BEHOLD HIM

Ap 4:1-2; 5:6-14

Revelation 4:1–2 ESV

1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

Beholding Jesus can't depend on how your week is going. The more you look at Him, the more you learn who He is, and the more you become like Him.

There's a phrase no generation should say: "that's for the next generation." You're not the next generation. You're the generation of right now. Jesus isn't waiting for you to grow up to work in you and through you. He wants to start today.

1) DON'T WAIT TO COMMIT

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Timothy was young, and Paul didn't say wait to grow up. He said be an example now. Same applies today. You don't need to finish high school, get to college, or gain more experience before Jesus can use you. He can use you today, exactly as you are.

2) BEHOLDING CAN'T DEPEND ON HOW THINGS ARE GOING

Revelation 5:6–14 ESV

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

In heaven, the elders bow before the Lamb. They take off their crowns and lay them down. That means nothing I've achieved is worth more than Him. The only word they can say is "Holy." And here's the detail, at that moment, the scroll was still sealed. Nothing visible had happened yet. And He was already worthy.

It's easy to behold Jesus when things are going well. It's hard to behold Him when the scroll is still sealed in your life, when you haven't seen the answer yet, when hard times are coming. But the Lamb was worthy before He did anything. And you can behold Him before you see anything change in your life too.

Psalm 27:5 ESV

5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

3) THE MORE YOU BEHOLD, THE MORE YOU BECOME LIKE HIM

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Every time you enter that place of beholding, you don't leave the same. You learn His beauty, and you learn His character. And that changes you from the inside.

This matters right now because you're entering a season full of big decisions. College, career, friendships, dating, your future. If your life is built around the presence of Jesus, your heart will be aligned with His heart. And an aligned heart makes better decisions, because it already knows what the Father wants before the decision even arrives.

You're a generation full of distraction, full of information, full of activity. That's going to keep trying to steal your sense that seeking Jesus, His heart and His presence, is a priority. Decide now it won't win.

Tonight you leave this intensive and soon you will go back to school, to college, to the ordinary day. You have to maintain what you learned this week , every day, even without feeling anything special, even if what you want still isn't happening, even if hard times are coming.

The Lamb stays worthy before, during, and after whatever you're walking through. The question isn't whether life will be easy. The question is whether you'll keep beholding when it isn't.

Just like the elders in Revelation 5 did this with harp and bowl, worship and prayer together, exactly what you practiced this week, you're called to keep doing this every day, until the Day of the Lord. Not because you feel like it every day. Because He's worthy every day.

Keep beholding Him.