Banquet With The King: Are You Ready?

Prayer – Lord, ready, set, go! What can I do to get ready for Your return? Open my eyes and ears to opportunities that will help me, my family, friends, and neighbors be ready!

"Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected." Luke 12:35-40 (Underlined for emphasis.)re

Meditate about being ready.

Looking towards the Temple Mount
from the Mount of Olives.
Jerusalem, Israel.

Are you ready? Ready for what, you might ask? Ready for Christ’s return. There is a lot that will happen before His Second Coming. The Book of Revelation indicates that there will be wars and rumors of wars as well as other signs.

Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, "Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?" Jesus told them, "Don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah.' They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” Matthew 24:3-8

Birth pains. Those are described again in Revelation, indication travail in the end times.

Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth. Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born. She gave birth to a son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days. Revelation 12:1-6

Revelation is scary for some people—but there is a promise at the beginning of the book. As you read and study Revelation, ask God to give you wisdom and understanding. He wrote that message so that we could be prepared for what lies ahead—so that we would have a clue as to what He has planned and what will happen in the future.

God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near. Revelation 1:3

There is no need of fear—because perfect love casts out fear.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 1 John 4:13-18 (Underlined for emphasis,)

Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you." So we can say with confidence, "The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6 (Underlined for emphasis.)

One thing to do to be ready is to realize you don’t have to be afraid. God has a plan and that includes taking care of those who love Him. This passage today repeats that those who are ready will be rewarded.

There’s a choice to be made. Choose God and His promises or choose fear. Don’t be misled.

Verse of Salvation ~ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance--an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 1 Peter 1:3-5

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

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Banquet With The King

Monday, August 19, 2024

Are You Ready?

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