Revelation

​You walk outside to pick up your mail when a brilliant flash momentarily blinds you. Before you hovers a Being of glorious light—it is the Lord.  You reach out your hand and welcome Him and ask Him to come inside.  How exciting you think, a chance to show your Savior your home. So you walk Him around.  “Look Lord at the beautiful wallpaper we used in our family room.  Oh, you must come up and see the hot tub—our favorite hangout.  In here is where the kids sleep.  Watch out for all the toys—I really wish they’d pick up after themselves. By the way, check out the new wheels I got in the garage.  Isn’t this a sweet SUV!” Time out.

If God descended in bodily form the first thing you and I would do is go from the vertical to the horizontal with the greatest sense of awe and unworthiness that one could muster. When the Lord in His kindness reached down to pick us up, the last thing we would think about is our possessions!  Would we think of work or the great meal we just cooked—come on!  All that would matter is the fact that He is present.  Our every breath would hang on His next word and action.  The whole experience would leave us exhausted—just look at the behavior of Daniel and John (Daniel 10, Revelation 1:17).

Revelation that does not bring us closer to God and make us more aware of our need for Him is most probably not from God and ought to be carefully scrutinized. Spiritual light does more than just part the darkness--it leads us to the King of Brilliance.   So if we are mesmerized by mystical experience and constantly on the hunt for new manifestations, we’ve missed the boat.  We’ve given more value to what we feel than to God Himself.  If we’re enchanted by dynamic dreams but no deeper in our walk with God than their value is as rich as vapor.   

The absence of revelation is also no hilltop for prancing.  Does the Holy Spirit speak to you from the Word, through God-fearers, by His gentle voice?  If not, aside from divine purpose, is something blocking Him—like disobedience or fear?  Revelation has not ceased!  I will never forget the day God spoke to me in the desert—audibly! The problem is never in His revealing.  The problem is with our hearing.  So much noise gets in the way.  Are you hungry for a word from the Lord?  Great—that’s the first essential step.  The second is . . . 
 
Meditation
Ephesians 1:17--I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
 
Inspiration
All ecstasies and experiences, all inner voices and revelations and dreams must be tested by the pure outer light of Jesus Christ and His Word.—Oswald Chambers in Christian Discipline
Revelation is that upon which we must nourish our faith; experience is that which encourages us that our faith is on the right track.  The need to connect revelation and experience must never be overlooked.—Oswald Chambers in The Psychology of Redemption
 
©2000 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)