  Don’t feel like you have done enough, keep helping, their number is enormous and God wants these people to come back to Him again.

It’s a big task, a tough one.  You may go to that person and they may give you many verses to show you that you know nothing but your victory will be in your prayers.  Your words won’t change them unless God is in you to change those people. 

Mathew 24 :29 - End Times - The Moon will not Give its Light

 By Odon Bulamba

We are going to talk about the light again.  Last night I talked about the sun, today we will continue with Mathew 24:29 and talk about the moon.

We all know the moon and we see it at least once per month.  It will appear in the sky without asking for permission and it just appears and you see it.  The moon will be there for some days, maybe 7, and then it will vanish again.  The sun is unique because there is only one sun but there are many moons in our galaxy but only one that shines on the earth.  Then there are stars which are too many to count.  When we think about the big number of moons, more than 190, it is like a crowd. 

Mathew 24:29, apart from the sun, is related to Luke 14 and we will match those two verses and see. Luke 14:1-4, “It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away”. 

When I’m talking about the moon, I see a celebration.  Many people think the moon is good, soft, beautiful, kind and there are zero adjectives used to describe the moon as bad.  We have this category of Christians, wherever they go, they appear soft, kind, and good and all positive things that the world gives to them and for them that is beautiful but in front of God, they don’t shine all the time, they only appear for a few days and then vanish and become covered by darkness.

Sometimes we see the moon shining and you can see the path but other times the moon is not there and you can’t see what is in front of you.  We are living in the sabbath day, the last period of time before the return of Jesus and Jesus is now invited into a Pharisee’s house.

A Pharisee is human being who knows the gospel, reads the Bible and prays but lives like a hypocrite, he/she is not 100% committed to the Lord.  They know the Word of God but they don’t practice it.  Some people like the Pharisees invite Jesus to come for dinner to celebrate.  At this dinner you will see other people (moons) where they will listen to hear the Word of God.  They come to church on Sunday and shine but after the service they are different people.

Jesus knew he was being watched at the Pharisee’s house.  He went by himself, without the disciples.  He accepted to sit with those that are not true Christians.  We can be wrong but when we invite Jesus, He responds.  When someone tells you, I don’t have Jesus with me, it is possibly because you haven’t invited Jesus in your life.  How often do I invite Jesus in my life regardless of my hypocrisy?

Normally when we invite people to a party or dinner, we think about food but it is really about fellowshipping and talking and catching up and spending a good time with others.  If you come to a dinner only for food and forget about making a good climate with others, you won’t enjoy the dinner.  If people talk negatively about you, you will lose your appetite.  Sometimes, you will think, why did I come to this dinner because people are being rude.

When you invite Jesus to visit you, “Please Lord listen to me,” you must ask yourself, what have I prepared for Jesus?  What conversation are we going to talk about?  What seat will he sit on when he comes into my heart?  What will be my thoughts and my prayers when He comes? Did I prepare myself to welcome my guest?

Very often we don’t have time to contemplate about the moon, we very often sleep or rest during that time.  This category of Christians that try to impress a little bit to their friends and other believers, they will look at you for a bit but then go to sleep, “better to sleep than to listen to you”.  You have decided to be soft and extremely kind and afraid to offend by talking about the gospel.  You are afraid of others seeing you pray or holding your Bible and reading it at lunch time.  You want to be a Christian but living in hypocrisy so others can’t see who you are and who you work for.

In Luke 14, this man was sick but when he went to dinner, he forgot about his sickness.  Maybe those that we invite, those we pray for to become Christians, they may have some disabilities, they may be sick but that should never make us to not invite them. Many people in my country and community don’t want to hear about Jesus but because I am organising a party and because I am like a moon, in my hypocrisy and weakness, I should also invite others.  Come so we can eat together.  The person you meet might meet Jesus through you.  Through your behaviour you may save others. 

When Jesus sat on the table, He looked around.  The man didn’t say he was sick but Jesus discovered by looking at him.  Jesus could tell he was suffering without being told.  Jesus gave him healing.  The person didn’t stay to eat or celebrate, after healing, Jesus said go away.  He came to eat but the Master, the Healer said, go away without eating.

Imagine you invite someone and then someone else tells your visitor to go away.  The dinner was like an opportunity to come closer to Jesus.  When we are invited, we prepare ourselves.  When someone invites you to dinner, you must prepare yourself.  According to your culture here, you first want to be on time and then ask what you should take with you.  You will also be clean.

