Blessed are the Dead Who Die in the Lord
John was told to stop and to write something that should be a great comfort to all of us who know the Lord. We all wonder what it will be like to die and to go to see the Lord. Well, if we know Christ as Lord and Savior, we will be blessed at that time. (Revelation 14:13) In other words, we will be well off in the sight of God; it will be a time of happiness. However, there is one small catch. Let me explain.
When the Holy Spirit heard what John was told to write, He piped up and said, "Yes," or we could say amen! He fully agreed with what was being written, and then He added what else would happen. We will be able to rest from our labors. Of course, life is work. We do not work just to make money, though. We do works for the Lord. It makes the Christian life a challenge. As believers, we do not do just what we want to do, but we do what God has set forth for us as His children and His bondservants. That makes the life of a Christian busy. We will not be able to rest like others, but our rest will come when we get to heaven.
However, the Spirit also gave us the catch I spoke about earlier. Our works will follow us. Now that is great, if we did God's will, and our works were pleasing to Him. It will bring us much joy and reward to have our works recognized in heaven by the Lord. The catch comes in if we did not do God's will, so that our works were not pleasing to Him. Then, we will suffer loss, and I believe we will be ashamed during the time of Judgment, where we will give an account of our lives. (I Corinthians 3:11-15) Also, we will not receive the rewards to lay at the feet of Jesus.
Therefore, as we prepare for 2017, we should purpose in our hearts to work tirelessly for the Lord by doing what He tells us to do. Then, we can fully look forward to the blessed time when we will see Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Revelation 15-17.
When the Holy Spirit heard what John was told to write, He piped up and said, "Yes," or we could say amen! He fully agreed with what was being written, and then He added what else would happen. We will be able to rest from our labors. Of course, life is work. We do not work just to make money, though. We do works for the Lord. It makes the Christian life a challenge. As believers, we do not do just what we want to do, but we do what God has set forth for us as His children and His bondservants. That makes the life of a Christian busy. We will not be able to rest like others, but our rest will come when we get to heaven.
However, the Spirit also gave us the catch I spoke about earlier. Our works will follow us. Now that is great, if we did God's will, and our works were pleasing to Him. It will bring us much joy and reward to have our works recognized in heaven by the Lord. The catch comes in if we did not do God's will, so that our works were not pleasing to Him. Then, we will suffer loss, and I believe we will be ashamed during the time of Judgment, where we will give an account of our lives. (I Corinthians 3:11-15) Also, we will not receive the rewards to lay at the feet of Jesus.
Therefore, as we prepare for 2017, we should purpose in our hearts to work tirelessly for the Lord by doing what He tells us to do. Then, we can fully look forward to the blessed time when we will see Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Revelation 15-17.