Why are you following Jesus in the first place?

FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE LAST DAYS

Chapter 6

Why are You following Jesus in the First place?

Abraham in the Old Testament is known as The Father of Faith.

He earned this title simply by believing in faith that

God will do what God says He will do.

You believe that don’t you?

You believe that God will do what He says He will do, right?

And you live your life like you believe it, don’t you?

Ya, me neither.

I want to,

I try to,

I hope to believe,

but when it doesn’t happen,

I tend to blame myself for not understanding God, or for getting in Gods way and screwing things up. Admittingly, there was a time when I actually blamed God for things not working out. Mostly, I thought that He was punishing me or that I wasn’t worthy enough of His blessings.

As I struggled through out the years, searching for that secret formula that would give my life purpose and a sense of satisfaction in knowing that I was pleasing to God, I found that I was partaking in something unplanned by myself. I found that my relationship with God was changing. I was realizing how patient he was with me. Especially when I had those throw a fit, sit down and pout, pity parties for myself.

He never left me behind.

He was never to busy for me.

It seemed that God was allowing me as much time as it took for me to come to the place of faith in Him that would allow me to continue in our walk together down some deeper paths.

Imagine walking with God.

What big foot steps He has.

If you spend your life trying to walk in His footsteps I promise you, you will never succeed. His footsteps are just too big. They are just too big.

So what do I offer to you?

Take what faith you have right now and invest it in following after Jesus. And if in your daily activities He calls you out to do or say something to or for someone, then just do it. You had the faith to follow Him there didn’t you? You are not going to tell me that you spent all that time and prayer and frustration in following Jesus that closely that you don’t even have an ounce of faith to do Him a simple favor?

That’s like driving all the way out to the Grand Canyon and then never getting out of the vehicle. Why did you go there in the first place?

Why are you following Jesus in the first place?

Please believe me God is more patient that you are immature.

Tell ya what, let’s just take a break and go sightseeing with God.

Genesis 15:5 Then He (God)brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Righteous is being in a state of vindication.

Vindicate means To clear of accusation, blame, suspicion, or doubt with supporting arguments or proof: To defend, maintain, or insist on the recognition of one's rights.

Now you may believe this to be true, but the proof as they say, is in the pudding. Do you think and live like you believe this to be true?

Decide right now, is God a liar or does trusting in Jesus, who is the truth, make you righteous?

Does your faith in Jesus clear you of accusation, blame, suspicion and doubt?

Can you just believe that Jesus isn’t lying to you and that’s it?

Doesn’t there need to be proof?

Doesn’t there need to be evidence?

Let’s take another look at Genesis 15:5.

This is the place where an amazing event takes place.

It is a place where God puts all His cards on the table before Abraham and gives him the deal of a lifetime.

Genesis 15:5 Then He brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

The first thing that God did was He took Abraham outside.

Interesting enough, the word “outside” in Hebrew is “chuts”, it means “street”. It kind of reminds you of the childhood game, “Chutes and Ladders.” In the game you go though life climbing ladders and sliding down chutes. Today we call that gaining ground and losing ground, one step forward, two steps back, and it seems that most people live their lives that way.

No purpose, no meaning, no real fulfillment. How wonderful it is to come to Christ and know that God has a purpose for your life!

God had a purpose for Abraham’s life too, even when most of us would have thought that Abraham was far to old for God to use him, or accomplish anything lasting or important through him. Think you are too old for God to use you? Think you missed your calling and now God has moved on to someone else? Think again. God is not through with you yet.

In Genesis 15:5 God took Abraham out from his dwelling place to the street of the world.

That’s the place where we all do business. That’s the place which we all enter to get from one location to another. It’s a path which we all travel on a daily basis.  It’s where we meet others of our kind, and those who are different. It’s the place where culture and tradition encounter one another.

Now imagine if you will God saying…

Abraham, I know you are a busy man. I know you have much to do and you have many responsibilities. I am aware that everyday you leave your home and enter the world. You till the soil, you tend your livestock and interact with friends, family and strangers. But tonight, while the air is cool, the sky is dark and the surroundings are quiet, I want you to pause and see some of my handiwork. As a matter of fact Abraham, I want to show you something that I have made for you myself. Consider it a gift, a reminder of my thoughts towards you and all the others that inhabit the earth with you. Abraham, look now towards heaven…

Can you imagine Abraham, standing still outside in the dark of the night, looking up into the starlit sky?

Can you see the thousands and thousands, even millions of brightly shining stars, planets and galaxies filling the dark sky with the twinkling sparkling fireworks of Gods beauty and creativity?

