Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense of future, with belief in the Second Coming of Jesus as the most distinctive detail. From the day Jesus ascended into heaven, his followers lived in expectancy of his return. He told them he was coming back. They believed he was coming back. They continue to believe it. For Christians, it is the most important thing to know and believe about the future.

The practical effect of this belief is to charge each moment of the present with hope. For if the future is dominated by the coming again of Jesus, there is little room left on the screen for projecting our anxieties and fantasies. It takes the clutter out of our lives. We’re far more free to respond spontaneously to the freedom of God.

All the same, the belief can be misconceived so that it results in paralyzing fear for some, shiftless indolence in others. Paul’s two letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, among much else, correct such debilitating misconceptions, prodding us to continue to live forward in taut and joyful expectancy for what God will do next in Jesus.

As we walk through Maundy Thursday to Resurrection Sunday, let us look forward in joyful expectation of Jesus Second Coming. May we LIVE forward in prayerful gratitude, taking the trouble with the joy, with inexhaustible, unceasing hope.

In Jesus Name, Amen

I cant’ be the only one who has been through this scenario. What I have discovered is this…I don’t have to know everything but I do need to be prepared to make the most of every opportunity God gives me. How do I prepare? Paul helps us. He has already told us to be alert. We already know that we can only take a person as far into God’s Word as we have been ourselves. So we prepare for these opportunities by knowing God, knowing His Word, and then working to express in simple ways what we understand to others.

Relax, we won’t know it all. We don’t have to explain what we don’t know, we just tell what we do know about God and what His Son, Jesus as done for us. God’s Holy Spirit does the rest. It’s like what the blind man said to the “church” when made to see by Jesus, “All I know is, I was blind and now I see.”

ALL of this is wrapped up in prayer; prayer before the encounter, prayer during the message of hope to another, and prayer for courage to open our mouths with simple, understandable words.

Paul’s prayer…The Three Open Prayer

Colossians 4:2-6, The Message
Pray for Open Doors
2-4 Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don’t forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I’m locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I’ll be able to make Christ plain as day to them.

5-6 Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.

What do we learn to prayer for?
1. Open my heart to be alert and ready.
2. Open the doors of other’s hearts be ready to receive.
3. Open my mouth…with words of clarity and understanding.

–Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious. Bring out the best in others.

Dear Heavenly Father, You teach us well through Your Word. We pray these exact words..in Jesus Name, Amen.