For some people when they are at the dinner, they start to complain.  I wish I could be at that table.  We complain while it is a privilege to be invited, to be one of those that receive the invitation to be with the master.  How often do you complain about your time to pray, reading the Word of God, visiting those who are sick?  How often do you complain when Jesus has given you a space in the room but you don’t want that space in the room?

Some will say, “I have been praying for days but God doesn’t respond.  I am sick of it.  I am tired of asking God and not getting a positive answer”.  Jesus who created everything, He asked those people, is it lawful to heal someone who suffers?  God who created the laws asks us if it is lawful.  He is not talking about working on sabbath but healing. 

In your life when he comes to you, is it lawful for Jesus to heal your friend to do something in the life of someone you know?  What will your answer be?  You might say, we are here for dinner not for praying, we should remember our purpose here.  I have been in a situation where I am on my way going somewhere but then find myself in a different direction.

This man who was inviting Jesus to eat with him, now Jesus has turned everything to healing.  You must wait until I have healed this person before to eat.  Do you know anyone who is spiritually sick in your family/community or are you yourself sick spiritually who need healing?  Sins are sickness.  Maybe you need healing from hypocrisy, stealing, or other sin you have.

Are you ready to accept from Jesus that it is lawful to heal those sins in my life?  But in the house of the Pharisee, the Pharisee himself didn’t say heal me, he believed he was a prominent man in the community and did not believe he was sick spiritually.  No one else asked to be healed.  Like the more than 190 moons that do not shine, only one shines like the person who was sick and presented himself.  In the crowd, there was possibly others that were sick but they didn’t want to show themselves.

When you complain about a party, it might be about it starting late or the music was too loud.  When we complain, we sometimes hurt God’s feelings.  I’ve heard someone complain about their appearance, “I don’t like the way God created me”.  The creator who found He created you good, wonders why you are complaining.

Sometimes we complain about food and God who is the provider hears you complaining. Instead of being thankful for all that God has given us.  I’ve heard parents complain about their own children.  Some complain about their neighbours.  You can complain about the behaviour but not the person.  When you complain about others, you are trying to correct God.

The moon Christians will change to darkness.  How many days do we have in each month?  Around 28-31 days.  Those people will only shine for 7 days, the remaining 21 days they will live in darkness.  During your 24 hours each day, how many do you shine in the world?  How many hours will others see you passing and know that you bear all the fruit of the Holy Spirit?  How often do people look at you and think they are not happy to meet with you?

When you shine, do you sometimes look around and ask yourself if your light is helping others?  The sun will provide vitamin D.  What does the moon give to us nutritionally?  It doesn’t give us anything great for our lives.  We can’t put our clothes on the line for the moon to dry them.  When the moon comes, we take beautiful photos of the moon but that is all. 

Your presence in the world has a purpose.  If you are shining like the moon and it doesn’t help others, you still have the chance and grace to shine like the sun because you were chosen.  Tell Jesus that you want to shine like the sun so that others around you can benefit from you.  I don’t want to be darkness for more than 70% of my daily life, please make me shine for others.

When we are cold, that is when we think about the sun.  The presence of the sun warms our houses and lives but when your presence in other’s lives makes them to continue to live in coldness, it means that you must increase your potential.

At the end of time, the moon will be changed to darkness.  When darkness comes, we get lost and can’t see the path or the way.  Jesus is the path.  Those that live like moons will start to go astray and walk in a different direction because there is not enough light.  Come close to Jesus and let Him help you.  Come as you are, tell Him you are sick, “help me, I have a privilege because I am a moon that shines a little but I want to shine more to be beneficial for others”.

On the day of judgement our deeds will follow us and we will be asked, “What did you do with what I gave you?”  What will you answer?  You may say, “Yes people saw me once a while,” but God will tell you, “You should live for Me but you are living for money, joy, friends, parties”.  If you are not living for Jesus, start to ask Him, “How can I live for you?  What can I do for you in order to live for you?”  It doesn’t mean to quit your job or studies but wherever you are, be a Christian, talk about Jesus without fear or reserve, warn others.

Sometimes be tough.  I heard that the queen of England is very sick now and we are not sure she will make it.  Someone called me this morning and he said, “You know she is sick?”  “Yes, I heard.  Oh Lord, we want her to be alive”.  We can pray for her but it is a privilege to reach that age.  Let’s pray she gives her life to Jesus.  She’s an Anglican but it’s not about what church you go to but it is about repentance and being ready to meet with the Lord.

