Verse of the Day 7/14
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will becaught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and sowe will always be with the Lord. English Standard Version (ESV)
I returned from vacation and yesterday came back to the real world. The first event of the week was our men's Bible study where we were studying John 11 and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. In that chapter Jesus had said to the disciples that "this will not end in death" (v.4). But Lazarus did die. Jesus delayed in going Bethany for two days. The reaction to this by Mary, Martha and others who were present when Jesus showed up was "if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Martha still believed in Jesus as the Messiah and that He had the power to raise the dead, but it had been 4 days and she didn't even ask Him to do so. She did believe in the resurrection in the end times. But Jesus had something else planned. He delayed, He allowed things to happen so that His power could be displayed, that there could be no doubt. Against impossible odds (at 4 days the Jews believed there was no hope), Jesus went to the tomb and called out "Lazarus come out!". Lazarus did come out, wrapped in grave cloth.
In John 11:25 Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
The question is for us as well. Do you believe this? Do you believe that He is coming again? Do you believe that the dead in Christ will rise?
If so, you have the confidence, the hope, the faith that He will return and cry out a command to you to rise up to everlasting life.
Many in the world today live without hope. The Message of the Gospel is that in Jesus Christ there is hope for today and for eternity.
- Marvelous message we bring,
Glorious carol we sing,
Wonderful word of the King,
Jesus is coming again!
- Chorus
Coming again, Coming again,
May be morning, may be noon,
May be evening and may be soon!
Coming again, Coming again;
O what a wonderful day it will be -
Jesus is coming again!
May we be encouraged by this and share the message with someone who needs to hear it today.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18The Message (MSG)
15-18 And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master's word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they'll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God's trumpet blast! He'll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they'll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we'll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.
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