Friday, April 9: Revelation 6-

 

How dramatically the scene shifts. Yesterday was filled with praise and adoration for the Lamb. Today as the Lamb opens the scroll, and with the peeling off of each seal, a fierce horse and rider are sent out with a shout. What’s happening?

My early devotional moments were spent trying to hear and picture the scene. I wanted to step into it as best I could, pretending I was living it as John describes it,not worrying what it means, but being engulfed in it as if it were happening around me.

The absolute command of the Lamb, opening a scroll no one in heaven or earth could open but Him. And as He opens each scroll, the subordinate players fill their roles with precision. The scene reminded me of naval movies I have watched where the ship’s captain, surveying the situation, calls out “full ahead” or “right full rudder.” Some lesser officer standing by and repeats those exact orders to the engine room or helmsman. The Lamb opens a seal and one of the 4 creatures, pecking order previously established, shouts a command and sends forth a rider and his horse. The Lamb has ABSOLUTE COMMAND.

As I stood immersed in the scene, the opening of the 5^th seal (v.9) burst unexpectedly with white-robed martyrs calling out, “How long until their deaths are avenged?”  Soon, very soon, only they must wait until the full number of martyrs has fallen. Were I one of the martyrs, what would I have heard? The Lamb knows our plight, the Lamb has everything in control, the Lamb has his timing and soon avenging will happen. Like a foot-soldier listening to his general’s pre-battle pep talk, the Lamb has a plan. He knows the score and soon He will strike. Again, everything is under control. The Lamb’s word gives ASSURANCE.

As the sixth seal is opened, terror falls. The world is shaken, kings cry out in fear,“Why?” I briefly think and then the answer… God’s great day of wrath has come… the one who sits on the throne and the Lamb release their wrath… the Lamb KEEPS HIS WORD… the “wait a little longer” has come…

The chapter ended, I wanted more. I wanted the movie reel to keep playing. I could have read on, but I paused, reflected, and soaked in the scene again…

The Lamb has ABSOLUTE CONTROL, gives ASSURANCE when needed, and KEEPS HIS WORD. My heart feeds on those character attributes of the Lamb, who is my Lord Jesus,the one I worship…

O, Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, no matter what today brings, no matter what happens today, I know You are in control. You hear my cries for help or vengeance and when Your time is right, You will come! I rest in Your sovereignty, Your control, Your perfect and ABSOLUTE COMMAND.  No wonder all heaven praise and worship You. I add my voice to the songs of heaven… You are worthy to received honor and strength and glory and power… YOU ARE WORTHY!

 

Thursday, April 8: Revelation 5-

 

Worship intensifies at the throne as the Lamb who was slain enters the picture. It is unmistakable that the Lamb is Jesus and Jesus, together with the one on the throne (God the Father), are worshiped. The scene leaves no doubt Jesus, the Lamb, is God too.

Songs of worship and acts of adoration erupt with the presence of the Lamb…

"You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth." …

 

(Another song breaks out)

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom

and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

 

(And then another)

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!"
The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped (9-15).

 

To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb… the elders fell down and worshiped… What a scene!

For the second straight morning my heart is caught up into worship and praise. Oh, what it will be like to join this heavenly chorus and worship our God, THE ONE AND ONLY GOD, face-to-face when I, too, enter the throne room of heaven!

It hit me, in a mystical way. I enter the throne room every time I join together at the church and worship. Each Lord’s Day and every time the church gathers for worship, we join with the heavenly company in worship of our God. Worship is not about me, or a style, it is catching a glimpse of the MAJESTY of our God, Father, Lamb and Spirit, and falling before God in worship. The attention in the throne room is on God, not singers or flying creatures or anything else. So, too, God reminds me in my worship, all my attention should be focused on God and God alone… and nothing else.

A friend and the worship leader at our church regularly remind me, we worship an audience of one, God!

Oh, God, allow me a glimpse of Your majesty. Dear Lamb of God may I be blessed with the smallest glimmer of Your majesty today so that worship will rise within me. To You and You alone will I fall down in utter humbleness and praise. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be honor and glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen…

 

Wednesday, April 7: Revelation 4-A first glimpse

What will it be like when we see God? I don’t know and personally I don’t put a lot of stock in those ‘I died and saw God and came back to life stories’ that circulate every now and then. I guess I am a skeptic when it comes to those accounts.

This chapter (and the next, I peeked) touch me deeply. John was given a sneak peak of the throne of God and he puts into words what he saw and heard.

Majesty is a word that fills my thoughts as I read. A throne patrolled above by flying creatures and circled by 24 elders, God, indescribable, encircled by a jeweled rainbow the throne. Lightening and thunder pounding out.  Songs… songs of majesty, homage and adoration, at which the elders abase themselves, falling face down before The One on the throne!

The song rings… Day and night they never stop saying:

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,

who was, and is, and is to come" (8).

And then…

"You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they were created and have their being"  (11).

This scene fills my heart with indescribable fullness. Whatever heaven will be like, whatever it will be like to see God face-to-face, it will be so beyond what I can comprehend that I, too, will fall on my face in homage and adoration.

Our God is so BIG, so Majestic, that to be in His presence will change everything I have ever thought or imagined. God is supreme, that’s what I am hearing and seeing in today’s chapter. God is so wholly other that whatever I think now will be dwarfed when I see God face-to-face…

And that I think is the way it should be…

O, God, I am filled with awe, amazement and wonder. You, the supreme creator of all things, have an interest in and love for me! Astounding, amazing, You are. Amen.

 

Tuesday, April 6: Revelation 3-Rich, yet poor

As I read Jesus’ words to these three churches I couldn’t shake verse 17. I even went back through the chapter a second time to see if something else might capture my attention. But no, it was 17 again. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

We are inundated with commercials asking, “What’s your number?” “How much do you want for retirement?” Ads for this or that trading firm; Chuck offers this and E-trade that. I do believe God wants us to be wise stewards. But I am rich. Many people in the world can’t worry about retirement because they aren’t sure from where todays’ or tomorrows’ meals are coming.

Those commercials ring again, “Chuck, E-trade will help you get there.”

What I am hearing from Jesus is with wealth comes complacency, particularly spiritual complacency. The more I have, the more secure in myself I feel, the less I need Jesus.

A second thought spins like this, “But am I rich in good deeds? Am I using my wealth (time, health, influence) to make a godly difference in the world, or am I hording it for me?

Well, this was not a fun time with Jesus. The Spirit kept pressing me to examine my life. When I came to my prayer, all I could do is mimic the words of a song:

O Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, melt me, mold me, fill me, use me… Holy Spirit fall afresh on me…

 

 

 

Monday, March April 5: Revelation 2- What would Jesus write to me?

A Little Background on Revelation

The author of Revelation identifies himself as John, likely the same John who authored the fourth gospel. The book was written during a time of persecution. The church is anxiously awaiting Christ's return. The book is written to encourage the believers to stand firm. God is in control and Christ is coming again. Christ alone has the authority to judge the earth, remake it, and rule it in righteousness. Revelation consists of a series of revelations/visions given to John by God.

 

 

I found myself wondering as I read God’s letters to these 4 churches, what would I read if Jesus wrote a letter to me? Then I wondered which of these letters would be closest to what He would write me? Your answer might be different than mine. If so, follow where God leads you in your devotional time today. I kept circling back to the letter to Ephesus.

Ephesus comes across as a faithful church who studied the scriptures, divided error from truth correctly and made sure that people who taught error were not tolerated. This is often hard, exacting work. It is not pleasant to confront error while standing for truth and while doing so, ones’ life can become callused. Engaging in the rigors of dividing truth from error, a person can loose sight of the people with whom you are speaking/arguing/confronting.

Jesus, not so gently reminds me of calluses … You have forsaken your first love. … Repent and do the things you did at first (4-5). That word love leapt out of the sentence. My first love was Jesus. I have to be careful that I don’t replace my love for Jesus with a love/desire to be right.

Do what you did at first… two thoughts came to mind. First, embrace Jesus. When I first become a believer, I couldn’t get enough of Jesus and His Word. I treasured times to read and pray and walk with Jesus. Secondly, because I was so new to following Jesus, my life was pock-marked with lots of sin. I was unrefined and so were my friends. However, rather than being repulsed by their sin, I just wanted them to meet Jesus. As my life has grown more ‘Christ-like’ and refined (which is a good thing), my ability to handle sin in others has shrunk. This I am afraid is not good because I could be giving off an air of being ‘better-than-you’and this takes me back to the first-love piece Jesus mentioned earlier.

I believe it was in John, chapter 1, where Jesus is described as full of “grace and truth.” I need the balance of both grace and truth. It seems quite possibly I have grown in truth but allowed grace to atrophy. It is time for me to pray…

O, God, help me balance grace and truth. To balance intolerance for error and wickedness with love… Your kind of love. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, April 3: Revelation 1-Odd feeling great truth

Here it is the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the day between Jesus’ death and Jesus’ resurrection, and I am reading the opening chapter in the account of what will happen leading up to Jesus’ ultimate return. It feels like wearing white or bright yellow to a funeral service… it just doesn’t fit.

And yet on the other hand, there is something encouraging and strengthening about reading the ‘rest of the story,’ reading about him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood… the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (5, 8).

What Jesus ‘did’ yesterday and what we will celebrate tomorrow has changed everything, the course of human history as well as the course and trajectory of my life as one who believes and trusts in Jesus. Reading this chapter has infused my life with deepened trust. Jesus will return and make all things new. The resurrection we will celebrate tomorrow is simply the first step in God’s process of renewal and restoration of the effect of the fall in the Garden of Eden.

I pause when I read verses 17-18: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

The one whom I worship is alive for ever more. The one whom I worship hold the keys of death and Hades. The one whom I worship will come again! Whoa, now I am ready for worship tomorrow!

O, God, may I live in Your presence today, contemplating Jesus, all He provided with His death and the cross. And Lord God, I ask that throughout today, your Holy Spirit would stir in me a heart to worship and praise You like never before as I celebrate the empty tomb and my risen Savior tomorrow on Easter Morn… Alleluia, amen.

 

Friday, April 2: 3John-who are you emulating?

In this personal note, John writes a friend and fellow Christian brother (‘brother in the truth’) ,Gaius, commending him for his faithful living. What struck me this morning was how John then goes on to warn Gaius about Diotrephes, and commend another brother, Demetrius. This started the wheels turning with questions like, ‘Who are we imitating, who are we emulating, and who are our role models?’

All of us have role models. These individuals may not overtly be our role model. We might not have posters in our rooms or read their biographies, but almost certainly we all have people we look up to and quietly emulate. I know I do.

John’s letter this morning caused me to ask what kind of people are my role models? Do they exemplify a life following Jesus? Are they known for faithful self-less living or, as John puts it, “do they love to be first?”

On this Good Friday, the day Jesus gave his life for me, these are interesting questions to start my day. I am reminded of Paul in 1Cor11:1 (NASB) Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. As people imitate Jesus, so I should emulate them.

Food for the day…

Jesus, today as I sit beneath the cross, help me to examine my life in light of Your grace… that by Your Spirit I might live to honor You. Amen.