What do you suppose Abraham was thinking?

What would you be thinking? Do words like beautiful, majestic, dazzling, bright, awesome, vast, immense, endless and breathtaking come to mind? Wouldn’t it make you pause and think of Gods mighty power, His hugeness and creative genius? Wouldn’t you find yourself with your mouth wide open, just staring in wonder, filled with the overwhelmingly awesome beauty of Gods glorious majesty?

So there they stand, God and Abraham, and since we are using our imaginations here, imagine that you are Abraham. And then God begins to play a little game with you. He turns towards you and says, Child of mine, try and count the stars… and like counting gumballs in a big bowl to win a prize you start to count them off. 1, 2, 3, and after a short while you begin to group them together and you try to estimate their numbers, but soon you find even that gets confusing.

You estimate thousands, then tens of thousands then hundreds of thousands and then suddenly, you stop counting.

It hits you, there are too many to count, to many to estimate. God has given you an impossible task to do.

Realizing this, you turn to God and softly say, Father, there are too many of them.

I cannot imagine their numbers so how could I possibly count them. Father, your creation is far too vast and I am far too small. And then God, with a kind and loving look on His face, turns to you and says,

so shall your descendents be.

Immediately it hits you, the 2^nd impossible thing that God brings up.

First its count the stars, now its you are gonna have a bazillion offspring.

The impossibility of it all hits you, your mind stalls, and then quickly reengages and you find that your mouth is already speaking…

But God, you begin to say, and He responds by placing an upright finger over your lips as He softly says shhhhh.

And there you stand, stunned at the plan and promise that God has laid before you, and you find yourself turning your face upward in unison with God, looking back into the star strewn sky, and the two of you standing side by side, stare silently into space.

Here’s the problem.

You try to take it all in, but you can’t.

You find that it’s all to overwhelming.

It’s beyond your imagination.

It’s beyond your comprehension.

It’s impossible.

Yes, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!

Let me tell you something.

God already knew that it was impossible for Abraham to count the stars before He told Abraham to count the stars.

Did your brain kick in yet?

Can ya feel the sweet Holy Spirit of God nudging you?

The real question is,

Do you believe that when God tells you to do something,

that God already has the power to do that which He tells you to do?

And doesn’t that mean that what God is saying is that…

He has the plan.

He has the resources.

The only thing left is you.

And only you can provide that.

Listen up, here a big part of Satan’s plan for your demise.

Satan wants to break down that communication line that you have between you and God. Stop the communication means that Satan has infiltrated the ranks of your body, soul, heart, mind and spirit.

God has just given you two simple choices,

believe or not believe,

accept or reject,

be filled with wonder or just wander.

A Heart like David's

FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE LAST DAYS

Chapter 5

A HEART LIKE DAVID'S

Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

If we choose to believe the validity of the above passage, what was great about man and what were the intentions of the thoughts of his heart?

Wickedness and evil continually.

So apparently, from Gods perspective, man has a heart problem.

Its interesting that Jesus would compare our heart with treasure…

Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What is treasure?

It is the place in which good and precious things are collected.

Your heart, my heart contains what is most important to us.

And when it comes to being a Christian, it is vital for us to be aware of what our heart contains as we do not want any idols or anything that would pollute or corrupt our heart.

So how can we find out what we really treasure?

By allowing God to examine our heart.

Like David once said in Psalm 139:23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Find me out God, lets get personal. I want you to explore and examine every inch of the deepest innermost parts of my heart.

God, become intimately acquainted with me.

Try me, and know my anxieties;

Test and prove me God, see if I really do trust and place my hope in you.

24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,

Observe and watch me closely God, see if there is any idol lurking in any dark corners of my heart.

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Continually guide me, encourage me, scrutinize and discipline me in the journey of unending pure fellowship with you.

Now THAT is a heart that is after God.

Think about it.

God destroys every living person on the face of the earth, except for 8 people, because all man could think about in his heart was evil continually. Think the condition of mankind’s heart changed after the flood? Do you think that David didn’t know what he was actually asking God to do? Do you think that David thought that he would get off easy?

Take a look at what God says about mankind’s heart after the flood. Genesis 8:21 The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

God will no longer punish the sin of mans heart by punishing the heart of the man who sins. 
God has punished all of sin by punishing one man. 
The God Man, Jesus, the Christ. 
God crushed His heart and not yours, should you put your trust in Him. 

Psalm 22:14 I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me.

When was the last time that you felt your heart to be like a thin candlestick with a blow torch being held to it?

Remember the feeling of an empty heart?

