Encouragement
"On His robe and on His thigh he has this name inscribed,"King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Revelation 19:16
The Holy of Holies is a sacred sanctuary where God himself dwells. It is the place where we behold the face of God.
We all know that one day we shall stand in front of our Creator and have to face his glorious presence. How do we prepare ourselves for this event?
We see in life whenever we have to meet anyone important or the person who means the most to us, we prepare ourselves for this meeting much in advance. The days leading to the grand day is always full of thrills and anticipation as we count the hours and minutes that either pass by too slowly or just speeds by until the significant moment of meeting.
When at last we stand in front of the person, it can have such a dramatizing effect on us that we may forget our carefully prepared speech and go into a hypnotic stage where we might even not remember to smile and greet.
The reason for this reaction of ours is purely because emotions are so vibrant at that moment with hidden desires of the soul being fulfilled behind the sanctuary of the heart.
Even after the meeting, we live on the strength of the memory of those beautiful moments.
How much more mesmerizing will our reaction be when we see the Lord on that final day?
When Jesus walked on this earth every space that his foot trod upon became a holy place. The people of Jerusalem did not know in whose presence they were standing. During the time of Jesus'mission the Holy of Holies was right upon this earth from the manger at Bethlehem to the Cross at Calvary and the garden tomb. These places are still called holy land right until this day and millions of tourists flock to visit these holy sites and gain blessings for themselves.
Christ may have walked here over two thousand years ago but the holiness He left behind is perpetual.
The Holy of Holies is also the Blessed Sacrament where Jesus is present day and night. In the Old Testament,the Ark of the Covenant designed by God himself was His dwelling place. It was a wooden chest covered with gold and containing the two Stone Tablets of the Ten Commandments written by God on Mount Sinai and given to Moses.
When the Ark was carried by the Levites the waters of the Jordan sea parted. They triumphed in the city of Jericho after parading around the walls of the city for seven days with the Ark of the Covenant. The walls of Jericho were shaken to the ground with the powering effect of God's presence.
Whenever the Lord appeared at any spot or in any form be it a burning bush or a pillar of cloud, that place became a holy place. King David danced in front of the ark in full exuberance when he brought the Ark to Jerusalem. He placed it in the Tabernacle prepared for it and offered sacrifices to it.
King Solomon too worshipped before the ark after having a dream in which God promised him wisdom. The presence of the Ark won many battles for the Israelites and it was the towering and dominating presence of God with them.
When Jesus died on the Cross, the veil of the temple housing the ark of the covenant where only the chief Priest was allowed to enter was torn in two.
Christ now became the Sacrifice of the Lamb and the Chief Priest of all nations.
There is a beautiful hymn; "I enter the Holy of Holies. I enter through the blood of the lamb. I enter to worship you only. I enter to honour 'I Am'."
Yes, we can enter this sacred place only through the blood that Jesus shed for us. His blood alone qualifies us to step into His dazzling presence.
In the book of Revelation, the apostle John was given many visions of Heaven one being the very throne of God. He saw a throne with someone sitting on it who had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings.
These living creatures worship the Lord non stop day and night, giving him glory, honor and thanks with the words.“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’who was, and is, and is to come.”
At this, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,for you created all things,and by your will they were created and have their being.”
Another beautiful and final vision was the New Heaven and Earth. The New Jerusalem. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does not do the will of God, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The Lord has sent us into this earth to fulfill the mission he started long ago. How do we fulfill this mission at payback time?
There was once two friends Jim and Bob who go their own ways after graduation to pursue their dreams. They agree to meet at a designated place after twenty years so that each can relate their achievements of the past years and how successful they have been.
After twenty years on that fateful night, Bob arrives before time and waits for his friend Jim. The street is empty and dark with only a lone cop doing the rounds and checking if everyone is safe and sound. The cop gets into a conversation with Bob who narrates to him on how he is waiting there for his friend Jim whom he promised to meet twenty years ago.
The cop wishes him good night and continues on to the other street. Bob waits for a long time. Soon he is surrounded by cops and arrested. One of the cop hands him a letter. When he opens it, he sees that it is written by his friend Jim who tells him he was so happy to see Bob standing at the promised spot but on reaching nearer, he saw the face of the man wanted by the Chicago cops. He did not have the heart to arrest him on his own and hence he had sent the other cops to do it.
Bob had indeed not recognised his friend Jim in the cop with whom he had a long conversation.
Life is like this. Sometimes we fail to recognise the right moments that can change our life for the better. We also fail to recognise Christ in the people around us.
Whenever we pray to our Guardian angel, we can be sure that He travels with us armed in defence to protect us from any harm. He may be invisible to us but visible to others to deter them from any untoward action upon us.
If we ask God to send labourers in the vineyard to help us, he rushes to send us his earthly angels through people and favorable circumstances.
The word "Alleluia" is such a powerful word that if we recite it continuously glorifying the Risen Lord we can definitely expect a heap of blessings in return flowing down right from the throne of God.
Let us all gird ourselves to enter the holiest place and see our Risen Lord, to bow before His holy presence in full worship and sing Praises to the Living God for ten thousand years in time.
For He himself said;" I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End."
Maria Franco
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