What If? Part Two

"And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut" (Matthew 25:10).

Hey Gang:   Notice the next verses. "Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us.’  But He answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you’” (vs. 11-12). 

 I am in the process of reading through the Bible once again, and have enjoyed every minute of it.  You see, my mother was a very nervous type and suffered from anxiety most of her life.  Unfortunately I inherited some of her anxiety and, for some reason, I choose occupations that tended to be filled with opportunities for anxiety. 

Let me share a secret with you this morning. One day I discovered that the greatest therapy in the world for anxiety is to break out with song.   As a matter of fact, I have prescribed learning and singing such songs as "Jesus Loves Me This I know”, “This Little Light of Mine”’ and “Lord Make Me a Sanctuary” far more than anything I could conger up in my mind.  The Bible tells me, at the name of Jesus, Satan must cut and run. 

One of the wonderful fringe benefits of writing Gramps Morning Thoughts is that it disciplines me to be faithful in programming my mind and heart to seek what the Lord would say through me.  Let me also share another tidbit that I learned when I began to write the blogs, three years ago. Writing encouraging words changed my attitude from seeing the down side of life to seeking those promises that God has given us in His Word.  

In other words there was a constant supply of oil going into my lamp.  Now, take a minute and look across the page to what I call ‘Jesus prerequisites for keeping your lamp filled and prepared for the coming of the bridegroom’.   In verses 31 to 40 Jesus gives us expectations of what He requires out of His children.   We might say, each is based on His words that the greatest gift we can give to our brothers and sisters is the willingness to lay down our life for them (John 15:13). 

Notice, none of these prerequisites require a doctor’s degree or very special talents:  "For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me" (35-36). 

And the power verse attached to these prerequisites, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." (vs. 40).    There is so much more that I would like to share with you but, as per usual, I am running out of space. So let me close with a challenge.

We are a month into the New Year and one does not have to be a brain surgeon to realize that our world is being shaken as never before.  If you cannot see that the End of this Age is rapidly approaching, you are like the bird that stuck its head in the sand.  I believe, based on the "Days of Noah', ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ and the other times listed in the Word where God's patience ran out with His creation that, one of these days the Sky will open! 

I have a question for you to chew on for a day or two: When the twin towers came tumbling down, the following Sunday nearly every church in the area had standing room crowds but, three months later only a small remnant remained.  When questioned why the majority had faded into the Sunset, most answered, “We did not find anything to help us through that crisis.” 

What would happen, if one day another crisis hits our nation and the following Sunday morning the your church was filled to the brim, are you and your church prepared to meet those who are seeking something to fill that vacuum deep in their hearts that is just the size of God.   Does your church have a ‘Swat Team’ that will meet them at the point of their need and ride the storm with them?

Keep in mind when we stand before the Lord He will ask, “What did you do with My Son?”  Are you a seed planter? or just a harvester?  God has blessed me with over 40,000 hits on the morning blogs.  I wonder how many of those hits represent people who have shared the messages contained in them with others?  More important – the message of Jesus Christ Savior and Lord and soon coming Bridegroom.?

Blessings,

Gramps