Continued from Part 1.
Have you heard the news? Jesus is coming back!
Really?
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Pet 3:3-4, 10a, 14)
"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming'. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows." (Luke 12:35, 37a, 38-40, 45a, 46-47 )
Keep in mind the two prerequisites to properly understanding this post: Being joyfully satisfied in Him and living by faith in His grace to work in and through me. In light of Jesus' Second Coming, how shall I now live?
1 Pet 4:7-11 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
pray - I am at war. Everything in the world, everything in my flesh, and the spiritual forces of evil (Eph 6:12) are all vying for my attention and trying to pull me away from my mission, my purpose, my focus. LORD, make me clear minded and self-controlled! Why? So I can live at peace within myself? No! So that I can pray! Spiritual battle is imperative. Prayer is one of my least-utilized, yet greatest weapons. Against unbelief and wrong thinking. For God's will to be accomplished in me and others. For God to pour out His grace abundantly and create the impossible. How much I desperately need to pray!
love - God has lavished His love on me. Taking my sins on Himself. Dying so I might live. Forgiving all my yuck. Giving me His perfect righteousness. Adopting me as His child. Giving me His Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing eternal life with Him. Giving me abundant mercy and grace and promises. So that I can feel good about myself? No! So that I can love others fervently, with wild abandon. Forgiving as I have been forgiven. Pouring out His mercy and grace to people who don't deserve it, just like me. This love covers over a multitude of sins. This is gospel love.
offer hospitality - The word hospitality literally means "loving guests" or "fond of strangers". Dictionary definitions convey the thought of having a disposition of friendliness and receptiveness to others. An overall warmth in welcoming and receiving people. I get the idea of genuinely liking and taking an interest in others. What a testimony to the love of Christ. What a ministry! How to touch the soul of any human being - take a genuine interest in them and treat them with warm respect. Why? To win friends and influence people? No! To get the focus off myself, to share the overflowing abundance of the love of God, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
use spiritual gifts - Every child of God has been given a spiritual gift "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Eph 4:12-13, 16) I cannot bury my gift. I must use it to edify the Body, sharing the joy in Him, and thus bringing honor and glory to God.
It's time for me to pull out all the stops and be a good steward of everything God has given me. Forgiveness, acceptance, love, mercy, grace. My mind, my time, my energy, my focus, my love, my emotions, my gifts. To share Jesus and the fullness and joy and satisfaction He's given me. So God will be glorified. To Him be the glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
More specifics to be continued in Part 3.
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