Our Church in Heaven

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Sometimes we feel our little local church small and insignificant. This is not at all the case. In heaven, our church is signified by a candlestick, used to light our area. It is granted a star, which is the angel of that church, or its messenger. This is probably the pastor.

Furthermore, I see in verse 4 that there is an assigned spirit for each church before the throne representing each church. And, best of all, Jesus is walking in the midst of the churches.

We dare not make ourselves of the number which compare ourselves among ourselves, measuring ourselves against other churches. II Cor 10:12 In the case of churches, size is not a real factor, but the brightness of the light, the measure of love for Christ and souls and faithfulness to God is.

True, gospel-preaching, soul-saving, Jesus loving churches are a treasure of heaven, attended by the Jesus, gifted with angels and empowered by the Spirit.

We must not sell ourselves short.

I'll Meet You in the Rapture!

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

The words "shortly come to pass" can be taken two different ways. It can mean that the events will unfold in a quick manner or that they will happen soon.

Seeing as how this revelation was penned a couple of millennia ago, the first rendering seems to carry more weight. However, due to chronology, we know that never have we been so close to the time of the revelation.

Chapters two and three give us an overview of the church age. Actually, there is a 3-fold interpretation of the letters written to the 7 churches of Asia. A direct, literal sense, a prophetic sense and a general sense.

The secondary interpretation puts us on the very cusp of what happens in chapter 4, verse 1. After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

The Laodecean age of the church, in which the overall health of churches is summed up by Luke warmness, is in full operation. The whole "rich, increased with goods, need of nothing, but wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked" description is more apt than ever among the churches of God.

As bad as that is, it does portend that we will soon be hearing a trumpet talking with us saying, "Come up hither."

Therefore, these things may very well shortly come to pass. Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Should I Weep?

Zec 7:3 And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? 4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, 5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

Wow! A scheduled time of weeping. And most believers can't even do it impromptu.

Why should we weep? Our sins have offended heaven. Our nation is on the verge of judgment. Souls are dying without the Savior.

Perhaps we should plan a time of weeping and fasting.

Is the Seed Yet in the Barn?

Hag 2:19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

Because the remnant of Judah, left in the land during the captivity in Babylon, dwelt on their own interests, rather than on the things of the Lord, The land had experienced drought.

Now, God is preparing to do a great thing for His people. He is readying them for revival if they will rebuild the house of the Lord.

But they were holding back from sowing seed. They would reap even fewer grapes, figs, pomegranates and olive than before because their recent drought experience taught them to be miserly in their planting. Why waste seed if it will result in little or nothing?

But when the curse of sin is removed and God heals the land, the seed will be multiplied and fruitfulness abounds.

So, the advice of the Lord though His prophet Haggai was to take the seed out of the barn and sow bountifully. You reap what you sow! Paul tells us in II Cor 9:6, "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."

Have you been keeping the seed in the barn? Have you felt it a waste of time and resources to get the Word of the Lord into the field? Isn't it about time get our eyes off ourselves and onto the fields? Shouldn't we trust the Lord to bless our sowing and reaping efforts?

Seed in the barn does absolutely no good, so tell someone today about the gospel. In fact, tell several someones! God can only bless our acts of faith. He will do nothing if we don't sow. Is your seed yet in the barn?

The Pure Eyes of God

Hab 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Why should One as holy and just as He,
Look upon one so sinful as me?

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold sin,
Yet, thou watchest over failing men.

Though thou searchest our hearts and holdest our reigns,
Our wretchedness requireth the purity of thy blood stains.

Thank thee, oh Holy Father for thy lovingkindness,
Undeserving we are, in all our worldliness.

And in the End, God!

Mic 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

We begin the Bible with these words, "In the beginning, God..."

The minor prophet Micah lays before us a dark scenario owed to the evil works of God's chosen people. Each chapter exposes Israel and Judah for their treacherous deeds. All seems hopeless and lost.

Sin is like that, the end of it is always death. But then God Almighty steps in and grants a glimmer of hope. In chapter 5, verse 2, the Remedy for sin is introduced; "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

God's answer for sin is Jesus. Only through His Son can we find pardon for our iniquity. Only by Him can our transgression be passed by. The anger of our holy, just God is assuaged because He delighteth in mercy through His beloved Son.

We too stand in need of compassion, of having our iniquities subdued and our sins cast into the depths of the sea.

Our sins are every bit as dark as those we witness in the book of Micah, but the same Remedy is available to us. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Thank God for the wonderful ending to a sad book. In the end, God!

God said Go Up and Jonah Went Down.

Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

You know the story don't you? A whale became a fisher of men, swallowed up all the prophet and proved, you just can't keep a good man down.

Long story short, don't run from God. He's got your number and knows how to get your attention. Like you tell your kids, do what you're told as soon as you are told to do it. This eliminates having to go the long way around.

Why shouldn't we listen to our own advice and just obey God right away? We tell our own kids, “obey, right away, it could save your life.” Do they listen? Often not! But the drawbacks to disobedience are always negative.

What is the Lord asking of you today? Do it right away and be blessed.