Day 354- Hard Truth To Swallow
📖Daily Reading
Revelation 9-10
🎥 Video
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
Revelation 10: 9-10
'So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!” So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach. '
Ok, buckle up, I am going take you on a metaphorical ride today. Getting metaphorical with wild visions, of course what else are we supposed to do? I read chapters 9 & 10 today, but I am only going to focus on 10. In chapter 10 we have another angel, not one of the seven we have been introduced to already.
This other angel descends from the sky surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow above his head, his face glowing like the sun and fire on his feet. Then we are told three times that his left foot is standing on land and his right foot is standing on the sea. This is not repeated three times in a row, just three time throughout the chapter. He then roars and seven thunders answer (there is that number again). He is going to tell us what is said and write it down, but is instructed to keep it secret.
Then we are told that the angel swears and oath as he raises his right hand toward heaven and announces that the seventh angel will blow its trumpet and God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. Then John is given and instruction from a voice from heaven to take the open school from the angel who has his left foot on land and right foot on the sea and eat it. It will taste sweet like honey and turn sour in his stomach. John obeys and confirms that it tastes like honey and turns sour in his stomach. Then we are left with a last instruction that John will prophesy about many peoples, nations, languages and kings….
So now that we all are on the same page let me bring you into my brain and see how the spirit helped me to see some things. The repeated clues about land and sea and the appearance of the angel resembling weather patterns spoke to me about the sovereignty of God. And the existential questions that humans have wrestled with for eon’s. Questions like why to bad things happen to good people. How does a loving God allow evil?
This plus the existence of a planet, lots of life forms on earth, weather patterns etc… got me thinking of the verse from Matthew 5:45 'For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.’ Then as I started thinking about other mysteries in this chapter and what they could represent. I started thinking about how Jesus spoke in parables.
To me this is like the symbol of the open scroll and the secret of the seven thunders. It is there for each of us to read and understand for ourselves. It is only a secret for those who don’t understand or don’t take time to understand and when you do it is often thunderous. Then we move on to eating the open scroll and it tasting like honey but turning sour in the stomach. The messages of love and grace have been like this for me.
Things that I professed often and thought I really understood. The rolled off my tongue like honey often, sounded kind and sticky sweet. But that is all I had just a taste. As I digested the truth of it this year at first it was hard to swallow and did make me a little sick to my stomach. The full truth of it. I had not really received it for myself much less giving it to others. The truth of this was hard to swallow. I was believing and giving a counterfeit version of it to myself and others. I had read the open scroll but had not really comprehended it’s secrets that are in plain sight for all.
The rest of the ending of Matthew 5 gives us further clues
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.'
The truth is, it is not as easy to love your enemies or pray for those that persecute you. But this is the open scroll truth that is being thunderously delivered to us throughout the earth. Many of us, and yes even and maybe especially professing christians are the ones who get it the most wrong. I am one of them, who has had the hard truth hit me in the gut and cause me some internal sourness as I faced my own hypocrisy. The trap is so alluring, sweet like honey, the temptation to try to be good and then we by the very nature and law of paradox we are bad, because these are judgement words and concepts.
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
How does this truth sit with you? Have you received and understood the fullness of love and grace? Not only for yourself but for others as well?
📖Tomorrows Reading
Revelation 11
Coaching Opportunity
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If you have stuck with me this far, then you are not reading this by accident, I believe God has a plan for you and is calling you forward!😉🤩
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