Revelation 6 (NKJV)
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Who will be able to stand before God? No one. Not kings, great men, rich men, commanders, mighty men, slave men and free men, they will all dread when His wrath comes upon man, those who have not accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I see “slave men and free men” as a warning to those who hold on to the idea of entitlement. I was a slave my whole life, am I not certainly entitled to salvation? I was treated so wrongly, and I was so faithful to my master most times, don’t I get a free pass? I was the better person. I took the higher road. I must certainly enter the gates of heaven without question. This verse makes notes that no, nothing you could have done can save you. Or for the free man, nothing you could have not done could save you. The issues isn’t about you.
It’s whether you accepted Jesus Christ. He is the issue. He is the determining factor. And if you don’t have Him, you won’t be able to stand before God. I would be sorely afraid to stand alone before the living God. I would have nothing to say about how good I am or how good enough I am. I would not be able to say I have kept the commandments perfectly. But I know Jesus stands with me.. He is my righteousness, the fulfillment of the commandments. And I won’t have to be afraid.
Word Series: Flat.
Flat.
It’s the shape a thing assumes right after it splats.
Right after gravity takes its toll it becomes…
Flat.
Like a joke. I sailed it like a paper plane into the sky, trusting it would be received
But at this point, special delivery doesn’t matter if nobody’s home
Flat.
Like a song a half-a-step lower than the original key.
You miss an opportunity by this much and you’re in a different path
Don’t let yourself fall
Flat.
Word series: Good.
If it weren’t for the sake of my job, I would have gone past his answer of “good” or her answer of “good.” If it weren’t for the sake of seeing that customer or not seeing that custosmer again, I also would have gone past that.
Every time, I ask them “how are you doing today?” and every time they reply, “good.”
If I was an optimist, I would echo their response: good.
If I was a pessimist, I would retort “yeah right.”
If I was a realist, I’d ask “really?”
If I was feeling nerdy, I would say, “could you be a little more descriptive?”
If I was super confident, I would ask, “why not great?”
If I was X, I would reply Y. Sometimes what you say is a indicator of what’s going on in your mind or heart or whatever. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes you want to retreat the automated response of “good.” It’s just easier to keep the fences up and pretend we aren’t people. But we are.
Word Series: Impatience.
Today I am not in line with the weather but a little under it.
Needed some relief for my shriveling throat so I took the box of “warming” lozenges from the medicine cabinet. Whatever that implied. Read the directions in case there were some “special” instructions for this “special” medication. Don’t take more than one within two hours. Allow it dissolve in mouth? That’s a given. Ha. I always find the obvious amusing. Placed in my mouth. And within a couple of minutes, I bit the lozenge in two. The moment I cracked it, I realized, I did not follow the instruction. It was so simple—crack crack crack. I chewed on the it. I’m already in the hole. Mine as well keep going, right…
My throat is not soothed. And, I think I’m going to take another one now. That’s two instructions ignored.
Impatience is not a virtue. Impatience makes irrational decisions in the heat of the moment, simply based on “feelings,” instead of what is the best course of action despite feelings. Impatience drives you insane. Watch your sanity.
