EVER WILL I SEEK YOU...

SCRIPTURE

Revelation 1:9-18 (NRSV)

A vision of the risen Christ

I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

DEVOTION

Okay! Steady now…don’t go running off!

I know that most Christians simply cross their eyes and close the Bible when they are directed to read anything from the book of Revelation. It is a book full of wonder and mystery, replete with many open symbols and secret meanings. I have talked to Christians in the past who have said that they don’t read Revelation because they can never hope to understand it! This is such a shame. The Holy Bible is a wonder to our souls from cover to cover and all of it is GOOD NEWS!

When I read today’s passage, I started laughing…Now this may seem counterintuitive, but I was thinking about how shocked John the Revelator must have been to see Jesus reveal himself in such majestic, all-powerful, glory!

Sometimes, we forget that Jesus is fully GOD and fully man. We fall into the bad habit of thinking of Jesus only as the sweet, meek, humble, all be it, rather comely son of a carpenter. Or, we think of Jesus solely as that man who was beaten, battered, bruised, stabbed, and nailed up on the cross. We see his bloody, sweaty, pain agonized face when we think of Jesus.

Today, John the Revelator, has presented a very, very, different vision of Jesus! Whilst the aforementioned visions are two ways that Jesus chose to reveal himself, John the Revelator gives us a third way of contemplating Jesus!

John’s vision of Jesus is spectacular! It is powerful! It is glorious! In John’s vision we really sense the awesomeness and might of Jesus’ divinity and the true victory of the resurrection!

John says, “I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.”

Now, if Jesus always chose to reveal himself to us in this way, he wouldn’t be very accessible, would he? John’s response to this tremendous vision was to fall to the ground as if dead!

Can you blame him? What if Jesus just went around all the time showing himself to human beings like this? Can you imagine? This idea makes me chuckle…

Can’t you see Jesus showing up at the local McDonalds, city park, networking gathering, or Girl Scout meeting resplendent with eyes like fire and swords in his mouth?! People would run away screaming…

But, we need this vision of Jesus too! Like the son of the carpenter, and the man on the cross, this vision of Jesus teaches us something about the character and nature of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Jesus annunciates this lesson by saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.”

Wow! This vision of Jesus makes His divinity clear, his resurrection real, and his salvific gift very palatable.

Jesus died and rose again victorious over death and the grave! Jesus is very much alive—even now—and always will be!

Jesus went to the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life! Although he died on the cross, he did not stay dead, but was resurrected just as he promised!

John the Revelator caught a vision of this resurrected Jesus whom we love and serve with all our hearts and souls and it changed his life.

Has it changed yours?

Holy God, Jesus is amazing! He reveals himself to me in scripture as a babe in a manager, humble carpenter’s son, wise teacher, bloodied man upon a cross, a resurrected friend, and as God Almighty, Omnipotent, and Omniscient! Ever will I seek you, because all you are, is all I want, always…* Thank you for Jesus’ death and resurrection and for your unconditional love and amazing grace! Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can be a faithful witness to the GOOD NEWS that you love, gave, and save. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

*This sentence is from the song entitled, “Always” by Hillsong United.

Congratulations to the people who have recently put all of their faith in Jesus! We are so excited about your new-found faith in Jesus! You are in our thoughts and prayers!

If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus today, please visit my blog entitled, “Putting All Your Hope In Jesus” located at
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-all-your-hope-in-jesus.html

If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html

Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/

You are invited to follow Pastor Yolanda on Twitter www.twitter.com/PastorYolanda

Good News has now added a Prayer Ministry. http://www.kindlejoy.com/groups/goodnews

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From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com