Maranatha: Time With God: Watch Letter

There are many Christians around the world who proclaim they are waiting for Jesus to return and to finally be able to be in his presence. But as we wait for Jesus to come back for his elect, there is something we have to be careful we don’t miss.

Revelation 16 :15:

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

The Lord does not expect us to only wait until his return just to spend time with him and be in his presence. He expects us to spend time with him now. He expects us to watch with him and for him and for his people in prayer. He expects us to be clothed in praise, spending time worshiping him while we are here on this form of the earth. He expects us to draw close to him, so we can be under the covering of his wings now.

This is what our Pastor Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn has been teaching us at The Body of Christ, Inc., especially in the recent message “Time With God.”’

Are we really waiting or are we just hoping that when he returns we will have done enough to be with him? When you value or care about something or someone you spend time with it or with them. So, if we love the Lord, where is our time with him?

The world says that a key component to a successful relationship is getting to know one another, and the only way to do that is to spend quality time. Well, what if we applied that to our relationship with the Lord? The more quality time we put in with him, sincerely, the more we will know him.

When we spend time with God -- not just at church, Bible study, or a few minutes of prayer or praise a day - but quality time -- he is able to bring everything in our life to the right balance and intent. Chief Apostle Gunn always tells us that the more we spend time before the Lord, the more we get rid of our fleshy and sinful ways and the things that weigh us down, and the more we can bring our feelings and thoughts in subjection to His word. Which in turn means, the more time we put in with God, he is able to impart his ways, his thoughts, and his plans in us, and so we become a better servant, a better vessel, and a more obedient child of God.

During the message "Time with God," Chief Apostle Gunn reminded us that when we put in time with God our strength is renewed, and we develop a mindset that gives us the courage not to give up or quit when things get tough but to have faith and confidence in God. He said when you spend time with God, you don’t have to be bound by your past or stay in your past -- because you can be made new every day. And when you spend time with God, you can become someone he can trust to be sensitive and more helpful to the needs of your leader, the church body, your household, and others. When we spend time with God, we can become more steadfast, we can become more patient, have more internal peace, and have more endurance. These are things God doesn't want us to wait to experience in heaven or during the rapture, we can experience them now.

When we spend time with God in prayer, waiting, fasting, studying the Bible, going over what has been preached, and praising him throughout each day, God becomes the head, center and anchor of our lives.

What can we say is the head, center and anchor of our lives now? The answer is whatever we give the most time and attention to. God does not mix holiness and unholiness, he can not dwell in unholiness. So, spending time with him prepares us and cleanses us to make us a holy habitation fit for the Lord now.

Chief Apostle Gunn also has taught us that everything we need for our lives and our families is wrapped up in God, so to unwrap that supply we need to seek him through the time we spend with him throughout the day. Chief Apostle Gunn also talked about Abraham and how he waited on God 99 years for his promise. He put his time in with God, he didn’t just sit and wait for the promise, he was active in serving God and staying before him; and God considered him a friend. And the word tells us that the Lord withholds nothing from his friends.

Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

If we can’t put in time with God now, here on earth, how can we expect to be with him in eternity and spend time with him there? If we can’t praise him now, how can we expect to praise him and rejoice with the angels in heaven? If we can't be seated at his feet now, how can we expect to be seated with him in the coming kingdom?

How often will we allow a stranger in our homes, someone we don’t know, or who we have never spent time with? So, why do we think God would allow a stranger in his heavenly home or earthly kingdom? And it goes deeper than that. Even if we sing greatly for the Lord in the choir, testify with power before the saints, sow a sacrificial seed, preach with zeal and fire, witness to the unsaved, or usher, collect offering and offer worship during the services — if we aren’t putting in time with God, then does he really know us? Is he saying that person at the Body of Christ church doesn’t look familiar to me, I haven’t heard from them in a while or seen them in the spirit in a long time when he looks upon us?

Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven (while they ar

e on earth). 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"

Maranatha is a word often associated with Jesus's return for his saints. It means “come, O Lord” or “the Lord is coming.” There is a song that ties into the message from Chief Apostle Gunn and puts what God wants us to know about Maranatha and Jesus's return in perspective.

"We watch and to wait, Lord, we anticipate...the moment, you choose to appear. We worship, we praise until there's no debate, and we recognize you're already here... The balm for my wounded soul. You're here. Because you choose to make us whole. " - Brian Courtney Wilson (You can listen to the whole song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTPuOt3kwAc

We must not sit and do nothing as we wait for him, because if we do we will miss him. He could be passing us by right now because Jesus is already here. In fact, Chief teaches that we can spend so much time with God that we can bring him with us into the places we go and dwell here on earth. So, what if Jesus wants to come into the earth before his glorious return through us now?

We serve a God who is everywhere. His spirit is everywhere and we can bow and call on Jesus now. We don't have to wait for his physical return or for the rapture. He is waiting for us to come to him now and give him our time, adoration, and dedication now.

As David said in Psalm 27:13-14:

I had fainted, Unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.