What does the phrase 'the day after...' bring to your mind?

The Day After............

When you hear the phrase ‘The Day After.......’ what comes to your mind?

Perhaps you think of Japan ‘the day after’ the atomic bomb. Maybe you think of the horror, sorrow, despair, and fear those people felt the day after. Or maybe you think of the thankfulness the allied soldiers must have felt the day after - not because of the defeat of the Japanese - but because they would not be required to take the island by conventional military means. After all - the soldiers knew that an estimated One Million Casualties would be required to take that island. My dad was a very young country boy stationed in the Pacific Theater of that war. He thanked God for his life the day after.

Perhaps you think of something more recent like ‘the day after’ hurricane Katrina. What a disaster that was. People survived the hurricane only to face the flooding caused by the breaking of the levees.

Or do you think of ‘the day after’ something more personal? Maybe you think of the day after you lost a job; or the day after your house burned down; or the day after a loved one died.

All these things will fade away and be remembered no more by anyone. But there is a ‘Day After’ that will be remembered for eternity. That is the day after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just think about it.

When Jesus came, the world was dwelling in sorrow except for a few of the elite. Rome ruled the world through conquest and slavery. They had compassion on no one, and no love for their fellow man.

Into this bleak world came Jesus Christ - the Savior of the world.
He taught that we should love one another the way He loved us.
He taught that we should treat others the way we want to be treated.
He healed the sick.
He fed the hungry.
He had compassion on the multitudes.
He went out of His way to seek the woman at the well.
He even raised the dead.
He stopped what He was doing to provide for the needs of others.

And then - He died. I say He died instead of He was murdered because Jesus said: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.’ (John 10:17-18)
The day Jesus died - His followers watched their hopes and dreams die on a Roman cross as Jesus died. When Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) - His followers must have thought, “He got that right - it is finished - everything is finished.

They faced the day after the death of the Savior. Who can comprehend the terror, sorrow, and despair the followers of Jesus felt the day after the crucifixion? And the people lived in this world of despair for three days. Then Jesus rose from the dead. The world was changed in an instant.
What an emotional roller coaster ride that must have been.
First - the world was filled with hope because Jesus was walking among them.
 
Then the world was filled with despair because all hope had died at the cross.

Then there was an empty tomb.

Then Jesus showed Himself to people.

Then ‘and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matthew 27:52-53)
Can you imagine how the people felt the day after all that happened?
Were some just numb - sitting and staring - trying to comprehend what had happened?

Were some filled with joy, singing, and shouting?
Were some like Thomas - filled with disbelief until they saw Jesus for themselves?

Were some angry that He rose up from the dead? After all - they killed Him once - that ought to be enough for anybody.

Did anyone fully understand that the age of the gentiles had come?

The followers of Jesus began to regroup. They had seen enough to kindle a fire in their hearts that would not be quenched. So great was their faith that it is still burning brightly 2000 years later. The early believers faced ‘The Day After’ and went forward to change the world forever.

Two thousand years later:

YOU enter onto the scene.
YOU have been saved.
YOU have become a Christian.
YOU have been baptized.
YOU have committed your life to following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
YOU have the complete Bible to read and learn from.
YOU have the examples given to you in the Bible on how to live a life pleasing to Christ.

But what about ‘The Day After’ YOU became a Christian?
Have you changed anything in your life to show the world you are a Christian?

Is Jesus pleased with what is in your heart today - or is it still filled with the same things it was filled with when you first met Christ?

Dear Christian, we all need to remember that there will be other ‘days after’.
There will be ‘the day after’ the rapture of the church. Some of our friends and loved ones really will be left behind to face the wrath to come.

There will be ‘the day after’ Armageddon - the day the blood in the valley will run so deep that it will reach the bridles on the horses.

There will be ‘the day after’ the final judgment - when the lost will be forever separated from the love of God.

There will be ‘the day after’ eternity begins.

There will be ‘the day after’ ‘the Lord Himself shall wipe away all tears from off all faces’.

What is there to be done today - that will bring about better ‘days after’?

What can YOU do to help others understand that through Jesus Christ they can escape the wrath to come?

What can YOU do to help someone understand that they need not die in the Valley of Armageddon - but can instead live a victorious life in Jesus Christ?

