When you suffer do you have people around you who are willing to suffer with you?
When times are toughest and it seems like nothing is going your way, do you have friends who will come see you?
I want you to also think about it this way. Are you that friend? Are you going to be the friend that spends time driving to be with someone who is really struggling or do you put your agenda above theirs.
As humans we feel things, we get sad, we mourn, and we grieve. No matter how hard you try to be happy all the time, you just can't do it. We long to have people that we can talk too.
In Job chapter 2, he is continuing not to sin no matter how hard things are for him.
When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. (Job 2:11-13)
Are you the three friends that traveled to console their friend who had lost everything or do you just send a nice text and hope that they feel better? For me I have been both. Yesterday I drove to Warsaw to grab lunch with one of my friends because he had gone through a break up this past week. He really made it know how thankful he was that I came down to see him. I could've sent him a nicely worded text that would've made him feel a little better during the 10 seconds it would take him to read it. Plus, he probably would've forgotten about the text as soon as he shut his phone off. I wanted to encourage my friend in the best way that I could, and that was driving to grab a meal together and investing my time in him. Sometimes we might not be in driving distance, but are you sending a text or making a phone call? The way in which we encourage someone is more important than the encouragement itself.
A lot of times, we struggle with what we should say. Being only human we only have so many good things that we can say to help someone feel better. Sometimes the best way to make someone feel better is silence. Job's friends sat with Job in silence for seven days and seven nights. I can't sit in silence for more than 10 minutes, because it just gets awkward. But I try and I am working on it. When we struggle with what to say, perhaps what he or she needs most is our presence, showing that we care.
Next time you have a friend who is going through something tough, I hope that you remember this post and remember the sacrifices that his friends made to show that they were there for their brother. They traveled the distance...and spent seven days and seven nights in silence to show that they were there for him. I know we are busy, but I am sure that you have some time that you can offer.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Like Job did
I want you to think about how you react when you hit rock bottom. One thing about rock bottom is that it is different for everyone. For some, it's failing a test. For others, it's a break up with a significant other. For the rest, it's when things just seem to not go your way.
When those things are happening how are you reacting? Are you looking to get pleasure from something else? Do you curse the Lord? Do you have bad intentions to do something you're going to regret?
It looks different for everyone. For some reason, the story of Job was one of those stories I remember learning as a kid and I will never forget it. I always thought when I was growing up, that it was pretty unique that I remembered this story rather than other well known stories or characters in the bible.
I believe the reason for me remembering such an important story was the meaning behind it. I remember thinking to myself, if I lost everything I would freak out. What I remembered most was that no matter how bad things get in life, never blame God.
Who is Job? Some of you might not know....Job was a wealthy man of upright character who loved God. Yet God allowed Satan to destroy his flocks, his possessions, his children, and his health. Job refused to give up on God, even though he did not understand what was happening to him. We, too must trust God when we do not understand the difficulties we face.
Job was said to me the greatest man among all the people in the East. He feared God and shunned evil. He has seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three hundred camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and give hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants.
As we take a look at the book of Job in my next couple of posts, we have information that Job does not. We know that Job lost everything he had through no fault of his own as he struggled to understand why all this was happening to him, it became clear that he was not meant to know all the reasons. He would have to face life with the answers and explanations held back.
We must experience life as Job did - one day at a time and without complete answers to all of life's questions.
One of the most interesting details about this story is that God and Satan have a conversation. God brings up Job and tells Satan about how blameless and upright he is. Satan makes a remark at God about how Job will certainly curse God if Satan takes away everything from him. God said go ahead, "everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
This conversation between God and Satan teaches us an important fact about God - he is fully aware of every attempt by Satan to bring suffering and difficulty upon us. While God may allow us to suffer for a reasons beyond our understanding, he is never caught by surprise by our troubles and is always compassionate.
So what ends up happening to Job and how does he react?
In a matter of a day...here is what happened:
- the Sabeans attacked and made off with all of Job's donkeys and oxen, and killed all the servants who were watching over them
- a fire burned all of his sheep and the servants watching them
- the Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on all of Job's camels killing them and the servants watching them
- Job's sons and daughters and their families were feasting and drinking and their house collapsed and killed them all
Everything that Job had worked for and that he had been given by God was taken away. That is rock bottom. What Job does next is astonishing.
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised."
In all this, Job did not sin by charing God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:20-22)
Job did not hide his overwhelming grief. He had not lost his faith in God; instead, his emotions showed that he was human and that he loved his family.
