It's Not Just Friday



“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”

Romans 13:11



Today is Friday, and for many its TGIF. Isn’t it exciting to know today that besides being Friday, today the Rapture of the church could happen at any moment? We don’t need to go around searching for a Savior, beloved, because we already have one in Jesus Christ who loved this world and gave Himself for us so that all who would place their hope and trust in Him would be saved. I read again just this morning a quote that says, “We are not just looking for something to happen, we are looking for Someone to come!” That someone is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, who promised that one day He would return in the clouds for His bride and take us home to be with Him forever!

The same way Jesus came at a specific time in human history at His first coming, when He was born into this world, He likewise will come for His bride when the “Rapture” occurs prior to Jesus Second Coming to earth. Don’t forget, in the Rapture Jesus doesn’t come to the earth like He will at His Second Coming. In the Rapture, the church, the bride of Christ will be “caught up” and raptured away to be with the Lord in the Air. The Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus are two distinct events. So, the good news for me and you today as Christian's is this. We aren't looking for events, for certain things to happen, we are eagerly looking and waiting for our Savior to come to us and for us just as He has always done.

Talking with a group this past week about the Rapture and how Jesus was preparing His disciples for this glorious event one day, we were discussing why Jesus after His resurrection would just show up unexpectedly while the disciples were gathered in locked rooms huddled in fear, or while men were going about their normal daily routines walking down a road. The ways of God excite me when I get a glimpse of why He does what He does. It’s as if Jesus was instructing His disciples (which includes you and me) on how to view the future with regard to His glorious appearing. Think about it. By showing up unannounced and without notice Jesus was teaching and preparing His disciples that He could return at any moment without any warning and that knowledge was to be both their encouragement and thier accountability.

The first church lived with an awareness and hope that Jesus could return at any moment and they lived their lives each day with that knowledge that the same way Jesus ascended into the clouds that we read about in Acts chapter 1, He would one day return in like manner in the clouds. It motivated the church to stay focused, to be about His business and to dedicate themselves to a living holy lives. The church that lives with that same awareness today is the same church that lives with a greater sense of Jesus presence and His purpose, as well an excitement that TODAY could actually be the very day Jesus returns for us and takes us to home to heaven where we will spend eternity with Him. What a day that is going to be!

The bible is full of prophecy concerning Jesus returning to earth one day and for that very reason its important for you and me to know the “signs of the times”. Studying bible prophecy teaches us to live with the hope of knowing “Jesus is coming again” just as He said He would. To wake up today knowing it just might just be today, that even as I am typing it could be right now in this very second since a twinkling of the eye happens pretty fast! Many study bible prophecy and focus on the events of His coming and miss the most important one, the One who was and who is and who is to come! Jesus is coming soon!  Let me encourage you today, friend, keep the main thing the main thing this week as you seek the Lord.

Keep your eyes on Jesus! When you and I do, everything else just falls into place! Ponder this thought the Lord keeps bringing to my mind, “Christianity is not a destination to achieve, it is a relationship to be enjoyed”. I pray you really enjoy Jesus today, loved one, knowing Jesus is praying for us right now and preparing a place for us too and when it's time, and when He’s done He will come for us and take us home. Jesus promised, and He who promised is faithful! He's coming soon, He's coming for me and He’s coming for you! The question is, are you ready?

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18


I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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