For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (KJV)
Today I went to a funeral for a man who two weeks ago was enjoying a cruise to Alaska. As he returned from his trip, he became ill and ultimately went home to be with the Lord. Also two weeks ago, today, we, as most of you may know, enjoyed a marriage feast for my son, Paul. As it happen ed Paul was married on August 15th, an already important day in our family. Paul’s grandfather Wills who passed away in 1994 was born on that date and it was also the birth date for his great grandmother Schultz who passed away in 1959.
You may be wondering how all of this is related. The man whose funeral we attended today and Paul’s grandfather and great grandmother were all Christians. I was thinking about the joy at Paul’s marriage and also about the joy we will experience when Christ comes to get his bride, the church. Our verses for this week talk about this coming marriage of Christ and how he will come to get all of us who are Christians and have been born again. This means those that are “dead in Christ” – those who have died physically, will rise from their graves to meet the Lord in the air and then those Christians who are still alive will also be caught up into the air to meet our Lord. =2 0We –all Christians – are Christ’s bride and one day he will come back to get all of us, whether we are dead or alive.
We had a great time at my son’s wedding, but the wedding of Christ and his bride will be even greater. The only point yet to make is this; those mentioned above who have died were ready spiritually to be taken from this earth. Some were taken very unexpectedly and quickly. None of us who remain know how much longer we will live this earthly life. Perhaps we will live to be one hundred; perhaps we will die tonight in our sleep.
We must be ready to leave this life at any time. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Have you experienced His forgiveness? Are you looking forward to Christ’s return to receive His bride? I hope you can answer “yes” to each of these questions. You are invited to the marriage feast in Heaven. Don’t miss the celebration!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
I Peter 2:21
For even here unto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (KJV)
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (NIV)
Have you ever seen a chameleon in action? I’ve never actually seen one change its color to match its surroundings right before my ey es, but I am reminded of them every time I see my granddaughter copy whatever her older brother does – and that’s been quite often lately. But then I also saw a young teenager do almost the same thing when she attempted to copy the actions of an older, more popular teen. Come to think of it, we adults often do it too. We copy what other more respected or popular people do, so we can fit in with the socially accepted crowd. We are being human chameleons!
Our verse for this week seems to indicate to me that being a human chameleon might be acceptable to God. That is, of course, if we follow or copy the right person. Our verse tells us to follow the example of Christ.
Several years ago now, there was a popular slogan with the Christian crowd. It was: "What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD) The slogan asked you to question your actions by first asking yourself what Jesus would do if he were in the same situation as you. Even prior to the popularity of that slogan, there was a book by Charles Sheldon entitled, In His Steps, that was very popular as well. The book gave examples of people trying to do things that Jesus had done. Both this book and the popular slogan encourage us to copy Jesus. He is our best example. We should be chameleons of Him.
I don’t think I can do much about the copying my granddaughter does of her brother, or even much about what teens or adults copy of another’s behavior. But I can work on my own life and ask God to help me be more like Jesus. How about you? Are you a chameleon? Whose example do you follow?
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (NIV)
Have you ever seen a chameleon in action? I’ve never actually seen one change its color to match its surroundings right before my ey es, but I am reminded of them every time I see my granddaughter copy whatever her older brother does – and that’s been quite often lately. But then I also saw a young teenager do almost the same thing when she attempted to copy the actions of an older, more popular teen. Come to think of it, we adults often do it too. We copy what other more respected or popular people do, so we can fit in with the socially accepted crowd. We are being human chameleons!
Our verse for this week seems to indicate to me that being a human chameleon might be acceptable to God. That is, of course, if we follow or copy the right person. Our verse tells us to follow the example of Christ.
Several years ago now, there was a popular slogan with the Christian crowd. It was: "What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD) The slogan asked you to question your actions by first asking yourself what Jesus would do if he were in the same situation as you. Even prior to the popularity of that slogan, there was a book by Charles Sheldon entitled, In His Steps, that was very popular as well. The book gave examples of people trying to do things that Jesus had done. Both this book and the popular slogan encourage us to copy Jesus. He is our best example. We should be chameleons of Him.
I don’t think I can do much about the copying my granddaughter does of her brother, or even much about what teens or adults copy of another’s behavior. But I can work on my own life and ask God to help me be more like Jesus. How about you? Are you a chameleon? Whose example do you follow?
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