Revelation 5

Jesus' deity is on full display here.  He is God.  Worthy to be praised the angels declare!  All of heaven bows in worship.

He is worthy to open the scroll.  He ransomed us.

Revelation 4

 

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’^[b]

who was, and is, and is to come.”

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

¹¹ “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.”

 

 

I don't think we can appreciate God as he should be appreciated.  Bad word maybe, but we treat God so casually compared to what we see in Revelation chapter 4.  I don't worship like that, and most of us don't.  One day though, we're going to see God without looking through this veil that is humanity.

 So here's a glimpse of how holy God is, and it is intimidating, which it should be.  With that in mind, think now of the greatness of the gift Jesus gave us that allows us to call God the Father, Abba or Papa or Daddy.  Such familiar names that should never be used for God, except by His own children, which he calls us! 

Revelation Chapters 2-3

¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

 

John is visited by Jesus on the island of Patmos and Jesus has a message for him to these churches.  These churches obviously have some influence and Jesus wants to set them straight on a few things.

I think of all the churches just in Billings, and I wonder if this happened in present day, what churches would be called out for admonition and praise. Would ours be called out for either?  And if you weren't called out for admonition, is that a good thing or a bad thing?  

The answer is in chapter 3.  Jesus' words to the church in Laodicea say that they are lukewarm.

Ephesus - you work hard and persevere, and you cannot tolerate wicked people.  You have tested apostles and have endured hardships.  But you have forsaken your first love.  This started out great and became complacent.

Smyrna - very much persecuted and impoverished, but blessed!

Pergamum - They remain true to Jesus even though they live where Satan lives.  There are some unfaithful among them though

Thyatira - people of love and faith, service and perseverance.  But they tolerate Jezebel who calls herself a prophet and misleads God's servants into sexual immorality

Sardis - You have a reputation for being alive but you are dead.  There are a few among you alive and healthy, but most of you are asleep

Philadelphia - You have kept my word and not denied my name.  Hold on to what you have.  

Laodicea - you are lukewarm

Which church do I belong to?  Honestly, I see some of all of these in our church.  Our church is big enough that it feels as though there are little churches within that make up the big church.

Are we hard working and perserverant?  I think so

Are we persecuted and impoverished?  Not so much

Do we tolerate false prophets?  I'd like to think not

Are we dead? No, but I think there's a large part of our church that are not contributing

Have we kept  God's word and not denied His name?  I think so

Are we lukewarm?  Very possibly

Some of these questions are hard to answer, and more likely reflect how I feel about my relationship with Jesus than the whole church.  We can be as involved and active as we want to be, but we're so big it is easy to just show up each weekend but not participate in the works of the church.

Revelation 1 Part 1

  7“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”1:7 Daniel 7:13
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”1:7 Zech. 12:10
So shall it be! Amen.
8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Daniel 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.

Zech. 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

Jesus is coming back again!  He promised He would, and John is reminding us of this.  He's also reminding us that this has been foretold from the beginning; that a Savior would come for us, would die for us, and would return again.

Jesus' return will be seen by everyone, including the ones that 'killed' Him.  

"all the peoples on earth "will mourn  because of Him"
Why might this be?  My first thought is that I'd be happy to see Him, but it doesn't take long to realize that I too would feel the full weight of my sin when I see it in the light of Jesus.  What if I'm not here though?  The rapture occurring ahead of time would mean that there would be nobody on earth that would be happy to see Jesus return when He does come back.

Our pastor doesn't believe there will be a rapture, but he seems to be in the minority on this.  But because he doesn't think this will happen, now I'm not sure.  This verse seems to state that there will be no lovers of Jesus here when he comes back.  Maybe we would mourn because of those we love that do not love Him?

