As I studied in the park Sunday afternoon, I was reading through the first 3 chapters of Revelations and I noticed that as John wrote to the angels of the 7 churches, he was always told to begin with, "These are the words of...", and then he would go on to say something that described Jesus. For example, when he wrote to the angel of the church in Ephesus, he was told to say, "These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands, and to the angel of Smyrna, he wrote, "These are the words of Him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again." So, I went on to read how he began his letters to the other churches as well, and as I read, I wrote down all of the ways that our Father in Heaven was described in these passages. Here is what I came up with:
The First and the Last, who died and came to life again. (Rev. 2:1)
The words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. (Rev. 2:12)
The Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. (Rev. 2:18)
Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. (Rev. 3:1)
Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. (Rev. 3:7)
the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Ruler of God’s creation. (Rev. 3:14)
I also went back to John's "Greetings and Doxology" to the 7 churches in the beginning and wrote down Rev. 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”, and after writing all of these down, I realized that I had the perfect praise list! It made me think of the Lord's prayer and how we have been taught to begin with praise, so having this list in front of me was powerful, and that is the reason why I share it with you today!
With that being said, I ask you to take a moment each day and read over this list, or maybe add to it, or come up with one of your own, and then praise Him! Praise Him for dying for us on the cross, praise Him for His wisdom, praise Him for open doors providing new opportunities, and for closing doors that needed to be shut, and praise Him for being faithful and true, and for keeping His promises, just praise Him!