Maranatha!

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, 

neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, 

for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4 (ESV)

Yesterday morning we awoke to the news of the Aurora shootings. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones in this tragedy. We grieve with them, and pray for God's love and compassion to rain down on them and give them comfort and peace. 

The shocking event in the Aurora theater reminds us that we live in a fallen world. Evil does exist, and from time to sad time it rises up in rage and forces us once more to acknowledge that the world we live in is imperfect. Horribly imperfect. And it will remain that way until Christ returns and sets everything right. He is our hope, our Light that shines through the darkest hour. When He comes, death will die, mourning will cease, and pain will be long forgotten. He'll gently wipe all tears -- every single one -- from the eyes of His beloved children. And inexpressible joy will replace the ache that once filled their hearts. This is His promise. It's a promise for those who know Him and place their trust in Him. Maranatha! Our Lord is coming.

Be Not Ashamed

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels"

Mark 8:38

God is full of grace and mercy, and it's good to know that His love for us is not based on what we do or don't do. However, God is also righteous and when Christ returns each person will give an account for who he or she served while here on earth. Did we follow God? Or did we follow the world? "Most people think of following Jesus as conforming to the 'establishment.' Actually, Jesus calls us to rebel against the established order of this world. We are called to rebel against the tyranny of the flesh, against the fear and conformity of the world, against the traditions of man. Jesus encourages a 'slave rebellion,' where the slaves of sin, Satan, and the world rebel against their masters." (David Guzik) When Christ returns I trust you will be able to say with Paul, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentile). For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'But the righteous man shall live by faith.'” (Romans 1:16-17)

He Will Return

And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Acts 1:9-11

Jesus bodily rose to heaven, to be seated at the right hand of the Father, a place of honor. When Jesus comes to set up His Kingdom, He will return just as He left -- literally, bodily, and visibly in the clouds.

Daniel 7:13-14:

 “I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed."

Matthew 24:30:

And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.

Revelation 1:7:

"BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen."

Jesus will return.

As Noah Walked

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God."

Genesis 6:9

In the midst of a decaying culture so violent God had determined to destroy it with a great flood, one man stood out. A godly man. A man who didn't follow the crowd. A man who walked through his life with God. His name was Noah. Imagine the pressure society placed on Noah to conform. He was probably labeled a Goody Two-Shoes, Holier Than Thou Believer by his neighbors. Perhaps he was called ignorant by the enlightened thinkers of his day. Or maybe the community just considered him a religious nut to be avoided. No matter how Noah was treated by others, he didn't cave in to popular opinion. He was a man of faith and obedience. He took God at His word and did all God told him to do. His faith and obedience were rewarded. God spared Noah and his family in the ark Noah built. Lest we think Noah's life and story have no bearing on us today, consider Jesus' words in Matthew 24: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be." Jesus is speaking of His second coming. We don't when this will occur, but it could be in our lifetime. May we never walk like those who "did not understand until the flood came and took them all away." Instead, may we walk as Noah walked: with God in faith and obedience.