Monday, February 5, 2018

February 6, 2018

"One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Revelation 21:9-27   

Have you ever had one of those moments when you saw something or experienced something that was so overwhelming that you couldn't come up with an adequate way or words to describe it?

I'll bet you have!

I know I have!

The first time I saw Lake Tahoe from a vantage point some 1,500 feet above it in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It literally took my breath away. It was a spiritual experience! All I could utter was, "Wow!" All I could think was, "God, you're just showing off!"

I wish I could go back there and take you with me to share that view! I'd like to hear what you would say!

Then there was the day I sat in a restaurant on a pier in Saulsalito, California gazing across the San Francisco Bay as the setting sun gleamed off the San Francisco skyline and made it appear to be a literal city of gold! It was stunning! I was on emotional overload! No adjective can describe it!

I wanted to share that moment with everyone I love!

I'll never forget the first time I stood at the rim of the massive Victoria Falls on the Zambian side in Africa. It was an exhilarating attack on the senses! I heard the roar of the waters! I saw the majesty of the plunging Zambezi River! I felt the mist on my face and tasted it on my lips. I smelled the surrounding elements of water, vegetation and earth. No wonder it is listed as a natural wonder of the world!

The emotions, the memories and the images forged on my consciousness will never be forgotten nor can never be adequately captured in words!

I share those experiences only because they give me a touch point with the Apostle John as he struggles to record on parchment what is being revealed to him in a spiritual vision.

Even under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit there are so many limits to the language and the human imagination! Think about trying to describe 21st Century events from a 1st century point of reference!

That is what is happening in the 21st and 22nd Chapter of Revelation. It is all too wonderful and amazing to express!

Even someone as literate, intelligent and articulate as the Apostle Paul struggled for descriptives as he told of the vision he received when caught up into the heavens.

The point of all this is to remind you that the best descriptions of Heaven attempted by inspired men will fall far short of what we will see with our own eyes some day!

So, stretch your imagination to it's limits and open your spirit to His inspiration!









                                                   

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