Do you really believe?
We don’t have to be preachers to preach the good news through our lives.
December 19
He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, “God will wait no longer. But when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”
Revelation 10:6-7
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Do you really believe?
Do you really believe the things the Bible says? This is an important question, because what we believe plays a huge role in how we live our lives. What we believe in our mind tends to determine what we do. If we know and believe what the Bible says, we stand a better chance of living a life that pleases God and brings glory to Him. Oh, this doesn’t mean that we will always do the right things, but the odds are sure better.
In our verses for the day, the Apostle John is watching and hearing from a mighty angel. This angel is describing what is coming next in the Tribulation. He begins this verse by swearing an oath. What we swear an oath on determines its value and importance; it determines its relative importance. This mighty angel swears his oath on God Himself.
The angel describes God in His creative activities, as the creator of heaven, earth, and the sea and everything in all of them. It would seem to me that this angel is saying that God created everything everywhere. This would make the strength of his oath of highest value and importance. What this means to us is that what this angel is about to say is as true and sure as is the God who created everything is sure and true.
So far, the seven seal judgments and six of the seven trumpet judgments have fallen on a Christ-rejecting world. The mighty angel says there is a seventh trumpet coming. Upon the blowing of that trumpet God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. God’s plan is to restore this world back to the Kingdom of God. The word mysterious means that this was not something that mankind would have figured out without God’s help. Only God could reveal this mystery to mankind.
God has been revealing His plan through His servants the prophets. Jesus’ first words after starting His short earthly ministry were to point people to the fact that God’s kingdom was near. And we are privileged to have those revelations recorded in the Bible. Why is that important to us? As Christians, we have the unique privilege of being messengers of the revelation of God’s mysterious plan to the world.
Our lives are a living testimony of what we know and believe about God’s mysterious plan to restore this whole world back under His perfect authority and government. We don’t have to be preachers to preach the good news through our lives. We don’t have to be teachers to teach the truths of the Bible through our behaviors. We don’t have to be evangelists to point people to Jesus through our hope and peace. What we need to be are true believers. A true believer is not perfect, but the majority of their life is a reflection of the revelation of the truths found in God’s word. Jesus, help us to believe.