Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4:17-18)
" + "For those of us who work in the corporate world, or work in an environment that requires a group dynamic, there can be a problem with meeting overload. Having to attend a meeting often makes one pay close attention to the time one spends in the meeting. Long meetings are very difficult to handle. They can be very tiresome. Sometimes, one simply does not want to engage in the discussions of that moment for a very long time. But one must ask, how bad can a meeting really be? The answer to that question regards the person with whom the person is meeting. Time is not a factor when one meets with one with whom one desires to have a relationship.
" + "The powerful thing about being a child of God is that we have an expectation to meet the Son of God. And the thing even more powerful about this meeting is that it will last forever. We will meet with the Lord and be with him for all eternity. This meeting will not be too long or unsatisfactory on any level. The reason is that the only way we will be able to meet with Jesus is that we will have had to desire to meet with him. You will have to want to make this meeting happen. The reason is that this meeting will be greater than any other meeting we have ever experienced. In most cases, when one meets a celebrity, or has an appointment to meet with a person who can help with opportunities, one changes everything about them to make themselves ready for that meeting. The same must be true and even more serious in regards to this meeting. We must change our clothes and put off everything that would hamper us in this meeting. Anything that would cause us to want to leave this meeting too early must be disregarded. Unbelief, fornication, lying, stealing, judging and hating others, etc, will force us to want to leave this meeting. The stipulation for this meeting is that we put away anything that will distract us from Jesus. Jesus wants our full attention and all sin would cause us to take our eyes away from him.
" + "These things, the things that distract us from Jesus, disrupt the relationship because they make us focus our eyes on the place from which we have been elevated. When Jesus comes, we meet him in the air. We are above all of the things we used to meet with (the things of the earth) and now we are meeting with the Son. Our reality has now and changed and we are obligated to change our trajectory. Our focus and our expectation have been met; everything we have desired is now right in front of us. At least, this should be the case. However, the truth of the matter is that most people are not waiting in expectation for this meeting with the Son of God. Most people are not looking forward to having a meeting with Jesus. They will still see him but that meeting will not last long. If you are not looking to see him, then your meeting will be short. If you want to see him, then you will meet with him forever. And this, my brothers and sisters, is the most comforting news one could ever hear.
";