Corona Devo 3084

I'd love to meet my hero...how about you?

When you were a kid, who was your hero? 

Did you ever dream of meeting them?  

Do we have a modern-day hero?
Ever dreamt of meeting him or her?  What would it be like?  What might we say?  What would they say?  

I feel like I have gotten to meet one of my today-heroes.  For the past three years, for a few days in August my husband and I have been blessed to visit The Cove in North Carolina and sit under the teaching (and humor and humility) of Will Graham (grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham, and son of Franklin and Jane Graham). 

In terms of God-fearing and God-sharing families, the Graham’s are an amazing example of what lives lived to honor the Lord can look like, and being in seminar with Will Graham is like meeting one of my heroes.

But childhood heroes, sports stars, and Hollywood personalities aside...what if we could meet our ultimate hero: Jesus Christ?

What if…

WHAT IF…

What if we could meet Jesus?

What would that be like?

John (the apostle John) did meet Jesus.

While John was exiled on the island of Patmos (for teaching and sharing with others about Jesus)…John met Jesus.

Can we imagine what that was like?

Humbling?  Larger than life?  Overwhelming?  Emotional?

Yes, to all of the above...and more.

If meeting one of our human heroes stir up overwhelming feelings...then meeting Jesus Christ would just about render us useless, wouldn’t it?  And that’s what happened to John: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead” (Revelation 1:17).

What was John doing when he met his hero, Jesus?  Was he just minding his own business? 

No, John was minding his Hero’s business when he met his hero: he was worshiping in the Spirit.

I’ll let John tell us in his own words:

It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.  Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. (11) It said, “Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”  ~Revelation 1:10-11

If we wonder/dream/fear what it will be like in our Lord’s presence…God gives us a preview in the Book of Revelation, and it will be exciting.

Ahem!  Where were we on our voyage of meeting our hero Jesus?

Ah, yes…what will He look like?

John tells us:

When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. (13) And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.  
He was wearing a long robe 
with a gold sash across his chest. 
(14) His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. 
And his eyes were like flames of fire. 
(15) His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, 
and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 
(16) He held seven stars in his right hand, 
and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. 
And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.  ~Revelation 1:12-16

What will it be like to meet (our hero) Jesus?  Pictures don't do it justice, but here we have it described.  

Awesome, isn't it?  

But do not be afraid. 

Jesus told John that, and He speaks those words to us also. 

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid!"  ~Revelation 1:17

We may have a healthy and desiring ambition to meet our hero, Jesus, but in that moment, there is sure to be justified fear.  

But fight it.  

We can fight the fear of meeting our Holy God with the truth of our Holy God.  

“Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. (18) I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. 

(19) “Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.  ~Revelation 1:17-19

Jesus told John to write down what he was seeing and John obeyed...and this became the Book of Revelation!

Because John wrote it…we can read it.  And Jesus says to read it 

God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.  ~Revelation 1:3

And when we DO meet our hero Jesus one day, now we know what to look for.  We will recognize our hero Jesus because John has described Him for us. 

And what a day that will be.

Better than shaking the president’s hand, being backstage at a favorite musician’s concert, or receiving a signed ball from an esteemed athlete: when we MEET JESUS, it will trump any and every other "hero" encounter ever.

And we will get to meet our hero, Brothers and Sisters in Christ.  The Bible describes that moment too:

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.  ~I Thessalonians 4:15-18

~~~

What a day THAT will be when we meet our greatest hero!  

“Don’t be afraid!"  ~Revelation 1:17

I can't WAIT...how about you?

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com