God created our emotions, and it is not sinful or inappropriate to express them as Job did. If you have experienced a deep loss, a disappointment, or a heartbreak, admit your feelings to yourself and to others, and grieve.
When you hit rock bottom it's fine to admit that you need help and are hurt. That is a sign of humbling yourself before God and really showing that you need God and rely on Him to get you back on your feet.
More than tearing his robe and shaving his head, Job falling to the ground was the ultimate grieving moment. When we are on our feet, we can run from our problems. We can walk to our cars and drive away from our problems as well. When we are on your feet that is a sign of you trying to act like you are okay. It is okay to fall on the ground and grieve over something that is sad. It's the ultimate sign of saying, "I need you God."
With that, I challenge you to live like Job did. It will be tough, but he never once blamed God when he lost everything that he had. Instead, he recognized that the Lord gives and the Lord takes, and that we should always praise the name of the Lord.
When those things are happening how are you reacting? Are you looking to get pleasure from something else? Do you curse the Lord? Do you have bad intentions to do something you're going to regret?
It looks different for everyone. For some reason, the story of Job was one of those stories I remember learning as a kid and I will never forget it. I always thought when I was growing up, that it was pretty unique that I remembered this story rather than other well known stories or characters in the bible.
I believe the reason for me remembering such an important story was the meaning behind it. I remember thinking to myself, if I lost everything I would freak out. What I remembered most was that no matter how bad things get in life, never blame God.
Who is Job? Some of you might not know....Job was a wealthy man of upright character who loved God. Yet God allowed Satan to destroy his flocks, his possessions, his children, and his health. Job refused to give up on God, even though he did not understand what was happening to him. We, too must trust God when we do not understand the difficulties we face.
Job was said to me the greatest man among all the people in the East. He feared God and shunned evil. He has seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three hundred camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and give hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants.
As we take a look at the book of Job in my next couple of posts, we have information that Job does not. We know that Job lost everything he had through no fault of his own as he struggled to understand why all this was happening to him, it became clear that he was not meant to know all the reasons. He would have to face life with the answers and explanations held back.
We must experience life as Job did - one day at a time and without complete answers to all of life's questions.
One of the most interesting details about this story is that God and Satan have a conversation. God brings up Job and tells Satan about how blameless and upright he is. Satan makes a remark at God about how Job will certainly curse God if Satan takes away everything from him. God said go ahead, "everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
This conversation between God and Satan teaches us an important fact about God - he is fully aware of every attempt by Satan to bring suffering and difficulty upon us. While God may allow us to suffer for a reasons beyond our understanding, he is never caught by surprise by our troubles and is always compassionate.
So what ends up happening to Job and how does he react?
In a matter of a day...here is what happened:
- the Sabeans attacked and made off with all of Job's donkeys and oxen, and killed all the servants who were watching over them
- a fire burned all of his sheep and the servants watching them
- the Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on all of Job's camels killing them and the servants watching them
- Job's sons and daughters and their families were feasting and drinking and their house collapsed and killed them all
Everything that Job had worked for and that he had been given by God was taken away. That is rock bottom. What Job does next is astonishing.
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised."
In all this, Job did not sin by charing God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:20-22)
Job did not hide his overwhelming grief. He had not lost his faith in God; instead, his emotions showed that he was human and that he loved his family.
God created our emotions, and it is not sinful or inappropriate to express them as Job did. If you have experienced a deep loss, a disappointment, or a heartbreak, admit your feelings to yourself and to others, and grieve.
When you hit rock bottom it's fine to admit that you need help and are hurt. That is a sign of humbling yourself before God and really showing that you need God and rely on Him to get you back on your feet.
More than tearing his robe and shaving his head, Job falling to the ground was the ultimate grieving moment. When we are on our feet, we can run from our problems. We can walk to our cars and drive away from our problems as well. When we are on your feet that is a sign of you trying to act like you are okay. It is okay to fall on the ground and grieve over something that is sad. It's the ultimate sign of saying, "I need you God."
With that, I challenge you to live like Job did. It will be tough, but he never once blamed God when he lost everything that he had. Instead, he recognized that the Lord gives and the Lord takes, and that we should always praise the name of the Lord.
Friday, June 28, 2019
Go and make disciples
God gave Jesus authority over heaven and earth.
I want you to realize that and remember that...On the basis of that authority, Jesus told his disciples to make more disciples as they preached, baptized, and taught. With this same authority, Jesus still commands us to tell others the Good News and make them disciples for the kingdom.
That is such a big responsibility for us that we rarely make an effort to even do. When I think of my life, there has probably been like three times where I sat someone down, who didn't know anything about Jesus and I shared the gospel with them.
