Be Thankful for the Future in Christ
While Thanksgiving is typically an American holiday, it is a holiday that can transcend borders and geographical barriers. We can all be thankful and during this time of thankfulness, we should recognize what Christ has done for us. However, today I wanted to make a challenge for you. We typically celebrate Thanksgiving by looking to the past and being thankful for what has happened, or we take a moment to examine the present and are thankful for the current blessings. However, we have a God who is outside of time! His word has declared what He will do for us and with us. Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision [is] yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”
God is outside of time and because of this, He is able to orchestrate what happens within time. Revelation 22:12-13 “12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward [is] with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the] Beginning and [the] End, the First and the Last.” We know that God has promised actions that have not yet happened.
God has promised to take those who are saved in the Rapture to be with Him, John 14:2-3 “2 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if [it were] not [so,] I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, [there] you may be also.”
God has promised to reunite us with those believers who have already died for the greatest reunion ever. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive [and] remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
God has promised to transform our mortal bodies into immortal bodies, to deliver us from the sin within our present bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 “51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O Death, where [is] your sting? O Hades, where [is] your victory?” 56 The sting of death [is] sin, and the strength of sin [is] the law. 57 But thanks [be] to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.“
God has promised to reward us for the actions we did bringing Him glory, 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things [done] in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
God still has work to do and we can be thankful that He will finish this work. We should be thankful for His past actions, His present work, His future plans, and His ultimate authority to do them. So this Thanksgiving, take a moment and thank the Lord for what He will one day do. We didn’t even get into the other amazing actions that He has promised those who are His children. However, unless you are His child, you truly do not have the future to be thankful for. Christ is the only source of hope we have. I would encourage you to call out to Jesus Christ and ask Him to come into your life today and truly come to terms with what it means to have a thankful season knowing you have a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11-14a “11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find [Me,] when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD.”
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL