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Called "the best preacher in the family" by her late father, Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz speaks around the globe with the wisdom and authority of years spent studying God's Word.

The New York Times named Anne one of the five most influential evangelists of her generation. Her Just Give Me Jesus revivals have been held in more than thirty cities in twelve different countries, to hundreds of thousands of attendees.

Anne is a bestselling and award-winning author of twenty-one books. She is the President of AnGeL Ministries in Raleigh, North Carolina, and previously served as Chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

Whether contributing opinion pieces to a national newspaper or a groundbreaking speaker on platforms throughout the world, Anne’s aim is clear – to bring revival to the hearts of God’s people.  And her message is consistent – calling people into a personal relationship with God through His Word.

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Expecting to See Jesus

ZONDERVAN

Contents

Foreword by Joel Rosenberg......................................................................................................................................11INTRODUCTION I'm Expecting to See Jesus!.......................................................................................................................15He's Coming! You know the time of day, but do you know what time it is?........................................................................................19A Wake-Up Call What will it take for God to get your attention?................................................................................................37A Longing to See Jesus ... Again Religion and church are not enough............................................................................................51You're Sleeping! You can know the right stuff in your head but still be missing something......................................................................59Wake Up! Storms can be God 's messengers.......................................................................................................................85Open Your Eyes! The Lord is much more than you know............................................................................................................101Rend Your Heart! He is so big ... and we are so nothing........................................................................................................131Bend Your Knees! The way up ... is down........................................................................................................................151Just Say Yes! Reject low living, sight walking, small planning, casual praying, and limited giving—God has chosen you for greatness......................165Move Your Feet! Live a life of eternal significance ... intentionally..........................................................................................179Stay Awake! Don't lose that loving feeling.....................................................................................................................193EPILOGUE Jesus Is Coming—Soon............................................................................................................................225APPENDIX Scripture-Study Worksheets to Help You Keep the Revival Fire Burning..................................................................................229Notes...........................................................................................................................................................259

Chapter One

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You know the time of day, but do you know what time it is?

Are we living at the end of human history as we know it? This question is routinely asked when natural disasters strike or a series of world crises take place. Recently I read a newspaper article about a group of people who are so convinced that the end of the world will take place on May 21, 2011, they are taking out billboards and driving around towns in cars painted with warnings (if you are reading this, they obviously were wrong). Like the cartoon depicting a prophet with a signboard strapped to his back as he walks up and down the sidewalk proclaiming "The End of the World Is Near," we tend to scoff and dismiss the entire idea of history having a decisive conclusion. Especially in our own lifetime. It's like a bad joke.

However, when the disciples asked Jesus a similar question, He didn't scoff at their query or dismiss them. He didn't even enter into a discussion as to whether or not the world would come to an end. Instead, He answered them by giving them signs to look for that would indicate the end of the world was near, strongly underscoring that one day everything would come to a final conclusion. While He emphatically said no one could know the exact day and hour, He did admonish His disciples to watch for these signs, implying that you could know the generation (Matthew 24:36, 42). In fact, He rebuked the religious leaders of His day for not knowing the incredibly strategic and historic generation in which they were living, a generation that experienced the first coming of the Son of God to earth. He underscored their lack of awareness by saying they knew how to interpret the appearance of the sky in order to predict the weather, but they did not know the signs of the times that indicated the significance of their generation (16:2–3).

Like the religious leaders of Jesus' day, could it be that while we can predict the weather by looking at the sky—"Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailor's delight"—we are ignorant of the times in which we live? While we can share the gospel, involve ourselves in missions, tell people about Jesus, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and house the homeless, are we oblivious to the strategic importance of the generation in which we live? Could this be the generation that will experience the second coming of the Son of God to earth? How can anyone know such a thing?

Years ago, I asked myself this question. It struck me that one day there would come a generation that was the last one. How would that generation know it? To my mind came Jesus' own words to His disciples and the signs He gave them in answer to their questions. Again and again, He instructed His disciples to not be deceived, to keep watch, to not let His return come like a thief in the night (24:4, 42–44). In other words, He was clearly indicating that the last generation of human history, the generation that would witness His return to earth, could know it IF they were diligent not only to be familiar with the signs He gave but also to watch for them.

So what were the signs Jesus gave to His disciples—and you and me—to watch for? During the week before the Cross, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives with the Twelve, looked out over the city of Jerusalem, and lamented that the city would be destroyed completely, a prophecy that was fulfilled in AD 70. The disciples then asked Him two questions: "When will this happen?" (referring to the destruction of Jerusalem) and "What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered their second question by giving them signs that would indicate that human history as we know it is drawing to a climactic close.

Jesus described these signs as "birth pains" (24:8). I basically had natural childbirth with all three of my children. I will never forget the birth pains! Each time, they began rather subtly as low back pain or pressure. But as labor progressed, so did the pain and the pressure until it wrapped around my midsection and I could feel it squeezing tightly as it bore down on the baby within. Not only did the pains intensify, but they increased in frequency. I had several false starts, but once the real labor began, the pains came steadily, almost like clockwork at intervals of five minutes, then four minutes, then every three minutes, then every two minutes until the intensity and frequency ran together and became unbearable! Just when I thought I could bear the birth pains no more, the baby emerged!

As I remember my own experience with labor, I don't need anyone to explain to me what birth pains...