As
Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to
point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, "You
see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left
here upon another; all will be thrown down." When he was sitting on the
Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us,
when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the
end of the age?"
Jesus
answered them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come
in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray.
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not
alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be
famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the
beginning of the birthpangs.
"Then
they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and
you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall
away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many
false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the
increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one
who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom
will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the
nations; and then the end will come." Matthew 24:1-14
Dear Auntie,
Things are getting tense here and what was an oasis of peace had been churned up. The folks who delivered supplies from my parents told us very scary stories. There are men looking for us, who, according to these neighbors of ours, have been paid to bring us back - at all costs, so that we can be beaten or even stoned. Can you imagine? Good people of our town want to hurt us? I do not understand why people are so angry and so violent. So we are making plans to leave here as soon as possible, under cover of darkness. We will probably have to travel at night and go round about ways!
We must wait until sundown and will have our prayers here in this safe house. Mistress Sarah does not want me to go and she has sent for the wise women to check me out before I go. She also thinks the threats are a lot of bluster, men flexing their muscles to seem tough. Her husband agrees but thinks for our safety we should keep moving, just in case some of the crazy talk is real.
Oh Elizabeth, why do people fight so hard to deny what God is doing? Why are the most religious folks quickest to deny God's love in others' lives? Pray that I gain wisdom and insight on this journey as my heart is on the ground. I feel so small and so huge at the same time. Everyone tells me what we should do, but very few are offering help and kindness. Pray for me!
Much love
Mary
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