Number 38: March 5, 2006



Too many Christians are living life below par. While that may be great on the golf course, barely existing is not what God had in mind when He sent His Son into the world. God made available a more abundant life through the accomplishments of Christ for us to enjoy this life, not to be miserable while on this planet. If all you can think about is escaping this present cruel world with the return of Christ, then you are missing the point of being a part of the Body of Christ today.



I Thessalonians 4:16 and 17:

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.



If your life is so miserable that all you can do is think of Christ’s return to escape your present situations in life, then maybe you need to change your focal point. You might want to consider what you are feeding into your mind, what you are thinking about. Do you believe these verses?



Romans 8:37:

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.



II Corinthians 2:14:

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.



I John 1:4:

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.



Jesus prayed that his followers would not be taken out of the world, but rather that they would stay in the world to do the Father’s will like he did. He prayed that their joy would be fulfilled, that they would be kept from evil, that they would know the truth and be sanctified, set apart from the world, by it. There is plenty to be thankful for. God’s work needs to be done. He is to be glorified. His goodness is to be experienced. We are to teach others the greatness of Christ.



John 17:13-19:

And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my

joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.