Obedient Faith

Posted on by korgrocker

“And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For You were slaughtered, and Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And You have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.””
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭5:9-10‬ ‭NLT

We continue to spend another day looking at this wonderful new song. The lyrics, directed at Jesus, who was standing in the middle of the twenty four elders and four living beings, before the throne of God, included the line, “Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation”. A few thoughts about this new song. 

Firstly, do these words indicate that Jesus died for everyone, implying that there will be no exclusions and everyone will get to Heaven? Of course not, but many would like to think so. Jesus paid the ultimate penalty when He died that day at Calvary, spilling His blood so that His sacrifice would redeem everyone who believes in Him from the consequences of their sins. By doing so He paid the ransom for our sin. But to be a “ransomed people“, we have to respond personally, accepting that His sacrifice was for each one of us individually. Universalism, a belief that everyone will be saved and end up in Heaven regardless, cannot be found in the Bible. We have to make a choice – we can either choose to accept God’s saving grace through His Son, Jesus, and in the process assure our future with God in Heaven, or we can choose to reject Him and instead be assured of a life in Hell. Jesus said in John 14:6, ” … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. There is no other way.

Secondly, all human beings, regardless of their race, ethnicity, sex, hair colour and everything else, is eligible to be ransomed by Jesus’ sacrifice. If they want to be. The only exclusions are for people who make the wrong choice, or don’t make a choice at all.

Thirdly, once we have accepted in obedient faith, that Jesus died in exchange for our sins, we adopt a new role. We become fully paid up members of God’s Kingdom of priests. We read in 1 Peter 2:9, “… you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” When we adopt our new priestly roles, we can show others the way to become priests too. Being a priest conjures up images of old men dressed in a funny gown, perhaps wearing an odd-looking hat, officiating at church services. But to us pilgrim priests, our priestly duties are to show others the way to God, by sharing the Gospel with them. By being “salt and light” in our families and communities.

The verse today ends with the line, “And they will reign on the earth“. According to John’s vision recorded in the Book of Revelation, there will come a time when the Kingdom priests will reign on earth. Of course, this isn’t happening in 21st Century society. Western or otherwise. And as fas as I am aware, it hasn’t happened in history either. So there must be coming a time when we pilgrim priests will reign on earth. I’m sure we will find out more as we dig deeper into this fascinating and amazing Book.

Dear Father God. Once again we thank You for the nuggets of revelation contained in these Scriptures. Please help us to understand what You want to reveal to us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A New Song

Posted on by korgrocker

“And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For You were slaughtered, and Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And You have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.””
Revelation‬ ‭5:9-10‬ ‭NLT

John’ vision in Revelation continued, now with a multimedia theme. He heard a new song being sung by the four living creatures and the twenty four elders. And what a song it was! In just a few words it summed up the sacrifice Jesus made, His worth and authority, His saving act of redemption, the all-encompassing nature of the Gospel, and the establishment of a new order of priests who will reign with Him on earth. This was a song of triumph. A song that the devil would have cringed away from when he heard it ringing forth that day in Heaven. A song that established the relationship with God and His people forever.

It was a new song that John heard. He had not heard anything like it before. This was not a backward-looking song, such as would have graced the synagogues and Jewish worship, with words referring to God’s exploits in the past, good and significant though they were. This was a “now” song, bang up to date. A song encapsulating the New Covenant, sealed with the blood of Jesus not the blood of animals. This was a song containing lyrics that cemented God’s message of hope firmly in Heaven for ever.

What do we pilgrims think of new songs? So much of our church liturgies contain old songs and hymns. We retain them because of our traditions, not wanting to let them go, the familiarity somehow making us feel comfortable and secure. So many of our old hymns are riddled with archaic language that was great at the time they were written but the words have largely lost their meaning today. They celebrated a previous move of God.  Even in modern fellowships, singing songs, penned in the last two or three decades, can become a celebration of our heritage rather than an expression of praise and worship to our wonderful God. But having said all that, it’s not the song or hymn and their lyrics that can be a problem. It’s that somehow in their repetition, something spiritually can be missing when we sing them. In the familiarity our minds can switch off or our thoughts move into a different groove instead of the praise and worship God deserves.

