Day 258: Fiery Jesus

Revelation 1; Nehemiah 1-2; Psalm 96

Revelation is a powerful book. Just in the first chapter, there is great tension between life and death, heaven and earth, fear and conquering. I love the picture of Jesus in this first chapter. He's not a wimpy, weak man, with soft hands, speaking softly and smiling gently. Instead, his hair is white, his eyes are like flames of a fire, his feet glow as if they are bronze in a furnace, his voice is the roar of a waterfall, and a double edged sword comes from his mouth. Whoa. Not the Jesus we learned about in Sunday school who is holding the little lamb. Jesus is that man too, but I also appreciate this picture of him that is bold, fiery, in charge. I think sometimes people struggle to trust Jesus because all they image is gentle Jesus. But Jesus was and is a fighter, he fought Hell and won! He loves us and has a purpose for us and we can have faith in our tough God.

Nehemiah shows us that God does indeed answer prayer. He was distraught over the ruins that Jerusalem had become and had a heart to rebuild it. Nehemiah had some obstacles he had to overcome though. First, he was working for a foreign king. He prayed and God allowed him to leave. He needed safe passage, God helped provide this. Nehemiah also needed supplies, amazingly, God helped with this too. When he finally got to Jerusalem and started the build, there were critics and God gave Nehemiah the strength and wisdom to face these men too. I need to be more like Nehemiah! Praying as a first response to any concern or problem. Offering my honest thoughts and fears to God and trusting that he will answer. Speaking and acting even when afraid, trusting that God will indeed provide. Pressing on through obstacles even when it seems impossible, because God can do all things.

Psalm 96 is an awesome song of praise to God. The Lord deserves our worship, our devotion, our praise. I also like that it tells us when and with who to share God: "Day after day...tell every nation on earth." In case there was any doubt as to how often I am to praise and worship God Almighty and who I'm supposed to share that with...welp, that's cleared up. What this psalm also goes on to say is that God is the only thing that is worthy of our worship. We don't worship a God who has issues, who is absent, who is deceptive or manipulative. He is the Creator, he is Good, he is Just. There is nothing in or about our Lord that would lessen how or why we serve and worship him. That's just plain awesome.