David Sulcer
Passage: Revelation 7:9-17
Prayer: Father, twelve times, twelve times, a thousand is the number we all want to be in! It is the number of the city of God! It is the number of the army of Heaven! The old song says, “Oh when the saints go marching in; Oh when the saints go marching in; Oh how I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in!” And well we will be! One day the nightmare of the battle zone here will give way to an awakening in the midst of your throne room! Soon the suffering here will not be able to compare to the glories there. Here is trial, there is triumph. Here, our robes are torn and bloodied, there they are resplendent white and without wrinkle. Here, our hunger is real and sustained, there, sated and satisfied. Here our thirst is intense and parched, there it is quenched and hydrated. Here is where the storms are harsh and the sun beats upon our skin. Here is where the heat drains our energies and the battle rages in intensity. But, one day soon, there, you will shelter us in the shade of your powerful presence and lead us to springs of cool water. Oh how we want to be in that number! And yet when it is all counted, it will be countless! There, a numberless crowd from every nation, tribe, people, and language will raise palm branches of victory before your throne! All because the Lamb became one with our humanity so that we might become one with his deity! In Jesus’ name, AMEN.
Ponder: Why do you think John gave us such a vision of hope in this seventh chapter, surrounded by such violence in the others? Why is it important to keep the future in our minds while we suffer through the present circumstances of life?
Fresh Air 