Thursday, December 15, 2016
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Our granddaughter was almost three when her parents took her to the place that blew her little mind-Disneyland. She loved Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh and Cinderella, and this was where they live, right? For many months afterward, she continued to talk about the experiences she had there. But it was her first reaction that was the most priceless of all. They got off the tram and walked onto the main street of Disneyland with a castle in front of them and Disney characters greeting them. Her reaction wasn't verbal, so it's a little hard to convey it. But imagine a dark-haired, dark-eyed, round-faced little girl stopped in her tracks with her eyes like saucers, her hands suddenly covering her mouth, and one audible reaction – gasp!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Living In the 'WOW' Zone."
Our granddaughter saw a world that literally left her breathless and speechless. That wide-eyed, awe-struck little girl? She's a picture of how you and I should be when we enter the personal presence of Almighty God.
In our word for today from the Word of God in Revelation 1:17, John gets to see the living Christ as He is in heaven today. This is the Jesus you depend on, the Jesus you cry out to, the Jesus you worship, the Jesus you claim to serve. It says His eyes are like a blazing fire, His voice is like the sound of Niagara Falls, and His face is shining as bright as our sun. He's overwhelming, and here's what John says, "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead." When John sees Jesus, he just enters the "wow" zone where he can't even stand anymore.
The same thing happened to Joshua. When he saw the Lord outside the walls of Jericho, it says he "...fell facedown to the ground in reverence" (Joshua 5:14). When Simon Peter saw what Jesus could do, it says "he fell at Jesus' knees" (Luke 5:8). When the disciples saw the glory of Christ on a mountain, it says "they fell facedown on the ground." Again and again, powerful, looked-to men are leveled by the greatness of God. Our response should be no less.
This "facedown" thing is all through Scripture. When I look at how many of us seem to take God for granted, seem to feel little or nothing when we pray or spend time in God's Word, I've got to ask, "What happened to us?" What happened is that God has become something we believe in instead of an awesome King that we love and experience. Our study of Him should excite us-not sedate us. But sometimes we know so much about Him, He becomes just theology, just beliefs to us, or just a "genie" to give us what we want, or someone with whom we have a loyal relationship but a lifeless relationship.
But facing up to who God is should bring us to being facedown before Him; sometimes physically facedown-always spiritually facedown. Maybe our first word when we pray should be "wow!" realizing just Who we're with. We are in the personal presence of the Sovereign Lord of 100 billion galaxies, the object of the worship of angels who number ten thousand times ten thousand. The people and beings in heaven are with Him every day, but they are constantly on their knees and on their faces before Him. They can't get over the price the Son of God paid for us. They keep praising the Lamb who was slane. They can't get over Him, and neither should we.
If things in your life seem really big, it's probably because your God is too small. You're dwelling on so much earth-stuff that you're missing the majesty and the breathtakingness of your God. If your Lord's become everyday stuff to you, it's time to stop and let Him overwhelm you again. Think about His blazing glory, His amazing plan, His total control of everything He's made. Think about His inexhaustible, unfathomable love for you. Think about the Prince of Glory hanging on a cross for you and let Him take your breath away.
Let Him get you off your feet and off your seat and on your knees. Let you be facedown before Him, because that is the most powerful position on earth.