In his vision, John saw Heavenly beings singing a declaration of praise to our wonderful Saviour. He had never heard anything like it before. If he had it wouldn’t have been new to him. The lyrics and the melody introduced a tremendous outpouring of praise in Heaven – but more of that later. Suffice to say today that whatever and whenever we sing, songs new or old, we must somehow always remember who we are worshipping. Remembering all that He has done for us. And in return giving Him all the glory, all the praise, all the worship. With every part of our beings.

Do we ever write new songs ourselves? Poetic lyrics expressing our love for God don’t initially need a melody. On my office wall, I have a poem penned by my wife in 1987. It was a wonderful outpouring of her love for God just a short while before her faith in God was severely tested by my daughter’s potentially life-threatening illness. But her “new song” stayed with her, and is still bubbling from her soul even today. When we write down our God-thoughts we capture something significant in our lives that can stay with us for the rest of our lives. So can I encourage us all to write a “new song”? Let’s put a smile on God’s face today.

Dear Lord God. How can we not praise and worship You? Our amazing and wonderful Father. You who have done so much for us. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

Harps and Bowls

Posted on by korgrocker

“He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:7-8‬ ‭NIVUK

There is a change in John’s vision of Heaven. Jesus had taken the scroll, and John now sees that the twenty four elders are each holding a harp and a golden bowl full of incense. But what are the harps for, and why are they relevant? And what about these golden bowls?

To the Jewish nation, a harp was a national instrument. Much like the bagpipes have become the national instrument in Scotland. And harps cropped up from time to time in the Old Testament. I’m reminded that David, Israel’s greatest king, was a skilful harp player and he often was called to play it for Saul, his predecessor, to help with his mental health issues. The Jewish harp must have been a portable instrument, because each of the elders was holding one. Not like a modern harp in a symphony orchestra, that needs some strong men and a packing case to transport it. It’s strange that the popular image of angels with wings sitting on clouds clutching harps is out there, without any explanation. But a harp would be used in worship, bringing a sense of joy and peace to the listeners. It is interesting that the Greek word for harp is kithara, which means a harp or lyre. And from kithara we get the word English word guitar. So to those of us who are uncomfortable hearing or seeing guitar playing in our places of worship, we might have to get used to it, as there will probably be guitars in Heaven. Not pipe organs, though I could be wrong!

We move on to the golden bowls of incense. But what was the incense for? Incense was burned by the Jews as part of their worship to God. And we read in Psalms 141:2, “Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering“. That Scripture was repeated in our verse today from Revelation, which points out that the incense in the golden bowls is the prayers of God’s people. And the encouraging thing is the the bowls were full, not half full, or nearly empty. There were many prayers in those bowls. What sort of prayers, I wonder? Just those applicable to the scene unfolding before John in his vision? Or every prayer ever uttered? There are many different prayers spoken and recorded in the Bible. There are prayers of anguish such as Hannah’s in 1 Samuel 1:10, “Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord”. Of course, we have what we call the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6. And Jonah’s prayer from the stomach of a large fish. David’s prayer for forgiveness after his affair with Bathsheba in Psalm 51. There were some great prayers in those bowls. Prayers that perhaps make our own efforts sound a bit feeble. But our wonderful Heavenly Father hears them all. And we’re told in today’s verse that they are all stored up in the golden bowls.

What do we pilgrims make of this? Harps and bowls indeed, perhaps we say, in a way that sees little, if any, relevance to our daily walk. To me though, the presence of harps and golden bowls in Heaven is significant. It confirms the importance of our dialogue with God and our worship of Him. We must never give up praying to God. Through our faith, we know that He hears and answers every prayer that we sincerely say to Him. 

As an aside, to those doubters who say God never answers their prayers, there are three answers that He provides – “Yes”, “No” and “Not Yet”. His answers to our prayers are for our highest good, not in response to our wants. Sometimes we expect God to answer our prayers in a particular way or with a particular response. But His answers will always be righteous. And sometimes we need to be careful about what we pray for – we might get a response we least expect!

