With Jesus When He Comes!

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We believe that Jesus died and was raised to life. We also believe that when God brings Jesus back again, he will bring with him all who had faith in Jesus before they died.   Our Lord Jesus told us that when he comes, we won't go up to meet him ahead of his followers who have already died.   With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God's trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life.   Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever.

1 Thessalonians 4: 14-17

Do you hope to still be alive when Jesus returns?  I still remember when I first learned that some people will not die, but will be alive when the Lord comes back to earth.  I was a child, but I thought that it would be nice to never die and just go to Heaven with Jesus when He comes.  The fear of death is a strong motivator in this life.

So I would ask this question: Do you want to be alive when Jesus returns, because you love Him and want to see Him face to face, or do you fear death and  believe that if you are still alive when He returns you won't have to die?  

The truth is that even if you leave this life before Jesus returns you will not miss the Second Coming of Jesus.  According to these verses in 1 Thessalonians you will either see Him coming from here on earth or, because of your faith, Jesus will bring you with Him when He comes!

As a follower of Jesus, don't let the fear of death rule your heart and mind.  For those who believe, physical death is no more permanent than a few hours of sleep at night.  He will bring you with Him when He returns!

"Lord Jesus, help me to be ready for the Day of Your return.  Thank You, Jesus for the promise of Eternal Life with You in Heaven.  Praise Your Holy Name, now and forever.  Amen." 

Today's Tower of Babel

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At first everyone spoke the same language, but after some of them moved from the east11.2 from the east: Or “to the east.” and settled in Babylonia,11.2 Babylonia: See the note at 10.6-20.  they said: Let's build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky! We'll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. We'll become famous, and we won't be scattered all over the world. But when the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower, he said: These people are working together because they all speak the same language. This is just the beginning. Soon they will be able to do anything they want. Let's go down and confuse them! We'll make them speak different languages, and they won't be able to understand each other.  So the people had to stop building the city, because the Lord confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. That's how the city of Babel got its name.

11.8,9 Babel: In Hebrew “Babel” sounds like “confused.” Genesis 11:1-9

The people who built the tower of Babel wanted to reach the sky with their construction project.  But when the Lord saw what they were doing, He was not pleased with the effort.  In fact, God intervened and confused the people by making them speak different languages so they could not work together.

It is the same today!  Most people believe that the whole world working together would be a good thing, and that reaching the stars with our technology would be pleasing to God.  Generally, great technological advances cause us to be prideful and draw us away from dependence on God.  

God wants us to depend on Him and not on our technology and creativity!  Ask yourself daily the question: Am I depending on my God or my computer?  If you are trusting in and depending on your computer and not on God don't be amazed when your computer crashes for no apparent reason!  

"Lord Jesus, like the people in the city of Babel I want to reach the sky, but I want to reach it in Your arms and not in my own strength.  Praise Your Holy Name, now and forever.  Amen."

Disaster Is Near!

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The Lord God said:

Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel that I am saying: Israel will soon come to an end! Your whole country is about to be destroyed as punishment for your disgusting sins. I, the Lord, am so angry that I will show no pity. I will punish you for the evil you’ve done, and you will know that I am the Lord.  There’s never been anything like the coming disaster.   And when it comes, your life will be over.  You people of Israel are doomed! Soon there will be panic on the mountaintops instead of celebration.   I will let loose my anger and punish you for the evil things you’ve done. You’ll get what you deserve.  Your sins are so terrible, that you’ll get no mercy from me. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have punished you.

 Disaster is near! Injustice and arrogance are everywhere, and violent criminals run free. None of you will survive the disaster, and everything you own and value will be shattered.   The time is coming when everyone will be ruined. Buying and selling will stop,   and people who sell property will never get it back, because all of you must be punished for your sins. And I won’t change my mind!

Ezekiel 7:1-13

God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Now is the time to REPENT!

"Lord Jesus, Your heart must be heavy because of the sins of even those who call upon Your Name!  We fall before You now and choose to Repent before it is too late!  Amen."

Tell Someone Today!

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From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ . To all of God's people who belong to Christ Jesus at Philippi and to all of your church officials and officers.  I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!  Every time I think of you, I thank my God.  And whenever I mention you in my prayers, it makes me happy.  This is because you have taken part with me in spreading the good news from the first day you heard about it.

Philippians 1: 1 - 5

How long should you be a believer before you start telling other people about Jesus? Well, according to these verses the believers in Philippi began to share the Gospel on the very day they heard it themselves!  

The Good News is not a complicated set of doctrines.  It is simply this: Jesus died on the Cross as the penalty for your sins and your part of the process is to believe it and receive it!

Of course, you can spend a lifetime learning more and more about the truth of God and His amazing attributes.  But the saving message of Jesus Christ can be stated in a few words and believed in a moment as you begin a life of obedience to every desire of God!

In fact, the spread of the News about Jesus is most rapid when ordinary people come to faith and then share it with others!  When "missionary work" is confined to a few well trained professionals the growth is usually very slow, if at all!

