Monday, December 3, 2007
A Changed Life
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
—1 John 3:3
Most Christians would readily agree with the simple truth that Jesus Christ is coming back again. But here is the question: If we believe that, how should it affect the way we live? We should be interested in taking the great truths of the Christian life and applying them to the way that we live. James 5:8 tells us, “You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
It is important to remember that God did not give us the prophecies of Scripture to entertain or tantalize us. Rather, these truths were given to us for a number of reasons. One of them is to motivate us toward personal godliness and bold evangelism. The truth of the soon return of Christ should cause us to want to live a holy life, and it should have a purifying effect on us. It should keep us on our toes spiritually.
It is interesting that when God points out what is wrong with a nation spiritually, He doesn’t point His finger at the government; He points His finger at the church. God says that when a nation is sick, it is because there is a problem in His church. But He also tells us how to fix it: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
What it comes down to is how the teaching that Christ is coming back affects you. Don’t worry about the rest of the world. Don’t even worry about your Christian friends. How does this truth affect you?
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.
Copyright © 2007 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions,