Wow, so much to write about these days…God is so good…All the time. I’m seeing this more clearly each day.
Even in the Great Tribulation spoken about in the Bible, God is doing everything He can to get people to look up, to repent and to be saved from destruction. God is so amazing. His ways are beyond finding out (Romans 11:33).
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2 Peter 3:8-10
4 They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
17 And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. 18 One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. 19 Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.
20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Revelation 9:4; 17-21
I’ve been reading through the Bible’s New Testament and have finally gotten to the book of Revelation. I read chapter 9 yesterday and stopped to think about what I’d just read…
I just kept thinking, “Why did You put Your seal on me, Lord? You could have so easily just skipped over me and not picked me to live closely to You. It makes no sense to me that You love me like You do. I can’t understand such wonderful grace – It’s far beyond human comprehension. It would have been so easy for me to have been one of the “people” You talk about in verses 20 and 21 in chapter 9. God, I want You to know that I’m thankful beyond words or feelings to have been saved from destruction. I want to thank You for helping me to cling to You when I am weary, whenever I feel like I can’t go on in my walk with You. I don’t know what else to say other than thank you, Jesus.”
I have to tell you, folks, that I’m SO thankful for my infirmities, my health and work issues. It’s true. For the longest time, before I began praising and thanking God for them (1 Thessalonians 5:18 as well as other verses), I was so confused and angry about my health and work situation. But, you see, I’m realizing more and more that they were the very things God allowed in my life to keep me focused on Him and His ways, the very tools it took to plant a broken heart and a contrite spirit in me. I know this to be true in my heart. I’m sure that without them in my life, like David, I would have gone astray (Psalm 119:71).
I’m merely a child of His grace and mercy. Grateful beyond anything I could ever write, say or do for You, Jesus…
God bless,
Mark