What if you knew that yes, there will be a Rapture of the Church?
What if you knew exactly when it would be?
(I know… “No man knows the day or the hour.” Just roll with me on this.)
How would that affect your life?
How would it change the decisions you make every day?
What if you knew it would happen next year? Next month? Next week?
If you knew it would be next year, would you slack off in certain areas, comfortable in the knowledge that you “have plenty of time”?
If you knew it would be next month, would you get more serious about your relationship with God because you’ve suddenly realized, “I have hardly any time at all to prepare for the next phase of life!”?
If you knew He was coming back in a few weeks, how would you spend your money today? Would you buy that new pair of shoes you’ve been wanting, or would you give that money to missions in hopes of more people coming to know Jesus before it’s too late?
If you knew He was coming back next week, how would you spend your time? Would you be out watching movies, or would you be getting deeper into His Word, sharing Jesus with everyone you could, and hitting your knees in prayer?
If you knew He was coming back tomorrow…
It’s a fact: No man knows the day or the hour.
We sure can judge the seasons, though, and from the looks of things…
…and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
This very same power is available for me! Why do I have such a hard time getting this revelation?
…the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…
This final word is the key: believe. This exceedingly great power is available for us who believe – who believe in Him, in all He’s done, and in the fact that He will do it all for us. Believe. It’s so simple, or should be. Why, good grief! You’d think I would figure it out in my heart as well as my head that if this same all-powerful God gave His only son for me then I am important enough that, having expended so much power already on the “hard stuff,” He will be pleased when I give Him opportunity to share more.
It is clear that He looks for the times when I trust Him and open the door so He can, “…show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” (II Chron 16:9) I love that portion of Scripture. In the New King James the verse reads, “For the eyes of the lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
My heart is loyal to my God. I may fail in the area of consistency, but I love Him and I will (I choose) to be faithful to Him. So He tells me in His Word – more than once – that His will, His choice, is to bless me… To bless ME! I hear Him speak it to my spirit over and over. I see Him in action time and time again. So why is it hard to remember that His will is to bless me? Why can it sometimes be so hard to believe that I am worthy of those blessings?
God wants children who love Him above all else, children who obey Him completely, children who walk with Him—following His lead instead of choosing their own paths and expecting Him to bless them anyway—children who not only know Jesus as Savior, but also as Lord.
God wants children who understand the truth of the words spoken to King Saul, that obedience is better than sacrifice, that He will not condone us doing things our way even if our way does look good in man’s eyes and seems to result in great things for the church.
God wants children who follow in the footsteps of Jesus, the One who did and said, and only did and said, what the Father wanted, who obeyed all the way to the cross and beyond when His Father called.
God wants children who don’t say, “I have decided I want to…,” but say instead, “I have decided to do what God wants me to do.”
God wants
sons and daughters
who understand what it means to be CALLED.
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Yes, He does!
The notes in my study Bible point out that the one being used for noble purposes has no right to consider himself any better than the one being used for common purposes, because both are made from the same lump of clay. I see it the other way, too. I, who am made for common use, have no right to consider myself less than he who is made for noble use. Truly, this is something God has spoken to me many times through the years – which means, of course, that I need to be reminded.
I’ve seen people who were made for noble use, and being used nobly, thought themselves even better than the use to which they were put. So many years spent active in the music ministry gave me more occasion than most to see how ego affects the clay; I’ve seen people actually leave a church because they felt their talents weren’t being shown off as much as they should be. This type of thing makes me ill.
It is in the nature of man to exalt himself. I know this, because I deal with the tendency on a personal level much too often. I look at other people doing certain things and think, “I could be doing that; I’m good enough! Why can’t I be allowed to do it just once so that I can show the world I’m able?” Wrong motivation!
It took a lot of years for me to accept the fact that I was made for common use…and to prefer the fact that I am. When ego is set aside and the truth is out, it becomes apparent that I wouldn’t want to be a vase sitting on a shelf, only rarely filled with flowers and placed at the center of the table. I would rather be the tea pitcher, always on the table, at the center of things, appreciated on a daily basis…almost taken for granted even…by the whole family. In my own mind, before coming to this Scripture, I have compared myself to a ball bearing – something no one sees, but that is essential to keep the mechanism running smoothly. How much better would it be if we all would simply accept ourselves as God has made us, accept our positions as He has placed us, and be what He has called us to be today – freely and fully – without trying to see how we might use today’s position as a stepping stone to the future, without regret or recrimination? Oh, what we could accomplish in this world!
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
We have been created anew in Christ Jesus to do good things. Other translations say “good works.”
When being encouraged to do good works, some people answer by quoting Ephesians 2:8-9. (KJV For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.) Yes, we are saved by grace, through faith and not by our works; salvation is a gift. Now, if those who quote verses 8 and 9 would only continue to verse 10, they would see why God gave us the gift— “to do the good things he planned for us long ago”. God doesn’t give useless gifts; He gives gifts with a purpose. Knowing this, we realize we are responsible to find out what His plans for us are and to follow through and do what He expects us to do. As Ephesians 5:17 puts it, “Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.”
God prepared these works in advance, expecting us to do them. How much clearer can it get? God had a plan in mind, works lined out for each one of us, even before we accepted His gift of salvation. Now it’s our turn. Now it’s time for us to learn what those works are, pull ourselves together, and go get them done.
This is not merely something we can do; it is something we must do if we are to be pleasing to Him. After all, His Word says repeatedly that faith without works is dead. (James 2:17, 20, 26; KJV; Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead… But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?… For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.) Too, without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6, KJV, But without faith it is impossible to please Him…)
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering…
This astounds me every time I think about it. I cannot imagine sending one of my sons out to intentionally sacrifice his life for one who is good. I have friends and family whose children are in the military and I feel for them when their children are sent to hot zones where they might end up giving their lives. Yet God sent His only (at the time) son to this earth fully intending that He would sacrifice Himself, and not for a world of good and worthy people. God sent Jesus to give His life for a whole world of sinners…people who were bad beyond human comprehension. And not only did God send this Son out, but the Son willingly came! When I think about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, I realize just how fully human He was. He was sent “in the likeness of sinful man,” but He was not sinful man because there was no sin in Him…yet He wasman. He fought all the temptations and fears I fight. At that final hour He even reached a place where He would have had God choose a different path for Him. What is the difference between me and the man He was at that time? What made the difference? Truly, I see one thing standing out above the rest. He knew WhoHe was.
This is usually the key for me too. If I can just reach that place…if I can only come to truly know – to KNOW – who I am in Christ Jesus, everything will be different. I feel like it’s a thing I’ve been reaching towards, that I fight desperately to grasp. It’s this elusive something that is out there that I know if I can only get my hands on it my life will change so dramatically I won’t recognize myself.
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Some things you learn by careful study of God’s Word, but some things you learn when God draws out the Word you have hidden in your heart and shows it to you in a different light. Just as it is when you step into a room lit only by black light and certain colors start to glow, so also, when God shines His special light on Scripture, do certain words start to glow – not in a literal sense, in this case, but in a way that was every bit as exciting for me.
I could no more tell you what the sermon was about than I could tell you what I wore a year ago today, but there I was, reading along with the minister, when those final two words set off fireworks in my spirit.
“…before Abraham was born, I AM.” Jesus is speaking here, and He is speaking in the present tense!
Suddenly “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,” showed itself to mean more than I had ever imagined. “I AM the Alpha,” God says. He IS the beginning, and at the very same time He is also the Omega, the end.
So there Jesus was – is – standing before a group of religious men, boldly declaring that He was not only standing before them in that very moment, but that He was also in both the distant past and a future yet to come. He was and is in all times at once. This is terribly hard for us to understand, but the reality of the thing is that HE IS GOD!
The flash of epiphany was instantaneous, but it actually took several days for the complete truth (or as much of it as I could handle) to percolate and really infuse itself through spirit and soul. And then, almost immediately, I had opportunity to put my faith to work with what I’d learned.
We were in the midst of a potentially terrifying battle, one we had been fighting for weeks against a seemingly heartless enemy. On this particular day, I was extraordinarily ready for the battle to be over so, as I took those dozen or so steps to the mailbox, I said, “God, You are in all times at once. That means You can right now see to it that they put a letter in the mail days ago – one I will pull out of the box right now today – saying they’re dropping this thing completely and won’t bother us again.”
