Prepared to meet Jesus?

[Rayn]

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3:10

"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:3

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." Revelation 16:15

"And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62

"Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father." 1 John 2:24

"And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming." 1 John 2:28

I find that many think it easy to perform good works in spurts, but very few think it easy to abide in them. Do you study enough? Do you pray enough? Do you genuinely listen? Are you even a believer? What's stopping you?

[Faithful Kevin]

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3:10

"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:3

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." Revelation 16:15

"And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62

"Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father." 1 John 2:24

"And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming." 1 John 2:28

I find that many think it easy to perform good works in spurts, but very few think it easy to abide in them. Do you study enough? Do you pray enough? Do you genuinely listen? Are you even a believer? What's stopping you?[/b]

oh yes!

I am ready!
May Jesus come and take me!

[Cold]

These are some of the scriptures that keep me striving for perfection. Sometimes I feel lazy and want to just sit back and take my time, and twiddle my thumbs, but then I think "What if Jesus came back right now?" or "How does He feel about me putting Him second instead of first?" and with that, the Holy Spirit touches my heart and gets me moving. I know right now I'm surely not ready, because I'm still in the fire. There's still some stuff God has to burn out of me, until I become like pure gold, and He can see His reflection in me. I'm trying to get where Jesus wants me to be, and then learn how to maintain that person.

[Lydia]

Dude, I would be lying if I said I was... :/

[ilovejesusxoxo]

I'm excited to meet Jesus. But that doesn't mean there won't be loads I'll be ashamed of...

[Rayn]

I know right now I'm surely not ready, because I'm still in the fire. There's still some stuff God has to burn out of me, until I become like pure gold, and He can see His reflection in me. I'm trying to get where Jesus wants me to be, and then learn how to maintain that person.[/b]

Dude, I would be lying if I said I was... :/[/b]

I'm excited to meet Jesus. But that doesn't mean there won't be loads I'll be ashamed of...[/b]

Same. So lately, I've been trying to identify the things that make Jesus less eminent in my life and take them out of it. Tough thing to do, but so gratifying and helpful. I recently threw all of my CD's away (lots of worldly junk, and personally, took up way too much of my time). Music used to be my life, but I want to follow the example of Paul, who directed his attention off of self and sin, and rather faced in the opposite direction towards Christ.

There are other things that are much more subtle. And of course my weighty, dreadful flesh is always going to be a burden to drag along, but I can be sanctified much quicker if the objects I so worship aren't available to sap my time, effort, energy, and quench the Holy Spirit as He tries to tell me something new about God.

I used to try to explain away a lot of the things God was convicting me to get rid of. I'd say I was just being ridiculous, or I'd say that stuff didn't matter, but now I've decided I'm just going to submit it all to Him. I want to be satisfied with Christ alone. I'm sure He'll give me a book or two, a song to lift me up, and spare time to rest and do whatever, but I'm seeking Him first and foremost. I'll let Him plan everything out, rather than trying to just please God on my own.

Haha, and of course the flesh loves to focus your attention on others. I don't know how many times I've said, "This person does that and he's fine, so I should be too." Thing is, God's calling me to be holy as he is holy, so that's supposed to be my standard.

[HaleyGirl16]

I know im Saved and i know if God came back and took the believers i would be taken. But as for being ready, ill never be ready persay because there will always be something that i want to change b4 i meet God, and of course i know i have more than my share of sins and short comings to answer for. I cant wait to meet Jesus but im not ready to leave on the next boat load either. But as for salvation, Im saved and ready to go.

[Valechka]

sadly to say i dont think i am ready,

it's been a long journey but i know i'm still not ready
i've thrown out items that pull me away from God.
but. i know my hardest is the one tempation that will always be there.
internet. i know i can throw that out..but since it's there it's hard to ignore it...
i've closed down my fb;s and other stuff that i used to be obsessed with.
but i always end up finding other things to do ..
but those things take away time when i should be reading the bible
which i'm trying to get better at.
God's told me many times.. that if i wanna have that relationship with him
i need to dive deep into his word. I'm supposed to be constant!
not look right or left!
But this lazyness. GAHHH this lazyness is taking a toll on me
sorry i'm rambling...
it scares me to know...it makes me so mad at myself
that if God came right now! i wouldn't be ready..
i tell my friends, i encourage others.. i KNOW What to do.
but i dont'd flipping do it! .
everything in my real llife thinks it's easy gfor me, and that i'm i dunno good?
but gahh i feel like a hypocrite at those times!

Revelation 21: 27
"And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."

that means we have to be clean. i have to be clean. spotless of sin.

we are supposed to strive for perfection! jesus he was a man! he didnt' sin! .he had the same temptations..
most christians say, you can't be perfect...but the bible says we can! .
"
Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

but the bible also says
I Jn. 1:8 - "if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves"

but the thing is who makes us perfect?
Jesus
Heb. 10:14 - "He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified"

if we. live with Christ in us, son, father and the holy spirit.
we can be perfect. we can strive for perfection.
like u said. God wants us to be HOly. like him.
holy perfect,. sinless
i know all this. and
i still get lazy!
what is wrong with me?

[Rayn]

You could use a schedule. Internet distracts me from reading and praying too, so I've dedicated certain times of the day to prayer and study. I'd say you need at least an hour for study and another hour to pray for what's on your heart before your day ever begins, and another one at night. You may have things to do, but God requires eminence if we're ever to be holy.

Note that this is Biblical, not just my wisdom. Daniel had three prayer devotionals a day, which I'm sure lasted about an hour. If you take a moment to consider all the things in your life you need to pray about, all the people who need your prayers, and all the things you need to thank God for, I'm sure you'll find yourself overwhelmed and incapable of doing anything worthwhile on your own.

Also, if laziness is your problem, it's probably just that you have too much spare time. I wrote something about healthy activities you can be doing for that:
http://www.christianteenforums.com/Pure-Re...led-t66265.html

I hope you'll find it encouraging.

Remember, and I love saying this, we have a responsibility to our brothers first.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Gal 6:9-10

It may not be possible for you to give everything you have away for the benefit of others, but this much you can do:

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. Heb 13:9

Very clearly, my suggestion is this: plan time to get away from your computer somewhere and study. Focus on God. Pray that God would seal your focus upon Him. Meditate on the words and internalize scripture everyday. Write scripture on cards and place them all over your house. Read over them frequently and memorize them. Once you've studied, edify and encourage others with what you've learned. Be there for anyone who is discouraged, and even for those who appear to be doing fine, knowing they could very well think they're a "burden". And finally, begin now. Pray about it, then read, then apply it to your life.

[Valechka]

i read your other post thing, and it was encouraging.. on here. i haven't met. a lot of people that encouraging ..(not trying to diss anyone.. i hardly get on here that much anyways so i dont know everyone..like that. ) when i say lazy it's not that i dont have enough to do. i have plenty. it's just. then when instead i know i have time to read the bible, and focus my tme on God, instead of that i end up getting on the computer. like i know what to do.
and sometimes i even do it. and i feel awsome and great after spending time wiht God.
but then there are those days for some reason where it's like
blahness. somtimes. i dont evn know
where to being reading.. like i've read the the whole bible before.
esp the new testament many times.. but. i still feel like i KNOW nothing.
and then i end up wasting so much time watching movies and such
that. the memory space for the scriptires that i used to know by memory are gone.
the thing i wish is i could drive so i could find that place where i could go and not be botherd by people
cause at my house.. it's not like even 5 min..nd i hear my name. and my mom always has something for me to do.
anyways. i dunno. thanks for your words. i need to learn to really start donig that constantly. .daily..
somehow