Falling in Love with Jesus

Psychology Today defines “Falling in Love” as:  One person finds himself/herself excited and preoccupied with someone else and desirous of touching that person and being with that person as much as possible. There is a frequent desire to share thoughts and experiences, even trivial experiences. It is a headlong, pleasurable feeling…the rest of life fades a little behind this dramatic daydream. It is as if there is a magnetic attraction to the other person that transcends rational thought. It is so powerful that, like other powerful feelings, such as grief, it seems to the affected person that it will last forever. It is the sort of thing people write songs about.”

If you haven’t experienced this feeling yourself, surely you’ve read it in a book or seen it in a movie…so let’s discuss what people “in love” do:

• You think and talk about each other constantly.
• God gave us proof in His Word that His thoughts are continually on us:
• Psalm 40:5
• Psalm 139:17
• Jeremiah 29:11
• When you're apart, you're dissecting the last conversation, both in your head and to family and friends and you long to be with them again.
• You feel excited about spending “forever” with them.
• You're smitten. Work, friends, family and hobbies take a backseat to your newfound love.
• You're a communication addict, constantly awaiting his next call, text or e-mail.
• God’s Word is FULL of love notes to us!! And, He loves to talk to us!
• You find no faults. Your love seems perfect through the blurred goggles of love. All the habits that would annoy you in anyone else seem quirky in your lover.
• God’s love really is flawless and though He has no habits or quirks, He loves us despite ours!
• You feel their pain. The idea of your love feeling pain makes your heart hurt.
• Romans 6:1-2

Ray Boltz sings the song Feel the Nails: “They tell me Jesus died for my transgressions/and He paid that price a long, long time ago/when He gave His life for me/on a hill called Calvary/but there’s something else I want to know/Does He still feel the nails every time I fail?/Does He hear the crowd cry crucify again?/Am I causing Him pain?/then I know I’ve got to change/I just can’t bear the thought of hurting Him/It seems that I’m so good at breaking promises/and I treat His precious grace so carelessly/but each time He forgives what if He relives/the agony He felt on that tree/Do You still feel the nails every time I fail?/Have I crucified you Jesus with my sin?/I’m tired of playing games/I really want to change/I never want to hurt You again”

• Your conversations never cease. Talking to your love is effortless because you have so much in common.
• You want everyone to meet the one you love.
• No sacrifice is too great to make if it will please the one you love.

Like any love relationship, if you don’t work to maintain it then the feelings grow stagnant and you find that you’ve fallen out of love. Psychology Today says, “Falling out of love involves a gradual loosening of bonding energies focused on your partner and a reinvestment of those energies elsewhere.

Growing apart can reflect a switch from interest in shared time to turning outside the relationship for friends, fun and emotional connection. If the hours apart involve activities that one partner disapproves of, instead of enriching the relationship the impact of the separate time is likely to be corrosive. Insufficient together time, even from purely practical impediments, also can lead to growing apart.

Growing apart can reflect priorities.  Is sustaining your relationship a priority for you? Or are you really more invested in hanging out with your old friends, or watching TV than you are in sustaining your love relationship?

Growing apart can reflect a growing interest in a new love.  There may not be a specific someone/something, but even flirting with worldliness can be a sign, as well as a cause, of falling out of love.

Misunderstandings, miscommunications, misperceptions, misbehaviors and mistakes occur from time to time in all relationships.  The question then is whether or not you are willing to repair the hurt or angry aftermath. Many people mistakenly believe that harboring hurt and anger about how, in their view, they were wronged will somehow protect them in the future. Wrong idea…it's another formula for growing apart.

Falling into painful situations can lead to falling out of love.  Emotional wounds from, for example, the birth of a handicapped infant or the death of a child can be particularly difficult to heal. If there is any element of blame, a gulf is likely to develop and to widen over time if the issues are not constructively discussed.   Even without blame, after a trauma people often feel launching a new life without their former love will help them to escape on-going sadness or resentments.  

