Cast Your Crown
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Revelation 7:11-1211. And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12. saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen."
Revelation 4:10-1210. the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, 11. "Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created."
When I think about heaven, I fell like a little child waiting for Santa Claus! The nearer the calendar draws to Christmas, the more animated and excited I am. It’s so hard to wait for something that amazing! I think that’s why I’m drawn to scripture about heaven lately! When I think about what heaven will be like, I almost can’t contain myself.
I wonder if I will actually be able to see the face of God or if, even in heaven, his glory will be so great that we can’t look upon him. Revelation is John’s accounting of what God revealed to him, including a vision of heaven. In John’s vision, even the earthly powerful and elite threw down their crowns-their possessions, wealth, power—at the foot of the throne of God. None of it matters. None of it sustains. None of it lasts. In utter and complete shame and grief, the earthly kings cast down the symbols of their own greatness.
What crowns will we cast down? What gods are we worshipping in our lives? Does what we say is important match up with how we live? Or will we, like the twenty-four elders arrive in heaven and finally have our minds and hearts and souls opened and God’s glory and wisdom and power and might be revealed? Will it be only then that we give God the honor only he deserves? Will our thanksgiving at that time be for allowing us in his presence in spite of our abject sinfulness?
“Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all”
[I Can Only Imagine]
All will be revealed at that time. Every question we have will dissolve. Pure truth will emanate from the mind of God to our minds. Our tears will dry up. God will dry them all. We cannot begin to imagine what heaven will be like. Mere words are inadequate to even share our individual visions of heaven. We cannot describe the magnitude, the vastness, the all-encompassing goodness, wholeness, light and love that is God, that is from God and that will be ours upon arriving at the throne room.
My heart races at the thought! Until I arrive to that glorious existence, I’m going to try each day to live a life worthy of heaven.
My prayer today is that you cast down your earthly crowns and fall on your face before the throne of God. And that you imagine heaven as you struggle through each day.
Mary
Labels: heaven, power, sin, wealth
The War is Real. The Victory is Certain
Psalm 42:1-2
1. [For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah]. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God. 2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?
This passage pretty aptly defines my own longing for God and the only solution I have found to remain positive and quiet within myself. In this case, David is feeling alone and adrift, assailed by enemies, both verbally and physically. Actually David spent a great deal of his life running from the enemy, fighting the enemy and/or dealing with the aftermath of confronting the enemy. While most of us don’t wage war against our enemies in the physical world, we are in a battle each every day.
The war is real. Evil exists and is thriving and it has since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and Cain murdered Abel. If you doubt we fight a war against the evil one think about how often in any day you participate in gossip, tell a lie, curse a driver who cuts you off or do something your boss has instructed you to do, even though you know it’s unethical. If more convincing is required, listen to the news tonight and then sit and watch the prime time television programming until you fall asleep.
Still more convincing may be necessary. Explain that feeling of disquiet and sense of being unsettled in your soul. Can you figure why you’re just plain angry at the world and everyone in it, especially those in your life – your family, friends (if you have any), coworkers – the world! Why are you so sad so often? Why do you have indigestion, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue? Why are just plain unable to get up and go out into the world with your confidence intact and your heart on your sleeve?
The answer to our life problems is not found in a gym, on the golf course, at the water cooler at work, on the internet, through homeopathic medicine, astrology or alternative anything. There is one answer, and only one. David knew that: As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God. He has suffered an astounding defeat prior to writing these words. Yet another of the many earthly wars he fought ended in defeat and he was beyond discouraged.
Life is hard. If we allow that truth to rule us, we will spend our lives very sad and alone and lost. God is good. We long for Him, yet we seek out everything else. I use both the editorial “we” as well as the all-inclusive (meaning I’m included) “we.” Life is hard but God is good. Long for him; thirst for him; run to him. Rest in Him. David looked around the battlefield and surely crumpled into a heap on the ground. He surveyed the unspeakable loss of life and certainly had to felt defeated and alone; as if he had let down his people and failed to be the kind of leader he wanted to be. Probably he was bewildered at the defeat because he was God’s warrior.
He didn’t retreat in anger and bitterness, though. He offered up his defeat to God. He recommitted his life to God. Life is hard. God is good. David longed for him. He opened his parched lips, prostrated himself and called out to his God.
My prayer today is that no matter what battle you are fighting against the evil in the world, you will remember that God is always victorious. And that you call out to God, running to Him with all your strength and speed, for the days are evil.
Mary
Labels: angry, evil, God, health, life, sin, war
