Jesus' Return

by sallyjadlow

picture from http://www.endtimesprophecy.co.uk

Galatians 1:4 “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.”

As the day of Jesus’ appearing in the sky draws nearer, we see a more definable difference in those who truly have Jesus as their Lord, and those who don’t.

For those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus, there is special protection in this scripture even in calamity and a promise of deliverance in the future to meet with Jesus in the air and to ever be with Him in eternity (I Thessalonians 4:17).

This is God’s will for each of us, to be with Him and enjoy Him forever.

Will you receive His sacrifice for yourself?

Prayer:
I rejoice there is a heaven to have
because You offered Yourself in our place.

(This devotional has been taken from my co-authored book, Daily Walk with Jesus, a 366 daily devotional by Sally Jadlow and Ardythe Kolb, available here from Amazon.com.)

Your Purpose

This past weekend I attended the Heart of America Christian Writers Network Conference here in Kansas City. One of the activities we enjoyed was a drama by Karen Morerod. She portrayed Queen Esther from the Bible from the book of the same name.

Queen Esther saved her Jewish people from annihilation. Her uncle told her God placed her in the palace “for such a time as this.”

I wonder if each of us are aware we too, are placed by God where we are in this time and place in history for such a time as this. Each of us has a part to play, every day, in His grand plan.

How has He made you aware of your role?

The Dead Sea Scrolls

by sallyjadlow

This cave is the first place the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

Often I hear people doubt the authenticity of the Bible. They don’t understand the role of the Scribe in Biblical times. These men spent long hours every day copying every jot and tittle of every word of scripture on to new scrolls.

When they finished, they proof-read each line of each column. If there was one mistake in their new copy, they took a knife and sliced the new copy to pieces because it was flawed.

To prove the high quality of their work, God allowed three Bedouin shepherds to discover seven scrolls squirreled away sixty-seven years ago this month. Eventually over the next ten years, 972 texts were discovered in twelve caves about a mile northwest of the Dead Sea. Thus, they became known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The writings date from 408 B.C. to 318 A.D. Among them are pieces of Isaiah which are far older manuscripts than we had before. When scholars examined these passages of Isaiah, they discovered they were identical to the oldest manuscripts we had at the time.

I find great comfort in knowing that what God moved people to write so long ago has not changed. II Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”

What He said then, is still true for today. To paraphrase what Dr. Seuss said about an elephant, I hear God saying, “I meant what I said and said what I meant. I am faithful one hundred percent.”

God's Deliverance

Our God is a just God. He hears the cries of the afflicted and delivers those who cry out to Him. Psalm 46:1 says “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

After the Israelites left Egypt after 400 years of captivity, they found they had the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh’s army in chariots behind them. They were trapped. There was nowhere to go. They couldn’t outrun the army, even if there was someplace to run.

The people cried out to Moses in fear. Moses said, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

The Lord told the people to go forward into the Red Sea. Moses lifted up his staff. The sea parted. The Israelites crossed over. Pharaoh’s army went in after them.

The account in Exodus 14:24, 25 says the Lord brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion and He caused their chariot wheels to swerve.

That word swerve in the original Hebrew is cuwr. It means “to depart; to be removed.” In other words, God made the chariot wheels to fall off!

Today we are faced with an unjust law imposed on us that would cause a person who has no health insurance to pay $400 a month for the cheapest plan that carries a $5,000 deductable if they needed to visit an emergency room. If a person making minimum wage can’t come up with $400 a month, how are they going to be able to pay the $5,000 due?

It’s an unjust law. At this point, the sign-up website isn’t functioning and people who don’t sign up will be fined.

Perhaps God has heard the cries that call to Him about the slavery of being forced to do something that puts us in bondage to an unjust government. Maybe the failed website is God’s hand saying, “Your wheels are falling off. Enough already!”

This past week I have had two occasions to be with long-ago friends. About a fourth of our high school graduating class met in the Ozarks for a long weekend. We revisited memories from days past, colored and warped by over 53 years of life since our graduation.

The second group was a gathering of Christian sisters who went to the same church over 40 years ago. We came together from all over the map to celebrate one member’s 90th birthday.

In both gatherings the Lord Jesus reminded me how sweet our final reunion will be with Him when He comes to gather us to Himself. No more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain. Only sweet communion with Him and the ones who have gone on before us who trusted in Jesus, their only path to heaven.

What a sweet day that will be!

Stages of Dying

What if a doctor handed you a diagnosis today that you would die in a month? Would you get busy checking off items on your bucket list? Would you go into panic mode? Or would you try to tie up all the loose ends of your life?

I spent a weekend recently watching CDs on inner healing by Frances and Judith McNutt. She shared the stages people go through when faced with that scenario.

Stages of Dying:
1. Denial
“This isn’t happening to me.”
2. Anger
“Where is God? Why me?”
3. Bargaining
“I’ll lead a better life Lord, if you’ll only let me live.”
4. Depression
Judith encouraged us to reach out in ministry to a dying person when they’re in this stage because they are in danger of falling into despair.
5. Acceptance

A person in this stage has come to terms with the next stage of their eternal existence.

As I thought on these points these thoughts came to me. We all are going to die. We all will live forever—somewhere. Do you know where you will spend eternity? If not, ask Jesus to come into your heart and life and forgive your sins. Put your trust in Him. Your eternal life can start today. You’ll never walk alone on this earth again. What are you waiting for?

When Praying for Someone

Have you ever felt the Lord has asked you to do something you don’t feel you’re capable of? Scary, isn’t it?

One of the first times I went to pray for someone I was scared to death. What would I say? What would I pray? What if the person wasn’t healed? What if I blew it? These questions ran though my head as I drove to the place to pray for the person.

The Lord spoke to my heart. It went something like this. “It’s none of your business whether the patient lives or dies. Your job is to follow My bidding. You’re not the doctor. I am. You’re merely the instrument in My hand. Your job is to be clean and ready. You don’t have to take the blame if the patient dies. You also won’t take the credit if the patient lives, for all the glory goes to Me, Almighty God.”

I felt as if a thousand pound weight lifted off my shoulders. “It’s a deal, Lord.”

About a year later, I heard from the mother of the patient. “We had a doctor visit today. The doctor told us to throw the pills away. My child doesn’t need any further treatments. He is symptom free. Oh, and the doctor told us this disease is fatal. He can’t understand why my child is healed.

That was over 40 years ago. The child is now grown with no further illness. What the Lord taught me that day is a lesson I’ll never forget. To God be the glory now and forevermore!