1 John 2:28; 1 John 4:16-19

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when[f] He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

If you live to be a hundred, how many years is that from now? Now if you are so inclined, take that number and read this to yourself: "In no more than ___ years I will see Jesus face to face, and will be speaking with Him in person."

On that day we will no longer have the things that define us now. We will not be a husband or wife, mother or father, doctor or lawyer. We will not have a job or own a home or have an address. Whatever we are good at now, be it business or sales or science or athletics, will not be part of us anymore. At that moment, we will not even have a face or a body to define what we look like. The one and only thing we will have left is our relationship with Jesus.

Most of us don't like to think about that day very much, but whether we consciously think about it or not, we know it is coming, and we live with that fact each day. Whether we think about it consciously or subconsciously, I think that the way that we feel about that day determines the way we feel about life. If we believe that He loves us and that we love Him, we go through life confident, bold and worry-free because that day does not loom over us. If we are not sure about His love for us or our love for Him, we live in fear to varying degrees.

1 John 4
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him[b] because He first loved us.