Regarding the harps, I hear many say that they can’t play an instrument at all, let alone a harp, so how will that work? Playing a musical instrument is not the only way to worship God here on earth. We can do it with the instrument God provided for us at birth, our voices. Even those who are tone deaf can worship with their songs. Those humans around them might complain but our loving Father in Heaven thinks they are the most tuneful and marvellous expression of worship to Him. We can even worship God with our thoughts and actions. True worship is offered in “spirit and truth”. We read in John 4:23, “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.” The presence of harps is optional. Worship isn’t. And I have a suspicion that when we reach Heaven we will find we have a new-found ability to do all sorts of things we can’t today, even playing a harp.

Dear Father God. Once again we are reminded of the importance of our prayers and our worship. How wonderful You are. You hear us when we call out to You and respond with Your love and grace. We are so grateful. Amen.

Jesus Took the Scroll

Posted on by korgrocker

“He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:7-8‬ ‭NIVUK

In his vision, John sees Jesus take the scroll from “Him who sits on the throne”, God Himself. That very act fired the starting gun on the start of the End Times, which Jesus gave a glimpse of in Matthew 24. Don’t forget that He also said He didn’t know when this would happen. We read in Matthew 24:36, “But about that day or hour no-one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus knew what would happen, and He warned His disciples about it, but the timing was in God’s, the Father’s, hands.

In evangelical circles there has been much speculation about when the End Times will be upon us. I have heard verses describing topical events like wars used as a sign that ”the end of the world is nigh”. We read in Matthew 24:4-6, “You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth-pains.” To some, with war in Europe escalating, and consequentially damaging the world economies and food and energy supplies, the end seems near. But there have been wars between nations since time began, so it would perhaps be premature to think that the end of the world is upon us.

Occasionally, someone will make a prophetic statement, claiming some special revelation that the world will end on such and such a date. I can think of the 16th century French astrologer Nostradamus for one. And a Google search will reveal many similar predictions, dates for most of which have passed, leaving an embarrassed prophet in their wake. The one mistake all these so-called prophets make is that they don’t read or believe the words written in the Bible. There is only One person, God Himself, who knows when the end of the world will be, and who holds the power to make it happen. Only He knows when Jesus will return to this world. And He certainly isn’t going to reveal that date to some random so-called prophet when even His own Son, Jesus, didn’t know when it would be.

What do we pilgrims do about this? The key is in Matthew 24:42, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” We pilgrims have to be alert and faithful. It makes sense that we don’t know when the end of the world will happen, because if we did, there would be that temptation to live a sinful life, knowing that repentance at the last minute would be enough to assure our salvation. In Matthew 25 Jesus told the story of the ten Bridesmaids, or Virgins. It was a graphic parable telling His listeners that five of the bridesmaids would fail to enter the place where the wedding feast was to take place, because they weren’t ready. And Jesus ends the story with the verse in Matthew 25:13, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.” Another reminder for His disciples.

So we pilgrims do the things Jesus has asked us to do. We keep short accounts with Him, repenting of our sins, reading His Word, the Bible, encouraging our brothers and sisters, and so on. We are each on a journey to our promised land, where our crown of life awaits us. And by being faithful we don’t have to worry, or get anxious, about world events. Our Heavenly Father cares for us. We read in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” We have a loving Heavenly Father who loves us, and in that loving relationship with Him, we can trust Him. The One who holds the future of the world, your future, and my future, is all that matters.

Dear Father God. We are so grateful that You hold everything together in our war-torn world. We thank You for Your care and lovingkindness. And we thank You for Your faithfulness for each one of us even when we stumble and lose our way. What an amazing God You are! Amen.

Sevens

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:6‬ ‭NLT

John saw Jesus in his vision, and what he saw was detailed enough for him to see that Jesus had seven horns and seven eyes. There are those seven’s again. We have seen before that the number seven signifies completeness or perfection. But what is the significance of seven horns and seven eyes? In the Bible, a horn is a symbol of strength and power. But in his vision, John saw that Jesus had seven of them. So we get the picture of Jesus being all-powerful. He was, and is, omnipotent. Similarly, in the vision, Jesus had seven eyes. He was all-seeing. His Spirit was everywhere – there was nowhere where He wasn’t present. He was, and is, omniscient. This verse concludes with the explanation that the all-powerful, all-seeing Jesus is represented by His Spirit and He is present in every part, every corner, of the earth.

