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Hear today' devotional here: https://bit.ly/3k9r2SI
1 I don't think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. 2 You know as well as I that the day of the Master's coming can't be posted on our calendars. He won't call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. 3 About the time everybody's walking around complacently, congratulating each other - "We've sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!" - suddenly everything will fall apart. It's going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman. 4 But friends, you're not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? 5 You're sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. 6 So let's not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let's keep our eyes open and be smart. 7 People sleep at night and get drunk at night. 8 But not us! Since we're creatures of Day, let's act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation. 9 God didn't set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we're awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we're alive with him! 11 So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 The Message)
Happy Tuesday, ConCafe Family! I pray this finds you blessed and well, dear Friend! I pray rich and wonderful opportunities to come your way to share who you are, what you know, and Who you know!
That date will always be blank on our calendars, as it was on Jesus'. He did not even know; the Father does, but Jesus did not. And it wasn't because God didn't trust Him, it was that this is the last surprise that the world will realize one day; His triumphant return. Of course through the ages, people have wondered and prayed, thinking, hoping, wishing that that day would be soon. Others hide their fear by saying they don't want to know, and sadly some believe that there will be no second return of Jesus. Paul knew it to be true and he says so in this letter. "He won't call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would." True words. Like Jesus, Paul emphasizes that we will be about our daily routines, even "complacently, congratulating each other" with mundane things, that He will appear. Paul reminds us you and I are "sons of Light, (and) daughters of Day," meaning we belong to God, and as such we cannot "sleepwalk through life like others." Our eyes should be open and our minds intact to what is going on around us; ours is to present ourselves for who we are, children of God "dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation." We have not been rejected by God; quite the opposite, we have been saved by the God of love; always awake in love in His embrace. So, speak words of encouragement, build each other up, remembering and reminding each other, we're in this together, with "no one left out, no one left behind." Do this in an effective way, and others will follow!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, so be it; may my words today reflect that I belong to You and no one nor anything else. May my words be words of life and hope for all people; shared with a ready smile and a bright hope on my face; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Encourage one another with hope!
Receive my blessings of joy and peace!
Pastor Eradio Valverde
