How you doin? Another rough night with Paulie. He walked in our room crying of a headache at 2am. Poor Stacey couldn't fall asleep until 4am,
which kept me up as well. It's going to be a long day. At least the
excitement of the Flyers victory last night will help. God will need to
do the rest. I read out of my mother's NIV Life Application Study
Bible each morning. Then when I do this email, I read from the NASB off
of BibleGateway.com. We started Revelation today and I was thrown for a
loop by my NIV Bible. There is a section in the "Study" portion of my
Bible that is titled "Interpreting The Book Of revelation". As you may
recognize, I don't agree with interpretation. I believe interpretation
is for fiction. The Bible is truth. I understand that there are
translations, but that's a different subject. The Bible is truth and
more specifically one truth. God does not contradict Himself. I don't
understand everything I read, but that's not due to my lack of ability
to interpret, it's due to my level of revelation and understanding. The
reason why the Bible is different each time we read it is because,
God's word is alive. As we contemplate God's word, He takes us from
glory to glory. He reveals more of the mystery of God, which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory, through revelation of the truth in His word.
Interpretation, for me, lends it's self to lowering God's standards and
twisting His truth to fit my life's circumstances and my
understanding. I just accept this. Bill Johnson said it best, "I'm not
willing to sacrifice God's glory on the alter of human understanding".
He said this after his father died of cancer. If I don't understand
something, I pray for revelation and then wait patiently for the Holy
Ghost to reveal the truth.
I hear a
growing debate in the Christian community on when the book of Revelation
was written. The "Vital Statistics" in the beginning of this chapter
says "about A.D.95". Some claim that this book was written in A.D. 68.
A big difference here is, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D.
70. Anyway, this is a huge topic that I'm not going to get into
today. If you are interested check out this link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Verse 3, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and [b]heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near."
Here's the important part of the debate. Is the prophecy spoken in
this book still to come or has it come? If it has come then we are
living under or in that prophecy instead of waiting for it to come.
This is no small matter of opinion or "interpretation". The truth will
set you free. COME ON!!!!!!! If you watch the video link, you will
guess what I believe, based on the speaker. Verse 7 is more evidence of
the A.D. 68 truth.
Let me get to the good part. Verses 4-6, "John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who [c]is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins [d]by His blood— 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to [e]His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." Holy Mac A Loly!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!! In case you missed it, "He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to [e]His God and Father".
These verses are an incredible description of Jesus and what God
created us to be. SO GOOD!!!!!!! To take on this identity 100% is what
I pray for with all my heart. In the Old Testament, only the priest
could be in the Presence. Since Jesus did His thing, we can be in the
Presence. COME ON!!!!!!! I love the language in verse 5, "To Him who
loves us and released us from our sins by His blood". It does say
forgave or forgives us of our sins, it says "released us". That's a
great deal.
Verses 17-18, "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I [l]was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."
AWESOME!!!!!!! I can picture myself falling at His feet like a dead
man. "Do not be afraid". I love the refuge and safety that Jesus
offers us. The best part is what Jesus accomplished by His death,
resurrection, and ascension. "And I have the keys of death and of
Hades". Jesus regained the keys that Adam forfeited by sinning. Now
that's an even better deal. Thank you Jesus for conquering death. As
usual, this chapter and book is loaded. This is going to a great 22
days. Be the priest that God created you to be today... be in his
Presence today.
PS
I believe that God hinds thing for us... not from us. This book has
baffled people for thousands of years. I read it today through the lens
of "victorious eschatology" and it has never made more sense. Give it a
test spin with an open mind and heart. Check out the link.
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