So back to the practical, down-to-earth pilgrim tramping through his or her life. How does this verse help us? Obviously, we cannot escape from the Spirit’s presence. But we know that. We read in Psalm 139:7, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!” But here in Revelation we are reminded of the same message – Jesus is everywhere. And this truth can be both a comfort and a threat to us. As we remain close to Jesus, we find that He is close to us. A comfortable experience when the road before us seems long and hard. But for those of us who want to run away from the gentle whispers of His Spirit in our consciences we find that there is no escape. 

Of course there are worldly and wicked people who, through a lifetime of denial, have managed to shut out those gentle whispers. The Apostle Paul warned us about them in his first letter to Timothy. We read in 1 Timothy 4:2, “Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” There are many who have been active in rendering their consciences ineffective. 

God’s grace is amazing. A pilgrim first starting out on the Christian road will find that Jesus, through His Spirit, graciously doesn’t dump on their consciences all their wrongdoing in one go. He gently brings to our attention things that need to be addressed, step by step. Item by item. And then His grace continues as He helps us to deal with them.

Back to Psalm 139. “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.” The Psalmist was overwhelmed by the vastness of God and the extent of His Spirit. And, with the Psalmist, we know the assurance of God being with us. Day and night. And when we woke up this morning, experiencing the new day, we again realise His presence with us. We only have to reach out and touch Him to feel once again His love and grace flowing through the corridors of our souls.

Dear Lord God. How can we ever thank You enough for Your ever-present love and grace? In this day ahead we pray that You help us in whatever situation we face into, step by step. Amen.

The Slaughtered Lamb

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:6‬ ‭NLT

A slaughtered lamb. A gruesome thought for us more squeamish Westerners but something of great spiritual significance. The sacrifice of lambs was a special event in the life of the Jews. When the Israelite nation was enslaved in Egypt, the time came for them, under Moses’ leadership, to leave for their promised land. And we read in Exodus 12:21, “Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.” The blood of the lamb was then to be brushed onto the door posts of their homes to protect them from the “death angel” (Exodus 12:23) who was about to execute judgement on Pharaoh and his countrymen. The Passover event was so significant that it has been celebrated by the Jews ever since. 

What was so significant about the shedding of animal blood? The book of Hebrews offers much explanation about the whys’ and wherefores’ of animal sacrifice and we read in Hebrews 9:22, “In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” Animal sacrifice was a symbolic act necessary to seal the old covenant between God and man.

In John 1:29, John the Baptist declared prophetically that Jesus was the sacrificial lamb. We read, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The old covenant was about to be replaced by the new covenant; Jesus was soon to become the sacrificial lamb. His blood, three years later, would be shed for the redemption of mankind’s sins. A once for all time sacrifice through which we can find forgiveness for our sins and be made righteous before God.

But back to our verse in Revelation. John saw the culmination of the sacrifice at Calvary. He saw the Lamb of God, once sacrificed but now alive. Once reviled and despised, but now the only One who was found to be worthy enough to take the scroll, open it, and read what it said. And He was standing before the throne of God, at the centre of the scene in Heaven. This was, and is, an awesome event, probably one of the most significant that will ever take place.

Dear Lord. Once again, as pilgrims with feet firmly established on Planet Earth, we remember that one day we will be with You in Heaven. We thank You for Your sacrifice and Calvary, because without it we wouldn’t be who we are, sons and daughters of the living God. Our gratitude knows no bounds. Amen.

Jesus is Worthy

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:4-5 NLT

John was bitterly disappointed that the “strong angel” was unable to find anyone who was worthy enough to open the scroll and break the seven seals. He was so disappointed that he recorded his bitter tears. But one of the twenty four elders took pity on him and told him to get a grip and stop crying. And with good reason, because he pointed out that Jesus was worthy enough to open the scroll. Of course He was. 

Jesus, the Son of God, left the comfort of Heaven, and came to this world as a baby, born to a young peasant girl just over two thousand years ago. He was brought up, humble and obedient, as a typical Jewish boy of His time, before starting the ministry of an itinerant Rabbi when He was about thirty years old. And for the next three years or so He selflessly walked the highways and byways of Israel teaching the people about God’s Kingdom and healing them of their ailments, even raising the dead. But He upset the religiously entrenched people of His day, to the extent that they killed Him by hanging Him on a Roman cross, one dark and dismal day, at a place called Calvary, the Place of the Skull. Now here’s the thing. He became alive again on the first Easter morning. He overcame death and is still alive today. And in John’s vision of Heaven, there he was, the only One worthy enough to open the scroll and read it.

