In the book They Thought They Had More
Time by David Jones, Jones describes visions that the Lord has given him
about this Day of the Lord. It was portrayed as a scary time—even for
Christians. There are 19 exact matches to the Day of the Lord in the New Living
Translation, and 21 in the New American Standard Bible. So what is “The Day of
the Lord” you might ask? It is the end of time…the day that the Lord Jesus Christ
returns to the earth to take His believers to Heaven. Here are a couple of
scriptures that refer to that day.
·
Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all
the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; surely
it is near…. Joel 2:1
·
For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come
just like a thief in the night. 1 Thessalonians 5:2
Jesus Himself tells His disciples to “be
ready” ….For this reason you also must be
ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Matthew
24:44. Read all of Matthew 24 to get the big picture of Jesus’ discussion with
His disciples after they asked Him about the sign of His coming and the end of
the age. They were expecting Him to return during their lifetime. I’ve felt for
years that He would return in my lifetime…but only God the Father knows when He
will send Jesus back for His bride…the church. In the meantime the Holy Spirit
gives us promptings to be ready…to get ready. And what do we need to do to be
ready or get ready? Focus on the Lord. Are you right with Him? In His sermon on
the mount Jesus talked about right relationships with others, namely a brother,
which could be a sibling or a brother in the Lord. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there
remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there
before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and
present your offering. Matthew 5:23-24. So if we are doing what is right…as
Jesus taught about the faithful slave in Matthew 24…and we have our
relationships in order, then when He returns we shouldn’t be afraid…but we
should be excited, like the bride when her bridegroom arrives to take her to
their wedding with all their friends, as described in the story of the ten virgins,
Matthew 25. Again…we don’t know the hour or the day that the bridegroom (Jesus)
will arrive. Be on the alert then, for
you do not know the day nor the hour. Matthew 25:13. One thing we do want
to do is to be obedient to Jesus command to…Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20. What are you
doing to get ready…to be ready?
Prayer
~ Holy Spirit, not only nudge my heart to remind me daily to “be ready” but
show me specifically what I can do to prepare myself and help others to get
ready, too.
© 2015 by Mickey
M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise
noted.
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