Are you ready? Two essays by Jordan Zuniga

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Are we ready for the return of the King?

At Easter, we celebrate our Savior’s victory on the cross, and we anticipate the coming of a King and His rapturous, glorious redemption! With that truth being established, a question we need to ask ourselves is: Are we ready for the coming of the King? Have you actually considered what the coming of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Christ Jesus, means for any of us? I’m not merely talking about if we are ready as in we are really excited to see Him. I’m asking this question as stewards of the gospel: Are we ready for the coming of the Lord? Can you think of it? When, in a moment you least expect Him to show up, the glory of the King of heaven and earth arrives, will you be truly ready?

Have you accepted the wonderful gifts He gave us on that cross and at His resurrection? His victory is our victory: the forgiveness of our sins and His promise to us of eternal life. The most important thing we can do to be ready is to accept what the Lord has already done for us. And all He asks is that we believe in Him, ask for His forgiveness, and acknowledge Him as our Lord.

Then, as we live in this world, here are some questions worth asking ourselves. Have you

been faithful with the few things that the King has given you? Faithfully stewarding the gift,

or perhaps many gifts, the Lord God has blessed you with to bring sinners to justification

and belief in Christ, and to support and build up the Church, the body of Christ. Are you bearing the burdens of your brothers and sisters in Christ and serving others diligently as you ought?

Are you dwelling in any sin habits that need to be repented of? Maybe that food habit, that

gossip habit that seems so miniscule, or maybe you just need to be bolder and not timid when it comes to the things of Christ. Are you in complete rebellion, maybe a backsliding Christian who needs to turn back to the Lord, or are you in the will of your Lord and King, faithfully serving, ministering to the saints, and honoring Jesus through every aspect of your life? Is humility your covering and firm foundation in the storms of life, or is pride the faulty shelter of anxiety and dissipation that leads to your downfall in an instant? Are you lording it over the flock, or serving because of love?

If you are an ordained minister, are you honoring the Teacher as a minister in accordance with the good pleasure of the King? What is the condition of your flock in every aspect, and what do you need to do to continue to faithfully steward them as a shepherd for the Good Shepherd who has called you? Is the ministry for your glory or the glory of the kingdom of heaven?

What idol has a place in your heart or what thing captivates your fleshly fancies? Are you earthly minded, or heavenly minded, honoring the Lord God on earth with the things of heaven? Are you showing favoritism or are you acting with integrity as in Philippians 2:14-15: “…in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” Have you diligently sought the Lord in prayer, or is your prayer life lackluster? Has the enemy left you alone because you’re no longer a threat, or has the spiritual warfare in your life become the biggest indication that you’re on the right track? Are you taking ground for the kingdom of God, or becoming stagnant in your journey with Christ?

Are you passionately seeking the Lord Jesus, having an intimate relationship with Him, a fiery desire for the Lord Jesus and being full of the Holy Spirit, or are you just coming to church on Sunday as a rote and regulatory offering without any desire for the things of the Spirit? Are you becoming more focused on theological accuracy but becoming colder in your love, or are you focusing on love but disregarding the integrity of the gospel our King commands us to uphold? Or are you just dead or asleep in your walk with Jesus, and what do you need to do to turn that around? How are you going to maintain that spiritual fire and passion and the liberty of the Spirit without breaking the commandments of God?

Are you faithful in the relationships you have, whether personal, intimate, professional, or

within the body of Christ? Are sinners and saints noticing the work of the Holy Spirit in your

life and seeing Christ Jesus in you, as you are honoring your parents, providing for your relatives, serving and taking care of your spouse diligently, making sure your children are

being raised in a Christ-honoring, Christ-loving home, or are you maintaining your integrity

and sexual purity in your season of singleness?

Have you visited the fatherless, the poor, the orphan, the widow, the stranger, the afflicted, the prisoner, and the foreigner and taken care of those less fortunate than you without becoming tainted by the world? Are you of the world or are you in it, but not of the world, and are you seeking the new world and the glory of things to come, a heavenly country, where God is not ashamed to be your God? Are politics your priority, or is maintaining peace within the body of Christ your delight? Are you pursuing your own plans, or being a faithful steward of the kingdom of God and obeying the King who commands you? Have you kept your tongue controlled and honored the Lord God in both word and deed? Showing mercy, love, and patience to others, overcoming evil with good and blessing?

Have you been dull in your generosity in giving to the Lord God, or are you cheerfully giving

to the Lord? Are you sowing in obedience, or are you just not being generous in your sowing and wondering why you’re not reaping? Have you laid your foundation so you can build your house on the world’s wisdom, or are you preparing the groundwork based on God’s word and walking in His ways? Have you been disobedient to the Lord, and even if you have obeyed and are waiting, are you trusting Him through the waiting while He fulfills His word in due season? Or are you anxious about things when you need to cast your anxieties upon God, who cares about you and will exalt you in due time?

What’s the condition of your own heart? Is it reflective of the love, faith, hope, and trust in the Lord God in either prosperity or adversity, peace or even persecutions and various trials for the sake of Jesus, and does it display a Christ-like character? Are we grumbling, not realizing the Judge is at the door and is about to move, or are we praising the Lord

like the apostles Paul and Silas when they were horribly mistreated, thrown into a jail cell, and the Lord God moved suddenly with an earthquake and brought the jailer of the cell

to Christ Jesus along with the rest of his family?

Are we tender to the Holy Spirit, or has hard-heartedness become a problem, making us insensitive to Him? Are we grieving the Holy Spirit in any areas of our life, and do we need to repent? Do we, as we both preach and work diligently with the Lord God’s strength, not ours, actually believe in the rapturous joy and thrill of hope that will happen suddenly when the King returns, the end of the age comes, and will we receive the commendation of the King for being a good and faithful servant? Are we actively seeking out His word in Scripture, delighting ourselves in studying His word, and trusting in the fulfillment of every single one of His promises which will come to pass either for good or bad, and the judgment at the end of the age? 

The hour is closer than we think. So, as stewards of the Lord who is victorious, resurrected, and exalted to the highest as the Name above all names, who has been given dominion and power and glory over the heavens and the earth by God the Father, the God of gods, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, please ask this question: Are we ready… for the return… of the King of every king?

Scripture references: James 2: 2-4, Philippians 2:14-15

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What does Easter mean to you?

What has Easter meant to you throughout your life? When I was a young kid and before I knew the Lord, it was just another day of good gifts, with Easter egg candy, a lot of treats, and being around family. I didn’t fully understand why we celebrated Easter or what made it so important. But as I grew up and started to really know the Lord Jesus and the very purpose of Easter, its significance became much more obvious: the importance of His victory on the cross, the glorious Power of the resurrection of the dead, and the new life we have—in this life and in the life to come because of what was achieved on Easter Sunday.

It wasn’t just a day for candy and sweet surprises, it was the greatest surprise: the renewal of life for those who were declared dead by sin and the weight of the law, and the fulfillment of the law! So that those who were once dead in sin may have salvation and an eternal dwelling place in good fellowship with God the Father through Christ Jesus, our Lord.

This very same resurrection moment that is celebrated at Easter is not only a reminder of what was done, but the very hope of the resurrection to come and life everlasting. What rapturous joy! What triumphant hope! What great love God has for us, sending His Son whose Name is above all names, who came to live a perfect life that we could not, and defeated the very powers of hell.

Easter is not merely a reminder of things that were, things that are, or things that are

yet to be. It is the triumphant, sudden moment of redemption that was brought about

by the culmination of the sovereign Lord’s eternal plan for a groaning creation, the hope

for a sinful humanity without hope before the victory on the cross, and new life through

the forgiveness of our sins because He shed His blood and rose again from the dead. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again! Hallelujah! Come, Lord Jesus!

May Lord Jesus Christ have all the glory!

Scripture reference: Philippians 2: 9-11

Jordan Zuniga is a Christian poet, devotional and creative writer. His work has  

been published in The Secret Place Devotional Magazine, The Upper Room,  

The Lucent Dream Magazine: For a friend anthology, The Agape Review,  

The Clay Jar Review, Creation Illustrated, and other faith-based and secular  

publications. He enjoys studying the Bible and theology and honoring his Lord  

and Savior Jesus Christ with his creativity. "My hope and my prayer is to create  

and worship with an ingenuity and depth that honors the depth of the Creator.” 

September 2025 issue