Page 55 - Living Light 89

Friday August 1 - Ugly outcomes
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.” Mark 13:8
Now to the ugliness of what Jesus predicts for the future. It’s not a pretty sight, but even more so for us today, being a lot closer to these events than were the original hearers of this message. It is a sad state of affairs. If only mankind had listened to the message given at the beginning of this week: “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:33). These ugly outcomes are a result of mankind going its own way and the consequences of not following God’s ways.
We don’t need to go into the grim details but instead turn it around and focus on the positive. There’s a good ending! “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heaven.” (Mark 13:26-27). To repeat, there’s a good ending... for the elect! For those of us who have put our trust in Jesus and made him Lord of our lives, the angels will sweep us into heaven. This is our hope and surely our incentive to tell others the Good News!
Father in heaven, help me to live in hope and not fear, and encourage others to do so too. Amen.
Saturday August 2 - Known but unknown
“But about that day or hour no-one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32
So, there will be an ending one day. Will it be soon, or will it be much later? The answer is to live in expectation, but never to lose sight of the present and what God has for you in the here and now. To do otherwise is to presume we know better than the angels and even Jesus himself. We just don’t know when it will be. We can look at the signs and guess, but no more than that.
God has given us all a function in his kingdom: ‘For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others’ (Romans 12:4-5). Why not ask your Heavenly Father what your function is – that is if you don’t know it already – and go with this, rather than idly speculate? If there’s one advantage in knowing that one day God is going to wrap all things up, it is to increase our desire to do our best to tell others of the great love God has for us all. “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” (John 3:16).
Father in heaven, please help me to understand my purpose in your kingdom and give me the strength to serve you accordingly. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY