The Man in the Mirror Today

Read:

"Then I saw when the Lion broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, 'Come.'" Revelation 6:1

Examine:

When chapters 5 and 6 are read together a sequence of events takes place prior to the first seal being broken. Everyone involved first recognized that they were not worthy of breaking the seals, next they all acknowledged that Jesus alone was worthy, then they worshipped the worthiness of the Lamb, and finally they all saw the seals broken.

Apply:

When I look at this sequencing of steps in my life, I often see a different series of steps play-out in my life. If I am totally honest with myself, I feel entitled to know what is behind the seals and try to manage opening them in my own strength. Instead of recognizing my unworthiness it frustrates me to think that I have to wait on God and His timing. I want to rush in, do things on my own, do them in my own timing and do them according to my own logic. Me, my and mine do not play very well with Jesus. I have to look into my heart until I realize just how needy I am for Jesus to direct my life.

Feeling entitled and trying to manage things on my own always limits my ability to see the worthiness of Jesus. If I feel like it is something owed to me or something I can do on my own without Jesus, then how can I really worship Him for what He has done in my life? The greater dependency I have on Jesus the greater I am able to acknowledge the gap between Him and me. If I live life according to me, my, and mine then the only person I can truly acknowledge as being worthy is me.

Having a limited view of Jesus really hinders my worship of him. If something is not all that great how can I worship it? If I down play the significance of sin, play it safe by only doing things I can control, or refuse Jesus full access to my heart then what is there to worship? It is easy to live life with a hell-insurance policy view of Jesus. Insurance is good; but it is not worthy of worship.

All of this comes together and lands me in a spot of no clarity. Clarity in direction is perfectly correlated to purity in worship. When I lose direction, need to always remember that this is simply a symptom of not being pure in my worship of Jesus.

Pray:

Looking back over the events of this week, I have seen aspects of my heart that are quite dark and nasty. My pride, fear, and selfish ambitions have launched a full-on assault on Your direction for my life. This has divided me against myself and left me feeling quite broken.

Being broken is never a fun process but as long as You are the one doing the breaking it is always the right process. The man I see in the mirror today is not the man I saw in the mirror on Monday. The man I see today has been brought down a few notches and so room has been created for the worthiness of Christ to shine more brightly. Based on that outcome, I would say it has been a pretty incredible week.

My deepest desire today is to worship the Lion of Judah in spirit and in truth. Jesus, You alone are worthy to open the seals in my life and unlock the plans that lay before me. At this point and time I am learning to trust in Your greatness more so than I have ever been led to before. I am grateful to know that all things will work together. Peace does not equal an absence of pain nor does it ensure a relief from threat. Peace means that my heart and soul lie kept in the heart of the King of Glory regardless of my circumstances.