The Encourager
“Eagerly Waiting for Jesus - Jeff Curtis”
Eagerly Waiting for Jesus
By Jeff Curtis
If our faith is what it should be, then we should eagerly anticipate the coming of the Lord a second time. Preaching should emphasize the second coming and depict the joy it will bring to us. We should anticipate that moment with gladness.
It’s difficult for those who are young and enjoying life to imagine wanting to leave this world due to its’ suffering. World events such as war, disease, terrorism and natural disasters may shock us into reality as we grow older and experience more of life. Enemies are all around us. Many, following Satan’s desire instead of God’s, seek to destroy Christianity. We constantly face uncertainties with regard to the economy, the health, happiness, and faithfulness of our children and grandchildren; personal success in life, and any number of other concerns. We are not to be discouraged by any of these matters because Christ is coming to make everything right. We don’t need to take personal vengeance or retaliate against those who have wronged us, for God is our Vindicator (Romans 12:18-21). Vengeance is the Lord’s; let Him take care of it. To take revenge is to be overcome by evil ourselves. Eagerly anticipating the coming of Jesus as the great problem-solver for all of earth’s difficulties.
We must not forget the many teenagers who are burdened almost to the point of suicide because they haven’t seen the love of God in their parents. Others, having been smothered with love at home, face unimaginable difficulties as adults that they simply give up. People is every situation need to be reminded that Jesus will make them victors if they remain faithful (Romans 8:28, 31-39).
Guard Every Step
by Andy Sochor
Moses was God’s faithful servant who led the Israelites out of Egypt. He dealt with opposition from Pharaoh, grumbling by the people, and difficulties of the journey.
Yet Moses was not perfect. When God told him to “speak to the rock…that it may yield its water” for the congregation (Numbers 20:8), Moses instead struck the rock with his rod and took credit for providing water for them (Numbers 20:9-11).
Because of this misstep, God told Moses that he would not bring the Israelites into the promised land (Numbers 20:12). We might think this was unfair. Surely, we can sympathize with Moses as he had to deal with all of the stress and frustration of leading the Israelites through the wilderness. But none of that changed God’s decision.
We need to be careful about what we do. We could bring irreparable harm by some misdeed. In a moment of weakness, we could do something that has long-reaching negative consequences –for ourselves and others. Because of this, we must always be on the alert.
So, guard every step. The devil is always looking for an opportunity to lead us into sin (1 Peter 5:8). We don’t need to give him one. Let us always be careful to do God’s will in all things.
Meditate on these things:
Proverbs 19:13
A foolish son is the ruin of his father, and the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.