Sometimes we only want to pray for physical things.  If you pray for their spiritual life, they will tell you not to judge them.  We are in the end days.  Jesus is coming back soon.  It’s a good time to position ourselves.  Are we guests of this world just to eat, going to the movies, or are we here to find the true healing and walk God’s way?  Are we full of hypocrisy to just entertain others or are we here to be the light for others and telling them the truth before it is too late?

When Jesus says it’s time to go, there will be no chance to eat anymore.  Sometimes we think we are on this earth to celebrate but are we going to accept the healing and go away or will we continue to eat and be spiritually sick?

Mathew 24:29 - End Times - The Sun will be Darkened

 

 By Odon Bulamba

We are going to share the Word of God from Mathew 24:29, “Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken”.

Today I’m only going to talk about the sun being darkened.  Have you thought about waking up one morning and there is no morning?  Without sun, it’s night-time.  When the sun appears, we call it morning time.  When the sun arrives in the morning, you are forced to start a new day regardless of whether you are tired, sick, or stressed, the sun doesn’t care, light is there and you have to wake up.

Everything we do during the day is based on the sun.  From the sun we decide it is 7am, 8am, 9am.  We decide to start work at a certain time based on the sun.  The sun is special in our spiritual lives.  In the beginning God created light, the first thing.  How important is light in your life?  How important is light in my life? For some people, they prefer to live in darkness and prefer to be where light doesn’t exist but you can’t be there for a long time.

I visited a corner of the world where the sun comes up for 6 months and then disappears for 6 months.  For the time that they don’t have sun, it feels like death.  Life is not there but once the sun appears, everyone is out and are happy to see the sun.  No one can control the sun and we don’t pay a cent for the sun but God has decided to give it us freely.

This light from the sun is very big and it is a mystery.  It shines in New Zealand at 10:30am but in Africa it is night-time.  When one side of the world sees the sun, the other side is in darkness.  The absence of light is darkness.

What is the importance of sun in our lives?  It gives us light, power that gives life to plant, and vitamin D.  I can function because the sun is there and my eyes can see because of the light from the sun and sometimes when I don’t feel the sun on my skin, I will feel cold and I go outside to sit in the sun to warm up my body.  In different places, people can spend hours lying in the sun.

Jesus says to us, you are the light of this world.  The first light that was created is the sun which gives light to every person, good or bad and doesn’t choose who you are but is there to shine and help you to see.  If we are the light of the world, what is our role?  Do you also provide vitamin D to people, do we give life, do we shine so that those who don’t have a clear view can see, do we wake others up?  What is our role on this earth?

A big gift and title that God has given to us is to be the light of the world.  It is now up to us to act.  Do we warm people up or make them cold with our actions and words?  Do we cheer people up and make them comfortable?  Being next to Hayley, do I feel good?  Or are you the kind of sun like the desert where people don’t want to be around because it is too hot and you can’t open your eyes and you feel annoyed with the sun.  Are you the type of sun that dries plants or burns the ground so people can’t walk on it without burning feet?  Do you provide life or death?

How much power the sun gives out depends on whether it gives life or death.  Some days it is nice and other days it is too hot.  Are you the kind of person where people feel secure and benefit from you and your actions and your advice because of your kindness?  How often do you become angry (e.g. the sun gets too hot and punishes people).  How often do you punish others?  When you punish others, you are light but your purpose is not what God wants you to be.  

In New Zealand we are lucky and blessed because we don’t have a strong sun.  Even in summer you can walk around without a hat and it is ok but in other countries you can’t because the sun is harsh.  Aren’t you a harsh Christian?  What testimony do you have as the light of this world?  Do you only shine for those that you love and like but become darkness for those you don’t love or like?  In your life do you have people that you want to be with and prove you are a good person but on the other side you leave others in darkness and prove you don’t love them.

What should we do in order to be good to everybody?  What effort have you done in order to respond to the needs of others, good or bad?  Jesus came down to die for those who were sinners.  If we are sinners, we should understand also those that are sinners and how hard is their lives and be there to help them.  I can remember what I used to be like years ago and my life has changed now.  All of us are weak but we are fighting and running towards the goal, to please God.  that is the only visa to get to heaven.  You are the only person who can fill out the visa for you, no one can do it for you.

The sun will be darkened.  It was good when God created it, He said, “This is good”.  Now God is telling us that the sun will be changed to dark.  You can have eyes but without light you can’t see.  Without the sun you won’t warm up.  Plants will not grow without the sun and animals will not survive.  It will be a big shame if you will be one of the lights that will be darkened.

If a branch does not produce fruit, it will be cut off.  Although you are a branch of that tree, they will cut it off and throw you away into fire so you can burn and disappear completely.  My mum when she used to cook, she would use tree branches to start a fire.  The more the branch is consumed, it disappears into ash.  The branch that is cut off will also be put into fire and disappear completely.  After being consumed, the ashes are dead and can’t be put to fire again.

Don’t beat your chest and say I am the light of the world if you don’t produce your own light, you can become darkened.  If I am not producing fruit, I will be detached from the branch and put in fire and consumed.

What is darkness to you?  You can’t see but for others it can be when you will enjoy things or you are free and no one can see you.  For God, it means when you are entering the kingdom of sin.  You are going astray and you forget that you are walking away from God and into the kingdom of darkness where sin reigns.

Darkness is when you know what God wants but you refuse to put it into practise.  Everybody knows the law but if you don’t obey it, you will still be punished by it.  The judge will judge you whether you know the law or not.  The judge will punish you regardless.  It is your responsibility to learn the law and discover what is right and wrong.  Sometimes we learn tough things about the Bible but it is the law.  

If you see a snake here, what will you do?  Run away.  In my country, the first thing is to kill the snake.  In other countries, they will pick the snake up nicely and put it back in the wild, the snake has the right to live.  For us in my country, when a danger comes, you must attack to protect yourself because it will hurt someone else tomorrow.

Many people will go into the kingdom of darkness and sin because they are discouraged and give up walking with God.  I’d rather watch my tv than read my Bible.  Levi will come to me and ask me to pray now so he can go to bed but I have to pause the tv series and maybe sometimes I quickly put him to bed and pray quickly because I don’t want to lose that program.  One time he said, “That was a quick prayer, we didn’t pray for x y and z,” and I felt guilty.

How can I sacrifice this desire of Levi to pray to God to cut it short because I have my own personal plan?  If God asked me now, what are you doing, what will my response be?  

Another time, I was sitting in front of tv and someone else turned the tv on in another room and used the Netflix subscription and I couldn’t keep watching.  What are you going to do?  Do I stop that person or wait?  In my house, you are watching tv and someone will connect the tv you are watching to youtube using another remote control so they can then log into Netflix.  Sometimes we are taken away from the reality of life, we want to enjoy what we want instead of sharing our time with God and others.

At our house, our neighbours can change the channels on our tv using their remote control.  You can feel annoyed by that.  It was another way for me to think, if you are the light of this world and you are watching tv and someone disturbs you, it’s a good time to pray, “God I was distracted but now I want to come close to you”.

To be the light of the world is a huge mission.  How can I light up the whole world?  Through my actions, words, prayer, I can be the light for others.  Be kind, love is kind.  Be good to people, to yourself, be kind to yourself.  Ask yourself am I kind?  As the sun rises every morning, is the sun good and kind to you?  Yes, even when I am grumpy.  If someone in your family is grumpy, that shouldn’t stop you from being kind to them.

Don’t treat yourself harshly.  Some people might think, I wish I had hair like Leah.  That is not life.  Look at God and appreciate what God has given to you and how you appear in front of God, others, and yourself.

A man came to me one time when I was overseas and asked for shoes (he was a refugee).  I was once a refugee so I know how hard it is.  I took off my shoes and gave them to him.  I was walking in my socks.  He wanted money instead to buy shoes.  Another man had no legs and he said, “you are rejecting shoes, I wish I had legs like you without shoes”.  You must be grateful for what you are and as you are.  God doesn’t see me ugly or short or that I don’t speak English.  In front of God it is different and I must be proud of who I am.

Well done Odon, I woke up today and prayed.  Encourage yourself.  When was the last time you encouraged yourself to come close to God?  Do you encourage yourself to be the sun to shine in this world?  Do you encourage others but not yourself?  God is telling us, be like the sun, rise every morning and shine and make everyone you see, happy.  

Sin doesn’t hide itself.  It will talk to you but tell that feeling, “I need something else instead, I need the sun and to shine and not to let darkness come out of me”.