Think of how good God is! He gives us the physical, mental, and spiritual ability to work in his kingdom, and then he rewards us for doing it!
~Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
~ from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ
Oh beloved, it is true. We are to fear G_d. For in this pure focus on the only One awesome and powerful enough to both save us from hell, and cast us into it – we come (finally) into the beginning of real knowledge. And wisdom finally comes when our fear is focused in the right direction. The world and this life can be a terrifying journey, but when we begin to fear the only One we should, all the other fears simply begin to fade away.
At first, the fear is real and abject. We are undone in His Presence. We are sure that if we see Him, we will die. Then we do indeed die. We die to our own sense of righteousness. We die to our own desires. We die to anything but Him and His Love. And then we, like the apostle John in the opening of the book of revelation, feel the most amazing Hand laid upon us.
And all fear falls away as the perfect Love of the Perfect Lover of our souls casts fear into the outer darkness where it belongs. We look up into His eyes… and we gasp at what we see. He is smiling. He is smiling broadly and with astounding joy!
He says, “Oh beloved. I have been waiting for this day! I knew it would come. And I AM so glad it has arrived.”
We stand there just kind of quiet, with our mouth open… Not quite knowing what to say. But then it hits us. Its all true.
Jesus is our Brother.
Jesus is our Friend.
Jesus is our Lover.
Jesus is our King.
Jesus is our Husband.
Jesus is The Best Thing That Has EVER Happened to us.
And He already knows what is going on in our heart and mind, and says the most amazing thing. “We have the best Papa. He is absolutely amazing! I talk to Him all the time about you. And one Day, I AM going to introduce you to Him personally. I AM so excited about this! It is going to be a great Day!!!”
Have you – as a believer in Christ – feared judgement day? Oh, i am not speaking of those who should fear that Day. Those of us who have purposely disobeyed or purposefully disbelieved will have some serious problems on the Day of reckoning we have before Him. No, i am talking to those believers who have yielded the control of their lives to Him, but always had this nagging feeling that the Judgement Seat of Christ was going to be like some sort of trial by fire.
Can we see it? Read the passage above again. Did you see it? The event is going to be a Day of great joy. Surely, the joy is going to be ours! But, have we ever considered the great and overwhelming joy of the One who has mightily saved us, welcoming us into His near presence at the consummation of the age?
Beloved, your life makes G_d happy, if you let it. What is stopping you?
