No Shame Here!

"And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming" (I John 2:28 NIV).

"He's coming soon!" "The end is near!" "These are the last days!"  "Get your life right, now!"

There is always an alarm--alerting us to the fact that every day we live, we get closer to the end--our end or the world's end--one really doesn't know. However, if we are doing all we can to live according to His Word--the watchman's cry will not cause us to be fearful or intimidated; the watchman's cry should bring us joy--knowing we will soon receive our rewards.

But that is not normally the case for many. They sound the alarm to make people fearful and mindful of the fact that if they are still in sin, they will not be able to stand before the Lord, confident of what they will hear Him say, but will be judged according to their "acts of sin."

With all that has been said and demonstrated in The Word--we must learn to continue-daily--to live our lives with confidence, knowing we have done all we can to live The Word and not just preach it to others.

When we "know" (not think) we are living The Word--warnings of His impending return won't cause our hearts to faint, but to rejoice.

How do we know we are living The Word?

The answer lies not so much in someone having to tell us--repeatedly-- we should not sin, but in our ability to love--God and others. If we love God, we'll study The Word for ourselves and seek understanding from Him. If we love others--we will not do anything that will cause them harm, but we will do everything within our power to serve, encourage, inspire, motivate and promote--living The Word.

If we say we love God--then we know when we sin--against Him. If we say we love people--we know when we sin against them. Perhaps, the most difficult task in our lives becoming loving us and knowing when we sin against ourselves (according to The Word).

Let's listen and do The Word and know that He is coming back to take us to the place He has prepared for us. The only thing I want to hear from Him is, "Well done" and I am confident of this one thing--I will not be ashamed to stand before Him, awaiting His pronouncement.  Will you?