He is Coming Back I

Friday 29 July
READ: II Pet. 3: 3 - 11
MORE LESSON: Acts 1:10-11

After the resurrection of the Lord, He showed Himself to His disciples for forty days and expounded to them on the matters of the kingdom of God. His disciples scattered after He was crucified but His resurrection reassembled them. However, the resurrection of Jesus is not the end of the story of redemption. He ascended and sat on the right hand of the Majesty on High. Right now, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and there He reigns as King and Priest; advocating and mediating for us (Heb. 8: 1).

At the ascension of Jesus Christ, as the disciples stood fixed to the ground, looking up into the glorious cloud that enveloped Him as He was taken up in majesty, two angels appeared and spoke to them, Men of Galilee, they said, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven: Acts 1:11 (NIV). This timeless sentence was made more than 2000 years ago and it is still as true as ever.

The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the message of the hour. It is closer now than ever; so close that He might appear in the clouds before you finish reading this message right now. Since the return of the Lord is this close, the question is, 'Are you prepared for the coming of Christ?' Preparedness entails being born-again and becoming a Christian, but beyond that, it takes living in daily consciousness and readiness for His coming. It is not enough to know that Jesus is coming back, you have to be prepared. Holy living, being prompt in God's service, witnessing to unbelievers and living a zealous and spirit-filled life on a daily basis are indicators of a prepared life. It was preparedness that differentiated the wise virgins from the foolish ones in the parable of Jesus in Matt. 25: 1-13.

Many times, when told that Jesus is coming soon, the response that doubters give is, “They have been saying Jesus will come since the time of our great-great-grand fathers and He has not come.” The Bible has accounted for such people and made a ready response to them before they were born ...I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, "What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created. . . But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day: II Peter 3:3-9 (NLT) Friend, long or short, Jesus will come.

PRAYER/ACTION
* Lord, help me to be focused and ready for your coming anytime, in Jesus’ name.
* Today, I make up my mind to live a rapturable life everyday.
* Like Paul, I declare today that one thing I do is to live for Jesus and be ready for His coming.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
By the force of mercy and righteousness, I dislodge every lie and evil story blocking my favour, in the name of Jesus.