Thought for November 21, 2023

Surgery successful Home. God is so good.

•  164 BC: Judas Maccabaeus recaptures Jerusalem and rededicates the Temple [Hanukkah]
• 1620: Mayflower Compact signed
• 1922: Rebecca Felton sworn is as first female US Senator [Georgia]
• 1946: "Best Years of Our Lives" released
• 1959: Jack Benny and Richard Nixon perform a piano duet
• 1973: 18.5 minute gap in the White House tapes revealed
• 1976: "Rocky" premiers
• 1977: First flight of the Concorde
• 1980: "Who Shot JR" episode seen by 83 million
• 1980: MGM Grand fire kills 84
• 1989: Smoking on domestic airline flights banned
• Born: Voltaire, Stan Musial, Marlo Thomas, Tweety Pie [first cartoon appearance], Larry Mahan [champion cowboy], Harold Ramis, Goldie Hawn, Steven Curtis Chapman, Troy Aikman, Ken Griffey Jr., Michael Strahan
• Died: Mel Ott, Max Baer, Robert Stroud [Birdman of Alcatraz], Carl Hubbell, Bill Bixby, David Cassidy, 

On this date in 1899, President McKinley meets with 5 members of the clergy following the U.S. acquisition of the Philippines. The President says he did not want the Philippines but after being on his knees in prayer to the Almighty God for guidance, he thought the answer was, "there was nothing left to us to do but take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God's grace do the very best we could by them as our fellow men for whom Christ also died."

Thought:

Reading Revelation 1:4-8 today. Thinking about how excited John must have been to be visited by an angel with a message from the Lord. How would you feel if God sent an angel to you today with a message? I think I would pay attention and heed what the angel said--but, I get messages from the Lord regularly--in reading His word, in hearing His word preached, in seeing His creation, in and from His followers. How do I respond to those messages? In these 5 verses, John tells us some important things--who is the message directed to? who is the message from? what is the message?

The message is to the seven churches. But as I read this book, I see myself in each of the 7 churches. So the letter is to me. And perhaps it was intended to be read by all the churches so they could learn from what Jesus said to others. 

The message is from Jesus Christ. What does that fact alone tell you? This is a first priority message. There is no one more important who could send you a letter. I go to the mail box and look at who is sending the letter--some go directly in the trash without opening. Some I put aside to read. But there are some senders who get my immediate attention -- a child, a grandchild, a close friend. I don't wait to open those. Who does John say the sender is?

•  The eternal one. The One who was in the beginning, who is with us now, and who is coming.
• The faithful witness--Jesus was a witness to us of who God is and what God expects.
• The resurrected one. I am so glad He is the first-born of the dead, but not the last born of the dead. For all who die in Christ live.
• The ruler. All things are His and He is the ruler over all. 
• The lover of our souls--loved us enough to die for us and in our place. 
• Our Savior. 

Think about that. If you got a message from that person, you would open it quickly, read it carefully, respond to it completely.

The message--He is coming! Every eye will see Him! It will not be a secret. It will not be hidden anymore. 

The affirmation--God Himself signs the message--I am the Alpha, Omega, the Almighty. 

For those in Christ this is good news! He promises He is coming. Today, make sure you are ready and try and help others be ready too.

Blessings

Larry