Are we really ready for the return of Christ? The Lord has laid it on my heart to ask myself some question based off of these two scriptures and one quick passage from the bible. Matthew 13:16 “but blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.”; John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” and Luke 21:27 “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” I immediately began to realize just why he was asking me to ask myself this question. They all pertain to having a right relationship with him. Today, so many are ready to see our Lord’s return but are they truly ready? We may not know the day or the time that Jesus will return, but the word gives us many signs to help keep us on our toes to be prepared at all times. Matthew24:36 “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Here is another scripture that expresses that it’s our responsibility. Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” Don’t misunderstand me, salvation is the key factor to getting into heaven. The problem is today we see so many who have confessed Jesus as Lord of their life, but yet they don’t want to really talk about it let alone show true actions by walking in the light of our Lord. They may try to wear items like shirts, caps, and jewelry to clam they are Christians or even buy paintings, cups, and other novelties to show it, but yet when you begin to know them you really wonder. Well, that’s really between God and them. It’s not our duty to pour out all their faults in them and bring condemnation or rejection upon them. We are not to be judging one another in that capacity any ways. Matthew 7:1-2 tells us so “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” This is the very reason God asked me if I was ready for his return. This is not the place or time to worry about someone else at the moment. This is a question about examining ourselves right now. Then he began to show me some things out of those scriptures and what it means to have that deeper relationship with him. Matthew 13:16 is talking about those who see and hear the word of God. Now, what way can we see the word without looking at pictures, wearing clothes, or on any other novelties? The answer is by opening the bible and reading what it has to say to us. Don’t misunderstand me, having possessions like that is nice to have. They may even have moved us spiritually, but at a certain point they are just really great reminders. We have to get more into the word to find our blessing that we’re to have. For me, every time I see or hear someone saying this scripture Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and thou shalt have good success.” it automatically wants me to get into the word of God. That’s right, I want to open that bible up and look for anything that will teach me how to stop the attacks or curses from coming into my life that are in my way from receive my blessings. Reminders are great, but if we don’t take time out and let that word minister to us we may not get all that we need. We even do this in our lives with things that don’t pertain to the word of God. Someone can tell us be careful who we hang out with. Why did they give us that warning to begin with? There is obviously something we are missing. Then we have this tendency to say well I don’t see anything wrong with it. Why? Because we haven’t seen the down fall of it just yet. Are you catching on? See, if we don’t open up the bible to gain some understanding we won’t know the downfall until it’s too late, which causes us to miss our blessings. I know this personally, very well, because I have been down that road myself too many times. This also pertains to hearing the word. Are we hearing what we are supposed to be hearing or are we leaning totally on someone else’s ideas. We have to be careful of this because some will say this is the way it’s been and that’s the way it will always be. Some even like placing scriptures in places where they shouldn’t be placed at because it helps them line it up with their flesh instead of their spiritual man that’s within them and will want others to agree with it. Let me remind ourselves and yes, I am including myself with this verse Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” I’ve pointed out this scripture for two reasons. One, we do really need to watch what we are hearing and whom we’re hearing it from. Two, we can’t keep claiming everybody that makes a mistake is a wolf in sheep clothing either. See, if we don’t read the word of God enough we won’t know that what we’re hearing is true or false. We must remember what was just pointed out there is some that maybe using a scripture to entertain the flesh. The truth is with a lack of knowledge in the real truth we may just end up falling for that scripture as truth as well. Then again we will miss out on our blessings over this false blessing that has entertained us. Yes, it’ll catch up and have a great downfall and we’ll wonder what just happened. The next verse is why seeing and hearing is so important and it will be about hearing more than seeing but they do work hand in hand. The next verse or should say short passage the lord pointed out to me was John 10:27-28 which tells me if I am really working my relationship with him I’ll know that it’s him speaking to me. This is very important to understand. We don’t need to be tossed to and fro from every word of doctrine but to cling to the truth of the word. Remember what we said from Matthew 7:15. If, we don’t watch it and don’t get into his word and study it we will be a victim of this and really be fooled by that wolf in sheep clothing. Again this doesn’t mean that everyone who makes a mistake is a wolf in sheep clothing. The problem is that when we follow this scripture too much. We take on the mindset they messed up and now we begin to wonder if we’re truly hearing our Lord’s voice clearly. We can’t forget what John 10:10 tells us “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” What we need to realize is that if we start claiming that everyone is a wolf due to the fact we haven’t read and seen the truth in the word to begin with then how do we even know that what we’re hearing is the truth, let alone start claiming that person is a wolf. What we’re really doing at this point is helping the enemy to rob people from getting the real blessings not to mention our own. The reality of this is that it’s up to us to read the word and begin to hear what the spirit of the Lord is trying to tell us. Now, there will be a great number of times we may not understand something or have read something out of the word of God and wonder if we heard from the Lord correctly and may need some help from other people. I was no exception to the rule. I had to learn that I couldn’t make out everyone that had a fault was a wolf in sheep clothing because he did give us the five-fold ministry to obtain some help in this area. Ephesians 4:11 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Now where does this come into play with “Are We Ready for the Return?” is at? It’s the final verse Luke 21:27. The Lord told me “You can’t see me coming if you can’t see me in the word or hear it from those whom I have sent to you to get you prepared for my return.” This told me I might just miss the Lord’s return myself if I just fall on the bases of seeing simple reminders of certain passages on things and not have a deep understanding of it. I can’t know the signs of his return if I don’t read it for myself let alone to hear it from someone and know whether it is something of truth. I just can’t be fooled by what I hear either, because if I do someone may be leading me a stray and then I will miss catching the real signs due to the false things I’ve heard. I don’t know about you but I want to be up to date on what is true and what isn’t and the only way I will know is by following Joshua 1:8 as I mentioned earlier. This will really does help me get into that deeper relationship with him. Because I want to be ready for when Jesus does come for us just as Luke 21:27 tells us “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” This means I can’t be double minded and fool myself by placing everyone who makes a mistake as a false prophet either. I tell you this because when that day comes for our Lord’s return, I really don’t want you to miss it either. We have to understand it’s our responsibility to open the bible and read it for ourselves.
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Jason HolstineMy heart's desire is to see that you walk in the purity of God's word and to strengthen it into your life, so that you're able to see all of God's promises blessing you richly as you advance in his word. CategoriesArchives
April 2024
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