6/2/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.” (Revelation 11.11,12)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Have you ever lost track of time to the point where you even lost sight of where you were or where you were supposed to be? It is one thing to say “Time flies when you are having fun” and excuse yourself and those “fun” decisions and activities. It is a totally different thing when the weight of the world is like that gorilla on your back with a refrigerator on its back and time moves so slowly. In fact, it moves so slowly that you feel as if whatever “it” is will never end. Has “take up your cross and follow me” ever felt like a burden too great to carry? Sure, we know that Jesus said, “In this world there will be trouble. I tell you now that you will be hunted down, called out and persecuted all because you have decided to bear My name. But, it will be alright. Don’t allow fear to climb on your back to weigh you down. I have overcome that world and shown you that the promise of eternal life is yours.” Okay, Jesus didn’t say “all” of that (at least not the italicized words) but He did say the rest of it. He could say it to His disciples and those who would enter into discipleship during the Age of the Church with the invitation “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11.28-30) Yes, this is the very person prophesied by Isaiah to bear the name “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace who bears the weight of [universal] governance upon His shoulders.” Literally and figuratively, Jesus carried the weight of the world so that we would not be hard pressed under it. Jesus felt the constraint of time (actually all eternity) and the urgency of the moment (His life and ministry). When He gathered with the disciples (all twelve, mind you) for the Passover/Seder meal, He said to them “With all my heart I have longed to eat this Passover with you before the time comes for Me to suffer. Believe Me, I shall not eat the Passover again until all that it means is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22.15) He was not just speaking of their time together (approximately 3 1/2 years…sound familiar?) but from the moment when Adam and Eve could not make the right decision because they did not have a known relationship with Him in the Garden. He wasn’t hidden from them. He was there in the Tree of Life. His fruit of the Spirit was “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The very things against which there is no law [because there can’t be a law to truly forbid them; they are normal, natural and unconquerable in this world on earth as it is in Heaven.] Please understand, there is no fruit of the Spirit in Hell. Hell is filled with the spirit of denial, defamation and death. Eternity there will seem interminable. Eternity in Heaven, on the other hand, will seem like a twinkling of an eye. We will lose track of time there not because we are burdened but because we are free; free to enjoy the presence of God that knows no end!

It is with that sense of “timing,” that we transition into the hardest parts of the Book of Revelation to understand, fathom and maybe even accept. The imagery and intention of it crosses through the times of revelation since the world began as a created earth whose crowning glory in the eyes of God was His people- Adam (the Living Man) and Eve (the Mother of all Living). Take a moment, mighty ones of God, and gaze into the eyes of your ancestors. Their portrait is indelibly etched in God’s Word. You can see them. Your vision of them is based on your perspective of the nature and character of God best revealed in Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ. You do not have to literally and physically see any of them to recognize them. Your mind’s eye can see them based on the two witnesses (sound familiar?): the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. They are all there and they speak to us clearly of the vital necessity of having a relationship with them in order to better understand ourselves. For all their failures in the Garden (and sadly, outside of the Garden), take hold of their titles and place them in the scheme of God’s creation and the revelation of His love and design to show His desire for your “life” and “living.” It is an honor to know that we have received the legacy Adam and Eve’s place in God’s protection of mercy and grace. It is that legacy which is left to us. It is transmitted by the Holy Spirit through Christ, God’s Messiah, our Savior. What Adam and Eve transmitted to us through the flesh; so Christ has given us according to the Spirit. We are endowed with the legacy of mercy and grace whether we are faithful and obedient to God or not. It is ours to do with as we please. We can accept it as a burden and a threat. We can receive it as a blessing and a promise. In the midst of it all comes the concept of time and timing, life and living, love and loving, justice and justifying.

Now, before we move forward with move of Revelation, let me call you back into that sense of time and timing. It doesn’t take long for us to read the chapters from the sixth trumpet and first woe to the seventh trumpet and the third woe. We can read it as slow or as fast as we desire or care to. Many will start to gloss over it at this point because its message is to hard to bear, carry or consider. Sounds a lot like our thought on “taking up the cross of Christ which He offers (even though He promises its burden is light and its yoke is easy.) In the reflection of the world of today, nothing would seem further from the truth. But, in the scope of time that it takes for us to read those three chapters, we dare not lose sight of how much time has passed. Do you remember? 42 months in tandem with 1,260 days or in conjunction with 1,260 days. Another way of saying it is 3 and a half years which could be 7 years total; depending on how it is interpreted. Regardless, a long time has passed in a short time of reading and revealing. For many it will seem like an eternity. For others it will be over before we know it. Why? Well, it depends on your perspective? How long have you longed to celebrate the fulfillment of the Passover with Jesus who is the “author and founder of our feast”? Seems like forever, but when we sit down at table with Him at the wedding banquet all time will be forgotten because “He is with us” just as He promised. So, it behooves us to spend this time and make the most of its “life” and “living” according to the Spirit of God and His Word (revealed to us in Jesus the Christ) which is given to us. We dare not waste a moment unless it is our intention to spend an eternity of regret for missing the moment of our lives making a living of “walking by faith and not by sight.” Let those with eyes to see, perceive; and those with ears to hear, listen for understanding.” -Selah.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

You are our God and we shall be Your people in spirit and in truth. Continue to dwell among us. Let the revelation by Your Holy Spirit inspire us to greater service in a more refined identity. We do not live as ourselves for ourselves. Rather, we live in Christ as He lives in us. We declare it with all the elders and angels in Heaven, saying “Holy, holy, holy is He who was and is and is to come.” In Jesus’ name we live, serve and pray. AMEN.