What a Day that will be!

Saturday 8-22-15 (Mount Lassen Campmeeting)

Scripture reading:  Jer. 28 – 30      1 John 3

S=Scripture O=Observation A=Application P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  1 John 3:2-3 Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure.  NLT

O.  This is a call to holy living.  Some religious people make-up “holiness rules” and then scrutinize them to see how far they can go before they really break a rule.  They want to live on the edge, with one foot in the world and another in the church. 

A.  If I truly believe that “I will be like Him” someday, then I will strive to keep myself pure now.  It will become my motivation to be as much like Jesus as I can while living and reacting to an environment charged with evil. 

I am glad that I am not harnessed by a list of “holiness rules.”  But deep in my heart I want to please My Savior.  And whenever I sense that I have failed Him... and I sometimes do... I go running into His loving, forgiving arms to confess it all to Him.  And He does not pound me into the ground.  Instead He offers free forgiveness and cleansing.  And I am never more pure than the moment after I seek and receive His forgiveness and cleansing. 

P.  Lord God, I want to get close to You, but when I do... I cry out with the Prophet Isaiah, “Woe is me!”  For I am a mess and I live in a nasty, sinful environment.  And now the eyes of my heart have been opened and I have seen Him who declares, “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father.”  Lord, I grieve as Your brilliance reveals every dark spot on my soul... Ah, but then Your blood washes me white as the fresh fallen snow.  And one of these days I will be lifted from this world into Your presence and You promise that I will be like You for I will see You as You really are.  Oh!  What a day that will be!  Amen.

Ralph

What a Day that will be!

What a day that will be

When my Jesus I shall see!

When I look upon His face

The One who saved me by His grace.

When He takes me by the hand

And leads me through the promised land.

What a day, glorious day that will be!