Every person you encounter during this day is an opportunity either to fellowship in the fact that you both are believers in Jesus, or share with them the Good News of what Jesus did on the Cross!  

"Lord Jesus, help me today to be bold and not afraid to tell others about Your wonderful love for all mankind!  Praise Your Holy Name, Now and Forever.  Amen."

Free to Choose!

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Slaves, you must obey your earthly masters. Show them great respect and be as loyal to them as you are to Christ.   Try to please them at all times, and not just when you think they are watching. You are slaves of Christ, so with your whole heart you must do what God wants you to do.   Gladly serve your masters, as though they were the Lord himself, and not simply people.   You know that you will be rewarded for any good things you do, whether you are slaves or free.   Slave owners, you must treat your slaves with this same respect. Don't threaten them. They have the same Master in heaven that you do, and he doesn't have any favorites.   Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong.

Ephesians 6: 5 - 10

Comparing your life as a follower of Jesus to the life of a slave may be difficult to accept in today's world.  We are taught today that all slavery is evil and should be banished from the earth!  And today  no one would expect a slave to be loyal to his master and gladly serve him!  

I believe that these verses are not telling us that slavery on this earth is a good thing, but rather they are using slavery to explain the depth of the relationship that Jesus has with men and women.  Slaves are usually purchased on the auction block, and Jesus purchased you and me with His own blood!

Slaves are free to do everything their master wants them to do, and we are free to do everything Jesus desires!  Jesus not only gives us the freedom to do His will, but He also empowers us to be able to accomplish it!

Here is the difference between an earthly slave master and Jesus.  Jesus loves me and tells me so!  Jesus wants much more than my simple obedience to His will.  Jesus wants me to love Him!  When that happens I discover that I am a slave to the One who loves me most and even died for me!  

The truth is simply this: You will either be a slave to your own passions and desires, and yes Satan himself and die, or you will be a slave to Jesus and live!  You are free to choose whose slave you will be!

"Lord Jesus, I choose to let You be my Lord and Master!  Take my life and let it be fully controlled by Your love for me.  Praise Your Holy Name now and forever.  Amen."

Let the Spirit Change You!

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Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.  We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start telling each other the truth.

Ephesians 4: 23 - 25

Some people believe that when you become a follower of Jesus, you must change your way of thinking and your way of living.  The amazing truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is this: You do not have to change your life at all!  Instead, you have to give the Spirit of God permission to make the changes that need to be made to your mind and body!  He will change you into the person God wants you to be.  All you must do is to yield yourself to Him and He will make whatever changes need to be made!

Then you can praise God for the ways that He has made you new, instead of bragging about how you have become a better person!  If God is the one who changes your life, then He is the one who deserves the Glory!  So you have no reason to be proud or brag about your new life.  You only have reason to praise God for it!  

“Thank You Jesus for changing me and making me into the person You want me to be!  Help me today to be more yielded to Your Will for every day and every hour and minute of every day!  May Your Name be praised now and forever.  Amen.”

Next Step on the Road to Somewhere!

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One day the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we meet with you is too small.  Why don’t we build a new meeting place near the Jordan River? Each of us could get some wood, then we could build it.”  “That’s a good idea,” Elisha replied,”get started.” “Aren’t you going with us?” one of the prophets asked. “Yes, I’ll go,” Elisha answered, and he left with them. They went to the Jordan River and began chopping down trees.  While one of the prophets was working, his ax head fell off and dropped into the water. “Oh!” he shouted. “Sir, I borrowed this ax.”  “Where did it fall in?” Elisha asked. The prophet pointed to the place, and Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. The ax head floated to the top of the water.  “Now get it,” Elisha told him. And the prophet reached in and grabbed it.

2 Kings 6:1-7

This is a story about the power of God reaching out to a man with a simple, and some would say unimportant problem in his life.  He borrowed an ax to work on a new meeting place for the prophets, and the head of the ax flew off, into the water while the man was chopping down a tree next to the Jordan River.  Then God caused the ax head to float so he could get it back!

I know a man who would quite regularly declare that we should not bother God by praying about "small things."  His way of thinking was that we should take care of little problems and only pray about the big issues in life!

The problem with his view of things is this: No one knows how important a small decision or issue might be.  On the day a young man meets for the first time the woman who will be his wife, there are probably a number of small decisions that put him in the right place at the right time to be introduced to his future marriage partner!  

When the ax head came off in the story from 2 Kings 6, the man had no idea that what was happening would be the basis of a story to be read until the end of time in the Bible!

Every time you put one foot in front of the other, you are taking the next step on the road to somewhere!  If the somewhere of your road is a place God is calling you to be, then know that you cannot get there without taking the next small step on the road!

"Lord Jesus, I want to know where You are taking my life, but more importantly I need You to show me the next step I should take on the way.   Praise Your Holy Name now and forever! Amen."