The AMI QT Blogs from June 5-11 are provided by Tina Hsu. Tina, a graduate of Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.) has just returned from E. Asia, where she served as a missionary for two years. Currently, she serves at Church of Southland and Kairos International University.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY
Awe for God
Revelation 4:1-4, 8-11
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” 9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
A pastor friend once shared with me that his new year’s resolution was to limit himself from using the phrase “That’s awesome!” He realized the essence of something awesome is that it brings incredible awe—and this should be reserved for God. Instead of saying “That’s awesome” at regular news, such as finding parking at Disneyland on the weekend within the first minute of arriving, buying electronics devices at big sales, or just any news that he hears from people throughout the day, he resolved to only use the word “awesome” to when he ponders about and describes God—because only God’s presence and majesty is full of awe. Everything else is just good, cool, or nice, but only God is worthy of being deemed awesome, and nothing and no one is as AWE-some as God.
The apostle John is writing here the revelation he received when he was in the Spirit.
John’s experience of Jesus is extraordinarily special compared to the rest of the 12 disciples. Along with the rest of the disciples He witnessed Jesus preaching with authority, healing the sick, and casting out demons, as Jesus lived a fully human life dependent on the Father. He is the only one among the 12 who stood by Jesus as he witnessed Jesus with the nails and thorns on his body and shedding of blood. Then, John, along with Peter and Jesus’ women disciples, witnessed the empty tomb after Jesus resurrected. Not only did he witness Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, he also received this vision in Revelation 4 of Jesus in His glorified state on the throne, surrounded by worship. As John saw the majesty of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, dwelling in a place of glory, he was full of awe for God. In the same way, the 24 elders in the vision are ascribing honor to Jesus, and all their attention is given towards the awesome presence of God. John’s vision recorded in the Bible gives us great hope of our future eternity. We will join in with the elders and be in awe of Jesus Christ, and our lips will declare that He is worthy. Today, let’s resolve to live our lives in light of our glorious future by declaring to Jesus how awesome He is!
Prayer: Dear Jesus, as the psalmist says, “in your presence is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). You are worthy of my praise and may my praise declare how awesome and great You are. May my worship be solely reserved for You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Romans 5-6
“The one who overcomes” is a repeated phrase throughout Jesus’ letters to the seven churches in Revelation. He speaks to each church about its spiritual condition and calls them to overcome every challenge by faith. Becoming an overcomer is God’s call for every believer. The closing of Jesus’ words to the church at Laodicea helps us to see how He coaches Christians to overcome spiritual lows, whether it be apathy, complacency, pride, hopelessness, or unbelief. As the best athletes and finest scholars in the world receive the best quality training in order to have victory, the Christian is trained to overcome and to live victoriously when he or she receives training from Jesus Christ.
Did you know that God’s desire for you is to become rich? He wills for you to have abundance. The trap that prevents us from experiencing the richness and wealth that God envisions for us is our spiritual blindness to what true wealth really looks like.
One thing I enjoy doing in my church community is listening to older women of faith share about their spiritual markers in life. Their testimonies show me how God met them in a personal and intimate way when they faced trials and seasons of wilderness. I would also hear some share about their thoughts during seasons of waiting: “I know God will do so and so because He told me… He promised me…” I was always really encouraged and challenged by how close they were to God and how God spoke to them in such a personal way—like a father to a child. It made me desire all the more to draw close to God to hear His words and promises for my life. This is the same theme I see in the relationship between the Philadelphia church and God.
Has anyone ever asked you, “If rejection were not a factor, how would you outwardly express your faith?” Whatever your answer may be, you would probably set out to do it with an increased boldness and steadfastness.
The AMI QT Blogs from June 5-11 are provided by Tina Hsu. Tina, a graduate of Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.) has just returned from E. Asia, where she served as a missionary for two years. Currently, she serves at Church of Southland and Kairos International University.
There is a well-known saying, “It’s not about how you start, it’s all about how you finish.” The Lord gave the church at Sardis a spiritual diagnosis of their church body. He gave them the frightening truth that they have a reputation of being a lively church, but they are actually a dying church. They started with fervor and passion for the Lord, but they fell into a deep spiritual slumber, no longer awake to God’s voice. For this reason, God specifically said to them, “…for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.” Those who study this passage will naturally ask, “What did these believers not complete?” One possibility is that it wasn’t like they did not fulfill a ministry or calling that the Lord specifically gave this church, but a more likely situation is that they “backslid” and became secular again in their beliefs and lifestyle. In this way, they did not finish the course of living holy to the Lord until His second coming. They were no longer living as the “pure bride” that Jesus Christ shed His blood for. This is not a church dwindling in number or failing at sustaining the “programs” of a church—from the outside they are “alive.” Yet this is a church dying in their spiritual fervor and walk with the Lord.
In today’s passage we come across a Roman centurion who pleads to Jesus to heal his servant. While there are dozens of stories in the New Testament of Jesus healing the sick, this story comes as a bit of a shock due to Jesus’s reaction. As Jesus begins to walk to the servant’s home, the centurion stops Jesus and says that he is not worthy of the Lord to come to his house, but by His words alone Jesus can heal his servant (v.8). It states that Jesus marveled at this response and proceeds to declare that there is no man in Israel with greater faith than the centurion.
Several years ago, while I was serving a one-year internship in Shanghai, I met a young college student who was enamored at the idea of living in America. She believed that the US had everything that China could not offer her, and her ultimate goal was to live and work in “the land of opportunity.” At the time, I let her know that America was not the perfect nation she imagined it to be, and that her hope should not be in this American ideal. Although nothing I said seemed to change her mind, in hindsight, I realized I couldn’t blame her for having such thoughts. This idea was precisely what brought America to be the nation that it is today—an immigrant nation filled with individuals who believed that the United States would provide the economic stability and educational resources they desired. This is precisely why my parents moved to the US as well. Despite the language barrier and their economic situation, their belief in a better life propelled them to leave everything they knew and everything that was comfortable in order to move to the land of opportunity.
The AMI QT blogs for June 1 and 2 are provided by Mei Lan Thallman. Mei Lan is originally from Taiwan and a graduate of Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary (M.A.) in Kentucky. She is the wife of Pastor Kirt, who serves at Grace Covenant Church (Philadelphia). They have two children, Nate and Naomi .
After becoming a Christian at age 17, the foundation of my faith was built through my college years at Asbury University. As important as the sound doctrine of faith I learned through chapel and Bible classes was, the life witnesses of countless Christian professors and missionaries, along with their wives and families, have left a profound influence upon my life. The longer I live, the deeper I treasure the legacy of faith I have received through the authenticity of their vibrant faith and faithfulness.