Thunder

“And from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.” Revelation 4: 5. One of the things I like best about Oklahoma is the thunder storms. I thrill to the hard rain, the low roll of thunder followed by the flash of lightning. Then the loud boom, which shakes the ground and the house. I feel the power of God and yet I realize that this is only an infinitesimal fraction of that power. In our own solar system Jupiter’s red spot is a storm that can swallow the earth whole. On a 12 inch scale, Earth would be one inch away from the Sun, Pluto 3 ½ feet. The nearest star other than the Sun would lie 4 ½ miles away! Our sun is only one lonely star among several hundred billion throughout the universe. Our galaxy is one amongst millions. Yet the Sovereign Almighty God who created all this became a man and lived among us! He was born not in a palace but a stable. He cried. His wonderful mother not much more than a girl herself cleaned him. He grew. He played. He worked. His muscles ached. He hungered. He ate. He was thirsty. He drank. He grew tired. He slept. He showed anger. He laughed with our children on his lap. He prayed. He fasted. He had compassion. He healed us. He fed us. He forgave us. He told stories. He taught. He taught us how to love. He showed us how to love. He told us to pray for those who persecute us, to love our enemies. He washes our feet and told us to do likewise. And then we killed him. I hear thunder.

“And I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by
Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,”
Revelation 4: 6, 7, 9.

Command

Love one another. God’s people should love one another. John the Apostle repeats over and over, love one another. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” 1 John 4: 7. “ Dear friends since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4: 11. “ God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4: 16. “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4: 19-21.
The Apostle Peter instructs the Church to love one another. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 1 Peter 1: 22. Finally, all of you live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers. 1 Peter 3: 8. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4: 8.
Where do I begin in quoting the Apostle Paul writing about the Church loving one another? He wrote so much on the subject. Read chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians. Paul writes in Philippians to “make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love in spirit and purpose. Philippians 2:2”.
Our Sovereign Lord Jesus commanded us directly to love one another. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13: 34. Let me draw your attention to a couple of words, command and must.
For a command to believers that is so repeated and stressed in scripture why are we doing such a poor job? We treat church quarrels as a natural occurrence. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. James 4: 1-2. In the meantime many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being wounded. They leave our churches never to return. Do we care about the damage we have done? Do we regret the pain the wounds we have caused? Do we really take our Lord’s command seriously? Love one another. Be last of all. Be servant of all. Sit in the last chair.

Shepherd

I have been reading about names and titles in scripture that Jesus took for himself. Jesus says “I am the Good Shepherd.” John 10: 11. I have found that shepherds in Jesus time were looked down upon. They were continually in the field with their sheep and could not keep the rules of the orthodox, hand washing, ceremonial cleansing and stated hours of prayer. I have heard them called the homeless of their day. They did the hardest most time consuming work for the smallest of pay. Society did not think much of them but yet scripture, Old and New, is full of their example. I find comfort that Jesus identifies himself with the most humble of people. The shepherds may not have been able to keep the rules of the orthodox, but they spent their time with a strong awareness of God. Whenever they slept under the stars and were caught in the elements of nature, they, more than others were aware of God’s presence. I am reminded of the story of Christ birth. When God announced the birth of his son he did not announce it to the wealthy or the powerful. He did not announce it to Caesar. He did not announce it to Herod. He did not announce it the orthodox, Scribes and Pharisees. He did not announce it to the wise. The Magi had to study, search, and seek, but God split the skies open with angels who said to the humble shepherds, He’s over there! Be last of all. Be servant of all. Sit in the last chair.

Voice

I know a little about everyone’s future. We are all going to die. A voice tells Isaiah to “cry out”. Isaiah asks “What shall I cry?” The voice answers “All men are like grass, and their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.” Isaiah 40: 6-8. Everything we take pride in ourselves about will end and be forgotten. Some are great writers; they and their writings will eventually be forgotten. Some are great artists, they and their drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, and music will end. Some are proud of their exploits but in the end they are nothing, for they all will perish. Some are intellectuals and have great pride in their intellect but that too will die. We are grass! We are grass! Our glory is like the flowers that fade and fall. We live and then die all too quickly. But there is a way for permanence. The voice continues, “The word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40: 8. If we stand with God’s word than we too will stand forever. The Apostle John writes, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God! The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us. We beheld his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father full of grace and truth….grace and truth came from Jesus Christ. Yet to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1: 1,14,17,12. We do not have to die. We can have permanence and live eternally with God. God tells Isaiah, “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who live in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew (fruitfulness) is like the dew of the morning, the earth will give birth to her dead.” Isaiah 26: 19. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3: 16. Trust in Christ today, and live.

Shoes

Jesus: I tell you the truth, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.
John: After me will come one who is more powerful than I. Whose sandals I am not fit to carry.
Jesus: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.
Whose sandals I am not fit to carry!
Jesus: For I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
Whose sandals I am not fit to carry!
Jesus: I was a stranger and you invited me in.
Whose sandals I am not fit to carry!
Jesus: I needed clothes and you clothed me.
Whose sandals I am not fit to carry!
Jesus: I was sick and you looked after me.
Whose sandals I am not fit to carry!
Jesus: I was in prison and you came to visit me.
Whose sandals I am not fit carry!
Jesus: I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did it for me.
Whose sandals I am not fit to carry!
Jesus: I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.
Whose sandals I am not fit to carry!
Paul: Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all.
David: Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Whose sandals we are not fit to carry.


Matthew 11: 11, Matthew: 3: 11, Matthew 25: 35-36, Matthew 25: 40, Matthew 25: 45, Romans 12: 14-16, Psalm 95: 6.