May 18th

Downpour

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8

It must have been crazy to be one of Jesus' disciples in the days surrounding His death, resurrection, and ascension. Imagine yourself in their shoes, standing there when He's caught up into Heaven.

That would have been quite a scene, don't you think? I mean just a few days earlier, you saw Jesus die on the cross and thought it was all over. But then Jesus starts showing up again, proving that He rose from the dead. You've had some great meals together, breakfast up on the Sea of Galilee. Momentum is building again and you're just waiting for Jesus' next move.

And you should be used to it by now, that Jesus' next move was not what you expected. Because He's gone-again. He said He'd return-but when? Then the angels show up and say, Hey, didn't Jesus give you some things to do? Stop staring at the sky and go get on with the program. Don't worry, He'll come back the same way He left.

Gang, there's our bookends. They saw Jesus leave and we have been given the promise that He is soon to return. But we can't just sit gazing up into the stars waiting for the lunar eclipse and big asteroid to hit. You know, we have to be about our Father's business.

Yes, we're waiting for the return of Christ. But this waiting is not a passive waiting, it's actively waiting. It's actively trusting. It is actively entering into this life of faith and obedience to which the Lord has called us. He's trusted us last-day saints to not just be stargazers, to not just be looking up into the heavens, but to be actively trusting and waiting and, I would say, daily entering into this Spirit-filled, guided, controlled, and led life until the trumpet sounds and the Lord returns.

Listen, we've seen God do some amazing, incredible things among us, have we not? We have seen Him-and I pray this is true for you personally-forgive us of our sins, fill us with His Holy Spirit, and empower us for life within His kingdom.

But now that we've seen God do amazing things, we have a job to do. We have to go testify to everyone who doesn't know Him yet of what God has done.

Jesus is coming soon. Are you telling others what God has done, or are you just staring at the sky?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You are coming again soon! I submit myself to You to be filled and led by Your Holy Spirit to the places where people need to hear what You have done. Let me not just be staring at the sky when You return, but let me be doing what You have sent me to do!

Amen