Christian Living

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The return of Christ has great bearing on my entire life. I have a lot to do that the Lord has given me to do. Such as finishing the Gospel articles that will become a book when they are completed; to finish writing my book on childhood sexual abuse to help those who were abused heal from their pain through Jesus. Because of these two projects, I want to always keep myself as pure as I can. Because of Jesus’ being in my life, all of my hopes are in Him and all of my fears about the future are gone. I know that my future is bright and filled with work to do for Jesus before He returns. I believe that He will give me the time I need to complete what He has given me to do for Him, though I feel an urgency to get it all done. I don’t do these works because I have to because I am seeking to gain something from God, but because I want to in my love for Jesus’ willingness to save me from death.

I believe the best way a Christian should keep watch on the Lord’s return is to be at the work He has called them to do. God has given each of us gifts to use for the church and the world we live in and He expects us to use them until He returns. No Christian has an excuse not to know what their gifts are. There are many ways to find out. There are not only spiritual gifting tests one can take, but I have found that best way to find out what your gifts are is to look at your likes and dislikes. If you are really passionate about something, then that is most likely a God- given passion to be used to grow His Kingdom. We just have to pray and ask God to show us how to use it for His Kingdom.

For me, I have always been a writer and started when I was 12 years old. Today, that passion to communicate is what I use today to spread the Gospel around the world through the two projects I mentioned above. This passion to write goes right along with the gifting I have received from the Holy Spirit -- pastoring, teaching, and exhortation – all three of which I use when I write about Jesus Christ, so that others may come to know the loving God that I serve and follow today. Take it from me, when you find your gift and start using it, you will obtain so much joy and happiness in Christ that it will bubble over into the lives of others. You will see God in a whole new way. You will actually see Him directing your life for His glory. But, most of all, you will be one of those faithful people that Jesus hopes to find when He returns to earth on the last day.
Comment: "Man has always tried to predict the time of Jesus coming back for His church..."

Author Response: I have been reading Chuck Swindoll's book called Jesus: The Greatest Life of All. I found his comments interesting, when he wrote about when it came to the scripture says that, near the end, there will be wars and rumors of wars. Chuck doesn't know why people are so fascinated by that scripture, as if what we see in our world today means that this scripture is only meant for us, in our time. Chuck expounds on the fact that, throughout all time, there have been plenty of wars, along with plenty of rumors of wars. Why do we think today that Jesus meant only the 21st century? As Chuck nicely put it: tell me one century since Cain killed Abel that we haven't had at least one major war? Look in the Old Testament and you will find more wars fought in their time than in ours. Just like there will always be poor among us, there will be wars and rumors of wars. Man needs to stop thinking and start doing more praying.

Comment: "The fear associated with Christ’s return is that I may not be ready to meet Jesus. A Christian can keep watch for the Lord return by fighting and pressing on, to avoid the cares of this life, and to keep their eyes on the prize, which is Jesus."

Author Response: Are you saying that you personally fear that you will not be ready when Jesus comes back, or is this a generalized comment that some may feel? If it is a fear you personally hold onto to, I want to assure you to let it go. Being ready for Jesus' return simply means that we must be saved and have faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This is all Jesus looks for in us for Him to take us home upon His return to earth. Jesus died for us because we will never be ready enough on our own to gain salvation.

Also, you said that Christians must avoid the cares of this life. How is that possible? We must care about the things that come up in our lives because some things we can take care of, and some things need intervention from Jesus. Those who avoid the cares in this life are shucking their responsibilities. We are not to just simple sit and wait for Jesus to return, that's what most monks do. But we are to be about the work that God has given us to do through the Holy Spirit. That is the only thing that is required of us by God: to keep the Great Commission going by showing others the love of Christ in our lives so they may too want to know Him and make Him Lord and Savior of their lives.

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