In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22.

Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal? 1 Corinthians 3:3.

God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

And our chapter, Revelation 8: When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God and out of the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

I can’t help but read Revelation and think of ancient Egypt. It took plagues and changes only God could bring to the natural order as we understand it to be, to enable His people to be let go out of their bondage of slavery to worship God. That was only a few million people and one Pharoah and one nation. Now imagine what it will take for all of mankind to be brought out of the slavery and bondage of idolatry, the control of which is just as strong as was the control of Pharaoh. We think we are so sophisticated today in our modern world and yet we have no idea. I also thought about the disciples as I read our chapter. They were witness to miracles of Jesus the Son that were not explainable by the natural order they understood, whether of storms and how they behaved under the word of Jesus, or of bread and fish multiplied greatly, or of the raising to life again of Lazarus who had been dead four days. What do you do with what cannot be explained in the natural order of things? What will it take to bring change that changes everything? The disciples world was being upended and it was needed. And in Him…they…were being built up together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. So are we as we trust Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit! Creation belongs to Creator God. Everything that needs to be upended will be upended. God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. In Him we too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. When our world is upended, trust Creator God. Look to Him for the understanding and help only He can bring because real change on the massive scale of all of humanity will upend all life as we know it to be. If your trust is not in Creator God, who will you trust? Yourself? Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. Jeremiah 17:7. O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress, to You the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, futility and things of no profit.” Can man make gods for himself? Yet they are not gods! Therefore behold, I am going to make them know – this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is the LORD. Jeremiah 16:19-21. We are reading together the last book of Scripture and if all of the pages began to turn suddenly backward with a visual of all the history recorded, what do we find, what one constant do we see? Creator God! And His love and His provision as we have eyes opened to Him to truly see. The change that changes everything!