The elder who spoke to John in his vision described Jesus as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne“. Where did that description come from? And why is it relevant? The expression, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” would have been important to the Jews because it connected Jesus all the way back to Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49. A lion was considered to be the strongest of animals and was appropriate in the description because it established His victory. In a similar way, “the heir to David’s throne” confirmed Jesus’ pedigree, right in line with Old Testament prophecies. But the important factor is that Jesus was victorious because He was the only One who had conquered death. He was the only One “worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Regarding us pilgrims, we can take great encouragement through our faith in the victorious One. We are not supporting or following a lost cause, or backing a three-legged horse. We are on the winning side, watching with faith-filled, bated breath as the victory pans out before us in the age to come in Heaven. We might be going through difficult times, as many are just now. Interest rates are rising. Food and energy are getting more and more expensive. Our enemy the devil is attacking our families and churches. But these are just the troubles and trials James wrote about in his Epistle. We stand firm, secure in the knowledge that the victorious One has already claimed the victory for all eternity.

Dear Lord and Father, we’re deeply grateful for Your presence in our lives. You have truly done great things and there’s more to come. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

A Strong Angel

Posted on by korgrocker

“And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:2-3‬ ‭NLT

I wonder who the strong angel was. The experts in Biblical analysis think it might have been the angel Gabriel, a name that means “God is my strength”. There is also a reference to Gabriel in Daniel 9, when he brought an answer to Daniel’s prayers. But whoever it was, the strong angel (some versions say mighty angel) shouted out a challenging request, “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it”?

Why would a worthy person, or being, be required to open this scroll, breaking the seven seals in the process? Obviously it couldn’t just be anyone, because the scroll was still in the right hand of God. And John continued, pointing out that there was no-one worthy enough to “open the scroll and read it”. The search for a worthy person covered everywhere in creation – Heaven, the earth, and Sheol, the place under the earth. There was no other place where a worthy person could reside. But what was so important about this scroll that was going to require a worthy person to open it? It was obviously something of much consequence never seen before, and all those in Heaven were in a cliff-hanging position awaiting to discover what was written.

What is a worthy person? Worthy of what? We see the UK Honours List, that comes out periodically, awarding “worthy” people an honour, encapsulated in a medal, for people deemed “worthy” by their work perhaps for charity or some other good cause. In the workplace, we perhaps notice someone who is “worthy” of a pay rise because of their hard working ethic. But none of these “worthy” people got anywhere near what the strong angel was looking for. 

We pilgrims achieve a certain amount of worthiness by default. Because of our unstinting faith in God through our journeys in life, we will one day receive our Heavenly reward, our crowns of righteousness. Perhaps this is a mention on the Heaven Honours List. We will hear the words of our Saviour, saying to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). But we don’t aspire to becoming “worthy”. That is the road to pride. We seek to please God through our faith. Hebrews 11:6 reads, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him“.

In the rest of this chapter in Revelation we will find out more about the real “Worthy”, and what happened when the scroll was opened. The writings on the scroll will shock us. But hopefully inspire us as well.

Dear God. We thank You for Your loving care and kindness. For Your grace and mercy. For Your guidance on our walk through life. You pick us up when we fall and bring us back to earth when we become too full of ourselves. What a loving Father You are. We praise You today. Amen.

He Created All

Posted on by korgrocker

“Whenever the living beings give glory and honour and thanks to the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.””
Revelation‬ ‭4:9-11‬ NLT

The Apostle John had no doubts about God’s creative abilities. He wrote, “For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased”. John wrote that God created all. Everything. Mankind might do wonders creating objects but God created the building blocks used in the process. And the amazing thing was that God created matter out of nothing. That’s what the Bible says.

