'We wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our...Saviour, Jesus Christ.' Titus 2:13 NIV
The last segment in Practicing Happiness is that we must remember that Hope brings happiness. But also remember skepticism never can. You may be alive when Christ returns, or you may be resur-rected to meet Him in the air. Either way, Jesus is coming again! Don’t let doubters or false date–setters dull your sense of hope.
Ray Bakke shares this story: ‘I knew an old Glasgow professor named McDonald, who, along with a Scottish chaplain, was put in a prisoner–of–war camp. A high wire fence separated the Americans from the British, and McDonald was put in the American barracks. The Americans had a little homemade radio and were able to get news from the outside. Every day McDonald would take a headline or two to the fence and share it with the chaplain in the ancient Gaelic language, indecipherable to the Germans. One day news came that the German High Command had surrendered. McDonald took the news to his friend, then watched him disappear into the barracks. A moment later a roar of celebration came from inside. Life in that camp was transformed. Men walked around singing and shouting, waving at the guards, even laughing at the dogs. When the German guards finally heard the news three nights later, they fled into the dark, leaving the gates unlocked. The next morning, Brits and Americans walked out as free men. Yet they had truly been set free three days earlier by the news that the war was over.’ The certainty of Christ’s soon return sets you free to hope, to rejoice in the worst of circumstances, and to live with purpose. For God’s redeemed people, the best is yet to come!
You are Loved!
The last segment in Practicing Happiness is that we must remember that Hope brings happiness. But also remember skepticism never can. You may be alive when Christ returns, or you may be resur-rected to meet Him in the air. Either way, Jesus is coming again! Don’t let doubters or false date–setters dull your sense of hope.
Ray Bakke shares this story: ‘I knew an old Glasgow professor named McDonald, who, along with a Scottish chaplain, was put in a prisoner–of–war camp. A high wire fence separated the Americans from the British, and McDonald was put in the American barracks. The Americans had a little homemade radio and were able to get news from the outside. Every day McDonald would take a headline or two to the fence and share it with the chaplain in the ancient Gaelic language, indecipherable to the Germans. One day news came that the German High Command had surrendered. McDonald took the news to his friend, then watched him disappear into the barracks. A moment later a roar of celebration came from inside. Life in that camp was transformed. Men walked around singing and shouting, waving at the guards, even laughing at the dogs. When the German guards finally heard the news three nights later, they fled into the dark, leaving the gates unlocked. The next morning, Brits and Americans walked out as free men. Yet they had truly been set free three days earlier by the news that the war was over.’ The certainty of Christ’s soon return sets you free to hope, to rejoice in the worst of circumstances, and to live with purpose. For God’s redeemed people, the best is yet to come!
You are Loved!
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