Let me take you through a fictional Tuesday. It’s one that I have thought about many times and one that fills me with both joyous anticipation and acknowledged fear. To the best of your ability, see yourself in this fictional Tuesday.
It starts off like any other Tuesday. I get up at 4:15 a.m. (Insert your own wake-up time here as you travel through this day with me). I start my coffee and say my prayer, asking for the blessings and assistance for the day, and praising God for who He is. I set up my Bible reading for the day and finish the last 10 chapters of Genesis and then I read 1 Corinthians 9 and make the comments I will post online. I then open the podcast I listen to in order to hear the next thoughts on Matthew 7.
Now it’s time to wake up the 3 kids and get them ready for school. While they are rousing, I sit down with my journal and plan out my day. I have a tough conversation scheduled with my boss that needs to be done, and both older sons have competing sporting events after school. A quick check-in with my wife paves the way to make sure we have everything covered.
I make plans to finish the PowerPoint for my Bible class for next Sunday and remind myself that I owe a friend a response to a text he sent yesterday. I add it to the list of things to do. It’s 7:05 a.m. and I take the youngest to Kindergarten. My wife had left a few minutes earlier to take one twin to baseball practice. I return at 7:30 to wake up the other twin before jumping in the shower. While showering, I think through our weekend schedule to find out when would be the best time for us to have someone over to the house. I’m not sure how we are going to swing it with this schedule, but I know it’s important.
After getting ready, and jumping in the car with twin #2, we head toward tennis practice at the high school. I have another podcast queued up, but I take this time to connect with my son. I’m half-successful, but I’ve been making progress over time. In 15 minutes, I drop him off and head back home, steeling myself for the meeting with my boss. My mind is racing in a million different directions as I get closer to home.
Then I hear it.
It’s the sounds of trumpets playing loudly. Everyone else hears it too. People are stopping their cars and running out of buildings and houses to see what is causing this sound. I pull to the side of the road along with everyone else who is driving. I feel an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I am sure what this is. I thought I’d be ready for it with happy anticipation, but now that it is happening, I feel the strength drain from me as I realize that my eternity is set.
My eyes gaze upward, knowing what to expect. And sure enough, the clouds begin to part. The Archangel announces in a voice that I know is heard throughout all of creation that the Lord Jesus has returned. And sure enough, joined with a throng of angels and the saints who have died before, He is here.
He is here.
Time is over. The plans I worried about just a few short moments ago seem so futile. I will never make the meeting with my boss or see my sons play another game again. My wife and I will never invite another person into our home. I sit still, letting it all play out. People around me react differently from each other. Some pray. Some run. Some cry. Many start taking videos on their phones.
I wonder where my wife is right now? Where are my kids? Are they scared? I wish I was with them. But I am not. As a thief in the night, the Lord returned at His opportune time. This is simply where I was when it happened. Then I notice that the saints who were brought back descend all over the earth and sea, I know they revisit their graves and watch as the dead are resurrected having their old bodies transformed into an eternal, spiritual body. I watch as they rise to return with the Lord.
I know what is next. Those of us who are living in the grace of the Lord will have our bodies changed in the twinkling of an eye and we will rise to meet Him in the sky. This is what I have been living for. This is what I have been waiting for. But the anxiety in me grows more and more pronounced. What will happen next?
The time is 8:47am, Tuesday, October 19th. I knew this day would come, but I didn’t know it would be today. I wait to see if I will be transformed and rise or if I will watch the living saints rise to meet Jesus without me.
Our fictitious day comes to an end. I have hope that if I witness these promised events, I will be ready for the Lord when He returns. What about you? Will you be ready to rise and meet Him in the sky? On that day, nothing you planned to do earlier that morning will mean a whole lot, will it?
I implore you, be ready. If you have not done so already, call upon the name of the Lord, having your sins washed away through baptism as He has commanded. If you are His child, continue living in His grace. Do not walk away from Him. Nothing is worth being unprepared on the great day of the Lord. Remember Paul's words...
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, 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 fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ESV).
I told myself I would never do this when I joined Facebook...
But I am about to get political...
And I may lose a few friends over this, but here goes....
