When life dishes out rejection.
“ from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— and He made us into a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” REV 1:5-6 NASB.
In Paul Wangai’s book “We got fired.” He lists several famous people who got fired from their jobs: Larry King, Steve Jobs, Elvis Presley, Walt Disney etc.
Elvis Presley got fired from a music studio in 1954. He was told, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. Go back and drive a truck.” Tell that to the thousands of Elvis impersonators who sing his tunes decades after his death.
Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for lack of ideas. The Disney Company, with its movies, theme parks, television stations and more, is now a multi billion-dollar global empire.
Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computers in his garage, then got fired from his own company. Jobs picked up the pieces and bought a majority share in Pixar in 1986. Nine years later, he won an Oscar for Toy Story. In 1996 he was back at Apple!
I can relate to how it feels when life dishes out rejection. But the above examples make it clear that no matter how bad things get, God can use it as a stepping stone to greatness.
I certainly don’t always feel like a king, do you? When you feel like nothing will ever go right for you, and everybody’s against you; it is easy to wonder whether life is worth living. Yet Revelation insists that we are elevated to the status of kings and priests in Jesus Christ. When you think that you are nobody, that no one cares, grab the Book of Revelation and scatter those thoughts with the clear assertions of God’s Word! We are not nobodies; we have been elevated to the highest places in Christ. The Book of Revelation is not only a revelation of who Jesus Christ is but of who we can become in Him.
Faith, hope, and love, which alone can steer storm-tossed souls, find much to feed upon in the book of Revelation. Central to its visions is ever the slain Lamb, reminding us that our Maker has shared earth’s nightmare. Sin has cost Him more than anybody else. That black Friday of Calvary, frequently imaged in this book we are considering, becomes a pattern of reality. Crucifixion was succeeded by victorious resurrection. Pain, disappointment, and death were not permitted to have the last word. The divine Sufferer is alive and has the keys of death and the grave. He offers now to light our way through the darkness, and to hold our hands as we journey. This book of His, promises that He measures every trial, and that not one hair can perish but by His permission and for our eternal good. However black the night, we shall see Him in the morning. However spent and crippled we may now be, we are soon to be made anew, sharing forever the life and joy of the resurrected Son of God.
“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.'” (1 Corinthians 15:54 RSV). Both man and earth are to pass from the cocoon of trauma into the glorious liberty of the new creation.
Again, thank you Ross for sharing your wisdom in deciphering God’s words for us to savor.
Again, thank you Ross for sharing your wisdom in deciphering God’s words for us to savor. I acknowledge that Faith, Hope and Love come from Jesus who has his hands on humanity.
Thank you Jesus for dying for me and even in down times as well as my good times you are there besides me