To cling to my natural virtues is quite sufficient to obscure the work of God in me. ~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Then I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne. And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
Worthy are You to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for You were slain,
and by Your blood You ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and You have made them a kingdom
and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.
~ from Revelation 5
Oh beloved, it is true. There is this One who is so manifold in power as to emanate the Oneness of who He is in a seven-fold Spirit.
It is this Spirit who is at work within us. The manifold power and majesty and goodness and truth and righteousness and strength of the only One able to open the book on the deepest mystery – ever – is the One who is at work in us.
So, as we are going through the steps on the path He has set before us, is it any surprise that the sense and feeling and thoughts and experiences we have take on a panoply of out-working? Said more simply: Sometimes the things He has us do, take on a mystical and beautiful bent. We flow through the moments of our days, flowing in our spirit, and Him at the tiller. Everything feels like some sort of laminar torrent moving in all the completely right direction. We speak, and people are visibly moved. We touch them, and they are healed. We pray, and the fabric of the universe folds in the direction our Spirit-led words direct.
And then, there are the days which “seem” much more vertical and horizontal in their unfolding. We teach exactly the same class, and a similar audience does not seem to connect with the message. We go, willingly and joyfully, through the motions – but it does not seem that our motions are making any impact on the moment He has us in.
And then again, He shows us the truth. For it is His seven-fold Spirit who leads us into all Truth.
He is The Way.
He is The Truth.
He is The Life.
And then even again, we begin to see that our perception of how we are being used by the One who has bought us and made us into warrior poet-priests in His Kingdom, has absolutely nothing to do with anything.
Can we see it? Everything means something. And everything is about Jesus. So, if we ever get into the space wherein we feel that our feelings on the matter prove our effectiveness in the Kingdom, we can safely chuck those feelings aside. The seven-fold Power at work within us is simply doing things that we cannot even begin to see – in us, and through us. It is for us beloved, to simply remember a simple truth. Orthodoxy and spirituality are utterly meaningless without simple obedience – even when that obedience seems meaningless in the moment.
This whole thing is way bigger than we can imagine. And so, finally, we could conclude an end similar to the one Solomon made to the matter on days like this: Fear God and keep His commandments. Just trust Him and Love Him and Love other people. For we know deep within us, that these feelings of the mundane will truly pass away one Day – never to return.
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and in the sea,
and all that is in them, saying,
To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!
