Matthew 24:30-31 "...The Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory ... and the angels with a loud trumpet call will gather his elect from the four winds ... will we be the south wind?
24:42 - Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
24:46 - Blessed is that servant whom his Master will find giving food at the proper time when he comes. Not the one He finds beating up himself and his servant and his family.
I asked my husband a few minutes ago, "What makes us different than a Pharisee?" People all around me live to make good moral choices every day; live to focus on the positives not the negatives; live to conquer the darkness by pulling themselves up by the bootstraps; live to ease the pain with the joys of this life...the pharasaical parade goes on and on. What makes me different?
613 commands in the Old Testament: 248 were positive ones. 365 were negative commands---one for every day of the year. Impossible, we say, to keep them. Exactly. He is Holy and I am not. Will He find me with a consuming desire for holiness more than my desire to improve my situation? Will He find me doing I Thes 4:11? "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands." Will I be awake giving food at the proper time, taking care of my own business, when He comes. LORD, would you show us this day what it means for each of us to lead a Quiet Life and not beat up on ourselves or others.
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,but the Father only.
ReplyDeleteWe don't know when He is coming, He left us with signs and wants us to be ready. We must strive to live a holy life, walking in love, being a light and an example of Christ's love to non-believers.
I pray I never again wear the robe of a Pharisee.
Annette H
We truly don't know when He is coming. How I must watch and make sure that I am found faithful when He does come for me, be it in the air or from the grave. Since I am so prone to wander, may my heart seek Him daily, hourly if need be. May I be light and salt to those around me. The signs are all around us, things are growing gloriously dark as my former pastor used to say. They are even darker since he said that years ago. However, I can "see" the bright light in the clouds that is bringing Him back one day, what a day that will be. May we all wear the robes we should wear and as Annette H. said, may I never again wear the robe of a Pharisee.
ReplyDeleteToday, on my 31st anniversary, I awoke to a sweet surprise. My husband put heart post-its all over the bed and left a trail to the bathooom where there was a big post-it collage of I love you notes! It just doesn't get any better than that! I am still smiling!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Pharisees....I can't even imagine I won't act as one, I know I most likely will, I will be on guard against it. As I follow Christ, the best part of it is, when I fail, I realize it more quickly than I did before and am more anxious to ask forgiveness, and to seek restoration in a more timely matter. The more I love Him, the more I long to please Him.
Christ has left a trail of Post-it-notes on me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I want to please Him show Him how proud I am to be His girl.
When I forget LORD, remind me to tremble in your holiness.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the Pearls on this Blog who encourage me with their amazing post to become the person you created us to be.
Jan, I am so thrilled for the refreshing love God is providing in you and Mike inspite of some of the past year family situations.
This is a Song I must Sing, Sylvia
Mary Lou, I can still hear Pastor Adrian Rogers saying, "things are growing gloriously dark with his great big smile and Southern accent. Gloriously dark seems like they cannot co-exist, yet it points to a day we cannot begin to imagine. May we all be found ready with oil in our lamps.
ReplyDeleteYour posts/comments are a place of refuge and conviction for me--it's all good. Love coming by here each day!
I've been deep in Ann Voskamp's book this evening. She is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI've read about the "weight of glory." She's writes a little about that. And it speaks to me right now in my little world. God is amazing when He reaches across from Canada and speaks the same thing to me in Georgia.
She has also put words into what I sense I am going through with my marriage. It is a time of "birthing Grace." I see it right before my eyes and I know it is His Work. I don't see the fruit yet, but I see the pathway going there.
Birthing Grace.
Isn't that a beautiful thought for our daily thanksgiving to God and to those around us. We "see" God in our days when we can thank Him. Gratitude instead of ungratefulness. Huge picture of the Israelites whining about manna. How can we see His Hand in our lives if all we do is complain?
45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?"
Faithful, wise, servant, caretaker, provider.
How can I be faithful today?
Have I asked God for wisdom?
Do I serve Him or have I cared more about Him serving me?
What has He given me responsibility for? Am I?
Who has He sent to me to feed at the perfect time?
Interesting look at who is a faithful servant when Jesus comes again. I so pray that I will be busy about my Father's business.
Today, I give thanks for Jan's 31 years of marriage! What a testimony of faithfulness and devotion, Jan. God bless.
And I give thanks for God's trust in me as He works something beautiful in my life. There is good hidden in all this pain. I believe that.
Thankful today for a bed of viola planted at Chick-fil-a's drivethru. The breeze had them dancing and they were so beautiful.