What can YOU do to help someone understand that he or she can escape the judgment to come by accepting the mercy offered by Jesus?

What can YOU do to help someone in despair today gain a glimpse of the place Jesus is preparing for those who love Him right now?

And finally - there will be ‘a day after’ the giving of rewards to believers. Will you have rewards? This is not a call to go out on your own and ‘win souls for Christ’. This is a call to seek God’s will - and then step out in faith and do what God asks of you. The first thing He asks of you is to be saved. Then He asks that you change your behavior to be more like Him. You can do this through faith that God will help you change the things in your life that are bothering Him. If you are proud - He will help you learn humility. If you are foolish - God will give you wisdom. If you are weak - God will give you strength. If you do not love your brothers - God will give you love for them. If you cannot forgive - God will enable you to forgive. In becoming more like Christ - you will lead others to Him.

Then - on the day after rewards are given to believers in heaven - you will have rewards. ‘The Day After’ time ends and eternity begins - your joy will be full.

To plan ahead for that day requires action right now. The early followers of Jesus changed their lives to be more like Him. In doing this - they changed the world. On ‘The Day After’ the resurrection of Jesus Christ - the first Christians realized they were not following cunningly devised fables - but that they were following the Living God.

You and I are in the same position. We are not following cunningly devised fables either. We are following the same Living God that the first believers followed after Jesus walked out of that tomb. How is it then that our lives often do not reflect our God - but rather reflect the world and a mere social gospel?

It is time for true Christians to GROW UP! If we really ARE  Christians this is the day to start acting like we are what we say we are.

This is a good day to say, THIS is ‘the day after’ my old life. Through the help of God - I will change the old ways of my life to new ways that please God and show the love of God to others.

The song for this article is “I Am Resolved” (I am resolved no longer to linger charmed by the world’s delight)

This is a great old hymn of the faith. It is easy to memorize - check it out and listen to it.
God bless you. Thank you for reading my article.

Barbara Henderson

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http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/a/iamresol.htm

I am resolved no longer to linger,
Charmed by the world’s delight,
Things that are higher, things that are nobler,
These have allured my sight.
Refrain
I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free;
Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.
I will hasten, hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free;
Jesus, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.
I am resolved to go to the Savior,
Leaving my sin and strife;
He is the true One, He is the just One,
He hath the words of life.
Refrain
I am resolved to follow the Savior,
Faithful and true each day;
Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,
He is the living Way.
Refrain
I am resolved to enter the kingdom
Leaving the paths of sin;
Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me,
Still will I enter in.
Refrain
I am resolved, and who will go with me?
Come, friends, without delay,
Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,
We’ll walk the heav’nly way.
Refrain

'I NEVER Knew You'

I Never Knew Him
By Barbara Henderson

Is there anyone you wish that you could or could have known, but you never actually had the opportunity to meet that person?

Is it a person from the Bible? For instance, do you wish you could have known Moses? My family says I really didn’t’ want to meet Moses; but that I wanted to meet Charlton Heston. They also told me that Ben Hur is a just a fictional character. Ha! What do they know? Plus, Charlton Heston was faithfully married to his wife for 65 years, so I could have met him without consideration of any lecherous tendencies on his part.

Is it a person from history? I think to have met George Washington would have been very neat. From what I have read about him, he was, among other things, a man of high moral character. That is obviously something lacking in modern politicians. Actually, I would have liked to meet both Mr. and Mrs. George Washington.

Or, is it a living person who is well known? I can’t imagine wanting to meet any of the celebrities of today. I am fairly certain that we would not hit it off. I would not be able to keep from voicing my opinion, so we wouldn’t be able to establish any real means for a lasting friendship.

Perhaps it is a family member. Children who have been adopted are curious about their birth families. Some want to meet their actual birth mother and father. Or, is it a family member who died before you were born. Jerry would love to have met and known his Uncle Gerald. Gerald was killed in WWII at the Normandy Landing. Also, Jerry would have liked to have more cousins. He only had three altogether. Jerry always felt like the family missed more than getting to know Gerald. I know that I wish my son in law and two grandsons could have known my sister April.

While all that speculation about who we would like to know, or to have known is fun; but it gains us nothing. Obviously, we have a zero percent chance of meeting people who are now dead while we also live. Second, it might be possible to meet an admired celebrity, but what good would that do? An interested person might get an autograph, but would they gain anything beyond just a casual meeting? Certainly the celebrity would not remember anything about them ten minutes later.

