6/21/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.” (Revelation 15.1)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Let’s say there are two kinds of people on the earth. The first “kind” are those who ask “Is this all there is to life; to live in this world that has so many problems which cannot be escaped no matter how hard we try? We cannot escape it but in Christ we can endure it and receive the blessing of the promise which He has sealed on our behalf by His own blood.” The second “kind” are those who say “This world is all we have. We make of it what we will. It is our ‘heaven,’ if there were such a place of bliss, peace and prosperity. Or, it is our ‘hell,’ if there were such a place of torment, death and suffering in incompleteness.

Take a look at the “first” kind who were harvested from the earth as those before whom a banquet was set in the presence of their enemies. [You would almost believe that David has been shown some of this revelation way before John was even born.] They were lead to dwell in the House of the Lord forever. The answer to their “question” was similar to that of Jesus who said to Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world!” It reiterated the words of Jesus as recorded in John’s gospel “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” (John 15.18-19) If not for their faithful and painful endurance of living in this world because they were born into it (where else would they have been born?), they would not receive and experience the blessing of God’s mercy and grace. Indeed, there is more to life than this world can afford to give. It shares glimpses of a beauty and vitality beyond measure. However, because some human beings forfeited their legacy calling to be “stewards, shepherds and cultivators” of the earth and all its life- this world is a mess. We must not forget that the forfeiture was giving their godliness for ungodliness. To deny the wonder of creation was to speak of another world as their home. The wonder of creation tells of the “kingdom of God” in our midst. We may see it as looking in a mirror dimmed and flawed but one day we will see it face to face in all of its original glory.

There is, however, the view of the “second” kind. They cannot see beyond what is given to them from their past. They see it only as evidence that “if there was a God, He failed us and all generations.” The failure, in their eyes, was allowing “sin” to enter into the world. The problem, you see, is not that “sin entered the world.” The real problem is that people stewarded it, shepherded it and cultivated it. They made sin into a plague or a host of plagues beguiling, bewildering and befelling humanity and the earth on which it dwells. It isn’t doing the rest of life any favors either. But, if this is all there is, then the decision for “no future” but the one we make for ourselves leads them into usurping all the resources to do so. For better or worse, this endeavor to dominate, control and emasculate the globe (believe me, their goal is the universe) becomes their way of saying “I am a god.” Their declaration becomes synonymous and harmonious with that of their master, Satan- the fallen/cast out Lucifer. Much to their chagrine, they will find that “this world is not all there is. They will also discover there are far worse places to exist than being “stuck” in this old world. They are left with the unenviable task of attempting to make a better mousetrap only to discover they are the mice.

That leaves us with those who have allowed themselves to be caught in the middle. For fear of losing, they refused to grasp the victory which comes by faith in Jesus as the Christ. “Faith is the victory which overcomes the world.” But, to run the race and be a part of “that” team put them at odds with those they would run against. Since they could not see the prize for which they would “run the race,” they accepted running in circles as the better option. It was to the entertainment of those they feared they would lose sight of if they turned their eyes to the empty cross and the empty tomb and see fully the Resurrected Christ sitting at the right hand of God. But, running in such a fashion proved exhausting more than exhilarating, frustrating more than fascinating, defeating more than defining. Simply, it did not satisfy. They couldn’t run with either “pack” and instead took the higher ground of nothing at all. They became fencepost sitters, sideline observers and wandering souls. Not choosing victory or defeat, they set themselves up for failure. And that failure would come “perfectly” and “awfully.” This is chapter 15 which might be best identified as the true beginning of the end. We are introduced to seven angels with seven plagues who are given seven bowls filled with the wrath of God. The last straw has been drawn. It is neither long “for heaven” or short “of expectation.” It just is. They are left defenseless because they believe in nothing, not even themselves. It doesn’t mean they don’t have the capacity to believe. It means they have lost, or at least muted, the will to believe for fear that doing so would silence the will to live. If you do not have the will to live, then you are left with only one option. Time will come when “you,” whoever “you” is, must decide. Yes, it is hard to make that hard decision but it could be worse. Not only could it be worse- it will be.

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.