1 Samuel 2:3 English Standard Version (ESV) Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

Pride is the condition of the heart, arrogance is evidence of that condition.

This is just one of the examples of how we might determine the condition of our own hearts.

What we say is telling, not only to ourselves but to others also. It can bolster our witness or is could stain it. Since James wrote to us about the wild nature of the tongue and the difficulty in taming it, then what we say by way of self-talk, should indicate where we need to check ourselves.

Many of us have had emotional outbursts in the past. Some of those have led to acts we regret. The idea here is to listen to the condition of the heart in our private time. Prayer can be very revealing. When done privately it can be an adventure in self-discovery.

“Do you hear yourself?”

That is possibly a comment that has been directed at ourselves by people who care about us and are trying to get our attention. Deal with the condition of the heart before actions do irreparable harm.

Isaiah 47:10 English Standard Version (ESV) You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.”

There it is, “said in your heart”. The only help for us to fight off this condition is to make sure we have allowed someone to come along beside us to speak truth in love.

The saving grace of accountability partners is in finding someone we can trust, someone who we can reveal the innermost conditions of our heart without fear. They will always have our best interest at heart.

One is good, two is better, three is best. We all have lives and relying on only one puts too much pressure on their availability.

Matthew 24:3 English Standard Version

Signs of the End of the Age

³ As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

There are three different questions being asked by the disciples. The opening comments of Matthew 24 deal with the destruction of the temple which they had just left. It would seem that the first question is directed to that prophetic word. That prophetic word has already been accomplish, if that was all that was contained in the question related to “these things”. Only the author of the question knew if everything was addressed in Jesus answers.

The second question begs to ask about the nature of His coming. Jesus had not been taken yet and put to death. His resurrection was a future event that was His coming back from death which He did more than once. What was there expectation in that question?

The third was a matter of an undefined age. Was their question meant to address the age of oppression, the age of time, or was it the church age which had not even begun yet?

We seek the answers to all these question as we read chapter 24 of Matthew in what Jesus had to say. What portions of that chapter addresses each question? We seek to understand as if it is an important matter that has to be answered for our own benefit. It is even more troubling to hear Him say to us “keep watch”.

It has been nearly two thousand years and during that time many have declared the events in their generation have been the signs of His coming, and yet we still wait and still wonder.

There are no easy answers but this must be said.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.