DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 10.21.23

Will It Be Us? - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. �1 Thessalonians 4:17 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/will-it-be-us/- Listen It�s a question that often arises: Are we the generation that will experience the Rapture? We could be. But no one can say with complete certainty whether the Lord will return in our lifetime. Of course, some people like to point out that the word rapture isn�t in the Bible. That all depends. If you have a Latin translation, then it is. The term �caught up� in 1Thessalonians 4:17 is the Latin word rapturus, from which the English word rapture originates. You can call it something else if you�re uncomfortable with the term. But it speaks of the event when believers, who are alive, suddenly will enter the presence of God Almighty. The apostle Paul described it for us: �We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down fromheaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves� (1 Thessalonians 4:15�16 NLT). Paul continued, �Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be withthe Lord forever� (verse 17 NLT). The Greek word Paul used for �meet� carries the idea of meeting royalty or someone of great importance. And when Christ calls us to Himself, we will meet the ultimate royal:the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Do we find a mention of the Rapture any other place in Scripture? Yes. Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 24, where He said, �Two men will be working together in the field; onewill be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. So you, too, must keep watch! For you don�t know what day your Lord is coming� (verses 40�42 NLT). Practically speaking, the Rapture means no death. However, it doesn�t mean that some won�t die. But it does mean there is a generation that will not die, a generation thatwill experience the Rapture. But if the Lord doesn�t return in our lifetime, we shouldn�t be disappointed. That�s because our hope is not in the coming of the Lord. Rather, our hope is in the Lord whois coming. What should be exciting to us as believers is not how we get there as much as where we are going. We have that hope. The Bible says of Jesus� return, �The Lord isn�t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyoneto be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent� (2 Peter 3:9 NLT). We need to be ready to meet the Lord, because we don�t know what will happen next. But one way or another, we will stand before God one day. --------------------------- Waterand Blood “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood.And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1John 5:6) John’s writings are replete with examples and illustrations that focus on the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of John is built around seven great miracles of creation demonstrating the unique power that only the omnipotent Creator God could wield(John10:25). In his first epistle, John uses the word “know” 28 times to emphasize the behaviors and evidence that assure us that we have a living faith in Jesus Christ and are in truth the sons of God. In today’s text, John lists three “proofs” witnessed in history thatverify the incarnation of the God-man Jesus Christ. The water refers to physical birth—the amniotic sac that surrounds and cushions every human child until just before birth. This common experience was used by the Lord Jesus to help Nicodemus understand the necessity of the second (spiritual) birth requiredto enter the Kingdom of heaven (John3:5-6). The blood is either a reference to Christ’s death on Calvary “for the remission of sins” (Romans3:25), or, perhaps, the fulfillment of the many prophecies that this Messiah would be of the lineage of David (Luke1:32). Either way, this poignant evidence was both visible and verifiable. The “Spirit” witness is obviously the time when the Holy Spirit visibly descended like a dove on the Lord Jesus at His baptism by John the Baptist, and the voice of the heavenly Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (John1:33; Matthew 3:16-17). There is thus a threefold witness to Christ’s incarnation: human physical birth, royal bloodline with the shedding of innocent blood, and heavenly confirmation. “This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world” (John4:42). HMM III ------------------------ TheThrone of David “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be establishedfor ever.” (2 Samuel 7:16) No other ordinary human being, not even the greatest of men, was ever given a promise like this promise to David. It can be understood, however, when one realizes that David is a type of Christ and that, in terms of His human genealogy, Christ did indeed inheritthe right to David’s throne. As the angel Gabriel told Mary: “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever” (Luke1:32-33). The coming Messiah is identified as this promised Son of David in the Old Testament prophecies (e.g., Isaiah 9:6-7). Without attempting to discuss the eschatological implications of these great prophecies, it is remarkable just to note the striking typological relation of David to Christ (and, correspondingly, of Saul to Adam). Saul, like Adam, had a wonderful physique andevery natural advantage; he was given dominion over a new order of things under God; he received God’s Spirit, and his seed would have reigned forever had he not failed by intruding into a forbidden sphere. He was then rejected by God because of his disobedience,and finally the Spirit of God departed from him. David, however, is a beautiful type of the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. Though anointed, he was not accepted by his brethren; he was a shepherd and performed great services for his people before becoming king, but he was rejected and condemned to death.God delivered him, but even then he was only accepted by a few, until suddenly all Israel accepted him, and he was promised an eternal kingdom. Christ now claims: “I am the root and the offspring of David”—both Creator and heir of David—“and the bright andmorning star” (Revelation 22:16). HMM ------------------- KeepOn Keeping On “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselvesin the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude1:20-21) Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, gave his “beloved” readers an essential list of four timeless habit-building patterns expressed in four parallel Greek participles—building, praying, keeping, and looking. 