Today’s Daily Office comes from Revelation chapter 1 verses 4 and 5:
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Have you watched It’s A Wonderful Life yet this Christmas? Do you remember George Bailey’s haphazard angel Clarence, who still doesn’t have his wings? If I’m ever in the kind of trouble George was in I hope God sends an angel who has already earned his wings!
There is an old Jewish tradition found in the book of 1 Enoch which tells us seven angels who watch over creation. Their names are Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sarakiel, Gabriel, and Ramiel. Likewise in today’s Lesson, the book of Revelation tells of the seven spirits who stand before the throne of God, ready to be sent into the world when given the word. The point is that the angelic beings and all of the powers of heaven are on our side, eager to come to our aid.
God will not leave us to fight our battles alone. God sends angels, winged or not, to come to our side and help, to bring us messages of hope and assurance, to encourage and empower us to keep on keeping on, to tip the balance of spiritual warfare.
There’s more to this war and this world than what we can physically see. Revelation pulls back the curtain that we might spiritually see and believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment