Keep watch and be ready has been the theme of the past 2 weeks! Methinks God is trying to tell us something!
I was praying about todays post & this weeks message and He kept reminding me that life is about growing with God & sharing what we learn. This is especially important with this message!
Firstly I was blessed with a ticket to go to Bible By The Beach (a Bible conference) one of the talks was on Matthew (the book i’d currently been reading!) Then at church the following day the pastor spoke on Revelation 19 (in the past 17 years since becoming born again, I haven’t heard anyone at an in person service speak on Revelation) only to head to the conferences’ evening service and they spoke on Revelation 21! Then, in the service yesterday he was talking about ‘The parable of the ten virgins.’
Let’s have a look at some of these verses shall we?
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
-Revelation 19: 6b &7, 9
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
-Revelation 21: 4 & 5
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
-Matthew 24:4-8, 13, 40-44
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.
Matthew 25:1-4
We are needing to keep a watch out for Jesus’ return. It is coming, we just don’t know when. Therefore it is extremely important to be ready for it!
How do we do this?
Have a look at Matthew 25 and read the full parable. We need to keep our oil topped up! The oil represents the Holy Spirit. We are on this earth as human beings. I expect you are aware that you have certain days and times where you experience that connection with the Holy Spirit stronger than other times, right? We do (or can) have the Spirit living in us (1 Thessalonians 1:6/ 2 Timothy 1:14) but we need to regularly “top up” the Spirit too. Like the virgins do with the oil.
Imagine you are a cup or glass, how full are you right now? Fancy a top up of the Holy Spirit? Simply ask Him. Spend time reading the word and worshiping Him.
Relevant Reading: Mood Boosting Worship Songs
By doing this we can be guided in our day to day lives and have that connection with God. This Spirit is how we can know and experience peace, love, joy etc., even in the middle of and through the hard times! We are told and to be honest most likely all know first hand of the difficulties and struggles in our lives and in this world (Matthew 24:6-8). But we are also reassured that one day all of that will disappear! (Revelation 21:4)
Relevant Reading: No More Tears
Poem- 'Keep Watch, Be Ready'
Behold! Jesus is coming soon Have your eyes open and look,
Keep watch, be ready: Keep the words of His book.
Worship! Praise him always and wash ourselves clean,
Keep watch, be ready: Hold tight to the faith of the unseen.
Come! Let’s turn to him now, to the Son of God; our saviour,
Keep watch, be ready: let’s check our thoughts and behaviour.
Repent! From our trespasses Let’s set ourselves free,
Keep watch, be ready: For he’s coming back, you will see!
Blessed! We will be blessed! Let the Grace of the Lord Jesus be with us all,
Keep watch, be ready: And go with him when we hear his call.
Would you like to have a copy of the below poster to put on your wall or to gift to someone? It’s a great reminder for us to “be ready” especially as “The time is near” (Revelation 1:3)!
Simply click the photo below and grab your copy now. ⬇️
Want to find out HOW to keep watch and be ready?
Then check out Be Ready for Jesus’ Return.
I expect this may have given you some food for thought! Feel free to pop your comments below and start/ join a conversation.
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Well, God says otherwise! You are more than capable and you are loved! You know this because it says so in scripture.
But perhaps you would like to know & believe it fully in your heart.
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Beautiful poem and powerful reminder!
Thank you for sharing this wealth of knowledge!
I think it is no coincidence that my Sunday School lessons for the past few weeks have been on the end time, but yesterday’s lesson really motivated me to dig deeper, especially in Matthew 24. I believe, along with you, that Christians need to really take seriously our obligations and roles during these last days and be prepared and watchful for the Lord’s return.
This post really is good food for thought! Very encouraging yet thought provoking! Thank you sweet friend for being obedient to write what the Lord puts on your heart! Very well done … 🙏❤️