Tag: Jim Hughes

Expect Christ To Come

1 Thessalonians 5:2 New Living Translation (NLT)

For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

I live in a state of expectation. I expect the Lord to come just about any time. I do not expect life to go on as it is now for very much longer. I have no way of knowing when the Lord is coming, but when He does, I know that He will catch everyone by surprise. He will not give us any other warnings than what He has already given us in His Word. He will come as a thief in the night.

silhouette of a bird above clouds

Since we know that He will come without any warning, how should we be living? We should always be in a state of readiness. We dare not get lazy and let our guard down. We must always make sure that we are living holy lives before God. We must be obeying Him in every area of our lives. We must be serving Him and be witnesses for Him. We dare not let the thought that He may not come for a while cause us to get careless in our walk with Him. We must always strive to deal with sin whenever it crops up in our lives.
Since we don’t know when the Lord is coming for sure, we should be actively involved in helping as many people as we can to know Him. We need to be sharing our faith with all that we can. We should be praying for those we know who are lost. We should be taking advantage of the opportunities we have to sow the seed of the Gospel. We should be praying for those who are actively working in the harvest field. We should be striving for the peace and unity in the Church and not participate in those things which divide her.

There is no question that Jesus is coming and He is coming at a time we will least expect it. We must always stay ready so that we are not unprepared and left behind when He comes. Are you ready?

Be Opportunistic

Colossians 4:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT)

Col. 4:5-6 Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone. NLT

Wisdom would teach us that we must be careful about how we live in the world. We must accept the fact that we are being watched and eternal decisions are being influenced by what others see in us. It matters what we say and do. Often people are just looking for excuses to not make a commitment to Christ.

Wisdom would teach us to take care of our souls before we enter into the world. We know that we will influence people and perhaps for all eternity by how we are in the world. We must understand that without the constant lordship of Christ over us we may very well do far more harm than good to those we meet in the world. We must enter into the world bathed in prayer and the Word. It protects us from the world and prepares us to be witnesses in the world.

men having conversation sitting in a coffee shop

Wisdom would teach us to be alert to opportunities we are given to be witnesses for Christ in the world. We dare not assume that missed opportunities don’t matter. We don’t know the state of someone’s heart. Perhaps the Lord has adequately prepared them for salvation and all they need is our witness to nudge them into the Kingdom.

Wisdom would teach us to be aware of what we say and how we say it. We must take responsibility for words spoken. They do matter to God and others, and they should matter to us. What we say and how we say it originates in the heart.

If you lack wisdom today, before you do anything else, ask the Lord to give you some. All you have to do is ask. He has promised to give it to all who seek it.

Straining Toward the Goal

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14 ESV

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are not where God wants you to be in Christ. You have some growing up to do yet. There are flaws in your character that the Lord needs to change. There are problems yet with the way you think about things. But guess what, the same thing is true of me and every other child of God. We will always come up short while we are living in the flesh. There is coming a day in which we will no longer need to grow and change, but now is not that time. Our response to this truth is to not give up trying. We must determine in our hearts to press on with all the effort we can muster to be better than we are today, with a clear vision of Christ before us.

Strain to grow. It is not an easy process. Growing in Christ takes much persistence, perseverance, and patience. It doesn’t happen overnight. The journey has many twists and turns, ups and downs. There are many victories along the way as well as battle scars. If it were easy, everyone who professes to be a child of God would become mature and be easy to get along with.

Forget the past and all that is there; press on. As long as you are looking behind you, you are not moving forward. You can’t press on when you are strapped down with your past. You cannot keep your eyes fixed on what lies before you when they are fixed on what is behind you. What is under the blood stays there. When Christ forgives us of our past and lets it go, we must do the same.

There is a wonderful day ahead of us in which we will be with our Lord. Keep your eyes focused on that day and live for it with all the energy and determination you can muster. The Lord is ahead of you, waiting for you. He’s got your back covered so give Him all you’ve got.

What do you expect?

Philippians 1:20 For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die. NLT

I don’t believe most of us can make a statement like this. Most of us do not expect to never do anything that would cause us to be ashamed. We are not confident enough in our righteousness to believe that we could ever do it. From experience, we know that we mess up, that we sin. We seldom get to the point where we actually believe that we will be strong enough to not sin. Yet, Paul believed it was possible and he was not afraid to go out on a limb and proclaim it.

Paul expected to always be a bold witness for Christ. He based his hope on the fact that it was true of him in the past and he saw no reason why it would change. His passion for Christ was so strong that he simply couldn’t hold it in. He had to be a witness for Him. We should strive to be like Paul. Our love for Christ should compel us to be bold witnesses for Him. If we are not witnesses for Him, then perhaps we better re-evaluate our standing before God. We are bold witnesses for those things which excite us.

Paul’s passion was to always honor Christ, whether in life or death. It should be the passion of every believer’s heart. Do you honor Christ in your living? If you do, you certainly will honor Him in your death. Our expectation should always be that we would live honorable lives before God in Christ. Let us leave no doubt as to whom we are living for by the way we live our lives. In all things, honor the Lord in word and deed.