This morning
God used Revelation 4:1 to minister to me about these very things: “After this I looked, and behold, a door
standing open in heaven!”. I love the way that even one Scripture can
present new treasures every day to those who keep digging deeper in the quarry
of God’s word. Sometimes there are new thoughts and understandings of
Scripture, and other times there are new applications to things we are going
through. Today’s lessons came down to this:
“After this,” had a direct application
to John’s experience of this revelation from heaven. However, it reminded me
that life is full of “after this”
experiences with God. Part of moving forward in the Lord is being able to live “after this” without trying to drag the “this” along with us. This encouraged me
to let go of what was before, and fully welcome what is happening now. Although
God is infinite and eternal, and outside of space, time and matter, he still
works in time so that one thing follows another. God clearly wants me to live
in the “after this” moments of the
present “here and now”, so that I can welcome all that he is doing without
missing a thing because of over-thinking the things that are gone.
“I looked,” reminded me that we are
always looking at something, and I had to think about what John was looking at.
I thought of how we are sheep, and sheep are always looking to their shepherd.
If they stop looking to their shepherd, they easily become lost, and scared.
When I get down about the broken relationships, it is because I am looking at
things that have passed. I need to look at what is “after this”, and keep looking for what is now.
“And behold,” tells me that there will
be more things to see. I do not want to miss what I could behold today because I
am busy dwelling on “before this” things. I do not want to miss what God might
be doing in one of the people in my life now because I am still distressing
over one of “them” who walked away. There are new people in my life, and I must
“behold” what God could be doing in them. There is sharing that is happening at
the moment that gives me something to behold while I let go of my grief that
others have stopped sharing with me. Today’s time in the word encourages me to
look for what God wants me to behold of his work right now.
“A door standing open in heaven,” calls
me to look for God’s open doors. I am often reminded of Jesus having an amazing
ministry in one town all the way through to nightfall. The next morning his
disciples found him off praying and told him that the people had already
gathered to welcome his work. Jesus told them that he knew he was to move on to
the next town because that was what his Father was doing.[1] Jesus
knew that he had to be about his Father’s business,[2]
and that could mean leaving an amazing opportunity for ministry in one place
because his Father had a work for him to do somewhere else.[3] I
trust that God is doing this for me in this situation, giving an open door of a
heavenly nature so that I can join God in whatever work he is doing here and
now no matter how I might miss the work I have had to leave behind somewhere else.
This is the
essence of how God ministered to me today. By lifting my eyes to heavenly
things, and considering what was on my Father’s mind, he has encouraged my
heart with considerations of what he is doing now, in the “after this” moments.
I am quite certain he had to speak to me about such things to help me stay in
step with his Spirit. I look forward to seeing how this works out in the rest
of this day.
From my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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