Before you begin, take a few moments to find and create for yourself a quiet space. You can turn off your phone and close any chat or other things that might interrupt your time. Give your time and attention wholly to God for the next while.
You might say a prayer, inviting God to speak to you, to reveal Himself to you and to help you grow in your knowledge and understanding of who He is and who He calls you to be.
1Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
Reflection
John is told to eat the book. Eating a book means that one takes it all in, assimilating it into one’s body. Witnesses must first become what they say before they say it. Are you assimilating God’s word so that you can be a speaker on His behalf?
Every witness experiences the opposite sensations of sweetness and bitterness. The Word is sweet because it is from God. But when it is rejected by others, we will experience that bitter truth that they doom themselves to judgment. What are some of your recent experiences with God’s word?
Recount some of the sweet and bitter moments when you witnessed to others. Stay with the Holy Spirit for a little while as He brings different situations to your mind.
Prayer & Journaling:
Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the “Spiritual Journal” book.
Proverbs for Today 30:32-33
32 If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil,
put your hand on your mouth.
33 For pressing milk produces curds,
pressing the nose produces blood,
and pressing anger produces strife.