Hi how are you today? I am well and have had a good weekend. Last Friday we remembered those who fought for our country so we could retain our freedom. It is a great thing to remember especially family members that laid down their lives for our country.
As great as this was, I couldn’t help but also remember Jesus Who laid down His life for the world. For His sacrifice to be effective, I not only have to remember but also believe that He is the Son of God.
In this blog, I want to again remind us to think about the statement “what do you see”.
Are we believing still that God is in control and are we looking forward to His coming, or are we seeing doom all around us?
Jesus knew this day would come and so did the apostle Paul when he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 to 17 in the Message Bible, the following words:
15-18 And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.
We need to reassure or encourage each other that Jesus is returning and this is what we should be seeing.
But, you may say, Christians have been saying that for a long time. So why should we? Because it gives us one thing that keeps us going through hard times- hope.
In John 16: 31 to 33 in the Message Bible, it states:
31-33 Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”
These verses tell us how to have hope or in other words what to see with our spiritual eyes. Jesus tells us that because the world is godless, there will be difficulties. We will struggle at times with hard things and because we live in this world, difficult things will touch our lives. But look at what Jesus says just before this verse. It is like He gives us the way through before He tells us about the way.
This is the list of what He told us to see:
- Keep our eyes on Him- just trust Jesus- that’s our foundation and what we need to build on.
- Be unshakeable- when the world is shaking around us, place our feet and stand regardless. Our position in this world is not one of bowing down but of standing tall.
- Be assured- have a steadfast belief that Jesus is with us no matter what happens.
- Be deeply at peace – don’t be anxious or afraid. If we are, then we need to see if we are doing the previous three things or have somehow slipped in either our trust in God, our position in God or in our belief of Who God is. I need to remind myself of this often.
So this week, let’s take a stocktake of what we are seeing. If you are seeing things that take us away from God and His goodness, then let’s get back on track. Make sure you are reading the Bible and talking to God daily. This helps us keep in step with Him.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
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