1 Peter 4:7-11 - "As Good Stewards..."

“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” For the past forty plus years, at this time, as we are coming to the end of the old year, and are preparing to begin a new one, I have made this statement: “I am shocked and surprised that the Lord did not come back this year, 2021!”  The signs of His coming are clearly everywhere! For sure, I will be doubly shocked if He does not come back in 2022! And it is still possible, that in the next few hours, before the clock strikes midnight, we might still hear the trumpet sound, and the Lord’s loud shout calling us up to meet Him in the air!!!!!! Before I make a few comments about the above verses and the Judgment Seat of Christ, I want to encourage and motivate you to do a couple things to prepare for next year, so you will best prepared for the Lord’s coming! For my entire ministry I really have had only two messages! First, if you do not have a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ you need to experience one, like right now! You can’t afford to put this decision off! Every moment you put this decision off you are gambling with your soul for all eternity. In 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 Paul urged his readers with this exhortation:  “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” There is no better time than this very moment to bow your head and heart before the Lord and asked His forgiveness and believe and trust Him to become you Lord and Savior! My second message for all these years is pretty simple: “If you are a genuine believer in Jesus Christ, and call yourself a Christian, than live like one!!!!!!” There is absolutely no excuse for a follower of Jesus not to, moment by moment, openly express their faith to world around them. (2 Peter 1:3-11) But for that to happen consistently, it will take a surrender of our will to His will, especially as we practice the two disciplines of Bible reading and prayer! In the above verse (2 Peter 4:7-11), did you notice that Peter said, that because “the end of all things is here…”, we should pray, we should love one another, and we should be “good stewards” of the gifts God has given to us as we minister and serve others! New Year’s resolutions are usually made to be broken. So you don’t need to make a resolution with your flesh, but you need to daily surrender your right to yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ, and humbly ask for His grace to have the discipline and energy to take the time every day to pray and read the Word. I want to encourage you, on this last day of an old year, to set a goal, and plan on reading the entire Bible through at least once in 2022, and also take at least five minutes each day to commune with the Lord in devotion and prayer! As you humbly ask for His grace to help you, He surely will give His Holy Spirit to empower you to do this every day! And then for sure, as Peter said, “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”