HAPPY MONDAY!
Today’s scriptures are about eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus Christ. Have you ever wondered why the bible says that we should eagerly await the coming of the Lord? I know most of us love life, and aren’t quite ready to leave earth, so why then should we wait eagerly on the Lord? Once Jesus saves us from the darkness, His light, love, and peace penetrates our heart, and we start this transformation. Some transform faster than others, but it will happen. The rate of our transformation depends on our obedience and hunger for the Lord. Jesus offers us something that no one in this world could ever give—a close intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Additionally, He offers eternal life in Heaven, and the sooner we join Him, the better life would be for all eternity. It’s written: “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (Rev. 21:3-5 NLT) It’s only by the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, that we have something magnificent to look forward too.
I remember a time when I was so afraid to die. Especially when I was a young child, I didn’t handle death very well, because of course, I didn’t understand it. As I grew older, I accepted Jesus as Lord, and death started to scare me less, because I knew that I had a permanent home in Heaven. However, that didn’t stop the enemy from trying to pull me away from God. As I backslid, and regularly sinned, that fear came creeping back in. Now that I look back on it, I was no longer afraid of going to hell, I was more afraid of disappointing God. What He thinks about me means a lot to me. I always knew that if I don’t do anything else in life, I wanted to make my Heavenly Father proud. In some ways that train of thought brought me closer to God, until the enemy learned how to manipulate that as well. He started to convince me that the way I was living my life, God couldn’t possibly be proud of me, so I started to drift further and further away from Him.
This is where the love and Salvation of Jesus Christ came in. Yesterday my brother was playing the song, “You Saved Me”, by R. Kelly, as he was preparing breakfast for us. When I walked into the kitchen, I stopped what I was doing and stood still, and it’s like I went into this trance. It felt like I was living every world that R. Kelly was singing, because I can empathize with each of the people He sang about. So much so, that I want to sing praises to the Lord, every time I think of how many times He’s saved me! Hallelujah! Jesus saves us from everything, because trust me, the enemy is always looking to steer us wrong. There’s always going to be a spiritual war, but Jesus Saved us from having to fight on our own. God allows us to live, and make our own choices in life, but He always helps us make the most important choices, which also include accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Now I’ll ask you one more time, why is it so important to eagerly await the coming of the Lord? The answer is simple, because He saved you, and gave you a second chance at life. Not only that, but He’s your key to having the best life you can possibly imagine, forever. He promised that one day He’ll return to receive all those who believe in Him. If that happens ten minutes from now, will you be ready? Are you always prepared for His return? We must be sure that we’re living a life pleasing to God, at all times, because we wouldn’t want Jesus to find us at our worst. When we meet Him in the clouds, we’ll want Him to say “well done”, and not lower His head in shame. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of, but that should never keep us from having the closest relationship with Christ. After all, He died to give us freedom from sin, which includes all of the things we aren’t proud of, but we have to hold up our end of the bargain too. We must make a conscious effort each day to be prepared for the coming of the Lord. Repent, and draw near to the Lord.
The first step to making a conscious effort to prepare for the coming of the Lord is to accept your salvation. If you’re reading this, you are called to be a child of God. If you don’t know Jesus, then please take a moment to take the God Quiz right now. I include this link in each devotional because it helps answer many questions that you may have, in more detail. Jesus is coming back, just like He said He would (~Al Green), so if you’re a Christian and aren’t living right, pray and ask Him to help you get back on track. He’s always waiting to hear from you. It’s written: The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore. (Psalm 121:7-8) Get prepared for the coming of the Lord, because you know neither the day nor the hour when He will appear. My favorite verse today is: Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. (2 Peter 3:14)
ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455586&dtype=Scripture
http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/today-on-radio
http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/Broadcast/
I love you!
No comments:
Post a Comment