Jesus Is King Of All And There Is No Way But His Way!
“and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5 ESV).
In Matthew 15, Jesus feeds the multitude. We marvel at the miracle, at how Jesus can do all things. And well we should because these miracles testify to who He is.
But in marveling at the sign, perhaps we miss one thing that should speak volumes to us, and convict us as we consider our commitment to Him. Yes, Jesus has compassion on the crowd, but why?
It is because the people were with him for 3 days, hungry to hear him speak the words of the Kingdom. They didn't break for dinner. They didn't rest when they grew weary. They couldn't break themselves away from hearing the Words of life spoken to them. That's what I find amazing.
And then I look inward, and I am often ashamed at what I see in comparison. How many times do I look at my watch when someone is preaching the message of the Kingdom on Sunday when it gets a little too close to lunch time? How many times do I feel restless when a Gospel meeting speaker spends too much time cutting into my evening plans?
I have a lot of introspection to do as I consider the value I place on the message of the Kingdom. The message that can save my soul and free me of my sins. The message my God suffered and died for so that I might live.
Three days without food just to hear the Gospel message? I have a lot of cultivating in my heart to do if I am to properly value this matchless gift delivered by God.
“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” (Matthew 15:32 ESV).
So, why do I believe in Jesus as Lord, King, God and Savior? One reason is the testimony of Jude. Yeah, the one who wrote the tiny book before Revelation.
Jude, or Judas as we are first introduced to him- no, not that Judas... not the one who betrayed our Lord- this Judas was first introduced in Matthew 13 as one of Jesus' younger brothers. And it didn't seem he was too impressed with his brother, until after the resurrection. Seeing his risen brother changed everything for him.
Judas, or Jude as we better know him, went from thinking his brother was crazy to this:
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25 ESV).
One of many reasons I believe in Jesus as Lord and King is because of this testimony. A man who grew up with Jesus, argued with Him, played with Him, ate with Him, learned with Him, and slept in the same room with Him, called his Brother, Lord and Savior deserving of glory, majesty, dominion and authority now and forever.
In my daily Bible reading, I just noticed something interesting with the 7th plague- the plague of hail. This seemed to be a strategic turning point that the Lord brought about. Up until now, the land of Egypt was filled with Egyptians who did not fear God, among them, the hardened Pharaoh. But God changed this with the coming of the 7th plague.
In this plague, Moses tells the Egyptians exactly what is going to happen and gives each Egyptian the chance to avoid the devastation that is about to come. Notice the grace and warning Moses extends to his enemy:
“Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”'“ (Exodus 9:19 ESV).
Apparently, the previous 6 plagues had an effect on many of the Egyptians; not all, but many. And those who heeded Moses’ warning were spared and given grace from God. Those who despised the word of God were given judgement through the plague:
“Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.” (Exodus 9:20-21 ESV).
This is the turning point for the Egyptians. After the 7th plague, the people who did not fear the Lord were killed. Those who were left had a healthy respect for the God of Moses. All but Pharaoh. That explains why the people become more vocal to Pharaoh to heed Moses as the remaining plagues come (Exodus 10:7) and why the people were eager to give the Israelites gold, silver and clothing when asked (Exodus 12:35-36).
The 7th plague stands as a wonderful example, not only of God’s might and power, but of His wisdom and providence. The 7th plague is a reminder that God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and how we can always put our full trust in Him because He knows exactly what to do in every situation.
Here is another interesting passage that I came across in my daily Bible reading today. This time taken from Exodus 23:
“I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.” (Exodus 23:29-30 ESV).
Moses is setting expectations for the Israelites on how God is going to give the promised land to them as a possession. Rather than drive the inhabitants out all at once, He would do it at the moment they became ready to take possession of it. Otherwise, the land would remain desolate and become overgrown with wild beasts and become an even more dangerous place for them.
How many times do we want God to answer our prayers NOW, but He in His wisdom waits until the perfect time and perfect manner to give us what we need? Can we appreciate that the same love, care and providence that He extended to the Israelites as a loving God and Father is the same love, care and providence that He extends to us today?
Sometimes God waits to give us what we need until we are ready to receive it.