I'll Be Back...
READ: Acts 1:1-11
Tom and John were best friends and did everything together. They were inseparable. Halfway through the school year, Tom and John were planning what they would do over the Christmas break. Tom thought they would be together for Christmas, but John told him that he was going to Florida. Tom couldn't believe John would just leave him like that with nothing to do, especially when it was so stormy and cold out. His best friend would be going away to "paradise" without him. Tom knew he would be back, but he felt bad that he was alone now.
This must have been how the disciples felt when Jesus left them to go to heaven. They had been together for so long that they didn't know what to do without Him. He left them at the time in history when practicing what they believed was a crime. They had to have faith that Jesus would come again. He had told them not to be afraid and that He would return in glory. The angels also said, "He will return in the same way He has been taken up." They knew that He would raise them and all believers up to heaven to be with Him forever. He had told them that He was going "home" to prepare a place for them. They knew that His promise was going to be kept.
We also have this same promise of eternal life. We have His Word to live by; both for our temporary stay on earth and our eternal dwelling in heaven with Him.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: What do you envision Jesus' Second Coming to be like? How did Jesus' promise, "You will be my witnesses," come true in the lives of the apostles? In your life?
PRAYER SUGGESTIONS: Pray that God would always help you to remember that He won't give you more than you can handle. Ask for His reassurance that He is always with us, even though He is in heaven. Praise the Lord that He sent His Son once to die and will send Him again to bring us home to Him. Thank the Lord that He always keeps His promises.