Trustworthy and True Words - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 22:6,

"These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."

This statement made to John by one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls "full of the seven last plagues" acknowledges that it is God who "inspires the prophets." The angel makes the statement when he tells John to publish this revelation given to him, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near." Verse 10.

Because it was God himself who had sent his angel to reveal this revelation, the words of it are "trustworthy and true." The further observation is made that it is God who "inspires the prophets". John is referred to as a prophet in verse 9 where the angel talking to John claims he is a fellow servant with John and his "fellow prophets". In that John was given this revelation to pass on to us, he is functioning as a prophet in the truest sense of the office.

The book of Revelation is one of sixty-six books in our Bibles. The forty plus authors of these books are called prophets in that, as John, in his unique apocalyptic book here, along with his three letters and his gospel, were all inspired to do so by the Holy Spirit, with the intention those writings be passed along to us. This is the exact function of a prophet: to pass on to others what the Lord has said and intended to be passed to others.

The function of a prophet is a very unique and specific service. All prophets with their messages speak on God's behalf to others. As such, what they have to say is always "trustworthy and true." Peter tells us something of this in 2 Peter 1:20-21, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

This makes our Bibles a library of books like no other. The One who created us speaks to us in its pages! This being the case, I would think we all have every motivation we need to learn everything we possibly can about what it says - and what it does say is always, without fail, "trustworthy and true."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Our Great Hope in the Resurrection! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 21:1-5,

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'"
 
Our hope is in the resurrection. The New Testament refers to our inheritance in eternal life as our wonderful, exciting and matchless "hope". The apostles referred to our hope, not in the sense of "I really hope it happens", but in the sense of "I can't wait: this is fantastic beyond anything imaginable!" So we read them saying things like Colossians 1:4-5, "…we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven…"
 
This morning as I read in Revelation of our impending participation in the "new order of things", my mind drifts to the wonderful things that will be ours in this great hope. In this new order of things we will no longer be estranged from our Creator, our wonderful loving Heavenly Father. We will become objects of joy for him as we are filled with joy ourselves ("To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy…", Jude 24-25). We will live together with him. We will no longer live in a world under God's judgment. We will no longer be living in a world dominated with a collective sin nature that expresses itself in the misery and suffering of people. We will no longer be looking at life as a temporary existence with certain death. No more sickness, suffering, pain, mourning or crying. We will no longer be struggling with an ever present sin nature within that often challenges our every desire to delight the heart of our Lord.
 
We will be viewed as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. We will have purpose and meaning for our lives that far outstrips anything we experience in this life. This new order of things will be designed for those whom God loves. Romans 8:32, " He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
 
I could just go on and on… What a God! What a hope he has stored up for us in heaven! "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice…", 1 Peter 1:3-6.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Great Deceiver - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 20:3,

"He [an angel coming down from heaven] threw him [Satan] into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended."

Satan is called the "accuser of our brothers and sisters" in Revelation 12:10. He accuses people before God. Why? Because Satan has been in rebellion against God and resisting him at every turn (an incredibly futile effort). Since God's great agenda for mankind is his program of redemption, Satan seeks to thwart that and one of his tactics is to challenge God's sense of justice by accusing before God those who God seeks for his kingdom. Satan: the great Accuser.

This is the purpose for Satan's efforts at deceiving the nations. He influences them in a direction to hopefully inspire God's judgment. He finds those who are "willing idiots" to do his bidding.

Take America as an example. A nation founded by Christians, a nation whose motto is "In God we trust." A nation founded as such cannot be tolerated by Satan or even be seen to prosper by receiving God's blessings. This is why we see the senseless striving at all that is ungodly by those Satan influences. Why homosexuality? Why abortion? Why the distortions of our society by the "social justice warriors" that seek all things ungodly? In short, animated by the spiritual dark side, they provide grist for Satan's mill of accusation.

This is why Satan is called the "Accuser" and this is why he seeks to deceive nations.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Meaning, Purpose, Fulfillment and Satisfaction in Life - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 19:6-8,

"'Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.' (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God's holy people.)"