That isn't very good considering I have been alive for 22 years. In all honesty, that isn't the only way to go and make disciples. We all kind of do this in different ways. My way of sharing Christ's love for us is through my writing. I have also been fortunate enough to overseas a number of times. The things I do aren't what I want people to be encouraged by, it's why I do those things. For others it might be strictly serving, missions trips, street evangelism etc. Not everyone does it the same. In fact, we all do it different.
But my question to you is are you doing something that is beneficial to the great commission of making disciples of all the nations? Or are you leaving that up to someone else because they are better at it than you? Think about this, if we all just push our mission to the side, nobody will ever be doing anything to help make disciples.
I kept this post short because there really isn't that much more to say. I can't sugarcoat this. Jesus tells us loud and clear that we need to go and make disciples of all nations. When Jesus tells us to do something I want to do it because I want to become more like Jesus every day.
My challenge to you is to impact the lives of the people around you by loving others just as Jesus loves you.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Washing your hands doesn't make them clean
One of the biggest things that I have always put a lot of focus on is admitting my mistakes. I will always take full responsibility for the decisions that I make. Whether they're good, bad, ugly or in-between.
I recognize that I am nowhere near perfect, I sin, and I make mistakes all of the time. Sometimes it might be hard for you to admit a mistake because you know it might have hurt someone, but when you admit that you were wrong, you free of a lot of the guilt that you were feeling. You also make things right with the person that you might have done wrong too.
It might not seem like it, but people will be more appreciative when you make a mistake and admit to it rather than you making a mistake and just letting it slide. I challenge you to admit that you made a mistake next time you are wrong about something...which will probably be today.
When Pilate was the one who ultimately made the decision to have Jesus crucified, he washed his hands, because he thought that would clean him for his sins.
"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.
"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"
"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's
blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" (Matthew 27:21-24)
Pilate recognized that Jesus had done nothing wrong, but insisted that the people make the decision. He was more worried about a riot and losing his power than making the decision that he knew was right in his head. Pilate thought that washing his hands would clean him of the decision that he made, but that was not the case.
In making no decision, Pilate made the decision to let the crowds crucify Jesus. Although he washed his hands, the guilt remained. Washing your hands of a tough situation doesn't cancel your guilt. It merely gives you a false sense of peace.
We can't ever make excuses - we must take responsibility for the decisions we make.
Next time you are wrong about something, just admit it. That's pleasing to God.
I recognize that I am nowhere near perfect, I sin, and I make mistakes all of the time. Sometimes it might be hard for you to admit a mistake because you know it might have hurt someone, but when you admit that you were wrong, you free of a lot of the guilt that you were feeling. You also make things right with the person that you might have done wrong too.
It might not seem like it, but people will be more appreciative when you make a mistake and admit to it rather than you making a mistake and just letting it slide. I challenge you to admit that you made a mistake next time you are wrong about something...which will probably be today.
When Pilate was the one who ultimately made the decision to have Jesus crucified, he washed his hands, because he thought that would clean him for his sins.
"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.
"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"
"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's
blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" (Matthew 27:21-24)
Pilate recognized that Jesus had done nothing wrong, but insisted that the people make the decision. He was more worried about a riot and losing his power than making the decision that he knew was right in his head. Pilate thought that washing his hands would clean him of the decision that he made, but that was not the case.
In making no decision, Pilate made the decision to let the crowds crucify Jesus. Although he washed his hands, the guilt remained. Washing your hands of a tough situation doesn't cancel your guilt. It merely gives you a false sense of peace.
We can't ever make excuses - we must take responsibility for the decisions we make.
Next time you are wrong about something, just admit it. That's pleasing to God.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Greetings...friend
Every time that I read a passage in the Bible for a second, third, fourth, or maybe even fifth time I always seem to learn something new. Most of the time, that something new could be a single word that sparks my imagination to write a blog post about it.
Yes, the reasoning behind this post is noticing one word that I have never noticed before.
Matthew chapter 26 walks the readers through the end of Jesus's life. For those of you who don't know, one of the twelve disciples betrayed Jesus. Judas Iscariot was the one who did that. Judas accepted 30 silver coins in order to betray Jesus...the price of a slave.
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings Rabbi!" and kissed him. Jesus replied, "Do what you came for, friend."
(Matthew 26:47-50)
Jesus called Judas his friend - let me remind you, Judas was one of Jesus closest friends and betrayed him and now he had a large armed crowd with him ready to arrest Jesus. This man was the reason that Jesus was betrayed and arrested...
Yet, he was still a friend to Jesus.
