Worthy!

Revelation 5:9-10

"You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."

The big deal is that this is Jesus! This is Jesus, fully man, fully God, the only one worthy to take the title deed of the earth – to own and rule every piece of earth; everything. Not only is this the divine Jesus, but more staggeringly, this is Jesus the Man!

God gave man the earth to rule (Gen 1:28), and we handed that over to the devil (Gen 3:6-7). God’s sovereign plan is that the earth will always be ruled by man, and so it is Jesus as a man that will make that happen! He gave up being fully only God forever so that he would wear humanity forever and therefore redeem, save and govern the earth. His humanity is what this huge thing is about. His blood on the cross, as a man, is what is redeeming us to God. The blood of a man to wash us and drive away darkness.

So for a man to be worthy to take the scroll, that’s a big deal! The devil tried doing that when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness saying that he would give Him all the authority of the earth (Luke 4:6-8) but Jesus refused to be tempted to take that power from the devil because He is only to take that title deed from the hand of the Father. And He will do it in justice and righteousness, purity and humbleness.

It is Jesus as a man that is going to take the scroll and open its seals. This is important to remember as you read through the book of Revelation. It is not the devil who is releasing these judgments on the earth – it is Jesus and it is part of the Battle Plan to prepare the earth for the restoration of all things. It is by the man Jesus, and through the praying church, that these things will happen.

This is so important because singing and saying Rev. 5 helps us to come into alignment under the leadership of Jesus. To come under His leadership now is the hardest thing for our sinful nature to grasp. What so many believe about the End Times and how the church views it as, “Well, when Jesus comes back we will know and we will just do what He says and it will all work out because I love Jesus. I will be safe and watching from heaven as Jesus beats up the Anti-Christ. I don’t need to study it or really pay any attention to the book of Revelation, etc.” The problem with that is that it presumes we will easily agree with the leadership of Jesus and agree with what He is doing, and yet we right now fight the leadership of Jesus in our own lives.

Coming under the lordship and leadership of Jesus now will help us not to be offended in that day and to be prepared and to align ourselves with what He is doing. I want to be one who partners with God in His End Time plan; not fearful, confused or offended by what is happening around me, but to rather be a part of the praying and believing church that is saying "Come Lord Jesus" and releasing judgment on the earth.

To pray this and to proclaim that God is worthy is to set my heart in line with Jesus, to begin to see and have revelation of the man Jesus and to say "yes" to His leadership in my life. He is worthy of my pursuit of holiness, He is worthy of my devotion, diligence, praise, time, affection, money, etc. He is worthy to shake the earth – to shake everything that can be shaken (Haggai 2:6-8). He is worthy to take the title deed of the earth – to rule and reign over all. He is worthy of my "yes." Daily, a little bit by little bit, to have my yes become stronger and my pronouncement of “worthy” made with more conviction and faith.

Singing and praying this passage reminds me of where my heart is to be and shakes the things in my life so that only He remains. It is a prayer and invitation for Him to come and establish His leadership in my heart and to set my eyes on things above, casting aside worthless things, things that so easily entangle, and to run the race before me with endurance and perseverance.

Like Mike Bickle says, that we can spend more time in Rev 4 and 5 than perhaps anywhere else in the Bible because of the Beauty Realm of God and its unending power to fascinate, transform, reveal, and shake us into closer, more intimate and true relationship with the God and king of the earth… “you will never exhaust what the holy spirit will reveal to you in Rev 4 and 5.”

And, it is an invitation for us to participate in it. We are not just idly sitting by as we pray this or as the events of the End Times unfold, but with incredible grace and love beyond our comprehension, Jesus makes us to rule and reign with Him. To be part of the leadership of the earth in the age to come, to participate and help release the activities to prepare the earth for His return and to forever stand in His presence offering praise and glory, adulation, honor, and songs unto the Lamb who is worthy. We will be able to join in the songs of Rev 4 and 5, we will fall at the feet like the 24 elders and the seraphim and continue to sing new songs to our God forever. I want to begin now.

(This is from part of the notes I used to speak from at the Tuesday Evening Prayer Meeting, Sanctuary House of Prayer, February 10).

Acclimatization

Acclimatization:
Becoming accustomed to a new climate or to new conditions.
Responding physiologically or behaviorally to a change in a single environmental factor.
This is my life.

From camp to city, from Winnipeg to Kansas City, from IHOP to Christmas, from family to moving out, from time away to intense schedules, from solitude to social calendars, meetings, deadlines, activities, and catching up. Six months feels more like a year or two. Transition is the norm. Constantly adjusting, changing, moving, shifting, altering. It is the state of my life. The place of my soul.

A box of books and a suitcase are a beautiful picture of freedom and adventure to me and I am more than content to be able to carry my life. I feel kind of like turtle. My home is with me wherever I go. For wherever I find myself at this moment, if feels like home as it is the place where I am seeking God and learning to pursue Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Mt. 6:21). Obviously, I'm not totally there yet, but that's the goal and aim - to abide in Christ. To be at home in Jesus.

Every time I am somewhere new or come back from something, there is a season of transition and becoming accustomed to the conditions around me again. Since returning from IHOP to be with the family for Christmas and then moving out into a house on Langside Ave, I was bracing myself for the difficult and stressful transition. Surprisingly, it did not happen! Miraculously, and by the sovereign grace of God, it was smooth and enjoyable! I have been known to have rocky and emotional transitions, even if just going from camp to the city for a week, but this time it was quite the opposite. I felt renewed vision and excitement about being in Winnipeg and to once again engage in the work and friendships in the city, fellowshiping with my family and Christian communities. I was excited to pray and intercede for my city, friends, family, work and country.

With this unbelievable gift of quick and pleasant adjustment also came a peace in my spirit about not worrying about my future. Whatever I might try to plan or imagine I know would suck in the face of what God's mighty and sovereign plan for my life looks like. I don't want to stand in the way, but instead to be fully ready, willing and trusting to simply say "yes" and step out into whatever it is. My plan is to depend on God, to wait on Him for direction, and become more deeply rooted in Him, so that no matter what comes my way, I will be able to stand unshakable and unmovable in the knowledge of who He is and who I am in Him. So, I have a general idea of what my life might be like until the end of September, and then.....?

This blog post has been sitting in my postings section unfinished for over a month now, and I find it more true then even when I first began typing it. The only difference is that I feel an increased urgency to live a life worthy of His calling (Eph 4:1) and to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Heb.12:1)...to go to the place of prayer and sit in the presence of the Father so that the light of His countenance would burn away all that hinders love, to be transformed and made more into His likeness, and to daily acclimatize to the moving of the Spirit, and the beauty of Jesus Christ. I want know God more. I want to be Christ-like.