This is not just Revelation... this is celebration! Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:11-16 NKJV Who would not tremble mouth agape, astounded at the majesty of this sight? Who would not fall before Him, face to the ground in worship? This is our King. This is our Savior. This is our God who gave everything to call us His children and save us from death and destruction. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come! You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created. Revelation 4:8, 11 NKJV He is my God. He is my Lord. I will ever worship Him... grateful for this year, each day growing in His word; less of me, more of Him. Word of God train me today... To eagerly await this glorious eternity. To not waste earthly days on temporary pursuits, rather to seek first Your kingdom.
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and these to be honored... And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. Now after the three-and-a half-days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. Revelation 11:3-13 NKJV These witnesses seem like heroes, bold and brave, powerful and mighty. They seem to have no fear. But then, after they are killed what ungodly disrespect. It takes my breath away to imagine them just lying there, people celebrating their death. But oh, for the loud voice which thunders from heaven, calling them... “Come up here.” Now that gives glory to God! Word of God train me today... To be a bold witness for You giving You glory with every breath. To not fear witnessing for Your glory as I know evil does not win. The book of Revelation may have been written by John, a former disciple... but is not about him. For it is rather the Revelation of Jesus Christ. After surviving torture, for preaching the word of God, John was exiled to the island of Patmos where God revealed Himself in visions, asking that John write these things. This, one such vision... After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of allnations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne nd the elders and the four living creatures, all fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:9-17 NKJV The focus of heavenly citizens will not be on what they did to get there, not their works that caused their robes to become white and clean, rather... they are before God with robes washed by the blood of the Lamb, who is also the Shepherd who will lead them to living waters. Not still and stagnant waters, but living, refreshing, overflowing waters which never run dry. And He will also wipe away every tear... personally knowing our pain and the sorrow of the past, gently brushing each cheek, looking lovingly into our eyes to show that He too has experienced the pain of humanity. But that pain will be no longer. For time will come when we can personally bow before our God and worship Him... Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” What an amazing day that will be. Word of God train me today... To embrace the wonder of eternity. To endure the difficult times with confidence knowing that You have perfect peace waiting for us in eternity. There are many visions described in detail by John in the book of Revelation. Some are beautiful, filled with worship, glorifying to God almighty. Others are honestly curious, mysterious... even frightening. Which may be why so many avoid the topics within this book. I mean, who wants to commit to a commentary when the warning at the end says... If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18-19 NKJV So I would not want to be one such person to add to, nor take away from these prophecies. But only to report on them... especially when I am accountable for what I know. And what if the world wrongly uses the names or references from the Bible, to represent them in theatre? What then? Is that part of my accountability? So today as was reading along, I came across the title of scorpian king. Shaking my head, I thought... wasn't there a movie about this? So I watched the trailer... and without much surprise, I found that Hollywood had used that name with absolutely no proper relation to what will happen according to prophecy in these end times. And maybe they made it up, without knowing there actually will be a scorpian king... who knows? But this is the name of a destroyer, Abaddon, king over fearful scorpions, who will torment those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads in the last of days. WARNING: This is not an encouraging passage, but that does not dispute the holiness, nor truth of the inspired word of God. An angel used the key he was given... And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power... The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. Revelation 9:2-3, 7-11 NKVJ These to be certain would swarm in fearful mass about men... worse than any horror movie ever seen; tormenting, so they would want to die. People reading such may mock and joke, but only because our sensitivity to such has been stripped away by vivid and violent scenes in movies. We even binge on Netflix series of zombies, using the excuse that we only watch because the storyline is so good. When in reality, it causes the importance and weight of spiritual things of God... things such as Bible prophecy to no longer have it's fearful effect. I wonder if this could be one of the schemes of the devil? For prophecy such as this should actually take our breath away... should cause us to cringe and wonder. I'm just glad that I'm on God's side. Mock, jeer, point fingers if you like. I won't criticize or sarcasticaly say, "I'll pray for you." Simply because the prophecy in this last book is something to read carefully and take seriously. And I, like all, will have to stand and be judged for all I've said... and all I've known, but not said. This is my accountablity. So as I finish reading through this year, I'll continue telling these truths grateful to be sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. Word of God train me today... To be honest about Your truths. To not shy away from any part of Your word. As we come to the end of this year, I will not neglect this, the last book of the Bible. Fear creeps in to some who don't know what to make of this book of Revelation. But God is certain to let us know that we are blessed to read it, to be curious, to seek wisdom and knowledge. And He gives generously to those who lean into Him. Do I... will I... understand every line, every word, every prophecy? No. Do I... will I... glorify God in the seeking? Yes. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. Revelation 2:7 NKJV For I long to overcome. And there it is... that word I love so well, NIKE! It challenges me to take on more. It spurs me to be courageous, to stand tall and put on my armor. For this victory is not about me, but about good verses evil, about Heaven verses Hell. And I will stand up for the glory of my God who stood up for me. Let us not fear what we don't understand. Rather let us pray our way in and through it. Turn away from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry. Psalm 34:14-15 Word of God train me today... To seek to know more. To hear what the Spirit says, that I may overcome and receive goodness from the tree of life. |
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January 2019
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