I Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:  and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  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.”

Titus 2:13 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

John 14:2-3 “In my Father’s house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

In March of 1942, General Douglas MacArthur and his family evacuated the Philippines on the order of President Roosevelt.  The Japanese were closing in on the strongholds of Bataan and Corregidor, and Roosevelt needed MacArthur to command the American troops in the Pacific from a position of safety.  General MacArthur reluctantly accepted the president’s orders, but promised the Filipino people that “I shall return.”  The people trusted him, were comforted by his words, and lived for the next two and half years ready for liberation.

On October 20th, 1944, 75 years ago this weekend, General MacArthur fulfilled that promise as he set foot back on Filipino soil at Leyte, claiming the following: “People of the Philippines:  I have returned.  By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil – soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples.”

The Lord’s return is inevitable.  He will come again to receive us unto Himself.  We are to trust Him, be comforted by His words, and live ready for his liberation.  In the meanwhile, we are to serve diligently with His promise firmly in our minds.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO SERVE IN LIGHT OF THE IMMINENT RETURN OF CHRIST.  He will honor His promise and shall return!  Let us be ready.