Do You Have Seven Minutes a Day?

Consider praying before you read the scripture.

Prayer ~ Lord God, why is the number seven is important to You? How can I apply this recurring number to help me to understand more about You? You have a great and mysterious plan for all of humanity…and I just want to comprehend and appreciate what You desire for mankind—that I could live to please You day by day…moment by moment.

 

Meditate. How detail-oriented are you? God has a plan…and it is likely much more detailed than we can imagine. It begins and ends with the number seven.

This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Revelation 1:20

 

Read the entire first chapter of Revelation, again focusing on the verses that describe Jesus. He’s standing in the middle of the lampstand; in the middle. He’s not off to the side. He’s in the center. He holds seven stars in His right hand and He tells John to write down the things concerning the mystery of the seven stars and the seven gold lampstands. He reveals that the seven stars are the angels or messengers of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are those seven churches. Why did God choose seven as His number of completion? Why choose seven, not eight churches?

 

7 Seven is seen throughout Bible accounts. Creation occurred in seven days. Noah was told to take seven pairs of clean animals, good for eating and sacrifice, and seven pairs of every kind of bird. Jacob worked for Laban seven years in order to marry Laban’s daughter Leah and then another seven years to obtain Rachel as his wife. Jacob worked for an additional years for his herd of livestock. Joseph, captive in Egypt, dreamed and thus predicted seven years of bountiful harvests followed by seven lean years. This knowledge led him to be the second most powerful man in Egypt and save his own family that became the great nation of Israel. Seven was an important number when it came to Jewish Festivals. God specified seven days for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Google or search in a Bible app, like the Blue Letter Bible, for yourself “seven” and you’ll see over 300 verses that mention that word no matter what translation you search. Seven is considered to be the number of completion. It seems to be God’s favorite number, although you’ll not see him using that number for any game of chance. Can you use this information to build your relationship with God?  Communication is important in building any relationship—and prayer—just talking to God and listening to Him via His written word, the Bible, is essential to building your relationship with Him. Do you have seven minutes a day to chat with God—your creator, savior, friend?

 

Verse of Salvation ~ Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he (crippled man) was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, 'The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.' There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Acts 4:10-12

Memory Verse for the Week ~ Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 NLT

 

Friday’s Feast at the King’s Table

We can’t live on bread alone. Sometimes, we just crave a little something sweet. A spoonful—even a very small spoonful—of honey may be just what we need. Honey is a great anti-inflammatory food with antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. Combine it with another antibacterial and disease fighting food, garlic, you actually get a symbiotic effect. The two together work better than either one alone. To combine these two miraculous foods, you can pickle garlic in honey.

 

Essence of Garlic-Honey

Simply crush the cloves of one head of garlic and place in a sterile pint jar. Cover with raw, unpasteurized local honey, filling to within one-half inch of the top of the jar. Seal and set on your counter for a couple of days, turning the jar over to gently shake it a couple of times daily. After about a week, simply use the honey, by the spoonful anyway you would use honey and use the garlic in the way you normally use garlic. Both together would be good in salad dressings, in meat or vegetable marinates, or even in soup or stew. Store for a month at room temperature.

 

Over the years, I’ve had a bit of a sore throat, from postnasal drip—not Covid—and a tiny spoonful of this honey-garlic mixture amazingly takes away that scratchy soreness. Yesterday I drizzled it over thinly sliced apples for a quick dessert. You could do that for a snack, too. Yum.

Do you like honey? Don't eat too much, or it will make you sick! Proverbs 25:16

 

© 2022 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

Books by Mickey M. Hunacek

Introducing my new children's book!

Coins in the Bible: New Testament Stories 

Four stories from the New Testament 

just for children.

 * The Lost Coin

 * To Whom Does This Coin Belong?

 * Have You Been Fishing Lately?

 * How Much is a Penny Worth?

Parenting Day By Day - Daily Devotional for Building Character

Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com