A couple of women.

1. Hannah [1 Samuel 1:1-28]: (A woman who believed in prayer)
   
   She opened her heart to God in prayer, because she believed that only God can understand her pain.
   
   Sometimes a person is tested to the very roots of his being. It is like some power which is trying to extinguish his very life. This is exactly what Hannah must've gone through. Her reaction to this was to turn to God for help. She believed that God is capable of miracles.
   
   She was the first person to address God as "O Lord Almighty". Her prayer wasn't a general prayer of kindness to me and all around me. It was definite prayer. She promised to use her wish (a son) for glorifying God (she agreed to give him back to God for His work).
   
   Her grief was to the extent that her tongue failed to move. Eli who saw her move her mouth without hearing anything, called her a drunk. But when he gets to know what she was going on through, he blesses her.
   
   The result of her prayers is "Samuel" (heard of God). He grew up as a man of prayer too and got back a lot of people to God.
   
   Four highlights from the life of Hannah are
   
   1. She realised the greatness of her God.
   2. She wanted to glorify God.
   3. She understood she was nothing in front of God.
   4. She put forth her needs completely in the presence of God.
   
   


2. Mary Magdalene:
   
   Jesus meets her in the place of Magdalene and frees her of the demons that possessed her. She follows Him with gratitude.
   
   In Mark and Luke, we see that she followed Jesus from the time she met him, till the time of his resurrection. She sat by his tomb. She left the tomb only to come back with perfumes to adorn Him. As a result of her following Jesus closely, He appeared to her first, over Peter or John.
   
   She gave herself to Jesus with complete gratitude. Jesus gave back the blessing of being the first person to see Him after ressurection.

The second coming.

Revelation 21: 1-7 and Matthew 24:13

In the nicene creed, there are two instances that talk about the future.

1. We believe in Jesus, the God who is going to come back.
2. We believe in eternal life when God comes back.

Who is the person who is coming again? The Lord, the Messiah and the Son of Man.The old testament talks about the Messiah. We believe that Jesus is the Messiah, butthe Jews didn't believe in the same. Hence it lead to the crucification of Jesus.
Romans 11:26 talks about the Messiah.Mark 13 talks about the second coming.Matthew 24 says that the time when God comes again is unexpected. He is asking us tobe prepared.

The second coming will have the follow results.

1. Releasing the bounded: Earth is a bounded place and the sky is a boundlessplace. When He comes again, the earth and sky will cease to exist. This means thatthe bounded and the boundless will unite. This could also mean that our boundedthoughts will be unbound and we will all be freed from temptations.
2. No pain: It will be a time when tears will cease to exist. Tears aremostly associated with pain. No tears implies no pain.
3. Eternal life: Life and death will cease to exist. Only eternal lifewill exists. Time wont be held back, i.e., there will be no days and nights.

We will see the full glory of God. Since the creation of the world, people have moved away from God. Jesus came downto prevent the people from destroying themselves.

• The fight today should not be against fellow people. It should be against the evilforces.
• We should not step down on a man already in the well of sin. Instead we should standrooted on the ground and provide a hand to pull the man out of the well of sin.
• It is not the time when suffering ceases to exist. Instead, it is the time whensuffering will be transformed into joy.

A person who prays continuously for the second coming of Jesus, but doesn't follow His wish,will be punished. Our duty is to fulfil the work given to us. Instead we go into thefantasy world of tomorrow.
Always remember, our resurrected God was surely capable of coming back without the nailmarks. But He came to make us understand the reality and pain of the crucification.