The time when that one person that you poured yourself into turned their back on you and dumped you like you were a piece of worthless garbage? Remember that feeling? That’s the feeling of a heart that is like wax, that’s the feeling of a heart that is melted within you.

Have you read Psalm 22 lately? Jot the reference down now and go to it later and read it after you have examined your own heart for a little while. Or, maybe do it now…

The idea of all of this is David allowed God complete and total access to his heart, while being fully aware of his own sinful state, fully aware that God would find evil and repulsive things, and fully aware that there was no Jesus to take his place, yet fully aware of Gods love for Him.

I hope you can feel Gods gentle finger on your heart right now.

I hope you can feel His presence.

I hope you will allow Him complete and total access to all that your heart contains.

David had a heart that was not just willing to allow God entrance, but a heart that was willing to be examined under the microscope of the Holy Spirit. Are you?

Is it really possible to have full assurance and peace if you are willing to allow God to fully and completely examine your heart?

David was fully confident that no matter what God found in his heart, God would always lead him in the way that is everlasting.

If God were to examine your heart, would you be confident of this very thing?

God says that David was a man after His own heart.

It’s interesting that “after” means, in pursuit and in search of and behind in place or order.

It is obvious that David spent most of his life searching and perusing after God. It is also obvious that David, even though his struggles are told through out the Old Testament, tried his best to put his own heart behind Gods heart, desires and will, in Gods protection.

How could David do this seemingly impossible thing?

By knowing that his treasure was buried deep within Gods own heart…

Where is your treasure?

Is it safe and secure or is it great danger of being stolen and used for purposes of which you never planned…

Obedience and Faith

FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE LAST DAYS

Chapter 4

Obedience and Faith

What was it about the fruit that caused the first man and woman to disobey God?

Understand that the serpent tempted Eve by saying that they would be like God, knowing good and evil and that that power would come from eating the fruit.

The fruit in turn had its own appeal…Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

John puts that threefold temptation into perspective for us.

Like a magic trick which is the art of deception, John reveals to us the truth behind the lie.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world-the world is not eternal

The lust of the flesh,-the fruit was good for food

The lust of the eyes,-the fruit was pleasant to the eyes

And the pride of life-the fruit was desirable to make one wise

is not of the Father but is of the world.-you are slaves to whom you obey.

Peter puts obedience in this perspective.

1 Peter 1:20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

Peter says that obedience is

Believing God and His power to forgive sin, and to give eternal life.

Obedience comes from faith and hope in God.

Obedience is a sign of purity.

Obedience is knowledge of the truth.

Obedience is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Obedience is a demonstration of sincere love for one another.

Obedience is a sign of salvation.

Obedience is inspired through knowing the power of Gods word.

Jesus intended to please the Father and He demonstrated and fulfilled that by His obedience to the Father.

 We should intend to please Jesus though our faith in Jesus and we demonstrate that faith in Jesus by our obedience to Jesus.

Jesus Himself says that even He came not on His own initiative.

John 8:28 So Jesus said, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.

29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.

30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, if you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;

32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

Let me ask you, did Jesus need to have faith in God in order to believe? It’s a difficult question to answer. We can only suppose we understand it, but think of things this way.

Was Jesus fully God and fully man when He lived on the earth?

We can answer that one, yes. If Jesus was fully flesh, then what did He need? We can only answer that by listening to the words of Jesus and observing how Jesus lived His life. If we look at the above passage in scripture, we find that Jesus demonstrated a dependence on the Father by His obedience to the Father. I do not think that Jesus needed faith. He did possess faith, because frankly, Jesus is faith and the source of faith. We do know that Jesus needed obedience. Hebrews 5:8 tells us, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Can we agree that obedience is an exercise of faith?

Can we agree that our faith grows through our obedience?

Can we agree that first comes faith and grace which leads to salvation, and then comes obedience the proof of our faith and gratefulness for the grace of God?

Its only when you truly lift up Jesus,

When you look to Jesus,

When you turn to Jesus,

When you trust in Jesus,

When you rely on Jesus,

When you lean on Jesus,

When Jesus becomes your source of strength,

When Jesus becomes your refuge in time of need,

that you begin to discover not only who Jesus truly is,

but you also begin to discover who the Father truly is.

Jesus came to be our source of life and our sustainer in life and to reveal the love of the Father.

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus is the propitiation, meaning to render favorable.

It’s hard to pronounce, but even harder to grasp.

Even the disciples wrestled with this truth.

John 14:8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."

9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

Do you believe that Jesus is in the Father?

Do you believe that the Father is in Jesus?