Jesus was a friend to everyone...Judas went from a friend to an enemy in our eyes, but in the eyes of Jesus he was still a friend. I think that is crazy!
We are called to live like Jesus. Who in your life has betrayed you that you wouldn't call a friend right now? I bet that a lot of people come to mind....Remember those people! Refer to them as a friend when you have to talk about them. When you think of them, forgive them for what they said or did and refer to them as a friend.
Jesus teaches us to love our enemies. Jesus teaches us to love one another as Christ loved us. The theme? Love others no matter what they say about you. If you get caught in the trap of worrying about what others have said, you will become mentally worn out for no reason. Who cares what other people think.
Friends are everywhere. My challenge to you, live a life where everyone is your friend. You can't fake it either, this has to be sincere and this will take effort. When we love others...that is pleasing to God.
Greetings...friend
Yes, the reasoning behind this post is noticing one word that I have never noticed before.
Matthew chapter 26 walks the readers through the end of Jesus's life. For those of you who don't know, one of the twelve disciples betrayed Jesus. Judas Iscariot was the one who did that. Judas accepted 30 silver coins in order to betray Jesus...the price of a slave.
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings Rabbi!" and kissed him. Jesus replied, "Do what you came for, friend."
(Matthew 26:47-50)
Jesus called Judas his friend - let me remind you, Judas was one of Jesus closest friends and betrayed him and now he had a large armed crowd with him ready to arrest Jesus. This man was the reason that Jesus was betrayed and arrested...
Yet, he was still a friend to Jesus.
Jesus was a friend to everyone...Judas went from a friend to an enemy in our eyes, but in the eyes of Jesus he was still a friend. I think that is crazy!
We are called to live like Jesus. Who in your life has betrayed you that you wouldn't call a friend right now? I bet that a lot of people come to mind....Remember those people! Refer to them as a friend when you have to talk about them. When you think of them, forgive them for what they said or did and refer to them as a friend.
Jesus teaches us to love our enemies. Jesus teaches us to love one another as Christ loved us. The theme? Love others no matter what they say about you. If you get caught in the trap of worrying about what others have said, you will become mentally worn out for no reason. Who cares what other people think.
Friends are everywhere. My challenge to you, live a life where everyone is your friend. You can't fake it either, this has to be sincere and this will take effort. When we love others...that is pleasing to God.
Greetings...friend
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
God rewards faithfulness
God will reward you for your willingness and faithfulness to serve him with your gifts and talents. When you take a look at people around you I am sure that you have noticed there are people who have the ability to do things that you can't and when those people look at you they probably think the same thing.
God gifts us with wonderful talents that we can use to glorify him and serve the kingdom of God. How are you using what God has given you? When I played basketball, my coaches would tell us to focus on what we do well. When everybody did what they did well, the team was very successful.
When we use our talents well, we could have something like heaven on earth.
There is a parable that Jesus tells in Matthew chapter 25.
In this parable there was a wealthy man who was going on a journey and he entrusted his wealth to his servants. To one man he gave five bags of gold, to another he gave two bags, and then a bag to another. The man who was given five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received bag went off, dug a hole in the gourd and hid his masters money.
When the master returned he settled accounts with the servants. "Well done good and faithful servant." That is what the master told the servant who gained back five bags and the servant that gained back two bags.
What I want you to pay attention to is what the master said to the servant who hid his masters money.
"You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest." (Matthew 25:26-27)
What does this mean? The master divided the money (talents) among his servants according to their abilities. Nobody received more or less than he could handle. If he failed his assignment, his excuse could not be that he was overwhelmed. Failure could come from laziness or hatred toward the master. The talents represent any kind of resources we are given.
God gives us time, gifts, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until he returns. We are responsible to use well what God has given us. The issue should never be how much you have, but how well we use what we have.
How does this tie into faithfulness? Jesus is coming back - we know this is true. This means that we are to use our time, talents, and treasures diligently in order to serve God completely in whatever we do. Basically - this means doing our daily work out of love for God.
With whatever you are doing right now - you can do out of love for God. Whether you have a part time job for the summer, a full time job, or aren't working at all. We can always do whatever it is we do out of love for God.
We cannot fall into the trap like the servant who hid his masters money. That guy was only thinking of himself. He hoped to play it safe and protect himself from his master, but he was judged for self-centeredness. We can't ever make excuses to avoid doing what God calls us to do. If God truly is our Master, we must obey willingly.
Our time, abilities, and money aren't ours in the first place - we are caretakers, not owners. When we ignore, squander or abuse what we are given, we are rebellious and deserve to be punished. We deserve to be called a lazy wicked servant.
