OUR GOOD SHEPHERD
God has given us another day to praise and worship him in spirit and in truth.
He is our Good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep.
We are as his sheep and would be so lost without him to guard,
guide, and care for us. His plans for us are for peace and hope as declared in His
Holy Word. With Christ first in our lives as our "Good Shepherd",
we too can declare by faith, "I shall not want."
He holds our future in his hand. He loves us with a love that is unfailing and will go the extra mile for his
children. Just as the earthly Shepherd cared for the sheep of his flock and
wanted the best for each one, our heavenly Father wants the best for each of us.
The Shepherd in Bible days would lay in front of the sheep gate and
guard the entrance of the fold. The sheep would be protected and not one sheep could
stray from safety in the night. This is what our Lord did for us. He is the door and the gate to salvation and as such
we have safety and assurance through "the way" of the cross which leads home.
He laid down his life on Calvary's tree so we could receive salvation.
He guards and guides us daily and through Him the enemy
of our soul has to flee.
His goodness and mercy not only follows us, but He goes before us and prepares
a table before us laden with many blessings and the hidden manna of his Word.
He gave his life for the sheep. Will we give our life to Him and entrust Him to keep us?
We need to tell Him we trust Him with whatever He may be doing in our
lives. All things will work together for good if we love Him. {Rom. 8: 28}
We must put into action what we hear. Our spoken words must also have action
or deeds in love for them to be received and bring life and spirit.
God's Word will bring us true revelation knowledge and wisdom needed
in our Christian walk. We can give thanks for our
Good Shepherd. He will never let us
down or fail us. Bless his name today.
God Bless And Keep Thee And Make His Face To
Shine Upon Thee.
Jo Ann
J. P.'s Inspirations (c) 2001
Our Soon Coming King
He's Coming Back Soon!
"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a mighty shout
and with the soul-stirring cry of the archangel and the great trumpet-call of God.
And the believers who are dead will be the first to rise to meet the Lord.
Then we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with Him forever.
So comfort and encourage each other with this news."
1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18 (Life Application Bible)
Christians have a blessed hope of the return of the Lord and living with Him forever.
While they disagree about what events will lead to the return of the Lord,
there has been less disagreement about what will happen when Christ returns.
No man knows the day or the hour of His return but we do have a blessed promise.
We see five things from Scripture as to the events of his return.
1. Christ will return with a great and mighty shout.
2. There will be an unmistakable cry from an angel as prophesied.
3. There will be a trumpet fanfare such as never been heard before.
4. Bodies of 'Believers in Christ' shall arise from the graves as new, glorified bodies forevermore.
5. Believers who are alive at this time will be lifted into the clouds and be changed in the twinkling of an eye to meet the Lord and these in the air.
The events as to when this will occur are not as
important as the reason the Apostle Paul was writing
to the Thessalonians. Paul wanted these to know that death was not the end for the child of God.
He wrote these Scriptures to assure them that they had a blessed hope in Christ and all
'believers'-- dead or alive---will be reunited with Christ when he returns for them.
They will never suffer or die again. This was great news for these who lived at this
time and is also good news for us today.
"To be absent in the body is to be present with the
Lord". Our spirit goes to be with the Lord when the body dies.
The body rests (sleeps) in the grave until the resurrection.
Paul was challenging believers to comfort and exhort one another with this good news when
their loved ones passed away and this is a great comfort to us when any believer dies.
The same love that unites believers in this life will unite believers at the return of Christ and when he reigns
for all eternity. We will truly be as "one" as the Bride of Christ to be joined to Him as "one" Body,
and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Because Jesus was resurrected to life, we also will have life forever as Christ.
We need not despair when world events take a tragic turn or death occurs, as God will turn our tragedies to triumphs.
Our weakness will become strength through him, and our pain will be turned into joy
and glory, our defeats to victories when we endure to the end.
All believers throughout history will unite as one in Christ to forever be with the Lord.
As the Thessalonians were comforted because of their concern over those gone on
before and wondering what would happen to them, many today also have concern.
We can also comfort one another by the blessed promises of the Scriptures
and know that God is faithful to perform what He has said.
Details of the timing are not important as the fact that
He is coming again soon. We must be ready to meet the Lord.
He will return for his own. One day we will hear the call to go with the Lord to the Father's House.
The King is coming! We must be ready as no man knows the day or the hour.
He's coming back soon, Hallelujah!
Blessings in Christ,
Jo Ann
J. P.'s Inspirations (c) 2002
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