Do you believe that Jesus speaks by the authority of God?

Do you believe that the works that Jesus performs were and are all performed by the Father who dwells within Jesus?

Jesus says in Verse 11 that you should believe that He and the Father are within one another.

Jesus also says that you should believe simply because of the works that Jesus performs.

In other words, those works should be recognizable as coming from the Father.

In other words, we can all know who God is by watching Jesus.

Now pause for a moment and take a deep breath, in the next chapter comes what I will call 

“the big question.”

Fruit

 FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE LAST DAYS

Chapter 3

Fruit

Let’s go back to the beginning and take a look at the temptation of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.

5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

The temptation is two fold.

The first is found in verse one.

The serpent got Eve to start questioning Gods purpose, word, will and guidance.

WHY WOULD GOD TELL YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS TREE? WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT THIS TREE?

Now we come to the second part of the temptation.

Look at verse 6.

The tree offered but one single attraction.

Not three, but one.

Its fruit.

It was the FRUIT of the tree that appealed to Eve.

It was the FRUIT of the tree that Eve perceived as…

1. Good for food.

2. Pleasant to the eyes.

3. Desirable to make one wise.

It was the fruit of the tree that Eve was tempted to eat.

Listen to what Jesus has to say about fruit in Matthew 7

Matthew 7:15 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Sheep are soooo cute.-they are pleasant to the eyes.

Lamb taste soooo good.-it is good for food.

Learn the lessons of the sheep and the shepherd.-it can make one wise.

BUT

some acting as sheep are actually ravenous wolves!

So how can you tell which sheep are sheep and which sheep are wolves?

16 You will know them by their fruits.

This means that you will know who a person is by their fruits.

Fruits being that which originates or comes from something.

Ok, in verse 16 the question is, who is them?

In other words, whose fruit are we to know who by?

Whose fruit are we to examine?

Is it the sheep’s fruit or the wolves’ fruit?

Well, using “them” indicates both the sheep and the wolves’.

Just a little note here, don’t you ever wonder about those Christians who quote Matthew 7:1?

1 "Judge not, that you be not judged.

We are not to judge ones heart in respect to their present salvation, or even their chance of being saved in the future.

 But we are obviously to be fruit inspectors.

Let’s read on…

17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Here’s where we Christians have a problem.

We tend to look for bad fruit in order to know what fruit is good.

How are we supposed to know the sheep from the wolves, the good fruit from the bad fruit?

After all, Adam and Eve were fooled by the good looking forbidden fruit weren’t they?

The answer is found in verse 21.

21 Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

We discern the good fruit from the bad fruit, the godly from the ungodly, the right from the wrong, and the wolves from the sheep by the fruit of obedience.

Obedience is defined as a behavior intended to please,

Compliance with that which is required by authority;

Subjection to rightful restraint or control.

Now ask yourself, are you are obedient?

Obedience implies not just submission or compliance; it implies that you have placed yourself under the power, control and authority of another.

This act of freely setting aside your own will creates a dependant relationship. You are now depending on God to not only direct your path and actions in life, but you are also depending on God to empower you to live an obedient life. When you give your heart and life to God you are turning yourself into a slave of God. God owns you. You are Gods possession.

You give your heart to God meaning your inner man, your mind and your will.

 You give your life to God meaning your flesh, your ambitions, your future, your very purpose for living is placed in Gods hands.

Yet, obedience for the Christian is a continual act of free will.

Every day you get to choose to obey or to not obey.

Understand right now that obedience to Christ has nothing to do with salvation.

Salvation is the free gift from God.

It does not come from obedience to Christ, but through faith in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. Just like baptism does not have the power of salvation, obedience does not have the power of salvation. It is the blood of Christ that washes us clean that saves us. Baptism and obedience are both evidences, fruit of our salvation.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,

10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you.

But you were washed,

but you were sanctified,

but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus

and by the Spirit of our God.

12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

You were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified.

And it was accomplished and finished in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (Notice that it is NOT by our obedience)

Obedience is a fruit born from loving God.

Obedience divides the wolves from the sheep, the authentic from the counterfeit.

Remember, you are slaves of whom you obey.

Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Obedience is not easily performed; actually it can be quite difficult. Since our obedience is not something that God takes from us, but it is something that we freely give to God, we need to have a reason; we need to have a purpose, for our obedience.

Take a look at what John says in 1 John 2:15-19

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world.

17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

Our love will not and can not accomplish Gods will.

Our love is worldly and our love is selfish.

It is only Gods love and Christ’s obedience to God that saves us.

