Mid-Week Message - The Dream

"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Romans 10:9  (NIV)

The night after I had taken my driver's test as a teenager, I had a dream in which I was driving down the road and all of a sudden the clouds became giant bells that were ringing.  Everyone was getting out of their cars and coming out from wherever they had been.  I realized that this was the second coming of Jesus.  Angels were everywhere in the sky, then Jesus came with a list in His hand.  Everyone's name was on the list and beside each was a numerical value.  Whoever had a number of seventy or above was going to Heaven, and I was so happy that my number was seventy exactly.  

I have never forgotten that dream.  It made an impression on me because it is the only time that I have dreamed of Jesus returning to earth.  I dream in color and it is still all so vivid in my mind.  I can remember, too, the fear I felt as I waited to hear the number by my name.  As I have gone over it once more in my memory, one part has truly caught my attention.  That would be the list.  

Imagine if Jesus were to return with two lists in His hands.  One list would contain the names of those who would go to Heaven and the other those who would be sent to eternal torment.  This is just a "what if" question.  Just something to think about.  

I am sure that there would be unbelievable rejoicing when names from the Heaven list were read.  I can just hear the praises being shouted and the songs of adoration being sung.  The angels would play their mighty trumpets and the celebration would only be beginning.  

But, when the names on the other list were announced, there would be screams of horror, great anguish, hysterical crying and voices begging for another chance.  People would be ripping the hair from their heads, looking for somewhere to hide and denying that this could possibly be true. 

Here is another "what if."  Suppose we had advance knowledge of which list our names were on.  How would that change how we live out the rest of our lives?  Would we grow complacent as Christians if we knew we were on the first list?  Or would we, out of love for our Savior, spend more time in His Word, in prayer and in sharing the Gospel?  

And if our names were not on the coveted list, what would we do?  Would we curse God and fall deeper into sin that we ever thought possible?  

As I have thought of myself in these scenarios, this is what I have decided.  First and foremost, I love Jesus.  The most important thing to me is honoring Him and seeing Him glorified.  No matter which list my name was on, I would like to think that I would continue praising His name and serving Him because life is about Him, not me.  

Thankfully, scripture is very clear on what we must do to be saved.  The verse I chose for today is only one of many that direct us toward salvation.  What I have described above is just to create introspection.  Although His return will not be like my dream, or my "what ifs,"  He will return.  We may not know the day or the hour, but God is faithful and Jesus will come back eventually.  Are we living our lives in preparation?  If He was to return tonight or tomorrow, would you be ready?  

If you have not received Christ as your Savior, please don't delay.  Contact a Bible believing church, or ask a Christian friend if you have any questions.  Today could be the last day.  God bless.  

 

Mid-Week Message - Every Knee Will Bow

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  Philippians 2:9-11  (NIV) 

As I write tonight, my mind is at the manger.  I am always in awe when I read the account of our Savior's birth and see pictures of the shepherds who have left their sheep to go and see this newborn baby.  The account in Luke does not say that they bowed to worship Him, but I can only imagine that they did.  We are told that they went from this miracle and spread the word then they returned, "glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."  

Although it is nowhere near the time of year that we usually think about this birth, can you go there with me, witness the scene in your mind's eye and allow your heart to respond to all you see and hear?  This tiny infant, sleeping in a trough made for feeding animals, Mary and Joseph beside Him, began His earthly life in such a place as this.  You can hear and smell the animals and have trouble believing that there was no more suitable place.  

Turn your thoughts away from the surroundings and focus solely on the child.  Maybe he moves His little closed fists.  Maybe He utters a small cry.  Maybe He opens His eyes and looks directly at you.  What is your reaction?  Those tiny eyes peering directly into your soul and touching a part of you that has never been touched before.  Would there be tears?  Would you be on your knees?  

One day, every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess that He is the Christ, our Lord.  All will worship Him and this will bring glory to God the Father.  

It may be more difficult to picture the time that He returns than it was His birth.  There is so much we don't understand, and may even fear.  All who have denied His Lordship, or even His existence, will know the truth at this moment.  We all will realize that we are sinners and are unworthy of His salvation.  Yet, for those who have truly repented and believed, eternal salvation is real.  

He isn't a baby anymore and we never know when His return will be, but the time will come. We may have years ahead of us, or we may have only moments.  Whether we are alive on the day of His coming or meet Him after our deaths, the question remains.  Will we be ready to bow?    

  

Mid-Week Message - The Most Important Thing

 "Look!  He comes with the clouds of heaven.  And everyone will see him - even those who pierced him.  And all the nations of the world will mourn for him.  Yes!  Amen!"  Revelation 1:7  (NLT)

If the Lord sent a message from Heaven that clued us in on when Jesus would return, how would we handle that news?  As Christians, we believe He is returning, but somehow that day always seems far off.  

So, I ask you, if that date were one hundred years from today, would anything change?  Almost all of us will have passed away from this earthly life by that time, and we know we will not live that long, so would we do anything different?  Would we seek out anyone to share the Good News?  Or would we think that the time is so far in the future that we have plenty of time?  No, we won't be alive by then but what about our grandchildren or great-grandchildren?  Is there anything that we would want to leave behind for them to find that would give testimony to our belief in Christ?  

One hundred years does seem far away, so suppose the time of His returning was fifty years from today?  Still, many of us will no longer be present here, but our children may.  Do we assume that we have set a good enough example for them to follow?  What do they see as they watch us navigating these days?  Are we truly living the faith we profess?  Would we make needed alterations in our lifestyles today or would we count on having plenty more years to do so?  Are we confident that there will be time before our deaths to seek forgiveness from those we have wronged and to reach out to those we know have not accepted Jesus as their Savior?  

If we knew that in twenty years we would see Him return in the clouds, would we be willing to "go and make disciples of all nations?"  Could we find it within ourselves to leave comfort behind so that others might believe in Him and repent of their sins?  If we were not able to go to other lands, would we be willing to walk across the street?  Could we take a Bible and proclaim the Truth on the street corners?  Would twenty years investing in the lives around us feel like too much, or not enough?  

Ten years is a much shorter time than the hundred years we began with.  Even ten years can feel like a lengthy time when we have so many responsibilities and goals to accomplish.  How many of those ten years would we be willing to invest in sharing the Gospel?  How much more time would we spend with our families and friends to be sure they had a personal relationship with the Savior?  

If five years from today was the day that we would see Him face to face, how would we prepare?  Would we examine our lives and begin to remove from our surroundings those things that we would not want to be found with?  Would we stop listening to questionable music and watching movies that contained material that we would be embarrassed for Him to see us watching?  Would we begin to spend more time with our Bibles and less time discussing sports scores?  What would become most important?  

I'm sure we would all be making some big changes if we knew the date was only one year away.  We would definitely see the days counting down and begin to feel the urgency.  At least I hope we would.  

And what if that day was tomorrow?  Would you be ready?  Would you be trying to witness to everyone you could or would you hole up in your home with your family and just wait?  

I know that this message is different from what I usually write.  But, as Matthew 24:36 tells us, "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.  Only the Father knows."  So, in reality, He could return at any of these times or in ten minutes from now.  

What we do at this very moment needs to matter for eternity's sake.  While we may think we have plenty of time, we cannot know that for sure.  Not only might He return at any time, but our own lives might end at any time.  You cannot take for granted that everyone you know will lay their head upon a pillow tonight.  They need to hear about Jesus.  As do our neighbors, those who work for us, people we meet in public and even the poor homeless folks that we turn our heads away from when we see them on the street.  We are all made in the image of God and He loves us all.  The task He left us with was to tell everyone about Him.  No matter how much time we have left, that is the most important thing.  

Mid-Week Message - The List

 "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Romans 10:9  (NIV)

The night after I had taken my driver's test as a teenager, I had a dream in which I was driving down the road and all of a sudden the clouds became giant bells that were ringing.  Everyone was getting out of their cars and coming out from wherever they had been.  I realized that this was the second coming of Jesus.  Angels were everywhere in the sky, then Jesus came with a list in His hand.  Everyone's name was on the list and beside each was a numerical value.  Whoever had a number of seventy or above was going to Heaven, and I was so happy that my number was seventy exactly.  

I have never forgotten that dream.  It made an impression on me because it is the only time that I have dreamed of Jesus returning to earth.  I dream in color and it is still all so vivid in my mind.  I can remember, too, the fear I felt as I waited to hear the number by my name.  As I have gone over it once more in my memory, one part has truly caught my attention.  That would be the list.  

Imagine if Jesus were to return with two lists in His hands.  One list would contain the names of those who would go to Heaven and the other those who would be sent to eternal torment.  This is just a "what if" question.  Just something to think about.  

I am sure that there would be unbelievable rejoicing when names from the Heaven list were read.  I can just hear the praises being shouted and the songs of adoration being sung.  The angels would play their mighty trumpets and the celebration would only be beginning.  

But, when the names on the other list were announced, there would be screams of horror, great anguish, hysterical crying and voices begging for another chance.  People would be ripping the hair from their heads, looking for somewhere to hide and denying that this could possibly be true. 

Here is another "what if."  Suppose we had advance knowledge of which list our names were on.  How would that change how we live out the rest of our lives?  Would we grow complacent as Christians if we knew we were on the first list?  Or would we, out of love for our Savior, spend more time in His Word, in prayer and in sharing the Gospel?  

And if our names were not on the coveted list, what would we do?  Would we curse God and fall deeper into sin that we ever thought possible?  

As I have thought of myself in these scenarios, this is what I have decided.  First and foremost, I love Jesus.  The most important thing to me is honoring Him and seeing Him glorified.  No matter which list my name was on, I would like to think that I would continue praising His name and serving Him because life is about Him, not me.  

Thankfully, scripture is very clear on what we must do to be saved.  The verse I chose for today is only one of many that direct us toward salvation.  What I have described above is just to create introspection.  Although His return will not be like my dream, or my "what ifs,"  He will return.  We may not know the day or the hour, but God is faithful and Jesus will come back eventually.  Are we living our lives in preparation?  If He was to return tonight or tomorrow, would you be ready?  

If you have not received Christ as your Savior, please don't delay.  Contact a Bible believing church, or ask a Christian friend if you have any questions.  Today could be the last day.  God bless.