“…and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him” (Rev 1:7)

At this time in our future we will meet His power and Authority in totality. We will feel the impact of Lordship in fullness. “Every knee will bow.”

But mourning is in this picture. As when a time of grieving is set aside for someone’s death, it appears there will be a time set aside on that cataclysmic day for mourning. We will finally see and understand…

“Because of Him.” We will see the most pure of loves, the most perfect of loves. It will all be clear. Uncoerced, unforced through all time, He simply loved us. He gave to us out of pain in His own love.

Why the mourning? Because of Him. We will see all the blemishes piled onto this free, sincere gift and this kind Lord. It seems before anyone receives the wrath for denying, they will sorrow, and sorrow greatly! They will face their absolute personal Loss of life, stunned by their ability to make such a Bad Choice to such love.

“All the peoples of the earth will mourn…” This appears to be the experience of ALL, even the believer. If not all taste of wrath, all will taste of this mourning. We will universally mourn for our ill treatment of the Son of God most fair and pure.

Might we now appreciate Him? Can we at least render service in accepting that He loves us? Can we at least open up our tender affections toward Him…because of Him?

Found Naked

A discussion ensued… “People aren’t hungry any more for God.” Disagreeing, I believe we are hungry until we have Jesus, but may not know it yet.

As Christians we may be accused of answering questions today that society is no longer asking. What is the true, unrealized hunger abiding in the hearts of a society that God loves and is reaching for? God’s Word tells us: “we groan, longing to be clothed…that we shall not be found naked…He that made us for this selfsame thing is God…” (2 Cor 5:2,3,5). The truth is “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and opened before the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do” (Heb 4:13).

Could it be that all of us, perhaps the search for American Dream, are in the quest of being “clothed”? Going to our origins, ever since our original parents Adam and Eve realized their nakedness and hid, humans have been en route to hide their nakedness from the gaze of a Holy God?

Futuristically we know “every man [small and great]…hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne…’” (Rev 6:15-16).

If we take this view, that this is the driving force in the core of us, we will realize all things as mere wrappings to dull that dread. Wrappings such as wealth, busyness, living through our children are only deceiving us. They do not provide cover from the Face.

Let us persevere directly toward the Answer we know provides true cover. The cover that no eye can penetrate and peel away is Jesus Christ and His robe of righteousness.——————–

Stomping our Feet – The Book of Jonah

Muffy Crosswire has been a name known across a number of households. She is the rich, spoiled playmate of PBS’ “Arthur.” She resembles the few in a position of life where the protest of stomping their feet still actually affects their reality.

While we are “at home,” we retain plenty of room and leverage to stomp our feet. It is ironic mercy that pulls out the rug from underneath us and removes us from the plot of flooring for stomping, from being “at home” at it was for Jonah. It takes us to the place where stomping will not exclude us from happenings. Over years of seeing stomping’s ineffectiveness,  we slowly begin to learn.

When the rug is being literally pulled out from under our feet, do we give up all flooring or do we merely shimmy to that last 12 by 12-inch piece of tile? We will reserve it for the right to stomp our foot, just in case…

And when we inevitably retreat to this last crowded foothold, will we exclaim, “I can’t, I can’t!” or “I won’t, I won’t”? Does God yield to that cry?

Where the care of others is concerned, for our good, He will not relent. He resisted Jonah.  He will allow us to lose our securities in order to act out His compassion.

“But why is this laid on me? Why am I the scapegoat?” “Do you have the right to be angry?” asks God of Jonah (vs. 4:9). “Well, yes, I still have reserved this tile of flooring for this right of mine to protest and stomp my foot.”

Bicker as we may, it is to our benefit that no relenting results from our protesting. God offers us more than we would ever dream for ourselves. We’d be totally happy to be off-the-hook for the temporary ease. “Do we do well to be angry?” (KJV) We are not the origin; we have not tended or made to grow His beloved creation. God has done it all. He has given us this privilege of caring within His compassion.

No, He did not cower to our stomping. His love explains to our stubbornly-folded arms:.”[Nineveh] has…people who do not know their right hand from their left…Should not I be concerned about their great city?” (vs. 11).

We will leave our last fortress of tile in exchange for the enormous roaming opportunity of God’s compassion.