Sooooooo.... usually I talk to you guys about stuff like how to make it through tough times, encouraging, funny stories from my life experiences, and as of yesterday, monkey poop.
But today I have something very serious on my mind and because I love you, my blog family, I just had to share it with you.
One day soon, Jesus is going to come back to earth, in the flesh, to take all of us who love Him to heaven. Not in a figurative sense, not in a "after we die" kind of way, but in a very literal, very real, very soon kind of way. In fact Jesus tells us in Matthew 24
Then, the Arrival of the Son of Man! It will fill the skies—no one will miss it. Unready people all over the world, outsiders to the splendor and power, will raise a huge lament as they watch the Son of Man blazing out of heaven. At that same moment, he’ll dispatch his angels with a trumpet-blast summons, pulling in God’s chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole...
Also, and here is a nice surprise for all of us who have loved ones in heaven already: every person that loved Jesus and has died will be coming back with Him to get us:
"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever." - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (NRSV)
You may be thinking, 'Rachel, why are you bringing this up? This is freaking me out!'
Well, it should! Often as Christians we forget that there is a heaven that we should be longing for and a hell that we should be running from. In our church culture today, we can find many churches and pastors that preach on prosperity, self-confidence, encouraging us to be better people... but it is becoming more and more rare that we hear the message of the importance of being prepared for Christ's return and the very real possibility of being left behind or going to hell if we are not prepared for His return.
There will be people who think that they are good people, maybe even call themselves Christians, that will be left behind. Jesus tells us more about this as we look deeper into Matthew 24:
The Son of Man’s Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.
This tells us that those left behind were the ones not prepared for Jesus' return. No true followers of Christ will be left - if you truly love Jesus and have a relationship with Him, there is nothing to fear. This will be the happiest day of our lives! We will be re-united with our loved ones that have died, we will see our awesome, precious Savior face to face, we will touch Him and talk with Him, we will be one big happy family!
But this is also sobering - and that is a good thing. So, should we live in constant fear of missing the return of Christ? No, but we should always be awake and alert, making sure that our hearts and minds are in right standing with Our Savior.
How Can I Know That I Won't Be Left Behind?
1. Allow the Holy Spirit to Convict You of Sin
Another false teaching of our culture today is that if something makes us feel bad, then that thing is bad and we shouldn't be made to feel bad... that is not true. The Holy Spirit is constantly speaking to us, warning us of the consequences of our sin... and sometimes, that makes us feel bad - or a better word for it is "convicted." Convicted means found guilty of an offense or crime. So, the Holy Spirit lets us know when we have sinned, helping us to know how to have a right relationship with Jesus.
2. Ask Jesus Often to Forgive You of Sin
It's amazing how many people believe that God doesn't care about our sins, that we can sin all we want and God will automatically forgive us, even if we are not sorry about it and even if we are consciously making the decision to stay in our sins. The Bible tells us many things that convince us that our sins will keep us from having a right relationship with Christ and that we must ask the Lord to forgive us of our sins on an ongoing basis, but here are three examples:
Romans 6:22-23 - "But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Psalm 51:17 - "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise."
1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
These verses tell us that sin in our lives does indeed mean death - aka, not in right relationship with God - but that if we bow our hearts and allow ourselves to recognize our sin and we come to Him broken and contrite, admitting our sin, He will not only forgive us, but He will wipe our slates clean, making us completely pure and righteous.
3. Run Away from Sin and Run Toward Christ Every Day
A moving body of water is alive, a sitting pool of water is stagnant and dead - and both types of water will be filled with something. Moving water is clear and refreshing, filled with living fish, frogs, oxygen, plantlife. Stagnant water is dark and murky, filled with slimy, gooey, nasty bacteria and decomposition, suffocating anything that happens to fall into it. The same can be said of our minds and hearts - we must always we moving towards Jesus, striving to be more like Him and the more we do that, the more alive we and those around us will be. But if we say a prayer and ask Jesus to come into our heart, then sit in our sins, continue in the same habits and choices and relationships as before we came to Christ, we will become darker and more lost than before we knew about Jesus.
4. Tell Everyone You Know About Jesus
This is so important - if the boat you were on was sinking and you knew where to find all the life jackets, wouldn't you tell everyone where they were? Look around you today - most of the people you see are sinking and they don't know it... the Holy Spirit is dealing with their hearts, but they need someone to reach out to them, love them, and tell them about the Life Jacket: Jesus.
So, there is no need to fear Jesus' return, but there is reason to be sober, alert, and prepared. I don't want to miss the greatest party in the universe! I want a VIP, backstage pass! - and that's exactly what Jesus offers us! When Jesus returns, I want to see you there - hugging the loved ones that you miss so much, standing with me as we worship Him, walk and talk with Him, eat together and meet all of the great, epic heroes from the Bible - David, Moses, Peter, Paul, and more. It's going to be the best day ever, when Jesus takes us home.
0 comments:
Post a Comment