Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
They tell us home invasion is on the rise. What have you done to prepare?
Scripture
Revelation 16:15
A Voice: See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the person who watches and waits, dressed and ready to go, so as not to wander about naked, exposed to disgrace.
Devotional
I remember the days when people didn’t lock their doors at night.
Went on vacation once and forgot to lock the door, but really didn’t worry about it
Then started locking the doors when we left but not when we were home
Then started locking the doors at night
Then started putting gates around our communities
Community watch
Now alarms systems, cameras, guns under mattresses
Prepared for thieves that might try to slip through the gate
If we knew thief was coming
We’d be ready
Doors and windows locked
Cameras recording
Police at the door
Valuables secured
Thief wouldn’t have a chance
Captured and arrested
Thief doesn’t come when we are prepared
Comes when least expected
Comes when our guard is down
Comes at his convenience, not ours
Jesus says He will come like a thief in the night
Be ready
Like the Jews prepared for the first passover
Dressed and ready for a journey
Shoes on their feet, staff in their hand
Everything they need to take packed and ready to go
I attended a funeral just this week for a friend
He was getting ready to take his wife to the hospital for surgery the next day
Instead he had a massive stroke and never regained consciousness
We don’t know how long we have
We don’t know when our next breath will be our last
We may live until Jesus returns to take His bride away
We may be victims of a car wreck or some random act of violence or a freak accident or an illness or any number of things
The message is we need to be ready
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Did you ever wonder where Jesus and the thief on the cross went when they died that day? Jesus said they were headed to paradise that day. Well then, what is paradise anyway?
Scripture
Luke 23:43
Jesus: I promise you that this very day you will be with Me in paradise.
Devotional
Have you thought much about Jesus’ comment to the thief hanging next to Him at Golgotha?
Criminal
Evil enough for crucifixion
Cruelest form of execution
Today join Jesus in paradise
Paradise
Wikipedia – Paradise is the term for a place of timeless harmony. The Abrahamic faiths associate paradise with the Garden of Eden, that is, the perfect state of the world prior to the fall from grace, and the perfect state that will be restored in the World to Come. in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, a land of luxury and fulfillment.
Is it heaven?
Has the thief already faced judgment and entered into eternity with the triune Godhead around the throne?
Does John’s Revelation and other eschatological writings agree with or refute what Jesus says to the thief?
Arguments by believers and non-believers alike
Does everyone go here awaiting judgment or just believers?
Is this like the lobby to heaven where you get the appetizers before dinner?
If Jesus talks about a judgment day, then what is paradise? A place between death and heaven?
Will good people, but non-believers stay here instead of hell?
Is this the opposite of purgatory for those who earn a better place than the flames or eternal separation from God?
No one knows this side of heaven. We do know some things.
Death is not the final victor, there is something after that – Jesus talks about that
There is a heaven and hell – Jesus talks about both
There will be a judgment day – Jesus talks about that
We determine by our faith and actions now whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell – Jesus talks about that
What is paradise? We don’t really know this side of the curtain we call death. But for believers, whether we are ushered into an anteroom of heaven with Jesus awaiting the judgment that He called paradise when He talked to the thief, or whether we face judgment immediately, or whether time just stops and doesn’t matter anymore once we pace from this life to the next, does it really matter? As long as we are with Him, who cares? We don’t need to be concerned about what paradise is or when it is or what it looks like or if it’s part of heaven or not. Who cares? Just be ready when He comes and you’ll hear Him say, “this very day you will be with Me in paradise.”
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 24:42-44 Jesus: So keep watch. You don’t know when your Lord will come. But you should know this: If the owner of a house had known his house was about to be broken into, he would have stayed up all night, vigilantly. He would have kept watch, and he would have thwarted the thief. So you must be ready because you know the Son of Man will come, but you can’t know precisely when.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
It’s hard to miss the theme over the last several days. Jesus continues to talk about His return. For the disciples around Him, He hasn’t departed yet, so they are confused. They don’t really understand what He’s talking about. He’s told them He’s going to die in Jerusalem, but they are having a hard time accepting it. But now He spends all this time talking about returning to Jerusalem to take them to be with Him and His Father in heaven.
To those who heard this for the first time, the words must have been incredible. How could He return, first of all. Once you’re dead, you’re dead. No one comes back from the grave. And now He spends all this time talking about coming back for them when He leaves them. They are dumbfounded. Then Jesus gives them all these signs that will point to His return. Signs that will show the beginning of the end or is it the end of the beginning. He tells them the temple will fall, the weather will wreak havoc on the earth, earthquakes will all but tear the world apart, and nations will try to destroy each other in war.
Once again He tells them His coming will be quick and silent, like a thief in the middle of the night. Be prepared. Watch. Stay awake and ready for Him to come.
As I was thinking about His words and what He might think about our actions today, I thought about how different our culture has become from that in Jesus day. Thieves didn’t have to work very hard to break into houses in His day. Sure there were locks, but nothing compared to the security of our homes today. We live in gated communities, some with 24 hour guards at the gates. We have all kinds of security systems that alert the police if there are intruders. We rest at night with almost complete confidence that no one will break in and harm us.
But I started thinking about that. We don’t watch like people did in Jesus day. I remember those times I spent in combat zones, we always had people awake watching the perimeter of our camp while the rest of us slept. We never had all of us asleep at the same time. Someone was always watching for the enemy. But that’s not true in our homes. We assume we’re safe.
