He is Coming!!

I was going through boxes and boxes of books lately looking for yearbooks from school and found a book that I don't think I ever read. When I first became a christian in college, I loved reading anything by Max Lucado. So much so that my bible is a devotional/study bible with notes by him, and I still love it!! Anyways...the particular book used to scare me, I didn't want to think about it....wanted to pretend I was comfortable with the idea, even if it scared me to death. The title of the book is "When Christ Comes". So I sat it out last week, and thought to myself maybe I'll read it now.

So, today I had to wait to pick up Tyler from play practice, and she is always late, so I took this book with me. I only read the first chapter, but WOW!! It hit me hard, so I decided to include an excerpt in my blog tonight. It may be a little long, but worth reading I promise. It really gave me a new perspective on it. Here goes...

"You are in your car driving home. Thoughts wander to the game you want to see or the meal you want to eat, when suddenly a sound unlike any you've ever heard fills the air. The sound is high above you. A trumpet? A choir? A choir of trumpets? You don't know, but you want to know. So, you pull over, get out of your car, and look up. As you do, you see you aren't the only curious one. The roadside has become a parking lot. Car doors are open, and people are staring at the sky. Shoppers are racing out of the grocery store. The Little League baseball game across the street has come to a halt. Players and parents are searching the clouds.
And what they see, and what you see, has never been seen before.

As if the sky were a curtain, the drapes of the atmosphere part. A brilliant light spills onto the earth. There are no shadows. None. From whence came the light begins to tumble a river of color - spiking crystals of every hue ever seen and a million more never seen. Riding on the flow is an endless fleet of angels. They pass through the curtains on myriad at a time, until they occupy every square inch of the sky. North. South. East. West. Thousands of silvery wings rise and fall in unison, and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear the cherubim and seraphim chanting "Holy, holy, holy".

The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-four silver-bearded elders and a multitude of souls who join the angels in worship. Presently the movement stops and the trumpets are silent, leaving only the triumphant triplet: Holy, holy, holy. Between each word is a pause. With each word, a profound reverence. You hear your voice join in the chorus. You don't know why you say the words, but you know you must.
Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet. The angels turn, you turn, the entire world turns - and there he is. Jesus. Through waves of light you see the silhouetted figure of Christ the King. He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is atop a billowing cloud. He opens his mouth, and you are surrounded by his declaration: "I am the Alpha and the Omega".

The angels bow their heads. The elders remove their crowns. And before you is a figure so consuming that you know, instantly you know: Nothing else matters. Nothing is newsworthy, All that mattered, matters no more, for Christ has come...."
("When Christ Comes" by Max Lucado)

I am almost in tears now again, just from typing this. Can you even imagine?? My favorite line is when he says that you hear yourself saying "Holy, holy, holy" and you don't even know why. You just know that you should. Amazing!!!

I have 2 comments...the writer goes on to say that he wonders how people feel after reading those words. His comments revolved around 2 responses....discomfort and disappointment. Discomfort at being judged, discomfort in not feeling worthy.
Disappointed in not having the baby you always wanted, or not being married yet, or not seeing your family one last time on earth.

Well, that is COMPLETELY opposite from what I felt. And granted if I had read this book in that first year of belief, I may have been with him....but I felt extreme JOY!! I want to be there, I want to hear that sound, see those sights, be in HIS presence. Could we really see the coming of Jesus in our lifetime?? My heart jumps at the thought. It is so overwhelming just to imagine. Think about it...every square inch of sky filled with angels.

My second comment is....we don't have to wait until we see him face to face to say "Holy, holy, holy". You can feel that feeling now....not knowing why you should say it, but knowing you should. There have been moments at church that I can feel His presence so thick in the air that all I can say or think is "HOLY". I love those moments....I need more of those moments....because He is worthy of all our praise!!!!

Sorry for the long post....but it was the right thing for me today. And hopefully for you too.