Depression puts dark glasses on the outlook of the depressed person.  Hopelessness about things ever getting better in the future is a hallmark of depressive thinking. Focusing on negatives, on don’t likes, makes the gulf between two loves ever wider.  Criticism erodes love.  Gratitude and appreciation enhance joy and love. 

So, if your intimate relationship seems to be splitting apart, pay attention! And take action sooner, not later when the split has become a vast divide.”

We need to work at staying in love with Jesus!! His love for us never fades, so if there is any “growing apart” in our relationship with Him, it’s our fault and we need to fix it!! The most important relationship you’ll EVER have is with Jesus Christ!!

Falling back in to love isn’t easy, but it is worth every effort! Especially when we are talking about falling back into love with Jesus!! Of course, our flesh and the enemy of our soul will try hard to keep us from re-developing a love relationship with the Lord, but it is of vital importance…we need to fight for our relationship or it could cost us eternity.

1. Restore verbal communication. Communication is key to any relationship. The only way to get to know someone is to talk to them. Pastor feels God directing us to turn our prayer lives around this year, just 5.8 minutes a day to start. 5 minutes out of 1,440 minutes a day to talk to our Creator, the One Who died to give us life. I heard a speaker once say that when we make a commitment to pray at a certain time every day, God goes before us and waits…so how does He feel when that appointed time has come and gone and we found ourselves too busy to stop and talk with Him? We wouldn’t want to be treated that way, and we are mere humans, yet we think nothing of treating our Savior that way? If you just had casual conversation with the love of your life every day, how close do you think your relationship would be after a while? Taking time out of your day to sit and talk and listen to the One you love is very, very important in rebuilding a healthy relationship.

Love Letter From God

I just had to send a note and tell you today
Of how much I love you and saw you yesterday.
You were walking and talking with your friends.
So I waited all day for it to come to an end.

Just hoping you'd want to talk with me, too.
But as evening drew near I did not hear from you.
I gave you a beautiful sunset to close your day
And a nice cool breeze to soothe you on your way.

Though I longed to hear words from your tongue
You did not draw near me, you didn't even come.
It made me sad and many tears filled my eyes
And within my heart I began to cry.

I saw you fall asleep on your pillow last night
As I spilled upon you the soft moonlight.
How I longed to reach down and touch your cheek,
To awaken within you a heart complete.

I wanted to rush down so that we could talk.
But you didn't notice me, you didn't even look
Today you looked so very sad and alone.
If only you would invite me into your home.

I have so many gifts for you in store,
Riches in abundance and so much more.
But I won't push you for I'm a gentle man,
I'll just sit and wait patiently, for salvations' plan.

But, still, you haven't noticed that it is I
Though I try to tell you in the deep blue skies.
I whisper your name through the flowers and trees,
But you did not notice that it was even me.

I send soft incense through the flowers that glisten.
Still, you do not hear. You do not even listen.
I shout love to you in the mountain streams.
I clothe you with sunshine through the evergreens.

When will you see, when will you hear,
Through the nature scents that perfume the air?
Though I send love songs through the birds that sing,
Still, you have not noticed that I am your King!

What will it be that will capture your attention
So that we may spend an eternity together in heaven?
Please R.S.V.P.
Love,
Your Heavenly Father

2. Restore written communication. Do you want to be reminded of His love for you? Just read His Word! (Here are a few scriptures to start you off with: Romans 8:39; Jeremiah 29:11; Ephesians 1:3-6; Psalm 139:13-18; Psalm 138:8; Psalm 8:3; Isaiah 49: 15-18; Isaiah 44:15…try reading them out loud every day!) Remember writing love notes? Write some to God!! Seriously, writing keeps our minds focused.

3. Be thankful for the little things. When you’re waiting at a stoplight, or in the grocery line, use that time to chat with God and thank Him for every little thing in your life that you can think of in that moment (i.e. family, friends, your home (because you’re not homeless), food, clothes, the vehicle you drive (the taxi that is available if you don’t drive).

