AM I READY FOR THE RETURN OF CHRIST? YES!!!, AND NO...

As a Christian, for decades I have been hearing about the pending return of Christ. At least twice in my lifetime, that coming again has been forecast, and both times obviously was incorrect. When those times approached, I felt pretty sure those forecasts were misguided in nature, but still I pondered the "what-if" scenario; was I ready or not if by chance they were correct. Though the Bible says that not even Jesus knows when the Father will send Him back to bring His Church home to Heaven, still hearing these people so certain of that time made me both curious and cautious in saying whether or not these prophets of the pending return of Christ were wise, crazy, fanatics, or just publicity seekers.   In the end, I told myself that I was ready, and actually prayed that the forecasters would be correct.

But now, as I think about that, I question the wisdom of that prayer. Not from a selfish standpoint, however, but because of the state of many of my countrymen and actual friends and loved ones that I now know were not then, and are not now ready for that coming event.  I feel like I have failed to be the best I could be for Christ, and I am ashamed and disappointed in that failure.  I am one of the millions of Christians who took the "let someone else..." or "I am not goid enough to..." position, and will regret that probably forever as I do now.  My friends, acquaintants and loved ones have been deceived by Satan and this evil world, and had Christ come then, I am certain would have been condemned to hell for all eternity.

I guess the reality of that has hit home because I personally have friends and loved ones that I know do not believe that Christ is the only way to Heaven, that the Bible was written not by prophets and the disciples of Christ, but by men simply trying to improve their position in history, or that the translations are in error, or that a loving God would not condemn a "good person" to hell. And I am not ready to accept their fate yet; I am still praying that God will be merciful and open their eyes to see the truth. And I am convinced that Jesus IS the only way to Heaven, that one can never be "good" enough to earn one's way to heaven, and that the Bible IS God's words and instructions to us and is truth!

I say that NOT from pride, but because of evidence that God has shown through others, through the inspiration of His word, and through God's own speaking to me on two different occasions clearly. I cannot deny God's truth, His existence, His sovereignty, and His love because I have experienced it first hand, and have seen too many instances where He has revealed Himself to the world in undeniable ways.

So God, personally, I will say that I long to see Jesus come and save this world, and should You choose to call me home, I am ready and long to lay any jewels in my crown at your feet and thank You for your sacrifice and love for me that You would go through what Jesus did so that a miserable sinner such as I might know the redemptive love and freedom that You gave through Christ. But for the love of others, for the burning desire in my heart to not see ANYONE and especially those that I love and care for so very much suffer the indescribable misery of eternal punishment in hell separated from you, in Your infinite mercy, forgive my selfish desires .  Please let me stay here long enough to hopefully share my faith in ways that honor you and open the eyes of those I know and love personally, and those You love and would allow me to share my faith in a way that helps them see the loving God that I see as my sovereign God, the only God, and Jesus as my Savior and Messiah. This is my prayer. AMEN

Why Jesus Had to Die!

 

Why did God send Jesus Christ to earth to become the Messiah; to take on the burden of being the  bearer of every sin committed by every person that will ever live from the time of His resurrection until the final judgement?  Theologians and Biblical scholars can give great, in-depth explanations about how and why it had to be that way, but it really boiled down to a very simple reality:  there was no other way for man to be reconciled to a Holy God.

FACT 1:  Sinful man cannot abide with a Holy and righteous God.
FACT 2:  Since the fall of man (and woman) in the Garden of Eden, man has been sentenced to live in a sinful world, and to have a sinful nature.
FACT 3:  GOD gave man laws to live by through Moses, but mankind failed to live by those laws over and over, proving that we were incapable of being holy and living a sinless life.  No amount of animal sacrifices were enough to keep man free from the guilt of sin against God.
FACT 4:  Left to ourselves, man is going to sin against God, causing separation from God, and is incapable of obeying God's law and living a holy, righteous, and sinless life.

When we think about God creating us, we can understand why God followed the path He did in redeeming us.  SATAN will use every means available to attack, including trying to destroy our children, grandchildren, friends, family, and other loved ones.  I am also learning very painfully that Satan is the most evil, despicable entity in God's creation.  The pain that Satan causes people is indescribable and so cruel and, sadly, often so unnecessary if only people would understand that He is relentless in his attacks.  What is Satan's purpose in attacking us?  The answer is very simple:  To keep as many souls for himself and from following Jesus.  Satan is a fallen angel.  When the final judgement of Christ comes, Satan and all his demons, and every soul that has refused to accept Christ as their personal Savior, unfortunately, will be condemned to eternity in hell with Satan and separated from God. 

Satan wants to keep people from focusing on worshiping God, on giving God control of their lives, from accepting Jesus and on rejecting Satan's deceptions.  What is sad to me...so very sad...is that people are gullible and susceptible to Satan's deceptions because they/we/I are not grounded in their faith; we do not realize that we must commit to following Christ's example every hour of every day.  We must constantly be on the lookout for Satan's deceiving ways or we will be swept away by the world and out of God's leadership if we give Satan even a toehold in our minds and hearts.  Think it cannot happen to you?  Do not be foolish!  Think about what the Israelites saw when Moses went before Pharaoh to free them.  They saw God turn the waters of the Nile to blood, God strike the Egyptians with plagues of locusts and frogs, and the Passover when he killed the the firstborn of every Egyptian, including Pharaoh’s.  Yet, when they were camped on the banks of the Red Sea and saw Pharaoh’s Army of chariots approaching, they crumbled in fear until Moses told them to watch and see the redemption of God and God parted the Red Sea for them to cross on dry land, the drown the Army of Pharaoh as they tried to follow.  Then, as Moses was on Mt. Sinai and receiving the Ten Commandments from God, they grew impatient and weak, and built golden idols and worshipped false God's.  God then kept them wandering in the desert for forty years until the last of the old generation died off before allowing them to enter the promise land.  

If the Israelites, having seen such miracles first hand can be deceived by Satan and his followers so easily, it is absolutely ridiculous for us to believe that in today's world of information overload, the internet, and the availability and glamorization of sin through pornography, drugs, and corruption of all that is good and decent, that someone not firmly grounded in Christianity could be easily led astray.  The truth of this is obvious and evident by the growing war against Christianity by liberals, homosexuals, politically correct fanatics, and radical Islamist.  Satan is on the attack, and is winning!

God knew that because of the sinful nature of humans, try as we might, we could not ever successfully resist Satan's deceptions and live keeping the laws of Moses and stay sinless and in a redemptive state with fellowship with God.  He gave the Israelites opportunities over and over again where they fell away from following and worshipping God, were conquered and enslaved, cried out to God for redemption and forgiveness, were redeemed, and eventually the Israelites fell away from God again and again.  God allowed prophets to announce that eventually a Messiah would come and restore the Israeli promise land and kingdom on earth. 

God knew from the beginning of time that man would need a Messiah, but man had no idea that the promised Messiah would be like Jesus!  The Jewish people expected the Messiah to be another King David, a warrior king protected and enshrined by God and the earthly kingdom  would endure forever.  But God knew that mankind needed another type of a Messiah, one that would establish an entirely different type of earthly kingdom that encompassed the entire breadth and scope of humanity.  Jesus would open God's kingdom and freedom to every human who would ask forgiveness of their sins and accept Him as God's son and the Messiah. 

Mankind had demonstrated for thousands of years that it was incapable of following the laws of God and being "good enough" to earn salvation.  God demonstrated over time that we were incapable of living by the “law”, and that only an ultimate sacrifice such as Jesus made could free man from the condemnation of our sin.  I am so thankful that God made it simple; simple to accept His mercy through Jesus; simple to accept the forgiveness of our sins through Christ; simple to receive grace and assistance through the Holy Spirit which indwells us.

Satan...in Jesus's precious name I curse you to the depths of hell.  God...you have my life; forgive my weakness, my lack of commitment, my lack of discernment, and my lack of courage.   Make me ever mindful of Satan's deception attempts.   Please give me the Godly wisdom I need to recognize Satan's attempts to destroy my witness for you and the courage to reject them and to call on You as my salvation and strength.  Thank you for Jesus, through whom I am justified and forgiven for my sins, redeemed from condemnation, sanctified to you forever, and will be glorified to you in Heaven when I close my eyes in death.