Monday, April 15, 2013

April 15
On That Day

Luke 17:11-37    J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

Jesus heals ten men of leprosy: only one shows his gratitude

11-13 In the course of his journey to Jerusalem, Jesus crossed the boundary between Samaria and Galilee, and as he was approaching a village, ten lepers met him. They kept their distance but shouted out, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14-18 When Jesus saw them, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that as they went on their way they were cured. One of their number, when he saw that he was cured, turned round and praised God at the top of his voice, and then fell on his face before Jesus and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan. And at this Jesus remarked, “Weren’t there ten men healed? Where are the other nine? Is nobody going to turn and praise God for what he has done, except this stranger?”
19 And he said to the man, “Stand up now, and go on your way. It is your faith that has made you well.”

Jesus tells the Pharisees that the kingdom is here and now

20-21 Later, he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he gave them this reply: “The kingdom of God never comes by watching for it. Men cannot say, ‘Look, here it is’, or ‘there it is’, for the kingdom of God is inside you.”

Jesus tell his disciples about the future

22-36 Then he said to the disciples, “The time will come when you will long to see again a single day of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. People will say to you, ‘Look, there he is’, or ‘Look, here he is.’ Stay where you are and don’t go off looking for him! For the day of the Son of Man will be like lightning flashing from one end of the sky to the other. But before that happens, he must go through much suffering and be utterly rejected by this generation. In the time of the coming of the Son of Man, life will be as it was in the days of Noah. People ate and drank, married and were given in marriage, right up to the day when Noah entered the ark—and then came the flood and destroyed them all. It will be just the same as it was in the days of Lot. People ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. That is how it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. When that day comes, the man who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside it, must not come down to get them. And the man out in the fields must not turn back for anything. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife. Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, and the man who is prepared to lose his life will preserve it. I tell you, that night there will be two men in one bed, one man will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be turning the grinding-mill together; one will be taken and the other left.”
37 “But where, Lord?” they asked him. “Wherever there is a dead body, there the vultures will flock,” he replied.
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Watching for the return of the Lord....waiting for Him to be revealed....gives us time for preparation.
What is it we need to prepare?
We are not to take anything with us, meaning, when He returns we will be going to Him. If we are away from our homes, we are not to look back to see if our family is coming along also... not to try to go get any of our personal belongings.
No bag to pack, no sack lunch, no bottles of water for the journey...
What then, must we prepare?
OURSELVES.
Our minds must be prepared.... ready for action.... able to recognize that wonderful moment when Christ returns.
Our hearts must be prepared.... ready to let go of every worldly thing... ready to let go of every person, no matter how dear they are to us, because at that moment, every person will be accountable for him or her self...
Our hearts must be prepared to trust Him completely with our loved ones, including our children and grandchildren.
The very moment we realize that the time has come, that our Savior King, the Lord Jesus Christ, is coming back, we must be ready to let every single thing fall away as we run to Him with abandon....seeking only to be near Him.
Are you ready?
 

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