Revelation 7 -- What A Scene!

After the marking of the 144,000 Jewish believers with the seal of God, John sees an incredible sight:  A countless number of people “from every nation, tribe, people, and language of the earth.”  They stood before God’s throne in white robes (their sins have been forgiven, washed away by Christ’s blood) and they are holding palm branches (a symbol of victory, my commentary says).  They were shouting thanks for the salvation provided by God and His son Jesus Christ.  They are then joined by the angels, the elders, and the four living creatures.  (None of them experienced salvation, according to my commentary, so they can’t sing about it.  They join in after the people from every nation shouted their thanks, first.

The entire multitude bowed down on their faces and worshiped God, naming the attributes that belong to Him:  Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength.  What an incredible worship service that will be!  Those who love the Lord and appreciate all that He has done for them now able to see him and personally thank Him for eternal life with Him.

Father, I’m so thankful that someday I’ll be able to see You, face to face, and thank You for saving me from eternal destruction.  And eternity won’t be long enough to get the job done!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 5 & 6 -- Where You'll Want To Be

In his vision, John saw God holding the instructions for the judgments that would begin the setup of Christ’s kingdom.  John began to weep when it looked like no one would respond to the call for someone worthy to break the seals and thus begin the judgments and the setup of the kingdom.  After it became apparent that no one else on earth or in heaven was worthy, Christ stepped forward, seen both as a lamb (for His sacrifice) and as the Lion of Judah (ruling in absolute power at His second advent).

Jesus began to break the seals, ushering in His kingdom, and every creature in heaven and on earth began to worship Him for His power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise.  And as the seals were removed, those “in the know” in this world – in places of power and prominence – ran for the caves and the rocky crags of the mountains, thinking they would somehow protect them from what was to come.

Father, I’m glad that, when You finally decide to initiate all of this, I will have been removed from it all, safe with You and Your Son, as those judgments unfold.  Yet please help me to have the passion for the lost to draw them near and to tell them about Your Son’s sacrifice, so that, in believing, they too can be rescued from those judgments.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 4 -- Not Enough Time To Get It Done

This chapter really causes us to acknowledge the sovereignty and holiness of God.  Seeing into heaven, John says:  “Before me was a throne in heaven … The One who sat on the throne looked like precious stones … Around the throne were 24 other thrones with 24 elders sitting on them….. Lightning flashes and noises and thundering came from the throne.”

The lightning and thundering suggest that this is God’s throne of judgment, my commentary said.  Before the throne was the Holy Spirit represented as full and complete by the number 7.  Out past the Holy Spirit was a sea of glass, representing calmness and total control as compared to the turmoil on earth, my commentary added.

John then returned his focus to the throne, and noticed around it four living creatures.  The descriptions of their faces followed the descriptions of Christ in the four Gospels – Lion, Calf, Man, and Eagle, my commentary said.  The descriptions of their six wings match that of the cherubim and seraphim of Ezekiel and Isaiah – guarding the throne of God with perfect vision, insight, and focus.

They guarded out of respect for His holiness and sovereignty, not because God needed any protection.  Because of that holiness, they were content to spend all of eternity worshiping Him, saying what we need to understand about God:  “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.  He was, He is, and He is coming.”  They gave glory, honor, and thanks to God, as should we.

The 24 elders also bow down and worship Him, even though they too have crowns and thrones.  They remove their crowns and offer them to God continuously, stating their unworthiness and God’s sovereignty, saying, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and praise, because You made all things.  Everything existed and was made, because You WANTED it.”

It’s hard for us to imagine this happening over and over throughout eternity.  That’s because our minds have become jaded by this world.  We see the sinfulness of everything here and nothing here is worthy of worship.  So we therefore cannot imagine spending eternity in worship.   But in God is perfection and sinlessness and ultimate worth.  When one day our eyes behold Him, we will finally realize the incredible privilege we’ve been given to worship Him, and we’ll understand how sovereign He is and how worthy of worship He is.  We will be so amazed and in awe that eternity won’t be long enough to allow our full worship of Him.  We cannot imagine in this life what it will feel like to finally cast our eyes on our Creator, and to see the love such a perfect Creator must have had for us to create us AND to save us.

Father, what a privilege it will be to spend the rest of this life in Heaven, worshiping You and thanking You for giving me life and for saving me, even when I was Your enemy!  Such love!  Such love!

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Revelation 1-3 Being In Their Shoes

As I began reading the messages that the Holy Spirit sent through John to those seven churches, God placed on my heart that I should consider what it would have been like to have been a member of those very churches and to have heard such a warning directed to me:

If I’d been an Ephesian:

                “I know what you do … how you work hard and never give up (YEA!!)
                But I have this against you (Oh no…. here it comes)
                You have left the love you had in the beginning … Remember where you were before you fell (Oh no … He knows I fell)
                Change your hearts and lives and do what you did at first (I guess I hadn’t realized how far away I’d gotten)
                If you do not change … (I can already tell I don’t want to hear the rest of that – I need to decide to change NOW)”

If I’d been from Smyrna, these words would have caught my attention:

                “Be faithful….”  (He knows I’ve not been faithful?)

If I’d been from Pergamum:

                “I know where you live … I have a few things against you … (Oh no … sounds like He’s headed my way right now and wants to talk about my sin)
                Change your hearts and lives.  If you do not … (oh no, I probably don’t want to hear what’s coming next…)
                I will come to you quickly and fight against them … Everyone should hear what the Spirit says… “ (Jesus will be fighting against me?  I didn’t think about my sin causing that!)

