“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” – Revelation 22:12,13

Turn on any news channel today or even pick up a newspaper and it won’t take very long before you either hear or read a story which centers around yet another victim who’s fallen into one of our enemy’s many snares. Satan has many different types of these snares which come so easily disguised and rarely appear in plain view but yet are placed strategically in our daily lives like pieces on a chessboard in the forms of free will and the choices we make. I believe one of the greatest and most destructive snares Satan uses in our lives is pride. Remember, it was pride which got Satan and a third of all heaven a one way ticket out of paradise forever. “For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.” – Isaiah 14:13,14 & Ezekiel 28:2 

Interestingly, “I” is found to be the center of “pride”. When people begin to think of only themselves while neglecting the needs, attention, and presence of others, it ultimately can lead to a very lonely, bitter and unfulfilling life. I must admit that earlier in my life, I lived this selfish unfulfilling life for many years. It was all about me getting my wants & needs met. It was all about me having things go my way. It was all about me, me, me. I’ve heard it said before that being selfish and prideful is one of the loneliest tunes you’ll ever hear. Instead of “do re me fa so la ti do” as I learned many years ago in music class, it simply goes, “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me…..” Furthermore, people wrapped up only in themselves make for very small packages. Yes, for far too many years, I was simply lookin’ out for number one. Now, here I am at age fifty-two and I’m still lookin’ out for number one…the “One” and only which I have surrendered and given my life to and ultimately matters.

Soon and very soon, the clouds will be rolled away, and the Lord of lords & King of kings will break open the sky for His triumphant return to gather His bride, the Church. The scriptures tell us in I Thessalonians 4:16 & 17 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”  How I so look forward to that day when I’m finally home. Finally able to look upon the face of the One who loved me and ultimately gave His life for me. Finally able to see my loved ones who have gone before me and enter into eternal paradise. Until that day arrives my friend, there is much work for you and I to do. Jesus said in Mathew 9:37 that “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;..” I believe far too many believers today are simply waiting for the “Sweet By & By” while there are so many perishing without ever truly knowing that God loves them and is not willing that any perish. When I completely surrendered my life to the Lord and gave Him all, I repeat “all” the pieces of my heart & life, I can honestly say that I’ve never felt such peace, freedom, and completeness. I truly hope friend that you can say the same of your life.

So yes, I can once again admit after all these years without apologies or revocations that I’m still “Lookin’ Out for Number One!”