The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which were speaking, "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever." And the twenty-four elders who are sitting on their thrones before God, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, "We give thanks to You, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, because You have taken hold of Your great power and begun to reign." Rev. 11:15-17.
One day the father of an extremely wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the intent of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what most would consider a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father inquired.
"Oh, yeah," the son replied.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?"
"I saw that we have one dog and they had four," the son answered. "We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden, and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on, and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, but they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
In Revelation 4:9 we noticed the 24 elders giving continual thanks to God for Creation and for His mighty acts of salvation. In our text for today the elders are again worshipping and are offering thanks, but this time the object of their thankfulness is more specific. They praise God for His end-time invasion of the kingdom of this world, and for replacing it with His own kingdom, grounded in the mighty acts of Christ. When we fully grasp what Christ has done for us, it changes our attitude toward everything. This is one of the major functions of the book of Revelation. By raising our perspective from our own little world to the grandeur of God's universe, we become aware of how deeply grateful we should be. It's all in how you look at it!
Lord, whenever I am tempted to think that I have been shortchanged in this life, remind me of the treasure I have in Jesus Christ.
One day the father of an extremely wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the intent of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what most would consider a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father inquired.
"Oh, yeah," the son replied.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?"
"I saw that we have one dog and they had four," the son answered. "We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden, and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on, and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, but they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
In Revelation 4:9 we noticed the 24 elders giving continual thanks to God for Creation and for His mighty acts of salvation. In our text for today the elders are again worshipping and are offering thanks, but this time the object of their thankfulness is more specific. They praise God for His end-time invasion of the kingdom of this world, and for replacing it with His own kingdom, grounded in the mighty acts of Christ. When we fully grasp what Christ has done for us, it changes our attitude toward everything. This is one of the major functions of the book of Revelation. By raising our perspective from our own little world to the grandeur of God's universe, we become aware of how deeply grateful we should be. It's all in how you look at it!
Lord, whenever I am tempted to think that I have been shortchanged in this life, remind me of the treasure I have in Jesus Christ.
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