This doxology, given by what John said sounded like a great multitude, was like a deafening roar of rushing water. It begins with "Hallelujah!", as an expression of praise and joy (as opposed to its often use as an injunction to praise God, which follows). It attends the anticipation of the betrothal of the Lamb (Jesus Christ) with his bride (the church).

In this explosive outburst of effusive and unrestrained worship and praise, the observation is made that the bride, the church, was given "fine linen, bright and clean" to wear. John makes the comment that the fine linen represents "the righteous acts of God's holy people."

These "righteous acts" point to the work, the activities that God has given his people to pursue. It is within the pursuit of these "righteous acts" we find meaning in life, purpose in life, fulfillment and satisfaction. It is here we find contentment and gratification, enjoyment, happiness and pleasure.

These "righteous acts" do not bring us eternal life and do not make us members of the bride of Christ. These "righteous acts" are given to those who are already members of the bride of Christ. Becoming a member of this bride comes from embracing Jesus Christ in faith. Those who have done so are then given things to do which bring meaning to life. We participate in something that is bigger and beyond us, something that brings purpose in life like nothing else: participating in God's grand agenda!

Those of us who have embraced the Lord in faith share in things to do in this life that the Lord has asked of us. I am certainly convinced that we will have the same in the age to follow. We won't be wallowing in boredom in the resurrection, looking around for things to do - we will have those things that will continue to provide meaning, purpose, fulfillment and satisfaction for an eternity!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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God Observes; We Give Account - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 18:4-7,

"Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 'Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself.'"

It is unmistakable that God observes the affairs of mankind. He is watching and he is noting. Here we see God's action against "Babylon" as a result of these observations.

People who have no fear of the Lord assume their actions, activities, the things they say and do will bear no consequence if they perceive they have not been caught in real-time for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. We read here of a history of ungodliness and sinfulness, indicating that while the wicked lived their lives, God was watching. Now God acts. Nothing is going to go unaccounted for.

Proverbs 15:3 reminds us that God is watching, "The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good." This should bring pause as we consider how we live our lives. The writer of Hebrews tells us, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."  Paul observes in Romans 14:12, "So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God."

We will all give account in the end - God holds us accountable for the life he has given us, what we have done with it. How thankful I am for the wonderful gift of forgiveness for things I have done in this life and the standing of righteousness I have before him that he has provided me! He simply asks me to embrace him in faith.

Forgiveness given and righteousness provided - through the sacrifice Jesus made of himself as he took my punishment on himself for those things I really wish God was not aware of.

However, he is aware of those things… every last one of them!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Who Is The Great Prostitute? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 17:1-6,

"One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.' Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus."

There is no question in my mind as to exactly who this "great prostitute" is. She is here among us today, fulfilling every description provided by John's revelation. Here are the descriptions of her:

She sits by "many waters". Those who study prophecy know that "waters", "sea", etc. often represent the teeming masses of mankind. The "many waters" refer to the prostitute as being near to the various groups of mankind throughout the world.

"With her the kings of the earth committed adultery". This represents an unseemly and inappropriate trade in political power for the services of what this prostitute can provide. "Adulteries" refer to unfaithfulness toward God. As an example, Israel (Israel is not in view here as this prostitute) was often condemned for her "adulteries" by turning from God to false religion (idol worship, etc.). This is exactly what this prostitute can provide, but she can only do it if she is in a position to "barter" in the things of God - in other words, she can only trade in these adulteries if people are deluded into thinking she represents God. This is how "the inhabitants of earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."

This prostitute became fabulously wealthy, "The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls."

"I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus." Verse 6. As a religious institution, this prostitute was in a position to destroy all who might point out her "adulteries" or anyone who might make her feel threatened.

If history is not your strong suit, a bit of time in history books will make this prostitute identifiable. If you haven't figured it out yet, verse 9 provides a strong clue: "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits." Which of the great cities of  the world sits on seven hills?

No wonder John says he was "greatly astonished" when he saw her!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Authority, Structure, Delegation in the Kingdom of God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 16:1,

"Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, 'Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth.'"

What follows this verse in John's revelation is the account of these seven angels pouring out these seven bowls of the horrific judgment of God on the earth.

