Breakfast: Twelve Drummers Drumming - Focus on Revelation 21:1-27 

 

"Great and marvelous are Your deeds, Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are Your Ways, King of the ages. 

Who will not fear You, O Lord,

and bring glory to Your name?

For You alone are holy.

All nations will come and worship before You,

for Your righteous acts have been revealed."

Revelation 15:3-4

 

"On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...twelve drummers drumming." God's ways are perfect, and all of creation testifies to His wonderful work and marvelous deeds that He has planned since before He laid the foundation of the world. "The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD, Your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones" (Psalm 89:5).

 

As we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord, we praise Him, as the Alpha and Omega, for revealing His glory through the fulfillment of His promises, the unfolding of His plans, and the faithfulness of His people. From the beginning, He chose the twelve tribes of Israel as the  representatives of His Presence and revelation as the One, true, living God to the world; in the New Jerusalem they will forever stand as the gateway into His glorious Presence in His holy city (reference Revelation 21:12); When He revealed Himself in human flesh to a world, which was desperate for a fresh Word from heaven, He hand-picked twelve apostles to be the ambassadors of His Word beginning in Jerusalem and reaching to the world; the foundation they laid, with Christ as the cornerstone, will secure the Holy City as a wall of testimony to their faithfulness forever (Ephesians 2:20; Revelation 21:14). 

 

From gateway to guardian, the twelve tribes of the Old Testament and twelve apostles of the New provide an unbroken chain that links the Lord's wondrous plan to provide a dwelling place for His glorious presence in the center of His people. The Lord God Almighty dwelt in the midst of His people behind a protective curtain in the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle of the wilderness, and in His Holy City He will make His dwelling forever with His people, with curtain torn down, and He will be their temple. "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God" (Revelation 21:3).

 

Today, as we begin our day, let us offer a prayer of gratitude to the Lord for the perfect unfolding of His glorious plan, and praise Him for all the ways He has revealed Himself and shown Himself to be consistent and faithful. He is faithful to finish what He starts; and we can rest assured that while the world we are living in is falling apart, He is "making everything new!" (v.5). May we faithfully follow in the footsteps of the twelve and take advantage of every moment of the next twelve months to stand boldly on the foundation of Truth and share His message of salvation with the world so we can all stand together in His wonderful presence and give Him the glory for all eternity!

 

"O LORD, You are my God;

I will exalt You and praise Your name,

for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things,

things planned long ago."

Isaiah 25:1

 

              

Lunch: Finding Meaning...in the Wonder of God -  Focus on Ecclesiastes 12:8-14

 

"Let me understand the teaching of Your precepts;

then I will meditate on Your wonders."

Psalm 119:27

 

We have been given a fabulous and firm foundation to stand upon (1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:19-20) as we walk the Christian life. The teachings that make up this foundation are found in the Word of God - the Holy Bible. 

 

The Teacher of Ecclesiastes has spent the last twelve chapters trying to find the meaning to life and as he comes to the end of his research he concludes that life is meaningless. "Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" (Ecclesiastes 12:8). This is not the first time he's made this statement, but this time it is not the last word to the matter, for he concludes that one can find meaning to life...in the Word of God. "The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails-given by one Shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them" (v. 11-12). 

 

In the Word of God we find the path to laying a strong spiritual foundation on which to walk our entire lives. As the Teacher instructs, we are not to go beyond its teachings, we are not to add anything to it (reference Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19). We do not need to consult the books of man, but rather, align all other teaching to the truth of God's Word. For in the Word of the Lord we will find the meaning to life and the understanding we need to make sense of the mixed up world we live in as our eyes gain clarity through our study and we begin to see everything from God's perspective. "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law" (Psalm 119:18).

 

The more time we spend digging, meditating, feasting, and digesting His marvelous Word, the more our eyes are opened up to the wonders of our God. He is wonderful, majestic, glorious, beautiful, awesome, and He cannot be contained by the pages of His Word; He desires most to dwell in the depths of our heart and express His love and goodness in intimate, tangible, and personal ways to us today. As we open His Word, may we not just partake of the story that He reveals to us at this moment as a casual observer, instead, may we become willing participants and give Him opportunity to enter our lives, right where we are at, and personally touch us with a fresh revelation of Who He is, allowing Him to whisper the Words He desires us to hear, that we might receive, with gratitude, the portion He has personally prepared for us! "I have not departed from Your laws, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet Your words are to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119: 102-103).  

 

 

"Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil."

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 

 

 

 

Dinner: The Sovereignty of God - a Matter of Wonder  -  Focus on Daniel 12:1-13

 

 "I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below...

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord

will be saved."

Joel 2:28; Acts 2:19, 21 

 

From the "conclusion of the matter" in Ecclesiastes, we now move to the "end times" as we come to the twelfth and final chapter of Daniel. Our time in the Book of Daniel has, indeed, led us to look with wonder upon the plans of God. For Daniel, his revelation has led him to a place of astonishment and we would do well to respond with wonder and awe at the mighty works of God. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain" (Psalm 139:6).

 

Daniel's diligent study of the Word of God, and his faithfulness to remain in prayer and seek the face of God for greater understanding, resulted in the Lord revealing deep and hidden things regarding His future plans (Psalm 78:1-2; Jeremiah 33:3; Daniel 2:22); not so those plans would be locked away, but so that a people not yet born would have this information as a source of inspiration in which to guide their preparation for these future events (Psalm 102:18).  Daniel's faithful record keeping have given us confirmation of God's plans that have already unfolded and a window into His future kingdom.

 

As believers, we are the Lord's ambassadors who are called to carry His torch and bear His light in this dark and fallen world (Matthew 5:14-16; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21). The light of His Word is meant to illumine our path so we will know the way to walk and not stumble over obstacles that are placed in our path to cause us to fall. "Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them" (Hosea 14:9). His light is also meant to radiate through us so we will be a bright light leading others to His righteousness. "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day" (Proverbs 4:18).

 

Our Scripture focus these past twelve days has been Habakkuk 2:14, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."  This verse speaks of the destruction of an evil, worldly empire that would open the door for God's glory to be revealed to the earth. Daniel's prophecies speak of a time, yet in the future, where the Lord plans to bring an end to sin and evil for all time, and He will set up His glorious kingdom for all eternity. As His children, we will reign with Him forever and experience the wonder of dwelling with our Lord and Savior for all eternity. 

 

The knowledge of His glory is meant to be shared with the world and He has allowed us the privilege of peeking into His kingdom calendar so we can recognize the times we are living in and the urgency of the hour. All that we have been shown these past twelve days has confirmed His Sovereignty as Holy God and our responsibility as His children who have been called to "be holy, because [He] is holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16). We have spent this time focused on our King who has already come and Who reigns in our hearts, and Who will one day return to gather us so we will reign with Him in His glorious kingdom forever. Let us now go forward with confidence in the knowledge that our King is seated on His throne, and remain faithful to the task that is before us in this Year of the Harvest...He has prepared the way! (Hosea 10:12; Hebrews 4:14-16).   Stand firm in the faith!

 

"Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens,

and those who lead many to righteousness,

like the stars for ever and ever."

Daniel 12:3

 

A Word of Encouragement

On the twelve days of Christmas my True Love gave to me...

His Wisdom, Work, Worship, Witness,

Wealth, Will, Wrath, Way, Wait,

Word, Watch, and Wonder... 

 

 

"All this comes from the LORD Almighty,

wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom."

(Isaiah 28:29) 

 

In return I gave Him my heart...

 

"I will praise You, O LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all Your wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name,

O Most High."

Psalm 9:1-2

 

 

If you keep a prayer journal, take time to record your prayers and thoughts.

 

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all! (2 Corinthians 13:14)

Feasting on His Word and Remaining at His Feet,

Traci Alexander

Trumpet and Torch Ministries

EPIPHANY - Our Coming King!   © 2008, Traci A. Alexander

Trumpet and Torch Ministries    www.trumpetandtorch.org