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. PRAYER FOR TODAY
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Friday November 28 - Loved by Jesus
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has
made us to be a kingdom and priests... Revelation 1:5-6
Loved by Jesus! John, more than most, knew this reality; after all, he unashamedly announced himself to be ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ (John 13:23). This was not to be at the expense of others, who were free to think similarly. It became John’s primary identity, above gender, age, nationality, social ranking, education, or anything else for that matter. How wonderful! Is this the way you see yourself – as a disciple loved by Jesus? It’s what God wants for your life!
We are given two reasons for such confidence. Firstly, Jesus has freed us from our sins by his blood; and secondly, as a result, he has made us to be a kingdom of priests to serve God. We know this love, not only because Jesus died for our sins, granting us eternal life through the shedding of his precious, sacrificial blood, but also for the reason why – namely, that we might become a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Once we served sin; now we worship and serve God; all because of the love of Christ and the power of the cross, making redundant the need for a priesthood to offer sacrifices and stand as mediators between sinful people and a holy God. Praise God! We have been given direct access to come before God through Jesus, our High Priest, to offer ourselves in service (Romans 12:1). It’s no wonder that, as John thinks about this, he breaks out in spontaneous praise (v 6). Let’s join with him:
...to Jesus be glory and power for ever and ever!” Amen.
Saturday November 29 - Holy expectancy
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him... Revelation 1:7
Today’s verse combines prophecies from the New and Old Testaments. In Matthew 26:64 Jesus, quoting from Daniel 7:13, warned the Sanhedrin that they would see the Son “coming on the clouds of heaven”, while in Zechariah 12:10 we are told that Jerusalem’s inhabitants will mourn when they see “the one they have pierced.”
After Jesus ascended, two angels comforted the disciples, saying “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). The Apostle Paul describes the Lord descending from heaven and ‘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’ (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
We see here two distinct ‘comings’ of Jesus. The first, known as the ‘Rapture’ (literally meaning ‘caught up’) is a sudden event when Jesus comes to gather the church to himself. The second coming is with the saints, to establish a new kingdom on earth to reign for a thousand years – the Millenium (see Revelation 19:11-14). At the rapture, only believers will see Jesus. At the second coming, every eye will see him – the whole world will behold him. The event the Bible describes as the ‘catching up’ of believers is the next to happen; the prophetic signs indicate it could be very soon! Are you ready?
Lord Jesus, may we invest our lives in your Kingdom, living in the eager expectancy of your soon coming to take us to be with you. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY