Saturday, April 23, 2011

I Will Be Quickly Changed

Everything that happened, all things that came to be, had been specifically designed and planned for this moment - the moment in time that would give history a meaning and life a purpose.

Jesus rose from the dead! Over death Christ conquered. We live because of this moment. Because God defeated death and made an escape! I will not stop and talk about the details of the resurrection, most of you know them and 90% of blogs are talking about it today.

But I don't want to forget. Sometimes, the resurrection becomes common place to me, and I don't allow it to stir me like it should. I should JUMP with joy with every thought of what my Savior did for me. I forget though.

I had the blessing of going to a cantata last Sunday. I love them, they are often so worshipful. One spoke of the second coming of Christ and said something along the lines of this. "The dead will be brought up and those who remain will be quickly changed."

"Those who remain will be quickly changed." When I heard those words, I prayed, "God, take me or come quickly. I want to experience that change." What a beautiful thought. When God returns, we are going to be changed into a heavenly form and we will be with Jesus!

I'm ashamed to say it, but I value my life on earth too much. At times I have thought, "God, I want you to come back and all, but, I mean, I'd like to get married, travel a little...ya know? Like fun stuff." How dumb of me to think that anything on earth can compare to 1 millisecond in the presence of Christ. How silly of me to believe that one minute longer on earth is going to benefit me! No, its not wrong to want marriage, but to value it that much? I think there is a problem.

God convicted me of this. What am I waiting on to happen? I felt like I could relax a little because "there is no way God could come back now -I haven't even lived my life yet". Sadly, I've known young people who barely made it into high school before their lives tragically ended. It could be the same with mine or Christ could return.

Prayer. I ask God to excite me about meeting Him. Boy, He listens to prayers. (FYI, don't think God doesn't hear. I'm always amazed by incredible results from Him. Believe and expect Him to listen and answer.) I am overwhelmed with joy at the thought of my risen Savior coming to get me. I mean, that is the ultimate love story! He is going to come and gather me in with the rest of His loved ones. I'm going to be in ETERNITY with God forever! I can't wait to hear Him speak my name. No one can say it like He can, I bet. :) He is going to set me on His throne with Him. He is going to give me a new name.

I can not wait. Sometimes the thought of death scares me, and I'm sure it will from time to time, but now I can say with Paul, "For me to live is Christ and to die is GAIN!" Whoo! COME GET ME LORD! I wonder why I ever let death get to me. Maybe this readiness to see the Lord is due to the season, I mean, we are celebrating the resurrection of the Lord. Or maybe its just come with a stronger relationship with God and maturity.

Are you excited about meeting the Lord? Get ready! Because you could face eternity at any moment. God makes a lot of promises, but tomorrow is not one of them. Are you waiting for the Lord and preparing yourself? Is it going to come up on you too quickly?

And finally, are there things in your life that you feel you can't meet Jesus without experiencing/doing? Like marriage, money, travel, or something? We all have things we want to accomplish, but I encourage you to give those to Him. He knows the timing and will give you peace that those things will happen when/if they are supposed to. I believe I have missed out on the joy of preparing for the Lord's return because I worry He will come back too soon. Don't make that horrible mistake!

Too soon? There is no too soon for God. He knows. And I rest.

5 comments:

Jessy said...

Good post ash. I agree with what u said about not letting the actual meaning and celebration of the resurrection, sometimes you're just like oh yeah happy quarter cause it seems like just another bible story but it's not and that's not how we should treat it!

Ashley said...

Thanks Little Wones! I think we are all guilty of that. No matter how much we regard Christ's death, we could still do it more. Therefore, we always will have room to improve. A journey throughout our lives. I do believe that as we grow in Christ it means more to us though. I'm glad of that! :)

Daniel G said...

great post, and services like we had this morning make me want him to come back soon. but usually i feel like i have too much stuff to do first. thanks for reminding me we always need to be ready, and waiting.

Logan Vaughan said...

Great post! I love being in God's presence, and the thought that heaven is going to be an ETERNITY in God's presence? OH. MY.

Nuff said.

Ashley said...

Thanks you guys for the sweet words!