Luke 12:35 - How To Be Ready For The Rapture.
Luke 12:35 - How To Be Ready For The Rapture.
Luke 12:35 (KJV) Let your loins be girded about, and your
lights burning;
Luke 12:35 (NIV) Be dressed ready for service and keep your
lamps burning,
Luke 12:35 (CEV) Be ready and keep your lamps burnings.
Waist be girded ... lamps burning: These are two pictures of
readiness. [Nelson SB]
The idea with both the belt and the light is, of course,
readiness: being prepared in body and labor, being pure and faithful. The
believer must never lie down or slumber, never be caught off guard or
unprepared. [Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible]
We need to be watchful and ready at all times, because the time
of his return is unknown.... being ready for his coming means doing
his will at all times while he is gone. [College Press NIV
Commentary]
If we decide that the Lord may not return today, then we start
living for ourselves (v. 45); [Wiersbe Expository Outlines]
All that we do here and now should be done in view of the fact
of our Lord's appearance... never let the world around us close our
eyes to God... resist the constant temptation to build our lives on
things rather than on His coming. [Victor Teacher's Commentary]
Just the thought of living so that we are ready when Christ
returns should fuel all God's children to be about his kingdom work with
consecrated energy and zeal. Whether we have the strength, time, and vigor
to do his will depends on our readiness and openness to hearing his
voice in prayer. Prayer is absolutely necessary if we wish to carry on
God's work successfully. God has designed it so that he will
sufficiently and energetically work through us in proportion to how much we
give ourselves to prayer and so live ready for Christ's return. As we
see the time of his return drawing near, we evaluate how we are
spending our days by asking, "What am I to be doing?" The Lord has
planned and purposed so much for our lives, given us so much work to do
for his glory. However, so that we can be truly ready, God beckons
us to his glorious throne room to pour out our hearts and concerns
and to listen for his marching orders. Then as we work with him in
fulfilling his Word and purposes, we will do so in his power, love, and
grace. Are you ready? Living ready begins on our knees ... and
continues as we stay there. [Praying Through The Bible By Fuller re Luke
12:35-38]
The success of our living ready is dependent on our giving
ourselves in prayer. E. M. Bounds (1835-1913)
Prayer is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of
spiritual power. No other means of grace can be substituted, and the
health of the soul be preserved. Prayer brings the heart into immediate
contact with the Well-spring of life, and strengthens the sinew and
muscle of the religious experience. Neglect the exercise of prayer, or
engage in prayer spasmodically, now and then, as seems convenient, and
you lose your hold on God. The spiritual faculties lose their
vitality, the religious experience lacks health and vigor.
It is only at the altar of God that we can kindle our tapers
with divine fire. It is only the divine light that will reveal the
littleness, the incompetence, of human ability, and give clear views of the
perfection and purity of Christ. It is only as we behold Jesus that we
desire to be like Him, only as we view His righteousness that we hunger
and thirst to possess it; and it is only as we ask in earnest
prayer, that God will grant us our heart's desire. GW254,5
Remember that prayer is the source of your strength. A worker
cannot gain success while he hurries through his prayers and rushes
away to look after something that he fears may be neglected or
forgotten. He gives only a few hurried thoughts to God; he does not take
time to think, to pray, to wait upon the Lord for a renewal of
physical and spiritual strength. He soon becomes weary. He does not feel
the uplifting, inspiring influence of God's Spirit. He is not
quickened by fresh life. His jaded frame and tired brain are not soothed
by personal contact with Christ. 7T243 re Pro.10:29
By the time he was thirty, Millard Fuller had achieved the
American Dream. He was worth more than $1 million and lived a lifestyle
that showed it. He drove a fancy car, lived in a huge house, owned
lots of land, and generally enjoyed the things his money could buy.
He and his wife, Linda, had just about anything that a young couple
could want, except. . . .
Except what? Well, they weren't sure. All Millard and Linda
did know was that they weren't happy.
We just thought there must be something more to life, Millard
explains.
On the advice of a friend, Millard and Linda turned to God.
They spent time reading the Bible and praying with other Christians
at Koinonia Farms. What could they do? What should they do?
"By seeing other Christians' lifestyles," explains Linda, "we
quickly saw there was much more to life than the success money can
bring. We realized God had a purpose for us. And we were determined to
find out what it was."
Finally, they received the answer to their prayers. They
believed God wanted them to start something new. Something big. They
believed God wanted them to start over.
So they did. They sold off their businesses and their big
house, and gave the money away. They sold their land, their boats,
their horses, their cattle. In fact they got rid of just about
everything.
After this, they didn't go on tour to brag about how kind they
were, or how many points they had earned with God. Instead, they
continued to pray about what God was calling them toward. For more than
five years, they worked at various mission stations, continuing to
pray. Finally, at God's prompting, they formed Habitat for Humanity, a
world-wide group that seeks to eliminate all substandard housing. Because
the Fullers were able to give everything away and listen to God,
thousands of families go to bed each night in safe, secure homes. One of
the passages that helped the Fullers make their decision was Luke
12:32-40. Read it and see if you can understand their actions. [Youth SB]
If the love of God flows through us, we will find ourselves
sharing that love with those around us, for God is love, and that love
is bigger than its container, the Christian, so it must overflow.
Those around us long for love, for our world is full of hate, Satan's
legacy since the Garden of Eden episode. Let us as Christians share
God's love as we await the return of His Son from heaven. [Al Bryant;
Time with God devotional SB mod.]
Grace Notes:
http://www.e-gracenotes.org/index.php
A Better Way to Live:
http://www.itiswritten.com/betterway/
Excellent Spiritual Resource Site:
http://www.christianlifemediacenter.com/
More Spiritual Resources:
http://www.aBible.com
