AFFIRM
The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. Psalm 121:5
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RUMINATE
Mark 13:24-33 (NASB)
"But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND
THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and
the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
"Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.
"And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.
"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
"Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
"Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
"But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
"Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
REFLECT
There was a time when I was afraid of this apocalyptic side of the coming of the Kingdom--it seemed materialistic, catastrophic, dependent on force, unethical. I now see my mistake. To separate the "ethic" and the "apocalyptic" is a species of dualistic thinking. . . Jesus did not teach an ethic--that would have made him a moralist, teaching moral ideas. He was not a moralist teaching abstract codes of conduct. He was a proclaimer of a Kingdom--a Kingdom of fact, not a code of morals--and the coming of that Kingdom was the impinging of realism on unrealism, the displacing of unworkable ways with God's workable way. Now, obviously, that Kingdom must come by continuity and by catastrophe--by a building up from within and a sudden tumbling of old structures. E. Stanley Jones
DECLARE
For 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. After 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. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians
4:16-18
Practice the Story: Make yourself conscious of the clouds. Find a minute each day to look up and out and focus your eyes on a cloud. Now imagine the form of a man, the Son of God, actually appearing on a particular cloud. Practice being ready with anticipation. It will happen one day. It might be today.
56. Be Inventive--- ask yourself this question: How creative can the mercy of God be in my life and world today for the sake of another?
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