"Salvation belongs to our God, Who sits on the Throne, and to the Lamb....These...who have come out of the great tribulation...have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb....For the Lamb at the center of the Throne will be their Shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water." (Revelation 7, NIV)
You know what I am going to say. "The Lamb [is] at the center of the Throne," because our Passover Lamb is the Center of all, the center of the Universe, the center of the Kingdom, the center of the Church, the center of my life and your life. It is quite popular and accurate to declare, "Jesus Christ is Lord." It is also accurate, and I pray increasingly "popular," to say Jesus Christ is the Center.
What a great way to end the quarter, the Book of Revelation. Too few Christians of the last two generations have any idea of what awaits us all. The last two generations of Christendom have become the most Heaven-ignorant of any previous generations, demanding "now" answers, now thrills, now goose bumps. And, as a result, self-help preachers, churches, and books are the most popular. Yet it is the truth and accompanying peace and comfort, "In My Father's house are many mansions;...I go to prepare a place for you....And I will come again," which sustains Followers of Jesus. Now the more "spiritual" among us would disagree with Paul, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable." To most, it just sounds too fatalistic, too negative, too "downer." Yet I wonder how many are beginning to suspect that this sojourn in our Lord is not all that the "faith" people of the last 45 years have been telling them?!? As time and the whatevers of life have come to all of us, we realize that the 60, 70, 90, or 100 years we may walk this planet has much of what Job and Ecclesiastes describe, perhaps more than the bebop religionists want to admit; it just wouldn't sell.
You know what I am going to say. "The Lamb [is] at the center of the Throne," because our Passover Lamb is the Center of all, the center of the Universe, the center of the Kingdom, the center of the Church, the center of my life and your life. It is quite popular and accurate to declare, "Jesus Christ is Lord." It is also accurate, and I pray increasingly "popular," to say Jesus Christ is the Center.
What a great way to end the quarter, the Book of Revelation. Too few Christians of the last two generations have any idea of what awaits us all. The last two generations of Christendom have become the most Heaven-ignorant of any previous generations, demanding "now" answers, now thrills, now goose bumps. And, as a result, self-help preachers, churches, and books are the most popular. Yet it is the truth and accompanying peace and comfort, "In My Father's house are many mansions;...I go to prepare a place for you....And I will come again," which sustains Followers of Jesus. Now the more "spiritual" among us would disagree with Paul, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable." To most, it just sounds too fatalistic, too negative, too "downer." Yet I wonder how many are beginning to suspect that this sojourn in our Lord is not all that the "faith" people of the last 45 years have been telling them?!? As time and the whatevers of life have come to all of us, we realize that the 60, 70, 90, or 100 years we may walk this planet has much of what Job and Ecclesiastes describe, perhaps more than the bebop religionists want to admit; it just wouldn't sell.
To those who think Heaven and what the Word of God describes as, "that which is to come," is too unspiritual to think or speak of, I ask that you consider the following: Can what you are experiencing now in this life "top" this?--- Our Lord Jesus, "The Lamb at the center of the Throne," is living in us. Everywhere Jesus is we are. All which is Christ's is ours, and, "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." Notice that it is not, "I grant," but, "I will grant." There is still so much more in God's economy for those whose trust is Jesus Christ. The promises of the the Living Triune God fill every page of the Bible. And dare I say that they are "progressive," taking us somewhere we are not yet, to somewhere better, a "place" of fulfillment of all we could possibly experience now. Don't get me wrong; I am so thankful for my "now" in Jesus. But I can tell you, "I press on...until that day"------------------ in Jesus.
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if (when?) the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands."
Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You that, "Your mercies are new every morning," and thank You that there are so many more, "mercies," to come.
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* Please make a note to pray for our May 1-20 mission.
* New Article at: jhs58.blogspot.com
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if (when?) the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands."
Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You that, "Your mercies are new every morning," and thank You that there are so many more, "mercies," to come.
***********************
* Please make a note to pray for our May 1-20 mission.
* New Article at: jhs58.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