Luke 19:30-40

This is a little different approach today. These questions come from poweredby4.org Wednesday: Luke 19:28-40 Where is Jesus going (19:28-29)? Jerusalem What instructions does He give two disciples (19:30-31)? They are to find a colt of a donkey and bring it to Jesus What happened when they obeyed (19:32-35)? They were asked why they were taking this donkey, but they told the owners what Jesus told them to; that the Lord has need of it. They were allowed to take it. What were Jesus' followers shouting as they drew near to Jerusalem (19:37-38)? "Blessed is the Kind who comes in the name of the Lord"! And "peace in heaven and glory to the Highest"! How did the Pharisees react (19:39)? They asked Jesus to rebuke His disciples for "blaspheming." What did Jesus mean in 19:40? Jesus said if these stand by quiet, the rocks would cry out. This entry on this donkey was fulfillment of prophecy. The Savior has come! How could such an event not be greeted with shouts of praise? All of creation knows what is going on here, and if God's people couldn't acknowledge it, the stones would. What are the "mighty works" that you can praise Jesus for today? There is everything from the simplest to the most major miracles going on in our lives everyday. I got up this morning, that's praiseworthy right there! My family is healthy, I have a good job, I have a great church, I have a home and I had lots of hot water for a shower this morning. I have the opportunity to serve Jesus today! Where should my praise end?

2 Thess 1

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 1

Observation: This first chapter is the beginning of another letter to the church at Thessalonica. Click here for a map showing Thessalonica. The letter starts out as encouragement for this church. Apparently things are going pretty well there on one level, but the letter implies there some persecution going on too. Paul reminds these people that God is just and will repay those giving them trouble. The punishment is just, but harsh too. It's a good reminder to us that we know people that don't yet know Jesus, and that they will be punished with everlasting destruction.

Wow.

Maybe those words were meant to encourage these people that were being persecuted, and it probably did for a little bit. But if those words really sunk in, I doubt it was long before these Christians were more concerned for the souls of these persecutors then they were about revenge. Maybe that was the actual goal of these words too. Of course I'm thinking from Paul's perspective. I'm sure God wants us to take everything away from these words that are available. When you're a new Christian, the vengeance angle is probably what you'd take away from this first. When you're a more mature Christian, these words start to give way to concern for those who persecute, depending on our relationship with that person. And there's probably more that I don't see yet because I'm only where I am. Of course the Holy Spirit can reveal anything He likes to me at any time.

Application: I need to remember that God knows what's going on in my life all the time. He knows when I am persecuted (not often enough). It will be up to Him to deal with those who persecute Christians. For those that simply don't want to acknowledge Christ, God will deal with them too, but in the mean time, it is up to us to let our friends know what Jesus has done for us.

This is hard stuff. It's hard to imagine that not knowing Jesus is just cause for the harshest punishment-eternity without Him. I need boldness to speak this truth to my friends. It's hard for lots of people because they don't like to be in that uncomfortable spot, and I'm no exception. I pray though that this truth will sink in to my soul as well so I can be of some use to my Lord. Maybe this blog is a good step in the right direction.

Psalm 33

Scripture: Psalm 33

Observation: This is a verse about praising the Lord. All righteous people should praise the Lord. Who is righteous though? Romans 3:22-23 says it is those who have put their faith in Jesus. This is comforting to me, because some days I sure don't feel very righteous. I guess I never do if it means feeling like God owes me something.

The days that are especially hard to praise the Lord are those days when you know you've screwed up and it's just hard to imagine that God wants anything to do with you today. The good news is that while God is determined to raise us well (so to speak) just as we try to raise our kids well, His love for us doesn't change. If you have kids, you know what I mean. They can really tick you off sometimes, but that doesn't change your love for them. That's good news because I know when I'm feeling like I've failed it's easy to quit trying. That's true for me in relationships and other goals I set for myself.

Aside from those days where I'm already frustrated for whatever reason, the good days are still filled with plenty of distractions. We're supposed to be constantly in prayer 1 Thess 5:17 and that can be hard just because of all the things fighting for our attention. To pray is to praise God just because you're letting Him know you can't do life without Him. I know He's praised when we ask Him to be a part of our lives daily. I know people who think it's silly to bother Him with our day to day needs though. I'm not in that camp although my actions say otherwise more often than not.

So, all those great words, but I struggle praying constantly for the same reasons I listed above. I suspect everybody does at least at first. I hope to one day have constant prayer/praise as a way of life, but for now I'll be praying that is granted to me.

Lord, please remind me of Your presence in my life constantly so I'll remember to be constantly in prayer. Remind me that I can't do life without You, especially when I start acting like I can.

In Jesus' Name...