 

4. Ask Him what pleases Him, then do it. If you know something you can do, say or wear pleases someone you’re trying to win, then you have no problem doing it…there should be no difference in our wanting to do things to please God. So, ask Him what you can do to please Him. Your flesh may buck a little at some of the things He’ll ask you to do (or not do), but the ending result is very worth it

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to evaluate our relationship with God and make sure we maintain our passion for Him. Life gets in the way too often, we need to make Him our priority…make Him the love of our life, because we are His.



The Train of His Robe Fills the Temple

Isaiah 6:1-8 "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."



I have been moved by these scriptures many, many times and for various reasons. 1) I saw the Lord...though I may not have physically seen Him, He is very real in my life. He's moved spiritual forces on my behalf to save me, to protect me, to comfort me. He continually lets me know He is a very present help, He loves me and desires a close relationship with me. 2) Woe is me...I am so very unworthy of the love and forgiveness He has bestowed upon me. I'm often overcome with emotion when I think of where He brought me from and that the Creator of this universe would think me worthy to have a personal relationship with Him. 3) Will you go for us?...it breaks my heart that there are so many souls in this world to be reached with the Gospel and so few people willing to go. What an honor to win souls for God's Kingdom and to plant churches!! 4) Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts...in the presence of a holy God I am so humbled, amazed, overwhelmed, peaceful, joyful. Words cannot describe being surround by the glory of His presence. I wish every human being could experience this touch of heaven on earth!



Our church sings a song based on these scriptures:
I saw the Lord seated on His throne He was clothed in glory, Exalted high And the train of His robe, filled the temple The Angels gathered around and cried
You are Holy, oh so holy You are holy Lord of all
And woe is me for I'm unclean For my eyes have seen the risen King And He cleansed my lips with a burning fire And the angels gathered around and cried


I am reduced to tears each time we sing this song as my heart swells in worship of my Saviour and King. I am overwhelmed with my feeble attempts at displaying just how much God means to me and all I can do is weep in His holy Presence. Recently, as we sang this song, God spoke to my heart about the lyrics "and the train of His robe filled the temple". The Lord gave me a quick vision of the train of His robe trailing down from the heavens and filling our sactuary. He then reminded me of the significance of the train on a king's robe: in the times of the Old Testament, the greatest recognition for the king that he had been victorious in battle was signified when he would have a piece of the defeated king's robe cut off and sewn onto the bottom of his own robe. The length of his robe would therefore be a sign or an indication of his greatness...the longer his robe, the more victories he had won.



God met with me during that worship service to personally reassure me that no matter what the battle may seem like He will be victorious...the proof is in the train of His robe!!

Spiritual Dyslexia

 

Matthew 16:24-26 Amplified Bible (AMP)

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].
²⁵ For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].
²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]?
 

Mark 8:34-37 Amplified Bible (AMP)

³⁴ And Jesus called [to Him] the throng with His disciples and said to them, If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me].
³⁵ For whoever wants to save his [higher, spiritual, eternal] life, will lose it [the lower, natural, temporal life which is lived only on earth]; and whoever gives up his life [which is lived only on earth] for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it [his higher, spiritual life in the eternal kingdom of God].
³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?
³⁷ For what can a man give as an exchange (a compensation, a ransom, in return) for his [blessed] life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?

 

As the children's story so eloquently points out..."I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day." How? Because EVERYONE I came across was grumpy!! I couldn't escape it! I can only take so much before I explode...so in order to keep my Christian witness, I went for a walk to let off some steam. As I was talking to the Lord, asking him why everyone seemed so contentious, my mind wandered to a cartoon a friend posted on Facebook earlier that day titled “Dyslexic CPR”. The Lord interrupted my thoughts and impressed upon me that the reason for all this contention, indifference and lack of faithfulness that His people have been exhibiting is that we are suffering from “Spiritual Dyslexia”. 

  For those of you who may not know what dyslexia is, here is a definition: “Difficulty in reading when experienced by persons with normal vision and normal or above-normal intelligence. A common example of dyslexia is reading words with the letters in reverse order, as in fyl  for fly .”

So, Spiritual Dyslexia can be defined as: “Difficulty in living a Spirit-led life experienced in a born-again believer. A common example is ignoring godly conviction in order to gain worldly pleasure or self-satisfaction.”

As I was preparing this Bible Study I ran across something Bro Tim Vik, the Wisconsin District Youth Ministry President,  said: “If your relationship with God isn’t moving from ‘self’ centered to ‘God’ centered…you may not have a relationship with God.” God’s purpose for His people to remain on this earth is so we can bring others to salvation. If that wasn’t His purpose for us we would be raptured as soon as we were born-again! Just look at the example Jesus Himself set for us while He was on earth. He used every waking moment to minister to others. I’m sure there were times He wanted to give into His flesh and stay “home”, away from people who always wanted something from Him, yet He never gave in to self.

I titled this “Spiritual Dyslexia” because, just as natural dyslexics do, we get things turned around. To prove this to ourselves, prioritize these three things SELF, JESUS, OTHERS. Did you list “Jesus” or “God” as the first priority?

To further examine our priorities, let’s take the time to answer some questions honestly:

1.      You wake up Sunday morning with a splitting headache. Do you stay home or go to church? 

2.      There’s a family reunion 3 hours away on a Sunday. You’d have to skip church in order to make the reunion, and you just missed church last week because the kids were sick. Do you go to the reunion?

3.      You need a job and have an interview for the dream job. During the interview you realize the hours interfere with almost every church service. Do you take the job?

4.      There’s a movie you’ve been waiting to see. The opening scene comes on and you start to feel uneasy with the images on the screen. Do you ignore the uneasiness and continue to watch it?

 The point to these questions is to ask ourselves if we make decisions based on what we want to do or based on what Jesus would want us to do. If we continually make decisions based on what WE want, what really is our first priority?  We tell ourselves, and others, that Jesus is #1 in our lives, but often our choices show otherwise.  

How many of us have heard someone say, “Just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean I’m a doormat”? It’s usually said after some verbal tirade. I agree that Jesus would not have His children be “doormats” and there are times we need to take a stand, but if we are painfully honest with ourselves, the reason we blasted someone with our words was just to blow off some steam and make us feel better. Yet, the Bible teaches us that “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” Proverbs  25:11  and that “The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.” Proverbs 19:11.

How many of us have seen, or experienced, the slow fade of someone letting go of holiness standards? Oftentimes it is justified with “Well, that is just the standard for public leadership and I don’t have a position in the church so…” Holiness is NOT about holding a position in the church, it’s about your status as a child of God! When you chose to compromise on holiness, it’s actually about doing/wearing/seeing what you want without thought to what God wants.  But doesn’t the Bible say ^“ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” 2 Corinthians 6:17. “Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” Leviticus 19:2.

We need to embrace the convictions we feel, examine them to see if they are from God and give up that thing we want for ourselves in order to bring glory to God! In an interview, MichelleDuggar talks about why she chose to wear modest clothing. She said after she became  a born-again Christian she felt the Lord telling her not to wear certain things. Her husband had asked her, “What about when we go biking, hiking, or swimming?” Michelle’s reply was “I don’t know all the answers or details, but I just want to honor Jesus.” That’s just it. Sometimes we don’t understand why God does or doesn’t want us to do certain things so instead of examining the uneasiness we feel, we just push it aside and do what we want to do for ourselves.  There are times we won’t intellectually understand why God is giving us a conviction on something, after all His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), but if we honestly live a life controlled by Christ we will obey Him without completely understanding why. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to NOT quench the uneasy feeling we get when watching a movie, clothes shopping or contemplating that make-over. That uneasiness is God’s Spirit speaking to us and calling us into a deeper relationship with Him. Be assured that whatever you give up for the glory of God will be replaced with a deeper, more fulfilled life in Christ.

A healthy spiritual life is putting Jesus first in everything, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us, or how many self-sacrifices we have to make. When we chose to ignore that uneasiness and continue to follow our own desires we start to lose spiritual equilibrium (a state or feeling of mental balance) and Spiritual Dyslexia sets in. Spiritual Dyslexia can be fatal to our eternal souls as we see in the opening scriptures.