And He did. Right then and there the battle was over because I had come to know yet one more aspect of my omnipotent, omnipresent, heavenly Father.
This understanding has changed my prayer life completely – and my faith life too. Praying retroactive prayers doesn’t bother me a bit, for instance. Say I get a prayer request this afternoon for an event that was to occur this morning. I don’t write it off as too late; I pray! I pray, sure in the knowledge that the same God who hears my prayers this afternoon IS there for that person this morning.
Likewise, when I send or put out a prayer request (via email, for instance), I may instantly see the answer – even though I know for a fact that no one has even seen the request yet, much less prayed. I see my answer right away because the God who is with them tomorrow, hearing their prayers about the situation, is with me in the here and now at the very same time!
Way back in my AOL days, a lady once emailed me asking if I would be willing to be her mentor as a Christian. I was honored, obviously, but also somewhat unprepared since I’d never been asked that question before. Not knowing what else to do, I answered honestly that I would count it an honor, but the very best advice I could give anyone is to truly accept Jesus as their Savior and LORD – giving Him full control of their life.
Her reply made me sad. She said she wasn’t ready to let anyone else be in control of her life, that she wanted to continue controlling it herself. Looking back, I realize I understand a tiny bit of what Jesus must have felt when talking to the rich young ruler.
We toss the phrase “Lord and Savior” around like it’s nothing, but in fact it is everything – and in my opinion we say the words out of order. First, we accept Jesus as Savior. Until we’ve done that, acknowledging that He has literally purchased us from our slaveholder (sin), we cannot submit to and serve Him as Lord. It’s simply not possible.
But then, to know Him as Lord, we must understand what a Lord is. Modern day life doesn’t help us in this area; we have to look back. In past times your Lord was, quite literally, your ruler. His word was supreme in your life and you owed pretty much everything to him. You owed him all loyalty, all fealty, and a certain percentage of everything you produced on the land he provided for you. Yes, he told you what to do and you did it…or else.
But here is the part most people don’t grasp. He also, if he was a good Lord, took responsibility for you, took care of you. In telling you what to do, he was looking ahead, figuring out what it would take for you to prosper, and setting you up for that prosperity. He understood that for his realm to do well you had to do well, and he did all he could to ensure you did – if he was a good lord, which our Lord obviously is.
My life became EASIER when I moved past merely accepting Jesus as my Savior and into submitting to Him as my Lord. It’s all on Him now. He’s the one responsible for telling me which direction to take; all I have to do is listen and obey. Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of my favorite Scriptures: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” There it is in a nutshell.
I readily admit that I’m a recovering control freak. Those who have fought this battle know what I’m saying when I confess that learning to let God have control was HARD, and I still don’t get it right anywhere near often enough. Even so, it is literally the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and, though I’d not lie and say life has been easy ever since, I can honestly say I have MORE freedom, MORE joy, and MORE peace than I ever had while trying to run things myself.
What about the lady who emailed me on AOL? Well, I did hear from her again a year or so later, and she seemed an entirely different person. She wanted me to know that she had finally accepted Jesus as her Lord… and had discovered the true freedom and peace I’d promised.
“THIS is the kind of love I expect you to walk in…love that sees things from My point of view. So when I say study (love), I mean study Me. Learn what I feel in each situation-what I say and what I do-because I am love. I. AM. LOVE.”
Today is the National Day of Prayer, and as I was praying this morning, while I was asking God to start a revolution, to send revival, He said, “It’s little things that start a revolution. It’s little things that start a revival.”
We keep asking God to send revival, too often failing to understand that revival starts HERE, with us, and it starts small. It begins with one man deciding to spend five more minutes a day in prayer. It starts with a young woman asking of God, every morning, “Help me be a blessing to someone today.” It starts with me using the amazingly simple new witnessing tool He’s given me.
Revival, a revolution of our walk with God, may well sweep in on us like a flood, but it’s the little things – each of us doing our share of little things – that will trigger it.
Consider a dam. It holds back massive amounts of water, but if you poke enough little holes in it the water will eventually burst forth and flooding is inevitable. Let us poke those holes. Let each of us seek God for those little things He would have us do. Who knows? It may be your little thing that is exactly what is needed to put the final hole in the dam.
Copyright Barry Hatch
