Scripture Reading: Luke 12.35-48 Today's inspiration: We will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4.17

Good Morning.

I have a new word for you--liminal--rhymes with minimal, has to do with a period of transition, where one often finds ambiguity--an in-between time. In reality, this is where we find ourselves. . . living in the in-between. . . in between Jesus' humble birth and His glorious return. He's coming back, you know. On Saturday afternoon, I was at Dylan's Huntington Beach surf contest, and as I sat there enjoying the dramatic skies above--you know, dark gray and various white clouds with insistent sunbeams casting forth on the waves--I thought again, 'Lord, is this the day of Your return? Will You split these clouds today, and call forth Your people?'

Honestly, I cannot think about His promised coming without hearing the words of an old hymn. It captures the whole story of our redemption so well. . .

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises, one day when sin was as black as could be,

Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin, dwelt among men, my example is He!

chorus: Living, He loved me; Dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away; Rising, He justified freely forever;

One day He's coming-----oh, glorious day!

One day they led him up Calvary's mountain, One day they nailed him to die on the tree;

Suffering anguish, despised and rejected, Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!

One day the grave could conceal him no longer, One day the stone rolled away from the door;

Then He arose, over death he has conquered; Now is ascended, my Lord forevermore!

One day the trumpet will sound for his coming, One day the skies with his glory will shine;

Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing; Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!

One day He's coming-----oh, glorious day!

As I consider the greatest story ever told, the lilting tune carries me from line to line; while I can't convey the melody from my laptop to your ears, I pray that the truth and the joy of the whole story--Jesus' birth to His blessed return--will inspire you today. We get so caught up in the day-to-day, the mundane, that which is not eternal, that we forget we are not of this world. In our Luke 12 passage, Jesus tells His disciples that they/we must be ready for His return, for He will come as a thief in the night, when no one expects. He has stern warnings for those who are not ready on the day of His return. We have been given the 'keys to the kingdom' with our salvation, and accordingly, we will be held accountable for that. To whom much is given, much will be required. What are you doing with your "much"?

Over the course of a given week, I am involved in many situations--for instance, I've held my crying friend, whose husband just left her and their two boys for another woman; I've talked with a friend who is so hurt by the actions of his selfish brother--how do you love when they are so unlovable? and yet, the cry of his heart says, 'God help me, I feel responsible!' Then, I have welcomed my prodigal back home, though he came home with 'a limp' and needs a touch of the divine, if he is going to make it. . . yet, he has so many reservations about that-- Oh, God help me. . . help us! Grant me your wisdom, grant me your mind about my son . . about his situation, and those in my family who don't want to give him another chance. Yes, God, help us--Help us, your people, who live in this world and are so consumed by it that we forget we are not of this world.

One day the trumpet will sound for his coming. . . Jesus told His disciples that though they would know pain in this life. . . well, here, give a listen to His reassuring words to the men he so desperately loved--I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. (John 16.24) 'Take heart--I'll be back for you,' He said it to them, as well as to us. But for now, my friends, fellow believers--> 'wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now that when we first believed.' (Paul in Romans 13) Let us take care how we live. . . it matters. What are you doing with your "much" while you are living in the liminal? After all, as you drive down the road today, and look up at God's handiwork in the skies, consider that those clouds just might part--and a trumpet sound forth--today might be the day of his coming! One day He's coming-----oh, glorious day!

So that you may know,

Christine