Shout With Joy…Because You Believe

Meditate. Shout and sing!

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord, himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

This meditation today should cause us to shout with joy! We will rise up and be with the Lord forever. Forever. We will rise up…if we are alive or dead when Jesus Christ returns…since we believe in Him. Not IF, but since we believe. Do you believe? If not, now is the time to decide…to choose to believe in Jesus as your Savior. What better time than during the Christmas season to yield ourselves—to give up our sinful nature…to repent, which means to turn back or turn around.

Christmas is about the first visit of Jesus to earth. He came as a man…actually a baby—but human nonetheless—to become the sacrifice for our sin. Blood has to be shed to cover up or take away sin. Remember Adam and Eve in the garden? When they disobeyed God, they sinned. God sacrificed animals to give them clothing to hide their nakedness. Bloodshed for sin. So, Jesus Christ in the same way allowed Himself to be a sacrifice, shed His blood, for our sins. Now we know that Jesus will take to Heaven those who believe in Him so that they can forever be with Him. Eventually, those believers will come back to earth with Jesus…and in the beginning of the end there will be a new heaven and a new earth on which we will all live…forever. Forever is a long time. Make sure you are with God…not against Him…as you face eternity. We will all live forever…either with God or without Him. The choice is yours…and yours alone. When we hear that shout from the archangel in Heaven, the opportunity to choose is over. Choose now while there is still time. Jesus gives us hope…and we can shout with joy.

 Prayer ~ Lord, I shout with joy! I believe in You.

Verse of Salvation ~ Come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. - Psalm 95:1

© 2021 Text, photos and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://www.blueletterbible.org

Parenting Day By Day - Daily Devotional for Building Character

Available as an e-book or paperback at Amazon.com