Get Ready Now

On March 11, 2011, a massive 9.0 earthquake and the resulting tsunami wreaked unimaginable destruction on the northeastern coast of Japan. News reports noted that Japan has been the site of the greatest number of earthquakes in any country of the world, and its people have had the most complete and consistent preparation for earthquake survival ever in human history.


A woman who was in an upper-story office was interviewed in the first day following the quake. She recounted that the office trembled, and then began to shake, but she had felt that kind of thing before. The movement, however, did not stop, but increased. Equipment was toppling, the ceiling was caving in, and the woman was unable to stand up. She poignantly commented, "I suddenly realized I had no plan of escape in mind. I did not know what to do at all."

Amazing. In a place where the liklihood of "the big one" is a constant and real threat, that someone would have no personal plan of action is aslmost unimaginable. Yet, for this woman and many others, exactly what to do when the land shook or the waters suddenly rose and brought immediate and total obliteration was not "top of mind." How could it not be? Jesus warned his followers regularly, "The end is coming, and you must be ready. It will come like a thief in the night, at a moment when you least expect it."







Be ready. Be ready! BE READY! Know the plan, and never be caught unaware.






"So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Matthew 24:44).






Myke Merrill

Do not grow weary

Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.    Heb 12:3

As you enter the house, salute it.  And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.  Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for he land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. Matt 10:12-15

Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.  But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know Him who sent me.  John 15:20-21
Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.  So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.  Gal 6:9-10

Please Wait to be Seated

When I was a teenager, I worked as a busboy at a restaurant. One very busy Friday evening an older man approached me with a look of both amusement and irritation. He said to me "Son, I've been coming to this restaurant for 10 years, and in all that time I have NEVER seen a sign like that!" He pointed to our "Please wait to be seated" sign sitting at the entrance to the restrooms!

In all the hectic scramble, one of the other employees moved the sign because it had gotten in the way. But in his rush to get on with things, he forgot that that sign bore a message! It had become, for him, just another piece of restaurant furniture. That's what happens when you work around a sign long enough-you forget its message.


As Christians, it's easy for us to become so familiar with God's Word that we forget that we NEED to hear its message. A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel. Prov 1:5  
Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding. Prov 4:1



We forget that God intends to do more than just speak to us--He intends to change us with His Word.  I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 1 Cor 15:51-52.  We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor 3:18

We cannot expect to be transformed and changed if we begin to treat God's Word like a piece of furniture blending into the background, never to be examined too closely. We must take the time to look at God's Word carefully. We must pray that God, by His Spirit, would show us how relevant it is to our lives.


"But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it" (James 1:25).




Contributor:  Aaron Bartmess