There has been an interminable debate over the last two centuries about a relatively new theory – evolution. A theory that is unfortunately taught as fact in our schools. Even though there are many unknowns and a lack of evidence to support it. It is a theory supported only by assumptions and the necessity for millions, even billions, of years, for evolution to produce what we see around us. But there are two big holes in the evolutionary arguments. Where did all the matter, needed to make the universe and all that is in it, come from in the first place? And why is there matter at all – why not just nothing? Personally, though, I lack the faith necessary to believe in evolution. When I see the wonder of a baby’s fingers or the complexity of a flower, I can only see a master Creator at work. That such wonders happened by chance is beyond my comprehension. Someone once explained to me that evolution is like putting all the component parts of a wrist watch – bearings, springs, cogs, case and strap – into a bag and then keep shaking it until the watch drops out. Hmmm..

In these verses today, and in the same breath as that used to express worship, we see that God’s creation is involved. It is all part of the whole worship experience. Anything else demeans God and effectively says He is incapable of creating what He wants to create, just because He was pleased to. His master design is so complex, and so interrelated and intertwined. He produced a cohesive universe, and a world that corelates and fits together, and has the ability built in to enable animal, human and plant life to self-propagate along the lines that He originally created. Amazing! And we worship God for all His wonderful works, and because He is worthy, as John wrote down for us to read today.

It is so sad that the evolutionists, who do not believe in a Creator God, have no-One to thank for the wonders of nature they see around them. The beauty of a sunset. The complexities of a human eye. The atomic structures and particles so sought after by physicists. The list is endless. But the saddest thing of all is that many evolutionists perhaps only believe their theory because the alternative is that they would have to believe in a Creator God. And that would mean a seismic shift in their thinking and their way of life. They would have to face into having to deal with their sins, through repentance, and embrace the Son of God, worshipping Him for all He has done, with all “glory and honour and thanks“.

But for a pilgrim today, we have a choice. Some Christians have parked the problem of whether to believe the Bible account of beginnings, or whether to believe the evolutionary arguments. The truth will one day be revealed, of course, but in the meantime we worship God, because He is worthy to receive “glory and honour and praise”. We pray for our eyes to be opened to receive a revelation, as did John, and a Holy Spirit encounter with Him. And we pray for the integrity of the Bible, God’s Word, His only written work, to prevail in our churches and fellowships.

Dear Lord. I pray today that those around me, who have rejected You, will be shown kindness and mercy, and the opportunity to find the truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Falling Down

Posted on by korgrocker

“Whenever the living beings give glory and honour and thanks to the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.””
Revelation‬ ‭4:9-11‬ NLT

How do we worship God? With our thoughts? Or with an extravagance of gestures or postures? There were no doubts in the minds of the twenty four elders – they fell down before God. And they selflessly handed over their precious crowns, laying them before His throne. 

I often think it a shame that many people like me, who yearn for the ability to be unconsciously uninhibited in their worship of God, find it so hard to break through the conditioning of those early years, when we were taught that emotion, particularly in men and boys, was not to be displayed. The “stiff upper lip” prevailed. Pain and tears must be suppressed. And, sadly, it is very difficult to cast all that aside. In my morning prayer walks through the West Fife woods in Scotland, I would often wish to cry out to God in praise and worship, overcome by the beauty and awesomeness of God’s creation. But what if someone heard me? Happily, one day all the inhibitions will be discarded, because there will be no choice. God has to be worshipped with every fibre of our beings. 

Worship of God can take many forms. We sing and shout. We compose lyrics for songs. We write poems and prose. We raise our hands in times of praising God, as exhorted in Psalm 134:2, “Lift your hands toward the sanctuary, and praise the Lord“. Incidentally, do we do that? The Christian church has adopted the pose of two hands clasped together at chest height. A safe way of raising our hands? Perhaps. But was the psalmist proposing that we stretch out our arms and hands towards Heaven? The unsafe way?

But with a sigh, we pilgrims reach out to God, who understands our difficulties. We thank Him for His encouragement as He walks and talks with us through our lives. Step by step. Day by day. Responding to His grace and love in the way that we can. Looking forward to that day when the worship of God will be as natural as breathing.

Dear Heavenly Father. We praise and worship You today. We’re so deeply grateful for Your presence, Your loving kindness, and graciousness. What else can we do but worship You? Amen.