If I’d been from Thyatira:

                “I know what you do … I have this against you: … the teaching leads MY people to take part in sexual sin (He’s talking about church members, not unbelievers)
                I have given her time to change her heart and turn away from her sin, but she does not WANT to change (He’s getting impatient waiting on me to change, isn’t he?)
                I am the One who searches hearts AND minds, and I will repay each of you for what you have DONE” (He said hearts AND minds, so what I’ve done would be both thoughts AND actions, not just actions)
               

Man, these were churchgoers, just like me.  And they were sinners, just like me.  We can’t bury our heads in the sand and think, “My sins are forgiven,” because that only leads us to think we have an excuse to sin and get away with it.  Yet even as Christians we are human and our bodies are infected with the sin virus.  We are so very capable of sinning.  As Christ said, He seeks out and knows both hearts and minds.  He knows what we do and what we think, even if no one else on this planet does.  Our sins are not secret from Him.  Jesus said that He will fight against those in the church who sin.  Do I really want to be on the opposite side from Him?  NO, never! 

When He spoke about having given time to change, He’s indicating that He full well EXPECTS change to OCCUR in the lives of His followers.  He does not expect us to continue in our sin.  He wants US to want to change, and He will ENABLE us to do that, if we love Him enough.

It’s tough to remember that these were messages to Christians – to church members – not to unbelievers in the world; therefore, Christians should be heeding these messages all the more – me included.

Father, You know MY heart.  Sure, You know that I work hard at what You’ve called me to do, but You also know I’m very far from perfect.  You know I sin and You want me to change my heart and life as well.  If I someway think I don’t need to, I am dead wrong.  You can’t help but fight against any sin You find in Your children – after all, we are Your ambassadors here on this earth.  We would be misrepresenting You by continuing in sin.  I admit that some sins were easy to give up, yet others cause me to struggle still to this day.  How dangerous it is to call any sin a “pet sin”.  That’s like having a rattlesnake for a pet.  It was never meant to be, and it is deadly dangerous.  Father, hold me accountable not just for my actions, but also for every thought that is not of You, and call my hand if I ever attempt to rationalize any thought or action.  I simply must call it a sin and agree with You.  In my stubborn willfulness, lead me to want to change everything about my life that doesn’t conform to You, even if You know that I don’t want to make that change.  Don’t give up on me.  I don’t want to fight against the One who saved me.  I know I could never win if I did.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 47-50 The Ending Matters

Joseph spent very little of his life in the Promised Land.  He was likely 17 when his brothers sold him into slavery and he died at 110.  Despite spending almost a century in Egypt, his heart was still in the Promised Land.

He returned there once to bury his father Jacob.  Then at his own death, he was embalmed and placed in a coffin and buried in Egypt.  His faith that God would restore His people to the Promised Land was based on the significant fact that he did not ask that his body be returned to Israel upon his death, as Jacob’s had been.  He’d been separated from his family for years, and now it was his desire to remain close to them in death, bearing silent witness to how God had blessed and cared for him.

Just imagine, hundreds of years later, when Moses is preparing to take the Israelites back to the Promised Land – Joseph’s dying request had to be remembered and fulfilled.  In their rush to depart following the Death Angel’s visit, someone had to go and exhume Joseph’s body to carry his bones back to the Promised Land!  For 40 years, during their travels through the desert, Joseph was carried by his people.  How unfortunate that they also carried out idols from their Egyptian task masters as they approached the Promised Land.

Father, I pray that You will direct me to live a life that honors You as Joseph did.  And I pray that one day my descendants will be able to honor my memory because I honored, worshiped, and glorified You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 42-46 Seeing God At Work

This story is so gripping that it’s hard to find a stopping point!  As I looked back over all I’d read, several things popped out.

Before revealing his identity to his brothers, Joseph had told them, I am a God-fearing man.”  How reassuring that should have been to them, and that’s the first thing that we should reveal about ourselves as we meet others.

Judah offered himself as a slave in place of his youngest brother, Benjamin.  Joseph could see that his brother cared enough about his father and his youngest brother to sacrifice for them, knowing he’d never see his own family again.  That said a lot to Joseph.

After Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, they were really frightened, but they eventually saw that God, through His grace, had worked in Joseph’s heart, allowing him to see God’s master plan for saving his family from the famine.  What others had meant for evil, God had used for good.  Joseph even said, “So it was not you who sent me here, but God.”

Father, help me to see Your hand on my life in everything that happens.  Help me to know without a doubt that You have my best interests at heart and can overcome any evil that others may cast my way.  Allow me to see You at work in every aspect of my life, and let others come to know You through me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Genesis 41 -- Give Me Wisdom Like That

This chapter begins with “Two years later …”  Joseph had been 28 when he’d interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s servants in Potiphar’s prison.  His last instructions to the king’s butler had been, “But when you are free, remember me.”  That’s what the butler forgot to do.  Yet it was all in God’s timing, for God waited until He was about to begin the seven prosperous crop years before the seven years of famine.  He had Joseph at the right place at the right time always.  The amazing thing was that Joseph knew and believed this.  He did not let his circumstances sour his outlook.  At 30, Joseph was facing the fact that he would be 44 before the bad years in Egypt would end.

So why did an Egyptian pharaoh choose a Jewish prisoner to lead his country through the next 14 years?  My commentary points us to Proverbs 21:1 – “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord.”  May it be so here today in such measure, Father!

Joseph had great God-given wisdom as an administrator, and as God began to prosper Egypt ahead of the coming bad years, He gave Joseph two boys – Manasseh (“made me forget”) and Ephraim (“gave me children”).  So Joseph was able under God’s blessing to forget the years of treachery, hardship, and imprisonment caused by his brothers, and when he did, he became fruitful.

Father, I need You to give me wisdom and direction in many things.  Just as You did Joseph.  Help me to hear what You have to say.  Bless me as I depend solely upon You and not upon my own abilities.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford