LEARNING DAILY

Hebrews 11:9-10, By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder is God.

Judgment, the return of Christ to take His faithful followers to heaven in what is known as the rapture of the church, seven years of tribulation, and the return of Christ to establish His one-thousand-year reign on earth are thoughts upon my mind lately. Many would say that these expectations have been the thoughts of many people throughout history. It is easy to find stories of groups of people believing “their leader” had divine knowledge of Christ’s return. So, they sold everything and sat on roof tops in order to be first to be “raptured” – only to discover he had the wrong date and it had to be reset. Many thought that because of World War 1 the end of the age was near. The Apostle Paul believed and wrote that the end of days was to occur in his time. I don’t believe the Christians of years past have been totally wrong; their thinking about the timing was wrong.

Several days ago, the blog was about the Believer’s hope in Christ Jesus. Abraham lived in a foreign land waiting for the city of God, a heavenly city built by Him. Is that not the hope of every person calling themselves a Christian? We don’t ever seem to get the timing right, but the fact remains we will see God’s glory in His timing! Each of us must continue on as we walk the narrow way Jesus said we must walk. Let’s get something straight. There is a great difference between what the Bible says about the return of Christ and the hope of His return; one might believe in the doctrine but are not living for and looking for Him to come. In other words, there are those who believe Jesus will return and establish His kingdom on earth but are not anticipating it by their lifestyle.

You are probably wondering what I mean. Examine your lifestyle. Does the comfort you live in, the wealth you have, the “stuff” you have, or the busyness of life make “the city which has foundations, whose builder is God” harder to imagine or anticipate? The prosperous and comfortable lifestyle we are so used to can cause us to lose sight of the coming kingdom of God.

Losing sight of the kingdom of God can easily be seen. Part of the cause I explained in the last page of the blog – deception by the devil. But there might be other reasons. There is too much false teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ Himself from the pulpit. False teachers have taught so many evil things about our Lord that even professed Christians do not believe He will return unless it is through the help of man. A. W. Tozer has written “This revised expectation amounts to disillusionment for many, of course no one can become too radiantly happy over a King of kings who has been stripped of His crown or a Lord of lords who has lost His sovereignty”.

The early church had an expectancy of The Lord’s return. If I could scold you into having the childlike belief that the trumpet could sound any day calling Believers to join our Lord and encourage you into living and walking the narrow way, I would! I am trying to get you to understand that as a Believer, you must realize you are saved when you give your life to Jesus. Every day after that is for God to prepare you for His kingdom; the worldliness and self-centeredness is dealt with as we walk the narrow way. Shouldn’t all of as God’s Children be attracted to and desire holiness? Isn’t holiness to be like God? God does not ask us to produce our own holiness; that is the product of a daily walk with Him.

I want you to be diligently living your life for Jesus Christ as preparation for His kingdom. I pray in that process you a looking for and ready for the time the trumpet blows signaling for believers to meet Him in the clouds or when He calls you home. Be wise knowing that every day on the narrow way is a day of spiritual preparation and growth, another day with God’s eternal kingdom before us. It’s time for the true Church to begin to be diligently watching for, waiting for, and living for “the city which has foundations, whose builder is God”.