1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.
I just got back from Atlanta, Georgia. We had our North American Board Trustee meetings (more on that later).
While I was away, there was a terrible storm here. Just 20 miles away from my home four people were killed. The entire evening I kept calling my wife to check on her and the kids. I was concerned about her and I missed her so the phone calls provided a double comfort to me.
When I travel I do miss my children, but I especially miss my wife. I am absolutely crazy about that woman and hate to be away from her.
As much as I love my wife, it is nothing compared to how much Jesus loves His bride (the church) and desires to be with her. Men are commanded to follow the model of Jesus’ and love their wives the way Jesus loves the church (Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.)
I could not wait to get home to see her and I cannot imagine the anticipation Jesus has to be united permanently with His bride in heaven. But for now He will have to connect with us on a regular basis as we can and allow us to go through the storms of life.
There are certain times and a day when we know our Lord will be looking to be with us. Everyday He wants to spend time with just us as we pray to Him and study His Word - the Bible. On Sunday, He wants us to gather as His bride and celebrate His love for us.
I cannot tell you how disappointed I would be to call and to hear that my wife was too busy to talk because she’d made other things more important than me. I cannot tell you how troubled I would be to come home and find her not there. And if I learned that she had decided not to meet with me, but instead decided she wanted to be with someone else, that would kill me.
Each day God seeks to be with you. Do you meet with him? Each Sunday He wants you to come to His house and be with him? Do you come excited to see Him? God is faithful to you. Are you faithful to Him? Or have you and are you committing adultery against your Master?
Friends, God loves us. He is our husband and our Lord. Let’s never forget that and always seek to connect with Him. Let’s also look forward to the day, when we finally get to be with Him forever. Oh, what a day. Let’s lives for that day.
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