A Storm is Coming

Revelation 8:1-7

It was 1970, we lived in Odem, Texas and I worked for the Business products division of 3M Company, and our beautiful baby girl was one year old, life was going smooth, until the storm.  It was a storm like no other we had seen, and I forgot to tell you I was just a baby Christian, it had not been many months before that very black day of hurricane Celia that I had ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart while I was reading a Bible in a hotel in Victoria, Texas.  That morning on my way to work, I believe God spoke to me about finishing the job I was going to do and to return home and get my family and leave till the storm was over, and that is what I did.  I never expected to see what I saw on returning home, it was gone, I mean almost all that we had worked for, the storm left us with great loss of our stuff; like a home, and all that goes in a home, but God was so faithful in the storm, and after the storm.  The storm that John is seeing and reporting on is coming and it makes hurricane Celia look like a walk in the park.

“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half and hour.  Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.  And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.  Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumbling, flashes of lighting, and an earthquake.  Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.  The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth.  And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.”

That is not a storm God desires anyone reading this to be part of, it is going to be the beginning of judgment for those who rejected the free gift of God’s Son Jesus Christ.  Remember we have only seen the first judgment, each angel will reveal a judgment from the seven seals that the Lamb has opened, it is also good to know that God has been very patient and desires that none perish but that all people receive the free gift of redemption.  The apostle Paul told us how that is done in Romans 10:9, “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  It took me 27 years to confess Jesus as my Lord, and by faith to ask Him into my life, to forgive my independence; for 27 years I had wanted freedom from anyone’s control, I wanted self-rule, I wanted to be master of my life.  In that hotel, I came to a clear understanding of my need and that only Jesus Christ could make me in right standing with His Father.  It was not independence my soul was searching for; it was dependence on the lover of my soul.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice