MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, JESUS CHRIST IS REAL AND HE WILL BE RETURNING!

BIBLE PASSAGE:
They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph
over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and
with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.
(Revelation 17:14)

MEDITATION:
The Second Coming of Jesus will be the greatest event of all the ages.
It is one of the grand theological truths taught in the Bible from Genesis
to Revelation.

According to some statistics I’ve seen (I haven’t unconfirmed them):
    – The new birth is vitally important,
         but it is mentioned only 9 times in the New Testament.
    – Baptism is vitally important,
         but it is mentioned only 20 times in the New Testament.
     – As important and needful as it is,
         repentance is mentioned only 70 times in the Bible,
    – But the return of the Lord Jesus Christ
         is mentioned in God’s Word at least 380 times.

If we believe the Bible and we believe that Jesus loves us, died
for us on the cross, was resurrected and is now with the Father,
then we should have a desire to follow Him without reservations.

Did you notice the last part of Revelation 17:14?
It identifies those who will be with the Lord on that glorious day.

First:
All who have been called will be with Him.
The scriptures tell us:
    For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
    that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
    (John 3:16)

“Whoever” includes every person, which means we have all been called,
but how many of us have responded to His call?

Second:
All who have been chosen will be with Him.
As with the first identification,
every person has the opportunity to be ‘His chosen’.

Lastly:
His ‘faithful followers’ will be with Him.
This identification is extremely important because it confirms
the first two. When we’ve been called, and we’ve answered
the call, we prove we belong to Him by faithfully following Him.

ACTION:
The scriptures are clear about what following Christ means.
It describes people who are willing to exchange selfishness for selflessness,
exchange independence for dependence, and exchange pursuit of worldly
pleasures for developing an intimate relationship with the Lord.

Does that mean we will never stumble in our attempts to reject and avoid
temptations and sin? We are human and prone to failures, but it’s how we
react to those failures that’s important.

Do we continue in sin, or do we confess them to the Lord, ask for His
forgiveness, and make every attempt to avoid them going forward;
and do we prove our sincerity by asking Him to help us?

If we ask Him to help us but still entertain thoughts of continuing in the
sin that ‘so easily entangles us’, then we are lacking a heart that is sincere
about forsaking them, aren’t we?

Sincerity means forsaking worldly pleasures in our pursuit of heavenly
blessings. Satan wants to convince us that we can blend righteousness
with unrighteousness, but God’s Word is clear and understandable:
    You cannot drink the cup of the Lord
    and the cup of demons too; you cannot have
    a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
    (1 Corinthians 10:21)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, You know the raging battle for
control of my mind and soul. The evil one is relentless
in his efforts to corrupt my mind and thoughts about
righteousness, and I can only have victory over these
unrighteous thoughts with Your help. Thank You for
what Jesus did for me, and for sending me Your Holy
Spirit to guide and me in this continual battle. Thank
You for how Your Spirit helps me in transforming to
become more like Jesus. I look forward to the day when
Jesus returns to take His followers home with Him to
eat at Your table. While I am waiting, I pray that You
would work through me as You speak to the hearts of
those who don’t know You, and those who are confused
about righteousness and unrighteousness.”

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