Revelation 22:4 They will see is face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

It is interesting that some oriental stories/legends have the idea of a name or mark of power being on someone’s forehead. I think the Japanese Dragon Ball animation series includes this. The idea first appears in the Bible in Ezekiel 9:4, where those who grieve over idolatry are given a mark on their forehead to protect them from judgment, much as the blood on the doorposts did at the original Passover in Exodus 12. Today the more famous mark is the 666 mentioned in Revelation 13:16-18, but here we have the ultimate mark, because nothing is superior to the Creator God. It is significant that it is on the forehead for two reasons. First, it is immediately visible to everyone else, but not to the one so marked. I am reminded of how Moses’ face glowed after being with God, striking fear in those who saw him, but he himself wasn’t aware of it. (Exodus 34:29-30) When we are on intimate terms with God, all who know us will recognize the difference, but it seems perfectly normal to us! The location of the mark is also significant because the head is where the battles are. We do not sin in action until we have first sinned in thought. This is why the helmet of salvation is an essential part of the armor of God in Ephesians 6:13-18: if our minds, our thoughts, aren’t submitted to and protected by God, we’re in deep trouble! However, God’s Name being on our foreheads can’t be separated from seeing the face of God. Just as with Moses on Sinai, it is intimate fellowship with God that makes the difference. The glorious thing is, such fellowship doesn’t have to wait for heaven, because God doesn’t want it to! He desires fellowship with each of His children even right now, but we have to be open and available, fully submitted to Him, for it to happen. We do have various limitations to such fellowship in this life, but God can and does transcend those in amazing ways when we are fully committed to Him.

The Lord has given me a hunger for fellowship with Him that has only grown, the more I have tasted it. It’s the most wonderfully addictive thing ever! I desire to be use by Him in destroying the works of the devil, (1 John 3:8) healing the sick and setting the captives free, (Luke 4:18-19) but that will happen only in the context of my abiding in Him (John 15:4-7) in ever-increasing intimacy. I know that I am already sealed with the Holy Spirit, so my goal is to let that be increasingly obvious and operative in my life, not to be “weird” but to be increasingly transparent as a carrier of the presence of God. I want to keep shedding everything that interferes with that, so that I may be His agent on every level, for His pleasure and glory.

Father, thank You for the hunger for this that You have given me. It’s a blessed obsession! It’s not nearly as operative in my daily life as it could be or should be. Help me live out the truth I know, in ever-increasing fellowship with You indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!