Will You be Sleeping?

Please be sure to watch the You Tube video and song entitled "While You were Sleeping" by Casting Crowns also posted today.

Recently, I was thinking and praying and I was struck by the amazing complexity of God's plan of redemption.  I was thinking about the coming Christmas season (which starts October 1st in our house!  We don't do Halloween...) and was thinking about the verses in Micah 5:2-5 which says, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,  though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth.  He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace."  (NIV)

From Ancient times God has had a plan to redeem mankind and He chose to do it in a way that would make the whole world take notice.  He selected a people, from the beginning, and through this people His work would be accomplished.  A savior would come, a ruler of "My people, Israel."  He would be both Son of Man and Son of God and His teaching would be different than any other the world had ever heard.  He would preach a message of unconditional love and forgiveness to every willing heart and then He would die an agonizing death to secure eternal life for the whosoevers of the  whole world.  As it says in John 3:10-21, "'You are Israel's teacher,' said Jesus, 'and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.  Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.  This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (NIV)

A band of disciples would begin to follow Him.  They would have very little faith and as they watched Him die on a wooden cross, they would run and hide and even deny that they had ever known Him. When He appeared to them in the upper room after His resurrection, and then appeared to more than 500 others, their faith began to grow.  The day of Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Spirit would bring them comfort and power that they did not previously know.  They became a group of men on fire who would spread the "good news" of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth so that all mankind could be saved.  And they would almost all die a martyr's death (all except for John) so strong was their faith.  See also http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/fox101.htm

Unfortunately, not everyone believed.  False religions, counterfeits arose.  Our adversary, the devil, was at work immediately, trying to thwart God's amazing plan.  It was difficult for me to understand when I was a young believer why he would work so hard when he knew in the end he would fail.  Then I realized that he wanted to take down as many as he could and prevent as many as he could from hearing and understanding the truth in the first place.  Again unfortunately, he has been more successful than I would have imagined.

Last night my husband was doing his Bible study for Bible Study Fellowship and asked me when I thought the last days had begun.  I stated that I believed that the last days had been going on for approximately 2000 years now.  Jesus has promised to return and although the time seems long and every age has thought His return imminent, God is incredibly patient as it says in 2 Peter:8-10,  "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed."  2 Peter 3:8-10 (ESV)

And now, like a theif in the night He will come again:  "Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.  So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him."  1 Thessalonians 5:1-10 (ESV)

"Up on your feet! Take a deep breath! Maybe there's life in you yet. But I wouldn't know it by looking at your busywork; nothing of God's work has been completed. Your condition is desperate. Think of the gift you once had in your hands, the Message you heard with your ears—grasp it again and turn back to God. If you pull the covers back over your head and sleep on, oblivious to God, I'll return when you least expect it, break into your life like a thief in the night."  Revelation 3:1-3 (The Message)  Will you be sleeping?  Will you go down in history as a heart that has no room for its Savior?

Dear Lord,   Make us a watchful people.  Help us to be on the lookout for Your return, not asleep and unaware.  Thank you for the precious plan of Your redemption of mankind.  Help us to be ready and to help others to be ready.  Thank you for Your patience with us and that You desire that none should perish but that all should come to repentance.  Open our eyes to Your love.

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