The Blizzard That Was Not

The NOAA weather alerts pinged off and on all day, sometimes arriving before I could finish reading the one before. My heart sank when the alerts changed from "Winter storm watch" to "WINTER STORM WARNING". An icy storm was the last thing I wanted.

According to NOAA, the storm wasn't just a possibility, it was a done deal. It was coming, and I needed get ready. (Admittedly, the storm did arrive, just not at my house.)

My neighbor, Sam, had been to the store, where he drinks coffee and discusses the issues of life and the world with the other men. It's been a ritual for decades. He came back from drinking coffee with a firm certainty that a bad storm was coming, and we needed to get ready. 

I was already prepared for the storm. I had been to town and bought dog food, butter, and spinach. That's what I wanted on hand if I got snowed in. I'd also bought carrots. They're not my usual winter storm fare, but I needed them for the beef stew I was cooking.

My preparations were both adequate and complete. I thought.

Sam decided we should bring firewood from the tractor shed to the house and stack it in the wood rack on my porch. Just in case the power went out.

"I already have enough wood for two days. That's plenty."

Sam disagreed. 

It was raining. I didn't want to get out. I whined and argued. 

Sam was adamant. 

"Look at the radar, Sam. We're on the edge of the storm."

"You need the wood. Just in case."

"Now, Sam. Even if we get snow, the temperature's in the mid-thirties. It's too warm to stick."

"Come on. Let's get it done." Sam would not give up. 

We hauled the wood in the rain. 

The question of storm preparation has been on my mind ever since. When we know a storm is coming, we're wise to prepare for the survival of our families. 

But what about the spiritual storms that are coming?

Scripture is very clear that, one day, Jesus is coming back to get His church, and there will some tough times before He does. It's not a storm we can track on radar, but it's even more certain than the most urgent warning.

Jesus is coming and, when He does, there won't be time to run to the store for bread and milk. 

"Behold, I tell you a mystery;

 we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; 

for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, 

and we shall be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 nasb

We can prepare for that day, and the Apostle Paul has told us how. 

"Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 

knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." 

1 Cor 15:68 nasb

In all our preparations, lets be sure to make the preparations that matter most. 

Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ is coming again. Be ready.

~~~~~~~~

In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:  The Monarch Migration Badge,  The Sermon Without Words,  A Matter of Perspective, Living in Goshen: God's Best, Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane, What is the Point of Suffering: Extracting the Precious, and Mamie and the Ink Stain.

Be sure to check out my new Amazon Author Page.

#stormwarning #milkandbread #secondcoming #beready #Christian

Waiting Well: Our Response to the Knock on the Door

"Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You, too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect." (Luke 12: 35-40 NASB)

Our Waiting Well series began a with a post on serving faithfully, followed by keeping our lamps lit. Yesterday, we looked at waiting for the bridegroom to return from the marriage feast. Today we turn to our response when the Master knocks.

Jesus said we are to be ready for His return in the same way that servants wait for their master to return from the wedding feast. They are dressed, awake, and alert. The house is secured, the doors locked to protect what is inside. 

At the moment the master knocks, the waiting servants fling open the door immediately. Without a second of delay, they welcome Him home because they have been waiting with eager expectation.

We are to be waiting for the return of Christ with that same eager expectation, ready to receive Him with open arms, open hearts, and open doors. 

We look forward to Christ's return because we love Him, because He is the bridegroom for His church and we belong to Him. We are His and He is ours. He is the one our heart most desires, and we look forward to seeing Him, just as we would a long-delayed but much-loved relative.

One day, the trumpets will blow, the sky will split, and King Jesus will appear. It will be a glorious day. 

The King is coming. Be ready.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NASB (1)

(1) http://bible.com/100/1th.4.16-17.nasb

~~~~~~~

Our Father, Thank you for sending Jesus to save sinners like me. Thank you that He is coming again. Create in me a clean, ready heart, eager to meet my Lord. Help me to stay ready. In Jesus' precious name, Amen.

Waiting well: Waiting for the Bridegroom

A Jewish wedding in Jesus' time was not like our modern weddings. The marriage was arranged, and a period of betrothal followed. During this time, both the bride and groom prepared themselves for the marriage. The bride made her wedding garments and purified herself. The groom prepared a place for her in his father's house. He would build an addition (insula) onto the father's house where the two would live. 

Only the groom's father could decide when the addition was ready. When he gave the groom the happy news, he and his groomsmen would go for his bride. The marriage would be consummated and a week-long celebratory feast would follow. 

His servants would be on the alert, waiting for the groom (their master) to return with his bride. It was a time of great rejoicing. Because the bride would be coming to her new home for the first time, everyone present wanted the preparations to be complete to welcome her. The servants would be charged with staying ready.

In that same way, Our Lord Jesus has gone to His Father's house to prepare a place for us. Only our Heavenly Father can say when the preparations are complete, but when He does, Jesus will return for His bride. When he returns, there will be no delays. He will be ready, and we must be, too.

We are to be alert, waiting for our Lord, Jesus, with joyful expectation. Our waiting is to be as servants waiting for their master. There's no way to know when he will come, but we must be ready, preparations complete. We can be confident that, at the end of our waiting, there will be great rejoicing. 

All the preparation, all the waiting will be worth it when Jesus appears.

The amazing, inscrutable part of this is that we wait as servants but the bride for whom Jesus comes is the church. We're not just waiting for our Master. We're waiting for our bridegroom.

We aren't waiting for a destination (heaven). We're waiting for a person with whom we have a precious relationship. Jesus. 

He's coming again. Be ready.

"Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You, too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect." (Luke 12: 35-40 NASB)

~~~~~~~

Our Father in Heaven, Thank you for the preparations being made for the bride of Christ. Thank you that Jesus will return for His own. Help me to prepare for His return and to stay ready for Him. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Our Waiting Well series began a with a post on serving faithfully. Yesterday, we looked at the issue of keeping our lamps lit.