1.Building. Personal edification (“building yourselves up”) comes from growing in the knowledge of “your most holy faith.” The faith “once delivered unto the saints” (v. 3) also includes the teachings of the apostles that were added to the Old Testamentand gospels. 2.Praying. Believers pray in God’s Spirit. One exposition of Jude 1:20 described it as “praying out of hearts and souls that are indwelt, illuminated, and filled with the Holy Spirit” (George Lawrence Lawlor, Translation and Exposition of the Epistle of Jude). 3.Keeping. Preserving oneself “in God’s love” (v. 21) means being nurtured by keeping occupied in obedience with God’s love. 4.Looking. We patiently wait (Greek prosdechomenoi) for the blessed hope of the return of Christ for His church. We will then enjoy never-ending eternal life in God’s presence (v. 21). Jude concluded his epistle by reminding us it’s the Lord Jesus Christ who ultimately “keeps” His child. “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (vv. 24-25). CCM --------------------- A Happy Way to Live - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. �Luke 12:37 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/a-happy-way-to-live/- Listen All around us we can see fulfilled Bible prophecies, signs indicating that the return of Jesus Christ is drawing near. As followers of Christ, we should be watching for Him. We need to be ready to go. Jesus, speaking about His return, said, �Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. .. . The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded� (Luke 12:35�37 NLT). Are you ready for His return? To be ready means to be engaged in activities that you wouldn�t be ashamed to be doing if Jesus were to return. It�s a good idea to periodicallyask ourselves this question: This place that I am about to go, this thing that I am about to do, would I be embarrassed if I were doing it when Jesus came back?� Think about your plans. Is there anything you will be doing today, tonight, or tomorrow that you would be ashamed to do if Christ were to return? If so, then change your plans.You want to be ready for His return. Not only should we be ready, but we should anxiously await the return of Christ. We used to have a German Shepherd who slept outside the bedroom, leaning against our door. We didn�t let him sleep in our room because he often had nightmares and would wakeus up. Every morning when we opened the door, he rolled into the room. Then he�d jump up and start running in circles. He was genuinely happy to see us. That is how we should be waiting for Christ�s return. And anything that might prevent us from saying �Come quickly, Lord Jesus� is out of place in our lives. In addition to waiting, we should be working. Every now and then, someone predicts that Jesus will return on a specific date. People believe these predictions and start quittingtheir jobs or divorcing their spouses. But that is not what we should be doing as we wait for the return of Christ. Instead, we should be working for Him. The Bible says, �Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works� (James 2:26 NLT). If watching is the evidence of faith, then working is the evidence of faith in action. Watching for the Lord�s return will help us prepare our own lives. But working willensure that we bring others with us to Heaven. The great British preacher C. H. Spurgeon said, �It is a very blessed thing to be on the watch for Christ. . . . You can be poor without murmuring; you can be rich withoutworldliness; you can be sick without sorrowing; you can be healthy without presumption. If you are always waiting for Christ�s Coming, untold blessings are wrapped up in that glorious hope.� When you live in the anticipation of Christ�s return, it�s a happy way to live. ------------------------- TheValley of Blessing �And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD:therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.� (2Chronicles 20:26) The name Berachah means �blessing,� and the people of Judah surely had much reason to bless the Lord. The armies of the Moabites and Ammonites, and many others, had invaded their land, and King Jehoshaphat had no forces sufficient to oppose them. But Jehoshaphat had already led his people back to the Lord, and now he prayed for their deliverance, acknowledging that the Lord was �God in heaven...so that none is able to withstand thee.� Therefore God replied, through the prophet Jahaziel, that �the battleis not yours, but God�s...stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD� (2Chronicles 20:6, 15, 17). God then set the invading armies against each other until all were slain, and God�s people were delivered without even lifting a sword. No wonder the people �blessed the LORD�! The Hebrew word berachah (�blessing�) is used some 68 times in the Old Testament, the first being God�s promise to Abraham when he followed the Lord: �And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thoushalt be a blessing� (Genesis12:2). God�s promise to Abraham has been abundantly kept, though there is much more to come. We, like the people in the valley of Berachah, have much for which to bless the Lord, for we also have seen the salvation of God: �Worthy is the Lamb that wasslain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing� (Revelation5:12). Therefore, �bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name� (Psalm103:1). HMM ---------------------- The �Unappeasable Want� - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God�s children. �Romans 8:16 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-unappeasable-want/- Listen C.S. Lewis said in The Problem of Pain, �There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts,we have ever desired anything else. . . . It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want.�[1] Deep down inside, we all feel the tug of Heaven. We know there is more to life than what we�re experiencing right now. Jesus said, �Don�t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father�s home. If this were not so, would I have toldyou that I am going to prepare a place for you?� (John 14:1�2 NLT). Heaven is a real place for real people to do real things. It is not a watered-down, diluted version of earth. Many of us have a strange concept of Heaven that movies and songshave reinforced. We assume that we�ll sit around in Heaven on big, fluffy clouds and take long naps. But that is not the real Heaven. That is not the biblical Heaven. The real Heaven is a place. When Jesus hung on the cross, two criminals hung on each side of Him. One of these men realized that he was in trouble as he faced eternity. So he said, �Jesus, remember mewhen you come into your Kingdom� (Luke 23:42 NLT). Jesus told him, �I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise� (verse 43 NLT). Heaven is a paradise. On one occasion an angry mob stoned the apostle Paul and left him for dead. Scholars believe this was the moment Paul died, went to Heaven, and came back again. Paul later described it this way: �I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don�t know�only God knows. Yes, onlyGod knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell� (2 Corinthians 12:2�4 NLT). Think of the most beautiful place you have seen. Heaven is far greater than that. It is Paradise. Yes, Heaven is real, and we can know with certainty that we�ll go to Heaven when we die. The Bible tells us, �For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God�schildren� (Romans 8:16 NLT). We call this hope, and we need hope today. In fact, experts have described Generation Z as the hopeless generation. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you can have hope. Don�t put your hope in technology or in material things. Don�t put your hope in politicians. And don�t even put yourhope in religion. Hope has a name, and it�s Jesus Christ. He is ready to change the course of your life. [1] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain. (New York: Macmillan, 1962), 145 -------------------------- TheEnd �For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shallthe end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?� (1 Peter 4:17) As Peter wrote his first epistle, foremost in his mind was a desire to encourage the believers to stand firm in the face of suffering and trial. On four occasions he used the term �the end,� focusing his readers� attention on the final resolution of all things.A study of these occurrences gives us a glimpse of the tenor of the entire book. The first use followed an explanation of the nature and benefits of the various trials in a believer�s life. The result would be a pure, effective faith now, as well as �receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls� (1:9), the final ultimate deliverance of our whole person. Meanwhile, �gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ� (1:13). Our minds should be completely (�to the end�) ready for action, sober and expectant, focusedon the ultimate resolution of all trials. This ultimate resolution could come at any time: �The end of all things is at hand� (4:7). Our responses should be to �be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.� To be sober is to be of sound judgment, making careful decisions, not based on emotion;especially watchful as we pray, with eternity in mind. Our text gives us the last occurrence of �the end.� The time of final judgment on both Christian and non-Christian looms nearer and nearer. But God�s cleansing of His people has already begun, and it at times is not pleasant, although beneficial. His judgmenton those outside �the house of God� will be much more severe, with no opportunity for reconciliation. This warning should motivate us in our ministry to the unsaved. JDM --------------------------------------------- God�sFinal Word �The LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.� (Zechariah14:9) God cannot be defeated in His creative purpose for this earth and its people. In the beginning, there was only God. In the ending, there will be one Lord, and His name one. In the meantime, He is working out His great plan of reconciliation, as revealed in His Word. In the magnificent book of Revelation, especially the last two chapters, we are carried forward in the Spirit into the never-ending glories of the renewed earth, withthe great Creator and Redeemer dwelling there with His people eternally. But in that final chapter, there are some final words from the Lord to guide and warn us until He returns. There is one final invitation, for example: �And let him that is athirst come� (Revelation22:17). Then there is a final warning. This completed book of Scripture contains all that man will ever need to know concerning salvation, the Christian life, and God�s great plans, so let no man �add unto these things� or �take away from the words ofthe book of this prophecy� (vv. 18-19). There is no salvation except through His Word. Next, there is a final promise. �He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly� (v. 20). Of all the promises of God, there is none more �exceeding great and precious� than this (2Peter 1:4). In response, there is a final prayer, teaching us that this should be the climax of every believing prayer: �Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus� (v. 20). This is our greatest need! Lastly, there is a final benediction, the same as the close of each of Paul�s epistles, and the most wonderful of all the words of a holy, yet loving, Creator, �The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen� (v. 21). It is fitting that God�s Word,which began with His creation, should end with His saving grace! HMM ------------------------ OnlyOne Way - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. �1 John 2:17 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/only-one-way/- Listen A pastor who was speaking at a funeral service was trying to explain what happens after we die. Then he suddenly thought of an illustration. Motioning toward the casket, hesaid, �Here in this casket lies just a shell. The nut is gone.� It didn�t go the way he expected it to. When we die, our bodies will go into the ground, but our souls will enter the afterlife. Those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ will immediately go into the presenceof God. Years ago, one of my granddaughters looked at me with a sad expression and said, �Papa, why do we have to die? Why can�t we just float up to Heaven?� That�s a great question. The answer is that in the Garden of Eden, it never was God�s intention for people to die. There was no death, no pain, and no tears. But because ourfirst parents, Adam and Eve, sinned, sin then entered the human race. They rebelled against God because they had a will of their own, and that rebellion is called sin. And because of that sin, we now have death. If Adam and Eve had not sinned,we never would die, get sick, or even age. But they did sin. And sin, like a disease, entered the human race. We were all born with it. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. It comes naturallyto us. The Bible says, �For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God�s glorious standard� (Romans 3:23 NLT). If we want to go to Heaven, then we must be forgiven of our sins. We can�t come up with our own idea of how to get to Heaven. In fact, we wouldn�t know anything about Heavenif we didn�t read about it in the Bible. There is only one way to get to Heaven, and that is through God�s Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for us. For Christians, death is not the end. The Bible says, �And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will liveforever� (1 John 2:17 NLT). Jesus said, �I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die� (John11:25�26 NLT). Awhile back we were walking on the beach, and my wife, Cathe, said, �Be careful, there are bees on the beach.� Just then, I stepped on one. The stinger went into my foot,which swelled a little. Jesus took the sting of death when He died on the cross. That is why Bible tells us, �Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is yoursting?� (1 Corinthians 15:54�55 NLT). Death died when Christ rose. And as Christians, we will live forever. That is the hope the Bible gives us. --------------------------- TheFather of Lights �Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whomis no variableness, neither shadow of turning.� (James1:17) God Himself is both author and finisher of everything we have that is good. This, of course, is the testimony concerning His creation in the beginning, which was both �very good� and �finished� (Genesis1:31; 2:1). The unique name �Father of lights� seems to suggest a remarkable scientific insight. Since light is the most basic form of energy, and yet is equivalent also to all other forms, and since literally everything in the physical universe is energy in some form, it is singularly appropriate to speak of the totality of all God�s good and perfect gifts in creation as �lights.� And, since all these energies are not now being created (only �conserved�), their original source can only be from the Father of lights! There even seems to be a hint of both of the great laws of science, energy conservation as well as energy deterioration. The term �variableness,� used only here, means literally �transmutation.� Just as God is immutable, the total amount of His created �lights� is conserved�neither created nor destroyed. The Second Law states that, in all energy conversions (that is, in everything that happens), the entropy of the universe increases. �Entropy� means �in-turning,� coming from two Greek words, en and trope�the second of which is used in this verse. Entropy is a measure of disorganization, and its inexorable increase is a result of God�s curse on the creation following man�s rebellion. Thus, although the total energy of the universeis conserved (by the First Law), the available energy is decreasing (by the Second Law). Nevertheless, God Himself is not bound by this law that He has imposed, for a time, on His creation. With Him is not even a �shadow� of any �turning� (trope).God never changes, and His purposes can never be defeated! HMM ----------------------------- Please Be Patient - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord�s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerlylook for the valuable harvest to ripen. �James 5:7 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/please-be-patient/- Listen James is an extremely practical book. It takes the great truths of the Christian faith and then attaches a �so what?� afterward. We discover what these truths mean to us andhow they affect our lives. And in chapter 5, James shares important principles regarding what we should be doing as believers who are waiting for the Lord�s return. He writes, �Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord�s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. Theyeagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near� (verses 7�8 NLT). James tells us that the farmers wait for the early and latter rains. They also look eagerly, or expectantly, for the harvest to ripen. Farmers today use sophisticated technology. Not only do they have advanced irrigation systems, but they can take satellite photos of their property so they know which partsof their fields need more water and which parts have enough or maybe too much. They can harness this technology to harvest their crops. However, ancient farmers didn�t have modern irrigation systems. They depended completely on the rain to sustain their crops. They had to wait for the rain, and the early rains in Israel usually arrived in late October or early November. They softened the hard, baked soil for plowing. Then the latterrains came in late April and May. These were essential for the crops to mature. But if a farmer grew impatient and tried to harvest the seed before it was ready, he could uproot the entire process. He had to wait. No crop appears overnight, except a crop of weeds, of course. Isn�t it amazing how quickly weeds can grow? We will carefully nurture a little plant that we�re growing, andit might gain an inch or two over time. Meanwhile, the weeds have grown three feet high. They need no help whatsoever. If we want a good spiritual harvest in our lives, it takes time. We must be patient. And if we�re waiting for the return of Christ, we must be patient as well. Yet that isdifficult to do in our on-demand culture of today. We don�t have to wait and save money to purchase something we want. We want it now. We feel that we deserve it, so we just charge it. But as we wait for the Lord�s return, we need to remember that God is not bound by our schedules. He has His own. The Bible tells us, �But when the right time came, God senthis Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children� (Galatians 4:4�5 NLT). Jesus will come at the appointed time. And just as He came the first time at the appointed hour, He will come the second time in the same way. -------------------------