Yesterday around 2:00 pm I had to take some pain medicine for my shoulder. Being a hypochondriac is no fun!! About two minutes after I took the medicine my chair started to shake. I felt my pulse, thinking maybe the medicine was causing some weird reaction. I know I’m weird. When that was OK I went upstairs to ask Julie if she was banging anything. Then I found out we had an earthquake. Most of you on the East Coast of the Unites States felt it yesterday as it was shallow but widespread. It was felt from Ohio to the Carolinas to the Northeast.
As I was studying for today’s lesson on heaven I was thinking about how large an area we are talking about for everyone to feel this tremor at the same time. I mean REALLY, this is a huge area for it all to happen at the same time. God can choose to shake anyone or anything at anytime.
Matthew 24:7,8 “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Matthew 24:29-31 ““Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’“ At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
Here is where I want to mesh our prayer life with heaven. Our prayer life a lot of times is lacking because we think we have time. If we knew that Jesus was coming today we would not go to work or do much of anything else except get ready. We may call up loved ones to tell them about the gospel. We would be in prayer thinking about Jesus. As quick and as stealth as that earthquake came yesterday so will be the coming of Jesus. The earthquake instead of lasting for 30 seconds could have turned into an all out Armageddon. .Can you imagine the stars falling from the sky (Gravity gone haywire). Nothing would ever look the same again.
A lot of us don’t get excited about a vacation till it is a few weeks off. That is why we sometimes have apathy in our spiritual life. We think that death and the second coming of Jesus are far off. We think we have time. Can you today get in the mindset that we don’t have time? Can you pray that the Lord would give you a sense of urgency in your soul that this could be the day? The question is “Are You Ready” to meet Jesus? You see, believer and non believer will meet Jesus and everyone will kneel before Him. Romans 14:11. Those that have put their faith and trust in Jesus will AUTOMATICALLY enter heaven. There are many “Good People” that will enter hell for eternity because they chose to wait. There are no second chances after Jesus comes or after we take our last breath. That is why I always ask you to share this devotional with others. This link shows people how they can know for sure how they can go to heaven.
http://www.theultimatedecision.com/howtogettoheaven.html
Tomorrow we will be talking about the dimensions of heaven and what heaven looks like. We not only need to be ready to go but we need to have a heart for going. If your prayer life and your thoughts about Jesus have been wavering then please pray this prayer with me.
“Lord, please forgive me for putting you down my list of priorities. I know that you died on the cross and rose form the dead to pay the penalty for my sins. Thank you for purchasing a place for me in heaven. But Lord, please through your Holy Spirit reenergize my soul. Please have my hearts desire to be for you instead of the things of the world that will fade away in an instant. Lord help me to not only live for you but to have a sense of urgency in all that I do. Help my prayer life to be as though I am speaking to you. Help me Jesus to feel it in my soul. Help me to be ready and help me to encourage those around me to get ready to. Thank you Jesus for your protection and love.” Amen
Everything in front of you will fade away except Jesus. Please let this prayer permeate through your soul so you can cast off the illusion Satan is trying to create that this is all there is. This is only the beginning heaven is for real and for eternity.
Have a great day.
Brad
