​

CURRENT RADIO SERIES Sheltered   CURRENT TV SERIES Songs of Encouragement

When our enemies heard…that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. --Nehemiah 4:15 God can do amazing things with people who refuse to quit, who take their eyes off their present circumstances and look ahead because they believe God has something great in store. That’s what Nehemiah did when he was faced with a crisis in his wall-building work in Jerusalem. The enemies of God’s people plotted to stop their work, but God brought their plot to nothing. So Nehemiah looked ahead to the goal and sent everyone back to their work! In other words, Nehemiah focused on the future. He refused to be discouraged by the present circumstances because he knew God was going to do something great. Paul gives us the same encouragement in Philippians 3:13-14, when he says, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” If you’re discouraged today, think about this. God may just be letting you go through a down time to prepare you for a great victory tomorrow. So don’t let you head hang low! Lift your eyes and take a forward look. Because God’s blessing may be just around the corner!   DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD HAS SOMETHING GREAT IN STORE FOR YOU?

Are You Ready?

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
Matthew 25:10–13

The return of the Lord is not a theoretical possibility that might someday occur but also might never happen. It is not an empty promise concocted to give comfort to people who are struggling with the present by giving them a hope for the future. It is every bit as certain as the first coming of Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem. We know that it is going to happen, but we must accept that we are not meant to know when it will take place.
Dr. John R. Rice said, “Oh, a Christian ought to live as if Jesus might come today. And well He might. He will come one day, suddenly, unannounced. And how ashamed will be those who are not living for the Saviour. So a Christian had better be thinking about the future. I have a time coming when I must give an account, so I had better be ready for it. I had better get living for God so that I will be so glad when He comes.”
God could have given us a definite date for the Lord’s return, but He knows that many people would live however they like up until the day before and then try to make things right at the last minute. Instead He commands us to be ready today, and if Jesus does not come today, to be ready tomorrow. The truth of the unknown date and time of Christ’s return should produce a continued pattern of holiness and obedience in our daily lives.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Those who live expecting Christ’s return will not be ashamed when He appears.