There IS Good News

I have always said that the main difference between the 1^st Century Christians and us today is that they walked around with cricks in their necks from looking heavenward all the time.  The first Christians were constantly on the lookout for Jesus to return!   Over and over in the New Testament writers admonished their readers to be ready, to be on guard: The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11).   The day of the Lord is nearer every day! 

Paul also penned these words in 1 Thessalonians 5:15-17:  According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.   Let their be no mistake about it: The Lord is coming again, and when He does, we will all face judgment.  However, we Christians who are still here when Jesus comes will join those who have proceeded us to be with the Lord forever!  

As the world around us grows more crazy; as the financial markets stumble; as the winds of war and terror continue to blow; please don't forget Paul's words.   Wake up!   The Lord is coming sooner than when we first believed.   If the stock market collapses tomorrow, if terrorist strike again, if we are plunged into world war, then don't forget this:  The day of Lord is coming when we who are faithful will join Him in the clouds.   Amen!

It is so easy to be caught in all the fast-paced turmoil of life.  We have to be here.  We have to be there.  Always in a hurry.  It is so easy to become exhausted and simply worn out.  Life on earth has a way of just beating us down.  Paul knew that, and that's why he wrote the following to the saints in Corinth:   Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Don't lose heart, even as you seem to waste away in the fast pace of this world.  Instead, be confident that our future glory will far surpass the attractions of this world.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and our struggles here will show themselves for what they are:  just minor bumps along the path to eternal heaven.

What a message of hope there is in God's inspired Word.  What a message of hope to share with a world so desperate for good news.  While the world goes crazy all around us, don't miss the chance to share this hope with someone you know who is struggling, someone who has yet to find out that true riches, glory and honor are found only in Jesus.

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.

-John Gooch