Isaiah 25:8-9 – He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

THEME OF THE DAY. LIVING IN THE NOW AND NOT YET SIMULTANEOUSLY. Count how many times the verb “will” appears in today’s scripture. They all point to a future action by our God. And here is where our Christianity is lived; the certainty of God’s future action. In the Apostle Peter’s first letter, this is how he encouraged struggling Christians in Asia Minor – a looking beyond their trials and sufferings to what lies ahead. He writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5). Later in his second letter, Peter would remind them and us how the Christian life is lived and by what – “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4). The “how” we live the Christian life is by God’s power. The “what” is by promises and promises are future, yet to be realized.

So how does all this future talk help us now in the midst of slugging it out on this difficult journey to heaven? It helps by defining our worldview and living by that worldview. As Christians, we live by faith in the Lord and the certainty of His promises to deliver us from all that is mentioned in today’s scripture; death, sorrow, oppression by people, and ultimate deliverance from the power, penalty, and presence of sin by future salvation. And does this not make sense? How could we live with joy with a hopeful future if we have no hopeful future? How could we offer the world hope if we lacked it? The power of the Christian life to influence others with the positive message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ rests on our learning to live in the now with a view on the not yet. The world will not observe a life lived above trying circumstances if we are like the world living by circumstances. Christ is our power now and promise of our future. He is a present source of help by reminding us to look to the future. Too many Christians live more in the now instead of the not yet and that is not faith-living. To live in the present based on circumstances and situations is to live by sight and feelings. To live in the present above circumstances and situations is to live by faith and the objective truth of God’s promises. Just think about the difference in our own lives. What happens when we let people, circumstances, and situations rule our hearts and direct our lives? Stress, joylessness, lack of peace, anxiety, worry, and irritability are the “fruits” we bear. But what happens when we live by faith in God’s certain “I wills” instead of being controlled by people, circumstances, and situations? We bear the right “Fruit” – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). And those fruits blossom in the Christian living in the now and not yet simultaneously.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for being a God who finishes what He starts and that includes my salvation.”

QUOTE: “We are a people who live by hope; looking to Jesus with a certainty of His deliverance someday soon”