Actually our love is not only displayed through our obedience, but our love is also displayed by our not loving a fallen world and the fallen things it contains and offers.

Now wait a minute, don’t get bent out of shape here.

It was God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son… and that was for the purpose of saving the people in the world, from sin and its impending destruction.

God is real and eternal, this world, is not.

Only earths inhabitants are eternal. And where you spend your eternity should be one of your most consuming thoughts.

I have Faith in God, I Hope...

FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE LAST DAYS

Chapter 2

I Have Faith in God, I Hope...

How do we know we believe God?

Because we demonstrate hope, the evidence of our faith.

Little God, little faith, little hope.

Great God, great faith, great hope.

But what is hope?

Hope possesses a great expectation.

Hope is expecting God to do something great!

In order to possess hope you must first possess faith.

Faith is the evidence of things hoped for.

Like faith without works is dead,

Faith without hope is pointless.

What is the point of having faith if you don’t possess a great expectation from your faith?

You do have a reason, what we would call evidence, for your faith, don’t you?

You can put your faith and hope into words right?

You can explain it can’t you?

1 Peter 3:15 tells us…

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

Let’s break this verse down.

Sanctify is to acknowledge the holiness of God who lives within your heart.

To give a defense is to make a speech about it.

To ask for a reason is to give account, to say it so it makes sense to the hearer.

Just a note on hope and witnessing.

The hope that is in you is the expectation that sets this hope apart from any other hope or expectation. In other words, what makes what you believe, so different or so special from what others believe?

Meekness is gentleness displayed through a calm mind that is not easily provoked.

Fear is reverence for your husband. (Interesting as we all are called the bride of Christ)

We should be ready, willing and able to represent God at anytime. Not only that, but we should be careful how we represent God. We are to represent God with meekness and fear. Meekness is for the hearer, appeal to them, be humble, it should be your desire for them to know the freedom and peace and new life that comes from a relationship with Jesus.

Do everything for the purpose of drawing the hearer closer to God. Fear is for you. This is God Almighty that you are speaking for, be careful what you say and how you say it.

Moses beat the rock and he was not allowed into the Promised Land as a result. It’s not a threat, but it is a warning. Always be led by the Spirit and not by selfish ambition.

Believe it or not, the issue we are addressing is, were all the believers who thought that Jesus was coming back in their lifetime wrong?

The answer is no. they were NOT wrong.

Matter of fact, YOU should believe that Jesus will come back in YOUR lifetime too!

Now, should you believe that Jesus is coming back in your lifetime based on the evidence of His coming return or should your belief be based on your faith and hope in His return?

In Luke 17 we are told

Luke 17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; (meaning, signs to be observed)

21 "nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Say that out loud to yourself.

Indeed, the kingdom of God is within me.

Do you believe that?

Do you believe that the living God lives within you?

Do you believe that God has established His kingdom in your heart?

Apparently He has, because it was Jesus who said

Indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Are the words of Jesus true for you?

22 Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

There it is.

There is a major reason they all desired, hoped and believed that Jesus would come in their lifetime.

Evil days where men will be… 2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Can you agree that the above characteristics are evident in mankind today?

What was another sign of Christ’s coming?

Look at verse 27.

27 "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

No one was repenting… No one was turning to God…

Because no one saw their lives as wrong or sinful, that there was more to life and that life didn’t stop with our death, and ultimately, no one felt a need for God.

Its not that Christians want to see people perish in their sins, it’s because this fallen world is not repenting from its sinful ways. 

It’s hard to live in a fallen world, especially when your own flesh is at war against the Spirit of God who is within you.

Who wants to be where they don’t belong?

Who wants to be separated from the one they love?

Do you?

Think about our soldiers in foreign countries separated from their loved ones. They are there because they have made a commitment that they have got to fulfill, not because they want to be there. They want to get the job done and then they want to just go home. I believe that Jesus is coming back in my lifetime because I know that I do not belong in this world. My home is in Heaven.  I want to go home.

 I want to be with Jesus.

Jesus said in John 14:1

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Now isn’t that enough to give you the desire for Jesus to come back in your lifetime? Jesus the carpenters son (in the flesh), is preparing a place in Heaven for you right now!

That is soooo cool!

Look at verse 5, what is the Spirit of God saying though Paul?

2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Look at all the characteristics listed in verses 2 through 4 and then in verse 5 the Spirit says that they “having a form of godliness, but denying its power”?

Since when is being a traitor godly?

Since when is being unloving godly?

Since when is being proud godly?

Are you seeing a problem here?

Mankind is making a choice, but it is choosing itself.