Are we understanding the urgency of our present time?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
(Romans 13:11 (NIV))

When Paul wrote these words to the Romans, he was warning them that the time had come to wake up from their sinful slumber for salvation was at hand. They had been living with no hope of salvation and Paul’s words were used as a proclamation that they now had hope, and that this hope was firmly grounded in Jesus!

Today, after two thousands years, we must be able to understand a different present time.

As believers in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we know that salvation is ours if we profess this faith and call upon the name of Jesus. Salvation has been made available to a sinful, fallen world for two thousand years. Today, we must watch and wait for the fulfillment of God’s plans as He draws the church age to a close.

I have stated many times in recent years that I, like many others, feel that God’s plans are rapidly unfolding right before our eyes. The events that we watch are too numerous to list here, for they are many. Just as God used Paul to tell the Romans that salvation was then available, I believe that God is using many things in this world to tell us of this present time. He is telling us to wake from our slumber.

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
(Romans 13:12 (NIV))

Paul preached salvation and grace based on his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus. He was correct in spreading this good news, this Gospel, to a sinful, fallen world. He was correct in helping them to understand that their time to repent was upon them. Today, we are closer to the time when Jesus gathers His church to Himself. Today, we are closer to the time when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Today, we are in the times when we must do as Paul did and preach the Gospel to all whom we encounter.

Have we been woken up from our slumber?

Are we understanding the urgency of our present time?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you truly ready for your salvation?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
(Romans 13:11 (NIV))

This holds so true. Each day brings us closer to our salvation than when we first believed. Each day draws us closer to each of us meeting Jesus, whether at His return or in our passing from this earth. Since none of us know when either of those dates will occur, we should live our lives as if this day were our last.

Are you ready, are you at peace with either of these events happening at this very moment in your life?

I wish that I knew how to make you take a dramatic pause after that last question. I hope that you truly stopped to reflect on your salvation. I realize that many people believe the things that have been prophesied are unfolding, and that very well may be true, but are you truly ready to meet Jesus if your time should come before His return? Would you be judged or would you receive grace? If you are on this earth long enough to meet Jesus when He comes for His church, His bride, would you meet Him in the air or would you be left behind?

With all that is going on in this world, anything could happen.

I have often stated that I love to cross-reference multiple different translations to pick up on the subtle word nuances that the translators used to convey the thoughts and the words originally written in Hebrew or Greek. This one caught my attention.

Besides all this, you know at what point of history we stand; so it is high time for you to rouse yourselves from sleep; for the final deliverance is nearer than when we first came to trust.
(Romans 13:11 (CJB))

Do you know at what point in history that you stand?

Have you roused yourself from the slumber that this world has left us in?

Are you truly ready to meet Jesus face to face?

Salvation is as easy as ABC.

A is for admit that you are a sinner in need of a savior.

B is for believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Him from the dead.

C is for call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.

If you have made this, or a similar profession of faith in Jesus, then you are ready. If you long to seek after Jesus in all that you do, then you are ready. If you feel remorse when you still sin and then willingly repent, then you are ready. I pray that you do not lose track of the times, for God is moving and the enemy doesn’t want you to know.

Are you truly ready for your salvation?

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you alert and paying attention?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.
(1 Thessalonians 5:6 (NIV))

Do you pay attention to what is going on in the world? Are you alert and watching and waiting or are you asleep? Are you ignorant of the things that God is unfolding right in front of us? Are you oblivious to the attacks of the enemy in the world in which we live?

Do you recognize God’s timeline unfolding or do you simply think that everything is as it has always been?

You can call me an escapist. You can call me someone lost in fantasy. You can call me a conspiracy nut. You can call me a Jesus freak, but nothing is going to change my mind. Nothing is going to change this inner feeling that there is something unfolding as we have been told in God’s Word. I refuse to lay down and sleep!

Let me ask you one simple question. Are you aware of the things that happen around you when you are asleep? Unless something startles you out of a sound sleep, you are oblivious to many things such as a gentle change in the weather, a power outage, a child coming into your room and standing next to your bed, and many, many more such things. It is the subtle changes that allow you to stay in a state of slumber. It is only the drastic changes that wake you to the events as they unfold. The enemy works in the same way. He has been and continues to slowly and subtly change things in a manner that will not shock you out of your slumber. Those who are not paying attention to the subtlety miss it. One day there will be a drastic change and they be awakened and it will be too late!

The Body of Christ is called to be alert and self-controlled. We are to be a witness for Christ. We are to shine the light of Jesus into the darkness of this world. How can we shine into and through this darkness if we fail to see and recognize the darkness?

Are you alert and paying attention?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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