For whatever reason, I can't help but think this morning of the passage of the Roman centurion with a paralyzed servant who understood how the chain of command works and is utilized in God's kingdom. He approached Jesus on behalf of his servant to ask for healing. When Jesus offered to go to his house, the centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." Matthew 8:8-9. Jesus' response is an eye opener, "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, 'Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.'" Verse 10.

Jesus acknowledged the centurion knew some things about the kingdom of God, that it operated on a structure of authority and used a chain of command in its operations and activities. Jesus credited the centurion's understanding of this as being due to his amazing faith.

The thrust of the passage in Matthew 8 is to illustrate the importance and value that faith provides relative to our understanding of the things of God and how his kingdom operates. What we learn of the kingdom of God, thanks to the faith of this centurion, is that the things of God don't just happen willy-nilly. There is structure, with God providing direction from his posture of supreme authority. A chain of command is employed and God's directions are carried out.

This is what we see as "the loud voice" tells the seven angels to go and dispense the bowls of God's wrath on earth. The "loud voice" demonstrates what the centurion knew of the kingdom of God.

It is here in Revelation 16:1 as well as other passages in this book. God determines the times for things to happen and orchestrates them through those who serve him - all done in a tight-knit orderly fashion. Commands and directions are issued and carried out.

This may seem a mundane and unremarkable point, but it helps me understand and appreciate something of the kingdom that those of us who are of faith are headed for. I believe it also helps us understand something of the nature of our God: structure that includes defined lines of authority/responsibility and delegation of tasks. These imply that God has an agenda, that he pursues his agenda, and does so through what we associate with the order we find most often in the way the military carries out its business.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Just and True: The Lord's Ways - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 15:3-4,

"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
      Lord God Almighty.
   Just and true are your ways,
      King of the ages.
 Who will not fear you, O Lord,
      and bring glory to your name?
   For you alone are holy.
   All nations will come
      and worship before you,
   for your righteous acts have been revealed."

This song of Moses (and Jesus), sung by believers in heaven, acknowledges something very important to me given the world we live in today, "Just and true are your ways, King of the ages."

Today's world is running amuck. The powers that be are motivated by a less than honorable and honest agenda, justice seems to have gone awry, that which is good and appropriate has been replaced with that which is perverse, unholy and ungodly. Quality of character has been exchanged for the selfish pursuit of power and wealth.

There doesn't seem to be an anchor to cling to, anywhere to hang your hat on for that which is upstanding and right. But I am reminded here that the Lord God Almighty is coming. He is King of the ages and "just and true" are his ways. His way is the only way that will be enduring. His ways are what is coming.

As the Lord tarries, providing opportunity for more folks to turn to him, to join his kingdom, we look forward to, longingly, for that time when all creation will again be bowing the knee to him. "Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Its all over when the Harvester goes to harvest. - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 14:15b,

"Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe."

An angel comes out of the temple (indicating he has orders from the Father on his throne) and calls out "in a loud voice", verse 15a, (indicating a final and authoritative command from the Father) to "one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head", verse 14, to reap. It is time for the harvest of the earth, the harvest of mankind. Those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith will be awarded their place in God's family and bestowed with the wonderful riches of the lavish inheritance God blesses them with. The remainder of mankind will be thrown "into the great winepress of God's wrath." Verse 19.

As I think of this "harvest", this metaphor of the judgement of mankind brings to mind some realities that are sobering. Not the least of which is that there will be a "harvest" at some particular and specific time. Just as a farmer watches his crop, the weather, the market and all the other factors involved, he makes a decision at some point: "this is it." He looks no longer for additional growth, for a bigger harvest, but makes his call and goes out to harvest, bringing the growth of the crop to a close.

So, too, is the kingdom of heaven. At one point there will be that one very last soul that embraces Jesus Christ in faith, and this age, with its opportunity to join the family of God will be over… forever. No more new believers, no more new souls to win, no more evangelism, no more prayers for lost loved ones, no more hope for the lost to turn to, no more life to look forward to, no more chance for eternal life, no more choice to make.

It will all be over when the great Harvester goes out to harvest!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.