Those in Jesus’ day didn’t feel quite as safe as we do today. Especially in the outlying villages. Not only did bandits roam the countryside, but there were also lions and bears to worry about. Those things in the wild will eat people if they get old and hungry and unable to chase the wild game they usually dined on. So homes were not always safe.
I wonder if our relative physical safety in this country have made us begin to get lax in watching for dangers everywhere. We don’t notice subtle differences in our surroundings on our routine route to work, something that soldiers learn to spy quickly in combat zones to keep them safe from ambush and improvised explosive devices. We don’t notice changed actions in those around us because we are not supposed to profile or be intolerant of abberrant behavior.
We don’t notice the signs all around us that tell us that Jesus is coming again and His coming is getting close. We don’t pay attention to the natural disasters happening all over the world. Unless they happen in our backyard, we don’t pay attention. But 90 medium-sized and greater earthquakes a week is probably something to begin paying attention to if you’re looking for Jesus to return. Maybe the change in weather sparking the change in sea-states is not man’s doing, but God’s. Maybe He’s telling us it’s just about time for Jesus to get His bride.
The question is whether we’re watching. He will come quickly, like a thief in the night. If the owner of the house knew the thief were coming, he’d stay up all night watching for him and be prepared to defend his home against the intruder. He’d be prepared. Jesus is coming just as quickly and just as stealthily. Unless you’re prepared to see for His coming you won’t see Him before it’s all over. You’ll be like the owner of the house who came in after then fact and found all his possessions gone. The thief came and went and you were not prepared for him. The house is empty and all is gone.
If Jesus comes back and leaves you here that’s what your life will be like. Empty. Hopeless. Everything lost. It pays to watch for Him. We know He’s coming. Be ready.
Today’s background scripture comes from Luke 12:35-48
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Many around you will say, “There is plenty of time to get right with God. He said He was coming back 2,000 years ago and He hasn’t come back yet. I can always start living right next year.”
My Son told those who would listen a parable about masters who returned unexpectedly or thieves that came in the middle of the night. You probably don’t know much about masters and servants where you live. In Jesus’ time on earth, people understood the parable clearly. Perhaps today, I would use a story about a company owner or a store manager and his employees, instead.
How well does the assistant manager perform when the manager is on vacation? What does he find if he comes back early? Or you probably hear about thieves that break in and steal things a lot. Well, maybe that has become so common place you no longer hear much about it. But if the owner knew the time a thief were coming and convinced the police or his neighbors of his coming, the owner would prepare and the thief would not break in.
My Son said He would come back at a time only I know. It’s like the weddings in ancient Israel. Sons prepared a home for their bride and the marriage took place only after their father saw their son could care for his bride in his new home. My Son is still prepare a place for you. When I tell Him it is ready for you, I will tell Him to come and get you. Then He will split the sky like a lightening bolt and in the blink of an eye He’ll bring His bride home with Him forever.
You will never know when I send Him. He will come like the unexpected manager or the thief in the night. Like Jesus told those who listened to His parable 2,000 years ago, be ready, you don’t know when he’ll come. You don’t want to miss that party!
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Luke 12:35-48 Set – Genesis 29; Luke 12 Go! – Genesis 29-30; Luke 12
Luke12:35-48 Jesus: I’m not just talking theory. There is urgency in all this. If you’re apathetic and complacent, then you’ll miss the moment of opportunity. You should be wide awake and on your toes like servants who are waiting for their master to return from a big wedding reception. They’ll have their shoes on and their lamps lit so they can open the door for him as soon as he arrives home. 37 How fortunate those servants will be when the master knocks and they open the door immediately! You know what the master will do? He’ll put on an apron, sit them down at the kitchen table, and he’ll serve them a midnight snack. 38 The later he comes home—whether it’s at midnight or even later, just before dawn—the more fortunate the alert servants will be.
39 In contrast, imagine a complacent, apathetic household manager whose house gets robbed. If he had been aware that thieves were waiting in the bushes and what hour they were coming, [he would have watched and][a] he never would have left the house! 40 I’m trying to tell you that these are times for alertness, times requiring a sense of urgency and intensity, because like the master in the first story or the thief in the second, the Son of Man shows up by surprise.
Peter: 41 Lord, I’m not sure if this parable is intended only for us disciples or if this is for everyone else too.
Jesus: 42 Imagine the stories of two household managers, and decide for yourself which one is faithful and smart. Each household manager is told by his master to take good care of all his possessions and to oversee the other employees—the butlers, cooks, gardeners, and so on. 43 One servant immediately busies himself in doing just what he was told. His master eventually comes to check on him 44 and rewards him with a major promotion and with more responsibility and trust. 45 The other household manager thinks, “Look, my boss is going to be gone for a long time. I can be complacent; there’s no urgency here.” So he beats the other employees—the women as well as the men. He sits around like a slob, eating and getting drunk. 46 Then the boss comes home unexpectedly and catches him by surprise. One household manager will be fortunate indeed, and the other will be cut into pieces and thrown out.
47 Now if a servant who is given clear instructions by his master doesn’t follow those instructions but instead is complacent and apathetic, then he will be punished severely. 48 But if a servant doesn’t know what his master expects and behaves badly, then he will receive a lighter punishment. If you are given much, much will be required of you. If much is entrusted to you, much will be expected of you.
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