Revelation 8:7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. Who doesn't like a grass and a good tree. What would roll around on as kids. Our homes and neighborhoods wouldn't be complete without them. Fall would be bland without the trees' beautiful colors. They're incredible just to look at, good for climbing , shade some even for food and so much more. Our Since day 3 we have had trees on our planet. There wasn't even a person here to enjoy them until day 6 but never-the-less God created them with beauty and purpose. Trees are amazing, they come in so many different shapes and sizes and there are so many you would think no one could count them. According to this article by the Washington Post, "the world’s overall tree leader is clearly Russia, with 642 billion total trees, followed by Canada with 318 billion and Brazil with 302 billion. The United States is actually fourth overall in this ranking, with 228 billion trees. Other countries with over 100 billion trees include China, with 140 billion and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 101 billion. Indonesia comes in 7th, with 81 billion, and Australia 8th, with 77 billion." read more www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/09/16/the-countries-of-the-world-ranked-by-their-tree-wealth/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f589aca5e82d And to think just like that 1/3 of the world's trees and 100% of all grass will be gone with the sound of the first trumpet. I don't know how quick, but our air quality will be ruined and our once beautiful blue and green planet will be blue and brown for the better part and this is just the first of 7 trumpets. This is not the first time the world has experienced this. it did so in the time of Moses in Egypt. Although it wasn't world wide, Egypt and the those who lived there at that time must have been devastated to see there beautiful landscape gone after the plague of hail and fire. Egypt did recover but the world in the time of Revelation will not. This is just the beginning of the end. BUT God will make ALL things new as He has promised. Consider this as you go about your day today. Enjoys the splendor of the trees and covering of the green grass. Thank God for what we have and enjoy. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. Revelation 8:4
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Revelation 8:1 8 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. 5 The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were rumblings of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. Have you ever been in a place so quiet it hurts your ears? One of the times and places I experience that is right after a good snow storm especially at night. It's as if the snow insulates and sound proofs the entire landscape. There is not a soul outside and it's just you and the silence, a bit creepy when your so used to their always something moving like traffic, squirrels, people etc. Today's silence is even more amazing in light of all that was happening in heaven- thunder, lighting, and an innumerable amount of people and angels saying in loud voices and just like that... silence. Silence is not something we are used to much these days. There always seems to something on, whether it's the TV, tablet, phone, computer or just human movement. Many tend to keep themselves busy and here they experience silence for half an hour. Today we also read of 7 angels who prepare to blow the 7 trumpets. These trumpets are judgments released upon the earth. Interesting that the 7 seals are the wrath of man, disease and disasters on the earth which are demonically driven where the 7 trumpets are the work of angels releasing God's judgment on the earth. These 2 are divided by three and half years at least. I love that the these judgments come from the fire of God's golden altar and are fueled by the prayers of the saints. The incense burner is filled with fire from it and hurled to the earth and all people know from this end on earth are more thunder lightning and earthquakes. This is just 2 of 5 earthquakes that will devastate the earth in the time of Revelation. Natural phenomena like this is nothing new to us but once again this is not localized, as it is now, it will affect the entire world. Pray for those who do not know Jesus yet as Savior and Lord. This time will be the most awful in human history and only in Jesus are we able to stand. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. Revelation 8:4 13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. The One seated on the throne will shelter them: 16 They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any heat. 17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. When My sister and I were little kids it was such a treat to go to the airport. She would even put on her fancy shoes just to hear the tapping on the airport floor as we made our way down those long corridors to the the terminals to meet our loved ones. Before 9/11 we used to be able to meet out loved ones as they got off the plane. We would wait in their terminal and look out the window as the planes landed, docked and let out its passengers. The joy as love ones were reunited was just to much for some as they greeted their loved ones with tears of joy. These Loved Ones that were coming out of the Great Tribulation and into the presence of Jesus will be relieved that their suffering is over and that the object of their faith is now standing in front of them. At the same time their arrival is both awful and awesome. , John says, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." It will be awful that they had to die a martyr's death to get their but awesome that NO ONE took their lives they gave them willingly. Even the word martyr is amazing because it literally means witness but has come to be associated with the giving of you life for your faith. I would like to think I would stand in times like that but the truth is I find it difficult to follow Jesus in smaller things now let alone giving my life for Him. In the end it's all supernatural, from our coming to Him for salvation to giving our lives for His Name's sake all comes from Him! Thank you Jesus for all that you do for those you love and that I am one of them. Are you grateful, do you have confidence that Jesus is on your side? Are you looking forward to seeing Jesus or are you terrified at the thought? These are things we must settle here in time for in eternity there are no decisions to make we will only live out the benefits or consequences of those choices we made at this time. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good. Memory Verse of the Week And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! Revelation 7:10 Revelation 7: 11-12 11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell face down before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen. There is so much we can know about a person by just being around them. We can do very good job of letting people know what we want them to know about us. We can put on a front that may make us out to better than we actually are. God, on the other hand instead of just allowing us to see only His loving, caring, creative and sustaining power and being has revealed Himself in all His glory. He could have created us and not allowed anything to come between Him and His creation but instead He allowed sin to enter the world, I would even say planned it, and used it to reveal what would have been hidden forever. If sin would not have entered the world we would never know of His holiness, justice and wrath but also His unconditional love, mercy and grace also. We may think we have have done it all different but God in His infinite wisdom decided this was the best most complete way to show who He is to the world He created. As you move about your day today learn to trust Him. Isaiah said, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8,9 Let us never think that we know better than an all-knowing, all-present and all-powerful God and cry out with the angels and Elders... Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honorand power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! Revelation 7:10 Revelation 7:9,10 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!
In today's passage we read that there appeared in heaven a vast or great multitude of people from everywhere around the world. And they had palm branches in their hand. At that time palm branches were used in celebration like we would use cell phone lights at a concert. They were also dressed in white robes which Revelation 19:8 tells us, "It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." Once again we are reminded, what do we have that we have not been given. The white robes in our passage are the righteous acts of the saints, but remember Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides (remains connected to) in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" John 15:5 In the end all glory goes to God even as this same multitude cries out later, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.” Revelation 15:3,4 We don't have to wait until we get to heaven to praise the Lord for what He has done, we can now. Salvation is from the Lord, take a moment to thank Him now for what you have seen Him do in and through you. Listen to His voice and follow Him in all that you do. This will just give us greater reason to praise Him in the end. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! Revelation 7:10 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites: 5 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin. My Father was part of family of 14. Could you even imagine what life was like with that many people under one roof! The story we've heard over the years range from hysterical to incredibly sad. Having a large family has its rewards and challenges in and of itself but it gets even trickier when we talk about a blended family. My dad's family were all from the same two people, I would imagine the more diverse the marriage is and their children the greater the challenges. Jacob, who was the father of the twelve sons who later became the twelve tribes we read of today, was part of a family of 18. This family consisted of his father, mother, dad's three other wives, brothers from all four and one sister mentioned in the Bible. Now, could you imagine living under that roof! In our passage today we are told, "the number of those who were sealed", 144,000 in total, 12,000 of each tribe. While this is a large number in of of itself, it such a small amount of Jewish people in total. Some say this number is symbolic, representing the whole of Israel that will be saved. It may just be the remnant that God has preserved, a small portion of the original. Either way God has not forgotten His people and the promises made to them. Our families are important to us and the greatest blended family we can be a part of is the family of God made up of people from every nation, tribe, people and language and one day we will all live under one roof. We'll read more about this tomorrow. -: ]> Have great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! Revelation 7:10 Then I saw another angel, who had the seal of the living God rise up from the east. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were empowered to harm the earth and the sea: 3 “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads.” Every year, some time before Resurrection Sunday, we see people walking around with a cross marked on their forehead with ash. It is strange to some but growing up in the Roman Catholic church it is less peculiar to me. According to this article by catholiceducation.org,"In our present liturgy for Ash Wednesday, we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful, making the sign of the cross and saying, "Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return," or "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." So this mark is one to remind "the faithful" of their own mortality and/or the forgiveness found for those who turn from sin to Jesus for salvation. In today's portion of Revelation we read that others will be marked as well. These are called "the slaves of God". If you remember, we talked about this before. The book of Revelation is about the rightful authority of Jesus to rule as King of Kings and His subjects are appropriately called slaves. They will show their allegiance to the Lamb of God who paid for their release from sin, death, shame and guilt with His blood. Do you belong to the Lamb? Have you been purchased by His blood? Are you ashamed to call yourself a slave of God? These are good questions to wrestle with no because when times get difficult or even impossible it's good to know who you belong to. Thank God I've been washed by the blood of the Lamb. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! Revelation 7:10 Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. The sun rose this morning at 6:56 am. Not many people hear someone say that the sun rose and argue with them that the sun doesn't rise but rather stays in one place while we on earth rotate and see the light of the sun each morning. It is a figure of speech which even scientists use. In today's portion of Revelation we read of four angels holding the four winds form the four corners of the Earth. We know the earth does not have have corners, like the sunrise this too is figure of speech. It refers to whole Earth and the four directions the wind can blow- east, west, north and south. The winds are judgments that will fall on the entire Earth. It also mentions 4 angels. Angels are fascinating and powerful beings. They are in the Bible as early as chapter 3 and have much like us the ability to think, feel and choose. With all of their being they follow God's instructions. God rules from His throne and tells His angels what and when to do His will and they listen to Him. David speaks of this in the psalms saying, The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word. Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will. Psalm 103:19-21 We may not be angels but we are called to obey God as His children and servants of His kingdom as well. Consider the salvation of our great and merciful God that was given by His grace. That same grace preserved 2/3 of all His angels. They exist to do His bidding, part of which is to protect all those who will inherit salvation. -: ]> Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! Revelation 7:10 Revelation 6:12-17 12 Then I saw Him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair; the entire moon became like blood; 13 the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; 14 the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?” Like many, I would imagine, I was woken up this morning by the intense storm, lightening and deep rolling thunder. It reminded me of our mighty God. When I was kid I used to think it rained and thundered because God was angry. The intensity of storms, earthquakes, forest fires and other natural phenomena are only getting worse as time passes and will continue to do so until Jesus returns. These types of phenomena really get our attention and speak to us in an intense way. The opening of the 6th seal unleashes natural phenomena on a global level such as has never been seen before. Where we might have saw such events on TV before, at this time everyone will be affected, form kings to slaves and will even recognize that this is from the Lord, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of Their wrath has come! " Amazing that they recognize the hand of God in all this but do not run toward Him they actually run from Him and even desire the mountains and rocks to fall on them rather cry out for help. Even if they get the physical death they ask for they will still have to stand before a holy God on the basis of their own good works. So what they were asking for wasn't nearly enough. What they asked in the face of all catastrophe afterwards is the ultimate question, "who is able to stand?" A question that will be answered in the following chapter. Ask yourself, will I able to stand before the One who sits on the throne and before the the Lamb? Do you have confidence that your sin has been paid for, or will you cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall on you and try to escape like these in our passage today. It is obvious that God has made clear to them what was happening at that time. I believe He has spoken clearly through His Son as well and He has preserved His word for us to know Him. Do you have ears to hear? Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” Revelation 6:1 Revelation 6:9-11 9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had. 10 They cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, the One who is holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” 11 So a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been. When I was child I used to refer to Jesus as baby Jesus and the Father as Father God. I don't know if it was caught or taught but either way, somehow, it diminished the way I saw Jesus. It made the Father the powerful one and the Son the helpless baby. In today's passage Jesus is called "Lord, the One who is holy and true". This title means master, boss, the One who is in charge and in absolute control. We also see the appropriate opposite to this title in the same passage, "fellow slaves". We are not always called this but it is fitting in this context since the fact that Jesus Christ is holy and the only worthy judge runs through the book of Revelation. Slaughtered and killed is the way they describe God's people. Those who cry out for justice from under the altar are not doing so because they question if it will come, it is because they know it will come. We know this because He is not just executing judgement our our behalf but also for Himself who is the greatest One that has been sinned against. Sin that is punished is not so much so against the sin but for the One sinned against. The fact that there are those being killed for their faith may freak some people out but this is the very thing that was expected in those times of persecution against the people of God. Jesus rather than jumping at their request actually gives them a robe and tells them to rest. This doesn't mean to take a nap but rather trust that He is in control. So much so that HE even knows how many more will give their lives before He steps into time again to make every wrong right. Do we understand the absolute control and timing of God is not the same as ours. We would rush to the aid of someone we love because we would want the same for ourselves but God is willing that we would suffer for His glory and that others would come to know Christ and His worthiness because we do so. Like those under the altar let us come to God asking for justice knowing that it will come. While we wait, enjoy the warmth of God's righteousness (which is that robe) until that time comes. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” Revelation 6:1 |
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