The Blessed Hope of Jesus Glorious Appearing
Paul calls the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ “that blessed hope.” What a wonderful description. Our hope is not based on what is happening in the world around us. It is not based on the economy, politics, circumstances, or even how we feel today. Our hope rests in what God has said in His Word, and God’s Word is His will. Jesus Christ is coming again!
But notice that before Paul tells us to look for the blessed hope, he tells us how to live while we are waiting. We are to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” God is not just interested in getting us ready for heaven. He wants to change the way we live right here and right now. The presence and power of God working within us will bring a change in our desires, our direction, our attitudes, and our obedience to His purpose.
Grace Does More Than Forgive
The grace of God is amazing. Grace brought salvation to us through Jesus Christ, but grace does not leave us where it found us. Grace teaches us. When we open our hearts to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work within us, something begins to change. Our desires change and our focus changes from us to Him. God and His presence become our focus, and His plan and purpose become our desire. This is not simply an outward religious exercise. God works from the inside out.
I have seen people profoundly touched by the power and presence of God, but the touch itself was never the final purpose. God touches us to CHANGE us. The evidence of a true encounter with God is a new level of obedience to His will and purpose.
It is about God getting hold of the heart of man and man yielding to what God wants to do. That is why we must allow the Holy Spirit to correct us. When He puts His finger on something in our lives, we have a choice. We can resist Him, analyze what He is doing, or yield to Him. I have learned that yielding is always the better choice!
Grace for This Present World
Paul makes it very clear that we are to live godly “in this present world.” We do not have to wait for circumstances to become perfect before we can walk with God. We live in a world filled with fear, anxiety, unbelief, compromise, and uncertainty. But the believer does not have to be controlled by any of those things. God has given us something the world cannot give us, His presence living on the inside.
Paul prayed that we would be “strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16 KJV). That speaks of God making strong that which is weak. We are not expected to walk through this present world in our own strength. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Teacher, and Guide. He lives within us to strengthen us and lead us.
God wants us filled throughout our being, body, soul, and spirit, so that every part of our life is affected by His presence. This is why a relationship with the Holy Spirit is so important. The Christian life was never intended to be lived by human effort alone. When we yield to the Holy Spirit, He changes us from within and gives us the strength to walk in obedience to God.
Keep Your Focus on Jesus
Paul says we are to be “Looking for that blessed hope.” There is something about our focus that determines the direction of our lives. If our attention is continually on the darkness, we will become overwhelmed by the darkness. If our attention is continually on what is wrong with the world, fear and anxiety will try to take over.
Our focus must be on the awesomeness of God, His presence, His power, His Word, and His plan and purpose for our lives. I have often said, if you want more light, do not hang around in the darkness.
Jesus is coming again. Until He comes, we have something to do. We have a Gospel to preach. We need to reach the people who need Jesus. We have captives who need to be set free. We have a generation that needs to experience the reality of Almighty God.
The disciples in the upper room were not filled with the Holy Spirit so they could stay in the upper room and enjoy the experience. They came out filled with the power of God and began fulfilling the Great Commission. The touch of God gave ordinary people boldness to do extraordinary things for His Kingdom. The same is true today.
Live Filled, Live Ready
Paul prayed:
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV
That Scripture connects our daily walk directly to “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God wants our whole being, spirit, soul, and body, to be affected by His presence. His purpose is not for us to have an occasional spiritual experience and then return to life as normal. He wants us to walk in relationship with Him every day.
We do not prepare for the coming of Jesus by living in fear. Paul did not call His coming the “terrifying expectation.” He called it the BLESSED HOPE! So live ready, but live joyfully. Stay hungry for God. Stay thirsty for His presence. Stay in His Word. Worship Him. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, correct you, strengthen you, and lead you.
If there is something that needs to change, let Him change it. If there is something you need to lay down, lay it down. If God is telling you to move forward, then move forward. The touch of God always brings change in attitude, direction, and a new level of obedience to His will and purpose.
We Have a Blessed Hope
There is enough happening in this world to make people fearful, anxious, and hopeless. But the child of God should never be without hope. If we know Jesus and we know His Word and daily recognize the Holy Spirit living within us, we will not fail, and we have His promise that Jesus is coming again.
Until that glorious day, we have a responsibility to allow God to work in us and through us. We must be willing to go where He wants us to go, to do what He wants us to do. We must be ready to speak what He wants us to say, and to be what He wants us to be.
Do not allow the circumstances of this present world to rob you of your expectation of what God has promised. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your heart open to the Holy Spirit. Keep yourself filled with His presence. Keep sharing the Gospel. Keep allowing God to use you to touch somebody else's life.
One day the trumpet will sound, and our blessed hope will become glorious reality. Until then, let us live “soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,” looking expectantly for “the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
God bless you all richly,
By Evangelist Gil Howard-Browne
[www.revivaltimes.com](http://www.revivaltimes.com)
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