A People Prepared For The Lord
Luke 1:17: "He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." This verse was talking about the ministry of John the Baptist. He was to preach and make way for the Lord Jesus Christ. He preached "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand." I personally believe that we are at the beginning of the Day of the Lord spoken of by the prophets. We certainly are in the Last Days to be sure! It is a great and terrible day when God sends His judgments. I believe that what the world is experiencing now is the PREVIEW of things to come. We need to be ready! The only place of safety is in the Lord-in the Name of the Lord-walking, abiding, living and dwelling in His presence on a 24/7 basis. As with anything worthwhile and lasting-we have to have some basic training. Anyone wishing to join any branch of the armed forces will have to go through Basic Training. This is a grueling process for them, but a necessary process. Without it, the soldier is sure to fail in the battle. He is sure to die. When you get a new job, there is a period of training. One must know what it takes to be what you are being hired for. There are things you need to know to be successful in the job. We as Christians need basic training. We cannot go without it.
Acts 2:14-39-Peter was preaching after they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Church began in Acts. They were first called Christians there. There were certain basics that people had to have in order to live a Christian life. He testified about Jesus life, death and resurrection from the dead. After the people heard him preach they asked in verse 37- what were they to do? His answer is found in verse 38- "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and receive the Holy Ghost." All through the book of Acts this is the foundation that was laid. Christians need this foundation, this basic to begin their walk with the Lord. In this day and time we need all the power that God has for us. It is not enough just to come to church. It is not enough just to reform our way of life, to try to "do good". We need the POWER of the Holy Ghost to dwell inside of us and cause us to live a righteous life. We need to repent, be baptized in Jesus Name and to be filled with the Holy Ghost. This is our foundation. We cannot build properly or successfully on anything else. It is the Word of God. It was the disciples' way. It is our way. After the Basics-comes the true test. This is the solution to STAYING IN THE LORD. The Day of the Lord is here. Christ is coming soon. We need to be ready-doing His will, living the life that we were meant to live.
Romans 13:11-14-"And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand, therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." God is trying to shake Christians out of their spiritual sleep! We need to shake ourselves. Sometimes we get tired in the natural, especially from doing nothing. Doing nothing makes you more tired than working. When we do nothing, sometimes we have to literally shake ourselves awake. Or if you have been sleeping in a sound sleep, sometimes when you are awakened suddenly, you are not aware of your surroundings, and you have to shake yourself awake. That is what God is trying to get us to do. God is very merciful to us. He is granting us time. Now is the time. Now-we still have time! There won't be time later. There wasn't time to prepare shelter when the earthquake hit, when the tsunami hit. We must be prepared now! THE ONLY SAFE PLACE IS IN JESUS CHRIST. We must be obedient to His will, His Word.
Joel 2:12-13:"Now therefore says the Lord, turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and with mourning. So rend your heart and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm." We need to stay constantly repented before the Lord. We cannot let anything fester in our hearts. We need to guard our hearts. A village in Japan had a 20 foot flood wall that was to withstand any tsunami. When the warning went out that a tsunami was coming, the entire village did not move to higher ground. They put their trust in the flood wall. Tragically not one person from that village survived. Had they moved to higher ground, they would have survived. Instead, THEY WERE ALL SWEPT AWAY! So it is today-many think they are safe. Many trust in their childhood "religion" or their gods, their wealth, knowledge, or intelligence. But just as tragically, these people will not survive the Day of the Lord. They will not survive His coming in glory, power and judgment. I will even go so far as saying they will not survive just the daily struggles and stresses. It cannot be done without Jesus Christ.
To be a People prepared for the Lord to come, we must be a people constantly living in His presence, constantly looking to Him for our salvation. He could come any day. We must be a people living a righteous and godly life-being obedient to His Word and Spirit. Sadly, many Christians today are not even reading or studying their Bibles like they should. They do not know the Word of God and then when false teachers come in, they have nothing to warn them of the danger. They believe what others are telling them instead of searching it out for themselves. We must be a people of the Word and of the Spirit. A people prepared for the Lord---
Acts 2:14-39-Peter was preaching after they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Church began in Acts. They were first called Christians there. There were certain basics that people had to have in order to live a Christian life. He testified about Jesus life, death and resurrection from the dead. After the people heard him preach they asked in verse 37- what were they to do? His answer is found in verse 38- "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and receive the Holy Ghost." All through the book of Acts this is the foundation that was laid. Christians need this foundation, this basic to begin their walk with the Lord. In this day and time we need all the power that God has for us. It is not enough just to come to church. It is not enough just to reform our way of life, to try to "do good". We need the POWER of the Holy Ghost to dwell inside of us and cause us to live a righteous life. We need to repent, be baptized in Jesus Name and to be filled with the Holy Ghost. This is our foundation. We cannot build properly or successfully on anything else. It is the Word of God. It was the disciples' way. It is our way. After the Basics-comes the true test. This is the solution to STAYING IN THE LORD. The Day of the Lord is here. Christ is coming soon. We need to be ready-doing His will, living the life that we were meant to live.
Romans 13:11-14-"And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand, therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." God is trying to shake Christians out of their spiritual sleep! We need to shake ourselves. Sometimes we get tired in the natural, especially from doing nothing. Doing nothing makes you more tired than working. When we do nothing, sometimes we have to literally shake ourselves awake. Or if you have been sleeping in a sound sleep, sometimes when you are awakened suddenly, you are not aware of your surroundings, and you have to shake yourself awake. That is what God is trying to get us to do. God is very merciful to us. He is granting us time. Now is the time. Now-we still have time! There won't be time later. There wasn't time to prepare shelter when the earthquake hit, when the tsunami hit. We must be prepared now! THE ONLY SAFE PLACE IS IN JESUS CHRIST. We must be obedient to His will, His Word.
Joel 2:12-13:"Now therefore says the Lord, turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and with mourning. So rend your heart and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm." We need to stay constantly repented before the Lord. We cannot let anything fester in our hearts. We need to guard our hearts. A village in Japan had a 20 foot flood wall that was to withstand any tsunami. When the warning went out that a tsunami was coming, the entire village did not move to higher ground. They put their trust in the flood wall. Tragically not one person from that village survived. Had they moved to higher ground, they would have survived. Instead, THEY WERE ALL SWEPT AWAY! So it is today-many think they are safe. Many trust in their childhood "religion" or their gods, their wealth, knowledge, or intelligence. But just as tragically, these people will not survive the Day of the Lord. They will not survive His coming in glory, power and judgment. I will even go so far as saying they will not survive just the daily struggles and stresses. It cannot be done without Jesus Christ.
To be a People prepared for the Lord to come, we must be a people constantly living in His presence, constantly looking to Him for our salvation. He could come any day. We must be a people living a righteous and godly life-being obedient to His Word and Spirit. Sadly, many Christians today are not even reading or studying their Bibles like they should. They do not know the Word of God and then when false teachers come in, they have nothing to warn them of the danger. They believe what others are telling them instead of searching it out for themselves. We must be a people of the Word and of the Spirit. A people prepared for the Lord---
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