Judgments Begin Again (Rev. 8:7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

06/13/2005

My Worship Time                  Focus:  The judgments begin again.

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelations 8:7

Message of the verse:  “The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”  (NASB 95)  “The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down upon the earth, and one-third of the earth was set on fire. One-third of the trees were burned, and all the grass was burned.”  (NLT)

            This judgment seems somewhat familiar in that hail came down and burned on Egypt in one of the judgments that God judged them with.  This could also come from and earthquake or some kind of manmade bomb, but the point here is the destruction that it will make, and not necessarily where this came from, for the Word says it is a judgment from God and how He goes about doing it really does not matter as much as what it does.

This judgment will burn up a third of all trees, which will affect the oxygen level on planet earth along with a part of the food supply; it also burns up a third of the earth and all of the grass.  The trumpet judgments are the middle part of these judgments and as the judgments come they will get worse and worse as they go on, so this is worse than the first set of judgments but not as bad as the last set of judgments.  Needless to say this will not be a pleasant time to live on this planet and the sad part of this is that many will not look up to call upon God to save their souls as they realize that God is indeed judging the earth and the people on it because of their great sin.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is good to remember that I am living in a time period where it is God’s grace and mercy that prevail, even though He is still judging His Church, but His wrath was taken out on my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ while He hung on the cross almost two thousand years ago.  I am thankful for God’s great mercy and grace which He has bestowed on me.

The Word of God was a challenge to my heart and it was also a refreshing reminder of the wonderful times that I live in.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord with all of the things that are going on in my life at this moment, things like our money problems, and also all of the ministries that I am now involved in at our church, ministries that are enjoyable even though they consume a fair amount of my time.