I’ll tell you who I would like to meet. I would like to meet a good friend. I would like it to be a nice lady that I could occasionally go with to have lunch. If she had a nice husband, my husband and I could both go with them to dinner every now and then. I have several such friends, but they don’t live nearby anymore. A new good friend would be someone who, like me, puts her family first. She would understand if I had to postpone a lunch date because something had come up with my family. I would understand the same thing for her. She would never get tired of hearing about my family because I would never get tired of hearing about her family. AND, neither of us would ever ever gossip about each other, or listen to anyone else gossiping. If you think such a friend here on earth is impossible, I can assure you that it is not.

Friends, as dear as they may be, must put the good of their own family first. Having ‘family first’ as a rule in their lives will make them better friends through the years. When a friend wants you to put them above your own family it is time to back off the relationship

I will not be forgetting my good friends. They are in my mind always. I remember some things that we have gone through together, and some things that we wish we had not gone through together. I know they remember me. I can call them anytime and just chat. We have a shared history. I thank God for them.

Unfortunately, you cannot just get up one fine day and decide to go out and meet a good friend for the first time. A good friend is a direct blessing from God Almighty. I suppose when I need another good friend, the Lord will send me one.

Thankfully, Jesus Christ is above all rules of time and space. He can be met on the day someone’s heart is ready for a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
Jesus will never move away and leave you. He will be with you always, even unto death..

Here is an interesting thing about knowing Jesus. Jesus Christ is alive and lives forever. To get to know Him, one must meet Him while he or she yet lives. On the other hand, those who know Christ will have the opportunity to know other people who met Jesus while they lived. After someone dies it is entirely too late. If someone doesn’t meet Jesus while he or she lives in the flesh, they will not have the opportunity to establish a real relationship with Him after they die.

To meet Jesus personally is not a casual meeting. It must be a meeting where you bond with each other. Depending on what you do for a living and where you live, it might be possible or even likely, that you meet people the world sees as celebrities of one sort or another. But, just a casual meeting does not make you their friend or part of their lives. If you met them in a traffic accident by the next day they would not know you. In fact, the never knew you. They just met you in passing. Having met them casually would be of no value to you.

Unlike celebrities, Jesus Christ has a semi open door policy. He will meet with and adopt any repentant soul who comes to Him as in immigrant. That means going to Him on His terms, with full surrender and a heart that is willing to conform to His image. Christ is not interested in settlers. Settlers are people who come to Him with the idea that they want to change heaven to suit their idea of heaven. There will be no settlers in heaven.

There is a catch to the open door invitation of Jesus Christ.
First, everyone gets an invitation to enter the kingdom of heaven through Jesus Christ. A very simple indicator that everyone gets an invitation is given to us in the Bible when the angels told the shepherds ‘behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people’. Now what good tidings would there be all people if ‘all people’ did not receive an invitation?

Second, the invitation must be accepted while the individual is living. The invitation is canceled upon the death of the recipient.

Third, the invitation is not an invitation to a celebrity party where you rub shoulders with the rich and famous, but never actually get to know any of them. The invitation is to begin an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ, the friend who sticks to you closer than your own dear brother.

Ultimately, everyone will stand before Jesus Christ. We will meet Him face to face without any doubt.

On that day, there will be those who will have all documentation regarding their right to enter the home of Jesus Christ which is heaven. They will know in advance that their place in heaven is secure because they know Jesus Christ personally, and they are entering in through the official entry.

On that day there will also be many who attempt to enter into heaven through a variety of means. They will cry out all the good works they did in the name of the Lord. They will loudly proclaim the rituals they went through in the name of the Lord. They will demand entrance based on their own good works, brilliant mind, feelings of having done well, and some even by their own amendments and ‘corrections’ to the teachings of the Bible.

Jesus Christ will answer them thus,
(22) ‘Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?
(23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.’ ( Matthew 7:22-23)
Did you get the part that said ‘I NEVER knew you’?

That means at least two things.

First, it is referring to those who may have casually known of Christ but never actually set up a personal relationship with Him. They may have gone to church and even participated in the social aspect of church religiously, but they never became real friends with Jesus Christ. They are just like someone who might have gone to a celebrity party, rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, but never actually made a friend.

Second, there are those who went to Christ on their own terms. Cain is an example of such folly. He didn’t like the way Christ told him to approach Him, so Cain just made up a way that seemed good to him, and then he tried to make it acceptable to God. It didn’t work for Cain, and won’t work for anyone else either. These are the settlers who are attempting to go to the home of God and then modify it to fit their own image of what God’s home should be like.

For those who go to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son, the word ‘I never knew you’ will not be heard.

Today is the day to decide what you will hear on judgment day.
If you want to hear, ‘Welcome home!’ then you need to settle your immigration status today. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

If you are not willing to go to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son, then you will hear Jesus say, ‘I never knew you.’

You know, the point of this article was supposed to be eternal security of the believer. When Christ says ‘I NEVER knew you’ it means He never knew you. It doesn’t mean ‘I did know you when you were saved, but I forgot you when you stepped into sin.’ When a child of God steps into sin, he or she is going to hear from God about it in one way or another, but God will not abandon His own child.

But I kept finding my mind wandering to the ultimate and eternal fate of those who never believe. I know Christ is pleading with the lost to be saved. As Christians we should pray for those who are lost, and we should speak of the love of Christ and the way of salvation when the opportunity presents itself.


Barbara Henderson

The song for this article is O WHY NOT TONIGHT?

O do not let the Word depart,
And close thine eyes against the light;
Poor sinner, harden not your heart,
Be saved, O tonight.
Refrain
O why not tonight?
O why not tonight?
Wilt thou be saved?
Then why not tonight?
Tomorrow’s sun may never rise
To bless thy long deluded sight;
This is the time, O then be wise,
Be saved, O tonight.
Refrain
Our Lord in pity lingers still,
And wilt thou thus His love requite?
Renounce at once thy stubborn will,
Be saved, O tonight.
Refrain
Our blessèd Lord refuses none
Who would to Him their souls unite;
Believe on Him, the work is done,
Be saved, O tonight.
Refrain
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/w/owhynott.htm

Peter the Fisherman Catches His Limit!

This is from Matthew Henry's Bible Commentary on Luke 5:1-11 - with my thoughts on what Matthew Henry had to say.
1. When Christ had done preaching, he told Peter to apply to the business of his calling.
I found it very interesting that Matthew Henry referred to Peter's profession as a fisherman as a 'calling'. I believe that EVERYONE has a calling, but that true 'callings' are often set aside in favor of making money.

Time spent on week days in public exercises of religion, need be but little hinderance in time, and may be great furtherance to us in temper of mind, as to our worldly business. With what cheerfulness may we go about the duties of our calling, when we have been with God, and thus have our worldly employments sanctified to us by the word and prayer! Though they had taken nothing, yet Christ told them to let down their nets again. We must not abruptly quit our callings because we have not the success in them we desire.
When a Christian is convinced of a calling from God they do not readily give up their calling/profession even though they are apparently failing at what they are doing. They continue doing what Christ has called them to do. They know that to depart from doing what Christ is calling them to do is to step into disaster!

We are likely to speed well, when we follow the guidance of Christ's word. The draught of fishes was by a miracle.
The smoothest path for any Christian is the path that directs leads them too and through the calling that God has given them. The things accomplished may be much more than our eyes can see.

We must all, like Peter, own ourselves to be sinful men, therefore Jesus Christ might justly depart from us. But we must beseech him that he would not depart; for woe unto us if the Saviour depart from sinners! Rather let us entreat him to come and dwell in our hearts by faith, that he may transform and cleanse them.
Christians should be daily seeking a closer walk with Jesus Christ.

These fishermen forsook all, and followed Jesus, when their calling prospered. When riches increase, and we are tempted to set our hearts upon them, then to quit them for Christ is thankworthy.
The catch that day was probably the largest catch of Peter's life, but he was not blinded by the money he was going to make from the sale of the fish. On that day, Peter saw that the fish were just a gift from the Master of Gifts. They pointed Peter to Christ. Peter looked beyond the temporary wealth of his 'fishing industry', recognized that his success was through the power of Christ. And he forsook all and followed Jesus Christ.
This is what Christ wants from believers today. When He gives us gifts, we should be like Peter and look beyond the gifts to the Gift Giver. We should follow Jesus Christ.