I Thessalonians 4:16-18
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Truly a strange thought....
That we are to comfort one another with the truth of Jesus' return. Why is it strange? Because you don't hear much about it any more. Oh, the bookshelves are stocked with the latest prophetic word-of-the-moment about Armageddon and blood moons. I'm not down playing down such nor am I casting it aside. But should we not be more focused on Christ? Should we not be living with one eye here and one eye on the heaven's?
I'm not a theologian, in the academic sense, but I do study the Word of God.
I think we should hold close in our hearts the idea that today may be our last day on planet earth. Whether Christ comes back to take us, or we simply die, we should be about the business of loving one another. We should be about His business of telling our story. We should be about our Father's business of taking care of the widow and the orphan. In fact, if it's my turn to go, I want to leave this old world with Jesus in my heart and a praise song on my lips.
I love the fact that Paul said we were to comfort one another with the idea that Jesus will return. To not allow the things of this world to rob us of our hope,but take comfort that every thing is temporary. That no matter what happens to us on this side of heaven, God's plan will not be thwarted or stopped. He is coming back. Sometimes I believe that we spend more time, effort and money trying to bring heaven to earth (comfort and pleasure) than we do anything else. I do believe that some well-meaning people have created such a life that they don't really want heaven. Not me. I'm kind of like ol' Paul in that manner. This world has died to me and I have died to this world.
Part of me hopes that I am alive when Jesus returns. I want to be part of that "Taking away". I want to meet Him in the clouds. I have tried to visualize it in my mind, but I don't believe I can do it justice. But the fact is, every time I began to think about leaving to be with Jesus, my heart grows very heavy and sad. Why? Because I began to see the faces of people who I know don't know my Jesus. Faces of people who truly would be left behind. I do not want that to happen. So I'll keep on sharing Jesus. I'll tell my story, and I will continue to love folk's into the kingdom.
Are we almost out of time? I don't know. I know that I am seeing spiritual darkness on a level I've never seen in my life time. Are we in the last days? To coin a phrase my mentor, John Wimber, used..."I don't know if we're in the last days or not. But I do know we are laster than we've ever been."
George Creel, who was pastor of Central United Methodist, use to say that "It's time we quit looking for signs, and start listening for sounds."
Maranatha, Lord Jesus!
Come quickly!
God on you...
mb
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