A cool way to think about it is that we are all walking gold mines full of potential. Deep down there is so much value that we can use to honor and glorify God in all that we say and do.
I encourage you to not waste the talent that God has given you. When you use that talent to glorify God, he will reward you for your faithfulness.
God gifts us with wonderful talents that we can use to glorify him and serve the kingdom of God. How are you using what God has given you? When I played basketball, my coaches would tell us to focus on what we do well. When everybody did what they did well, the team was very successful.
When we use our talents well, we could have something like heaven on earth.
There is a parable that Jesus tells in Matthew chapter 25.
In this parable there was a wealthy man who was going on a journey and he entrusted his wealth to his servants. To one man he gave five bags of gold, to another he gave two bags, and then a bag to another. The man who was given five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received bag went off, dug a hole in the gourd and hid his masters money.
When the master returned he settled accounts with the servants. "Well done good and faithful servant." That is what the master told the servant who gained back five bags and the servant that gained back two bags.
What I want you to pay attention to is what the master said to the servant who hid his masters money.
"You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest." (Matthew 25:26-27)
What does this mean? The master divided the money (talents) among his servants according to their abilities. Nobody received more or less than he could handle. If he failed his assignment, his excuse could not be that he was overwhelmed. Failure could come from laziness or hatred toward the master. The talents represent any kind of resources we are given.
God gives us time, gifts, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until he returns. We are responsible to use well what God has given us. The issue should never be how much you have, but how well we use what we have.
How does this tie into faithfulness? Jesus is coming back - we know this is true. This means that we are to use our time, talents, and treasures diligently in order to serve God completely in whatever we do. Basically - this means doing our daily work out of love for God.
With whatever you are doing right now - you can do out of love for God. Whether you have a part time job for the summer, a full time job, or aren't working at all. We can always do whatever it is we do out of love for God.
We cannot fall into the trap like the servant who hid his masters money. That guy was only thinking of himself. He hoped to play it safe and protect himself from his master, but he was judged for self-centeredness. We can't ever make excuses to avoid doing what God calls us to do. If God truly is our Master, we must obey willingly.
Our time, abilities, and money aren't ours in the first place - we are caretakers, not owners. When we ignore, squander or abuse what we are given, we are rebellious and deserve to be punished. We deserve to be called a lazy wicked servant.
A cool way to think about it is that we are all walking gold mines full of potential. Deep down there is so much value that we can use to honor and glorify God in all that we say and do.
I encourage you to not waste the talent that God has given you. When you use that talent to glorify God, he will reward you for your faithfulness.
Monday, June 24, 2019
1:2
If you are reading the right now I really hope that the unique title caught your eye. If it did, that is why I made it so unique.
What's that number? 1:2...1 out of 2 is 50%. You know what else is 50%?
- 5:10
- 50:100
- 500:1,000
- 5,000:10,000
- 50,000:100,000
- 500,000:1,000,000
You get the point. At first, that 2:1 doesn't seem like that is a big deal...but over time you see the significance. The point of this post is to hopefully cause a little conviction and to remind you that there will be no opportunity for last-minute repentance.
When God comes back for the second time we have to remain watchful. Nobody is going to know when it will happen. The angels in heaven, the Son, etc. Nobody knows except the Father.
Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. (Matthew 24:40-42)
Now think about this, the two men in the field who were working had no idea. The man who was taken didn't know that he would be taken at the moment in time. Same with the women who were grinding with a hand mill. Those who were taken didn't know more information than the ones who were left, they just had made a decision to commit their lives to God so when that time came, they were ready. Unfortunately, the ones who were left didn't make that decision and didn't have time to do it quickly.
I can imagine that at a blink of an eye, the ones who were taken were gone. Imagine being that person who was left. There is literally no hope for you. You are stuck. I don't want you to be that person! It's either heaven or hell and I don't ever want anyone going to hell.
My encouragement to you is to make that decision and if you know others who haven't, pray for them and their hearts so that they are not left. No one should ever be left behind, but that is how it is going to be. We have the responsibility of bringing as many people along with us as we can.
I want you to think about the people that you interact with on a daily basis. Some of these people might be your best friends and you might not know if they've committed their lives to Christ. Do you want to be sitting with them and talking someday and all of a sudden you are taken and they are left? Do you want you friends, co-workers, family members left here to suffer? Absolutely not!
What do I want you to remember? Christ's second coming will be swift and sudden. There will be no opportunity for last-minute repentance or bargaining, the choice we will have already made will determine our eternal destiny.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)