If I Miss .....

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2)

If I miss the love and the mercy and the grace of God in this life, who is to be blamed? Certainly not the God who sits on the throne. He made full provision for my salvation. Certainly not the Lamb who stands before the throne. He died for my sins and rose again for my justification. Certainly not the radiant, flaming Holy Spirit who has accosted men and women all over the world, mediating to them the saving gospel of Christ.

Here the words John heard on rocky Patmos as the Revelation of Jesus Christ concluded:

"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be ... Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city ... And the Spirit and the bride say, Come ... And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (22:12, 14, 17).

If I miss God's great salvation, has this life been worth the struggle? Personally, I think not!

If we go to heaven it is because we have a nature that belongs there.

~A. W. Tozer~

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The Ability to Wait

"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be" (Revelation 22:12)

When Jesus was on earth 2,000 years ago, He told His hearers that the "day of the Lord" was coming. He said no one except the Father in heaven knew the day or the hour.

It is our understanding that God's patience and His time of grace will endure until the world's cup of iniquity overflows. According to the Scriptures, patience - the ability to wait - is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The human, natural part of us does not like to wait for anything. But the great God Almighty, who has all of eternity to accomplish His purposes, can afford to wait. In our creature impatience we are prone to cry out, "O God, how long? How long?

And God replies, in effect, "Why are you in such a hurry? We have an eternity stretching before us."

It is not enough merely to know that Christ is coming, and to desire it. It is a great crisis in the life of the soul when it becomes truly centered there. The attraction of the soul is removed from earth to the heavens and learns to live under the power of the world to come.

~A. W. Tozer~