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Shalom, Cntrysner. I agree; we SHOULD listen to what Yeeshuwa` said, and the LAST THINGS He said were these: Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV) 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Amen. You HAVE ADMITTED that the disciples - the apostles (sent ones) - could not do what Yeeshuwa` did; therefore, this is a WATER baptism! The word "baptizing" above is the Greek word is "βαπτίζοντες" which means "submerging" or "dunking" them! And, prior to this, the disciples were doing just what John had been doing: John 3:22-24 (KJV) 22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. 23 And John also was baptizing in AEnon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. 24 For John was not yet cast into prison. John 4:1-3 (KJV) 1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. Then, we read this: Acts 16:14-34 (KJV) 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there." And she constrained us. 16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, "These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." 18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, "I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And he came out the same hour. 19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, "These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans!" 22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent (tore) off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, "Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31And they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. Now, I agree that God does indeed immerse us in His Ruwach haQodesh - His Holy Spirit - for His Son's sake, but we should not neglect the OTHER SIDE OF THE SAME COIN, namely, that Yeeshuwa` said to baptize with water - IMMERSE them IN WATER, as well. We baptize with water - not for the redemption itself - but because Yeeshuwa` TOLD us to do so and for a clean consciencce before Him.

Micah chapters 2 and 3 describe what is Israel, violently killing people who are averse to war (Micah 2:8). As a result, the Lord is angry with those in power and abandons Israel for their sakes to be plowed under, in order to eliminate the chaff for their their unjust ways (Micah 3:12). Following this cleansing, Micah 4:1-8, then describes a future Israel (after their gathering from the 4 corners of the earth), becoming the foremost of large nations (Micah 4:1), where people from all the worlds nations will go to for enlightenment (Micah 4:2). Obviously, this time is when the Lord has commenced to reign. After this telling of what will be the future state of Israel and the worlds nations; Micah 4:9-13, then describes in retrospect, evicted Israel throughout the worlds nations as a woman in travail experiencing birth pangs, who upon bringing forth, is made strong in the Lord (Micah 4:13). Micah 5:1-3, then goes further in retrospect to describe why the Lord Jesus has given up His days on earth, until this time, when she that travaileth hath brought forth, and the remnant of His brethren are gathered together with Israel (Micah 5:3). As these events of the travailing woman and bringing forth correlate with the travailing woman in Revelation 12, which is during the reign of the beast; we can then realize that the unjust actions of current Israel in Micah 2 & 3, are precursory events to those in Micah 4 & 5, and Revelation 12.  Micah 2:8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war. Micah 3:12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. Micah 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.  Micah 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Micah 4:13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. Micah 5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

It is Satan that is the deceiver of the whole world and all sin including your personal sin originated with the first rebel. So yes, Satan is the source of your troubles and he has been judged. Granted, once sinful habits have been established within you, they are self perpetuating.

Shalom, @JoeCanada. Okay, I'm going to quote your original post, but I need to be able to break it apart to insert my additions. I don't know what is different, but I can't just break it with a well-positioned [RETURN]; so, it's going to require making quotes and cutting/pasting your stuff into those new quotes. And, in fair warning, this is going to be a long post. Just sayin'. First, Christians have been making a LOT of assumptions down through the last millennium! Some are not too bad; others are disasterous! IMO, one should DROP the "pre-trib," "pre-wrath," and "post-trib" labels and just start with the Scriptures. Come to RIGHT conclusions from Scriptures and let the chips fall where they may! Let's start with a proper understanding of 2 Peter 1:20-21: In the King James Version, this reads, 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Here's the Greek of these two verses: 20 τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες ὅτι πᾶσα προφητεία γραφῆς ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως οὐ γίνεται· 21 οὐ γὰρ θελήματι ἀνθρώπου ἠνέχθη ποτέ προφητεία ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἐλάλησαν οἱ ἅγιοι θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι Transliterated, we get: 20 touto prooton ginooskontes hoti pasa profeeteia grafees idias epiluseoos ou ginetai; 21 ou gar theleemati anthroopou eenechthee pote profeeteia, all' hupo Pneumatos Hagiou feromenoi elaleesan hoi hagioi Theou anthroopoi. Translated word for word, we get: 20 this first knowing that any prophecy of-writing/Scripture of-its-own interpretation not is. 21 not for by-will of-a-man was-brought once/ever a-prophecy, but under Spirit of-Holy being-carried spoke of-the holy of-God men. In American English, we would write: 20 knowing this first, that any prophecy of Scripture is not of its own interpretation. 21 For a prophecy was not ever brought by [the] will of a man, but being carried under [the] Spirit of [the] Holy, men of the Holy God spoke. I've heard a MULTITUDE of misinterpretations of these two verses; so, we needed to clear this up first: This is NOT saying that a person can't understand the Scriptures on his or her own! Peter is telling us that the Scriptures which contain prophecy do not stand alone. They ALL come from men under the "inspiration" of the Holy God through His Holy Spirit. And, therefore, they do NOT stand alone! All the Scriptures that contain prophecy are interrelated because there is only ONE GOD! Therefore, we can also conclude from these verses that there are NO CONTRADICTIONS among all thr prophecies of Scripture. I agree with you that there is a difference between a return and a coming, and you are right that Matthew 24:29-31 describes the Second Coming of our Master Yeeshuwa` haMaashiyach 'Elohiym (our Lord Jesus the Christ or the Messiah of God). Have you ever looked up the word "shekinah?" It comes from the Hebrew word שָׁכַן transliterated as "shaakhan" (H7931) which means "abide; lodge; reside; or permanently stay." The word for "glory" in Hebrew is כָּבוֹד transliterated as "kaaVowd" (H3519). It means "to be heavy, weighty." Since it can also be talking about the "weight" of gold and silver, it is about BEING VALUED or VALUABLE. However, the word "glory" in Greek is δόξα transliterated as "doxa" which means "very apparent" like a wealthy person among the simple or like a bright white light among the darkness of space. Thus, it can mean "splendor, brightness." "Heaven" is from "Old English heofon, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hemel and German Himmel." It's secondary meaning today is actually its original meaning and its historically primary meaning: "2 (often heavens) literary 'the sky,' especially perceived as a vault in which the sun, moon, stars, and planets are situated: Galileo used a telescope to observe the heavens." The same is true for the Greek word "οὐρανός" transliterated as "ouranos." It means "the sky." It is the root and primary component of μεσουράνημα transliterated as "mesouraneema" which means "mid-sky" where the fowl of the air fly (Rev. 19:17). All of these Greek words are found in Matthew 24:30! With these translations in verse 30, we will read it as: Matthew 24:30 (KJV with alterations) 29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the sky, and the powers of the skies shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in the sky: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of the sky with power and great brightness. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." THIS is what the Greek is telling us: It's not saying that Yeeshuwa` will come "from heaven"; it's saying that He will come "from the sky!" This may seem trivial, but it is FUNDAMENTAL to the understanding of how the Second Coming will occur. When "stars fall out of the sky" they are called "meteors." When "stars fall out of the sky to the earth," they are called "meteorites." Mark's account also clears up "from one end of the sky to the other": Mark 13:24-27 (KJV with alterations) 24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 25 And the stars of the sky shall fall, and the powers that are in the sky shall be shaken. 26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of the sky." This means "from the lowest point of the earth to the highest point of the sky"; so, "from one end of the sky to the other" would be VERTICALLY! "from the lowest point of the sky to the highest point." Neither Matthew's account nor Mark's nor Luke's says that He comes "upon his throne!" As a matter of fact, in Matthew's account Yeeshuwa` later says, Matthew 25:31 (KJV) 31 "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:" This means that after He has arrived, He will take up His role as the King of Jews (and later as the King of all Israel) and begin His reign. *** Revelation 19:11 reads differently. Here's the Greek: 11 Καὶ εἶδον τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγμένον, καὶ ἰδού, ἵππος λευκός καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν καλούμενος πιστὸς καὶ ἀληθινός καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃκρίνει καὶ πολεμεῖ This transliterates to ... 11 Kai eidon ton ouranon aneoogmenon, kai idou, hippos leukos kai ho katheemenos ep' auton kaloumenos pistos kai aleethinos kai en dikaiosunee krinei kai polemei Word for word, this translates to ... 11 And I-saw the sky opened-upward, and look!, a-horse white and the-[One] sitting upon it was-called "Faithful (Consistent) and True (Reliable)" and in righteousness/justice he-will-judge and he-will-wage-war Note that it does NOT say that He comes "from heaven" nor does it even say that He comes "from the sky!" How does a HORSE FLY?! No, the SKY BREAKS and He comes riding to the rescue!  It's rather like Gandalf riding upon Shadowfax appearing on the mountain top as the sun rises above the battle below, in the movie "The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers," when He arrives to save Theoden, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and all those with them in the Hornburg! That's how it will be when the Lord Yeeshuwa` the Messiah of God returns to fight! I'm going to finish up my comments at this point and just end with this: Many have a messed up view on the TIMING within the events of the Revelation. Just know this: Yeeshuwa` is not coming to "DESTROY THE EARTH"; He is coming TO BEGIN HIS REIGN UPON THE EARTH!

Your thoughts are an excellent commentary on this verse: Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.