Just as there are warning signs with dyslexia there are also Spiritual Dyslexia warning signs: Discontent (always wanting more things/money), easily angered, lack of prayer/fasting, vanity/pride...just to name a few. Good news, however, like physical dyslexia, Spiritual Dyslexia can be overcome!

In his book “The Gift of Dyslexia”, Ronald Davis (an over-comer of dyslexia himself), shares the steps he takes when teaching people to overcome this learning disability. We’re going to take some of his ideas to help us overcome Spiritual Dyslexia.



 

1.      Orientation corrects perception (Find your “mind’s eye”). Our spiritual orientation gets out of whack when we continually squelch Holy Ghost conviction. If your spiritual orientation is off then you will have a problem discerning God’s leading in your life. To get back on the right track we have to find our spiritual “mind’s eye”. In Mr. Davis’ book he describes the “mind’s eye” as the epicenter of perception…or the one place where we see, feel, hear everything around us. If this “mind’s eye” is out of focus, then our whole life is disoriented. A good Biblical example of this is when Peter walked on water:
Matthew 14:26-31, Amplified
²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.
²⁷ But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!
²⁸ And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.
²⁹ He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.
³⁰ But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!
³¹ Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?


If Peter had kept his spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus he wouldn’t have started to sink into the water. Likewise, if we will keep our spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus we will not sink into a life of sin. How do we find our spiritual “mind’s eye” once we’ve become disoriented? Prayer, Bible reading, fasting, praise, and if need be, counsel from your Pastor. Once you find your spiritual epicenter again it is important to maintain it daily!



2.      Basic Symbol Mastery Mr. Davis teaches his students to relearn the alphabet once they’ve found their mind’s epicenter, and so we should also go back through spiritual basics.  I’ve found that it is always refreshing to go back over the basic plan of salvation, we get so caught up in all the “rules” of living for God, we often forget about the sacrifice He made for us and from where He brought us out (1 Peter 2:10 ^“ Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people…”).

Reviewing doctrine is powerful in getting us back into the groove once we’ve strayed spiritually. Paul tells Timothy,  “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 1 Timothy 4:16 KJV. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about the plan of salvation, go back through it!
 

3. Symbol Mastery for Words Once a student relearns his alphabet, Mr. Davis urges his students to use their new mastery of letters and symbols to form words and begin reading. During the reading process it will be revealed to the student what words trigger the disorientation that lapses them back into a dyslexic episode.

The Bible tells us that the Word is capable of discerning the thoughts and intent of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). The next step in regaining our spiritual ground is continuing in the Word of God and allowing that Word to speak to us about those deep-seeded issues we are leery of getting rid of…those same issues that tend to trigger the sin problem in our lives (Hebrews 12:1).

Here’s an excerpt from The Gift of Dyslexia…see if you can pick up on the spiritual application:

“The task of correction isn’t really complete until the person’s compulsive solutions no longer operate. As long as the person continues to use the old solutions, he might as well keep the old problem, because nothing will permanently change. So in order for dyslexia to be corrected, the old, compulsive solutions simply have to go…

The old solutions are no longer stimulated, so they don’t automatically happen. As the person experiences life, he or she will discover things that work better than the old solutions did. As soon as the person experiences a better way of doing things, the old solutions are replaced…

Experiencing the loss of an old solution is all the proof a person needs in order to know with certainty that his dyslexia is being corrected, and that the change is permanent.”

In other words, the more you read the Word of God and apply it to your life, the less likely you will be to resort to your old ways of dealing with life issues and the more likely you will be to live a life of victory through Jesus!


Reiterating the 3 steps to overcome Spiritual Dyslexia:

1)      Find your spiritual mind’s eye through Bible reading, prayer, fasting, praise and counsel.

2)      Master the basics of salvation by re-studying Apostolic Doctrine.

3)      Master the Word of God by applying it to every aspect of your life and allowing it to discern your desires from God’s desires for you.


John says it well in his Epistle:

1 John 2:1-8, 12-17 & 24-29 The Message

“I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.
^2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
^4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
^7-8 My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
^12-13 I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.
^13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.
^15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
^24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!
^26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.
²⁸ And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.
²⁹ Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.”