S - Revelation 5:6, 8-9 (NLT): "I looked and I saw a Lamb that had been killed but was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that are sent out into every part of the earth. … And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense--the prayers of God's people! And they sang a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were killed, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."
O - Jesus, the Lamb, is clearly "in the middle of it all" in heaven AND on earth. He is not just near the throne and the living beings, he is also near, among, close at hand to the elders (the humans). The Greek adjective for among (mevso~) means among or in the middle or in the midst of. It is the same term Jesus uses in Matthew 18:19-20 when he says "I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among [mevso~] them." This is the beauty of Jesus … he wants into the middle of everything, not just every good thing for he is the one who ransoms, redeems, transforms, saves in the fullest and most complete sense of the word. Since he wants in, in reality is already in (in him all humans live and move and have their being) why wouldn't we get together in his name (intentional and singular) and ask anything (specific and unlimited)?
A - It troubles our minds, the fact that Jesus wants in to it all and that he and the Father and the Holy Spirit want to humbly serve us … they want to. They haven't forgotten they are God. They haven't forgotten how flawed we are. They simply want us and want in because they love us. God has loved us first and most and won't change his mind. He humbly serves us (like a parent or grandparent their children) and calls us to humbly serve others … the way we are being served by him. This is the wonderful and "strange" dynamic which is a universal in the Kingdom of Life - we give the way we've received. I/we currently live in a world (secular and religious) that does not believe God humbly serves. Is it any wonder that so many who claim to be God's representatives do not humbly serve? My assignment, like with mercy, love, forgiveness, resources, etc. is to give the way I've received. I need and want God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit to humbly serve me … me the desperately needy, tragically weak, fatally flawed. I will gather with others, ask and humbly serve as he has so awesomely and faithfully and generously and magnanimously done to me.
P - Lord God Almighty,
O - Jesus, the Lamb, is clearly "in the middle of it all" in heaven AND on earth. He is not just near the throne and the living beings, he is also near, among, close at hand to the elders (the humans). The Greek adjective for among (mevso~) means among or in the middle or in the midst of. It is the same term Jesus uses in Matthew 18:19-20 when he says "I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among [mevso~] them." This is the beauty of Jesus … he wants into the middle of everything, not just every good thing for he is the one who ransoms, redeems, transforms, saves in the fullest and most complete sense of the word. Since he wants in, in reality is already in (in him all humans live and move and have their being) why wouldn't we get together in his name (intentional and singular) and ask anything (specific and unlimited)?
A - It troubles our minds, the fact that Jesus wants in to it all and that he and the Father and the Holy Spirit want to humbly serve us … they want to. They haven't forgotten they are God. They haven't forgotten how flawed we are. They simply want us and want in because they love us. God has loved us first and most and won't change his mind. He humbly serves us (like a parent or grandparent their children) and calls us to humbly serve others … the way we are being served by him. This is the wonderful and "strange" dynamic which is a universal in the Kingdom of Life - we give the way we've received. I/we currently live in a world (secular and religious) that does not believe God humbly serves. Is it any wonder that so many who claim to be God's representatives do not humbly serve? My assignment, like with mercy, love, forgiveness, resources, etc. is to give the way I've received. I need and want God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit to humbly serve me … me the desperately needy, tragically weak, fatally flawed. I will gather with others, ask and humbly serve as he has so awesomely and faithfully and generously and magnanimously done to me.
P - Lord God Almighty,
You give us new things that have been so from the very beginning, new commands that we've had all along. Thank you for new wineskins, for mulberry trees in the ocean and for that which is too wonderful for me. I admit, confess and earnestly request your humble service to find me again and again and for these acts of love to flow through me to others -- to all others. This is the day you've made and called me to come near to you, you who are already near to me. O Lamb of God I come, I come. Thank you for wanting into it all. I want you in it all. I give, yield, submit, relinquish my all to you … all for love.
I love you back,
Steve
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