KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Tuesday, December 28, 2016
Chapters: Revelation 4-7
Message: A Labor Of Eternal Value
Hello My Friend,
Labor; Work, to exert or use one’s powers of the body or mind. Whether using our mind or body, we exert ourselves, to work the body we exert our muscles, to work the mind we exert our brain. There are many ways in which can labor in vain, which means worthless work, for example, someone hollering and throwing things out of anger is vain labor of the body. Someone devising a scheme to steal someone’s identity is vain work of the mind. Nothing gets accomplished when we labor in vain, but everything gets accomplished when we labor upon the foundation of Christ. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” – I Corinthians 11:14.
Since I have been reading the Book of Revelation I have been following a certain set of guides to understand it better, but this time I am seeing things I never noticed before, and this is why we need to be reading God’s Word all the time, the Holy Spirit will reveal things to us that we seem to pass up. So, after Jesus spoke to John about His pleasure and displeasure within the seven churches who represent Him, he gets a vision that was something out of a SIFY movie, a door was opened into heaven, where he saw a council of men.
“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” – Revelation 4:1-5,10-11.
“and one sat on the throne.” One of the mysteries of God that we can never comprehend is that God and Jesus are the same, yet two separate people. So, here is God in all His glory, sitting on His throne with twenty-four seats and elders sitting around Him, representing both the Old and New testament church. They did their duty on earth, endured their lives in the power of the Lord, bowed to Him, casting their golden crowns at His feet. Now, as the vision continues a book is passed around, it had a seal on it that no one could break, John cried because no one could open the book, but in the midst of the elders someone was among them, the head of the Church, Jesus Himself, only He was seen as though He were crucified all over again.
“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;” – Revelation 5:5-9.
“stood a Lamb as it had been slain,” Christ, the slain Lamb of the tribe of Juda, is the only one worthy to open the book that controls the fate of all mankind. He receives the praises of the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, and afterwards a multitude of His people acknowledging they were redeemed through His blood. Jesus will come in the blink of an eye and all whom have put their faith and trust in Him will be saved from the judgment that is about to come to the entire world. That book with the seals contained the very instructions of an army that would come to bring a massive destruction upon the world, and this would only be the tribulation.
“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” – Revelation 6:1-2,4-6,8-9,12-13,17.
“and who shall be able to stand?” Just who is able to stand all of this? Who will have this seal? Only those who have applied the shed blood of the Lamb upon their souls. John sees an amazing vision next, one hundred forty-four thousand of the children of Israel, and a multitude of people from every nation, coming together worshiping God. One of the elders reveals who all these people are.
“And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” – Revelation 7:11-17.
“and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” I got some blood on the white part of my dress the other day, it was not very big to notice, but I spotted it quickly. In the midst of a wicked and corrupt world, one that gets worse every day, are the souls made white through the blood of Christ, and He spots each and every one of us. One day we will not have to feel the pain that sin has caused us, we will not even need to eat because we will feed on Jesus. There is no respect of persons with God, position, rank, title, and honor mean absolutely nothing to God unless we are saved. The only way to be saved from all this is by believing in and receiving Christ as our Saviour. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” – 1 John 5:12,13.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;” – Revelation 5:9
Today’s Prayer: God, Our hearts are warmed and encouraged when we remember that our labor for You is never in vain. You see our hearts and equip us to carry out the mission of serving You faithfully and wholeheartedly, no matter what job You have for us. You never fail to bless us as we are faithful to You and remain steadfast in our commitment to You. May we not rely on just the immediate results, but rather recognize that You are storing up treasures from our work here on earth, many that will only be revealed to us in heaven. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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