Sunday, April 13, 2008

A Little Round Trip - April 13, 2008

Good Sunday morning! Do you know what is in the future? We immediately begin to think of our own future at work, in our family, and in our fortune when considering that question. Of course, we have only a vague idea about what will happen according to our plans, and no idea at all about what may happen in this world. However, you do know something that is in the future, the rapture of the church. You will find the good news of this event in the Bible and in the many sermons and discussions about it. What will today bring? What will tomorrow bring? These questions occur to us frequently. We know one possible answer to those questions; Jesus may call us up to heaven on any given day. To us that is a great and encouraging thought. Today, in spite of the troubles and obstacles that are coming our way, we may be suddenly caught up and taken away from all of this struggle and suffering.

Many times I have thought, "now would be a good time, Lord." However, God doesn't operate according to my wishes or timetable. What does happen, as we grow in Jesus, is that our wishes and timetable grow closer to His great plan for ourselves and the world as a whole. Each of us grows in patience, waiting joyfully for God's wonderful plans to grow ripe in our life and in this world. We grow more in love of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and then in the love of all people. We grow to love ourselves more, and that may seem the most difficult of all. In our own lives, as we examine and evaluate our condition and actions, we can grow to hate what we see. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. To me that means that we will not be able to love our neighbors unless we grow to love ourselves...just as we are and not as we hope to become. Jesus loves us so much that He gave up His life in our place on the cross. Don't you think that maybe we should take a look at our own self with that same love? Try not to worry about becoming righteous, that's Jesus' job and He is much better at than we will ever be. Work on what is in our power to change such as eating right, exercising, and giving up bad habits. Leave things that we cannot change in the very capable hands of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Does that sound like the serenity prayer? Yes, and praise God for that!

I have taken you on a round-about journey this morning. From the future, to the rapture, and back to your neighbors and loving your own self. In all of this is the realization that Jesus is the One... The Way, the Truth, and the Life. We may try to puzzle out the prophecies in the Revelation, but one thing is sure, Jesus is where our focus should be. I have often thought that one day millions of Christians will suddenly realize who the anti-Christ is and just as we are about to tell the world, bang, the rapture will be upon us. In that moment, we will know that knowing who is who in this world is far less important than knowing the One, who lives in our heart.

Praise God for the glory of this day!

Bucky

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