Thoughts From the Bible

Read Revelation 22: 1- 5- During the Tribulation, Satan will be pushing to terrify people into following him and ruining a ny chances of them to leave forever with God.  Satan will be requiring people to take his mark, a form of the number 666, and this will denote his ownership of these people.   See what is written in verses 4 and 5 , “They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.  And night will be no more.  They will need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” God will show His place in the hearts of His followers with His name on our foreheads. We have spoken of the glory of God serving to light the world but to know the God of the universe considers us His own children is a thought we should carry with us each day.  Again, His love for us is shown daily.

Read Revelation 18: 1- 24- I do not usually take a long passage because I typically prefer to look at smaller passages of scripture and really dwell on what it says while not losing its context with the greater whole of the chapter or the book itself.  This chapter is somewhat different because there is a healthy amount of description of the destruction that awaits Babylon.  Some believe this will be in Iraq.  Some have t alked about this being New York City.  If you look at this as a literal city, it could be possible.  If one looks at this as a government rather than a city, it could be wherever Satan has established a stronghold in the final days.   What doe s matter is what is announced at the very beginning of the chapter, “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.  And he called out with a mighty voice, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dw...

Revelation 6: 11-   “Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.” During the end times, people will die.  Believers will die.  We see this addressed in this one verse.   We have people today, some are pastors of churches, who are preaching and spreading the word that God is love and there is no level of j udgment for people.  There is judgment. There are some hard things that will happen to some good people.  That is why we should continue to have faith in God and know His plan will give us an eternity of peace.  Our job is to believe in Jesus Christ and know He will provide the love and peace we need in our lives now and in eternity.  

Read Revelation 3: 20-22- This chapter ends with a message from Jesus that is an intimate invitation.   Verses 20 and 21 say, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."   This invitation applies to all people.  We all have the decision to make as to whether we accept Jesus’ invitation or whether we ignore His invitation.  Accepting the invitation gives us a place of honor with Christ and ignoring His invitation causes separation from Him.   It is life’s ultimate decision.  

Read Revelation 2: 24-29-             We have a growing number of people who don’t believe they necessarily have to attend church or have a consistent time to focus on the things of God.  They believe the simple act of believing in God is enough and working to be a “good person” is enough.  That is not enough.  The life God wants to see us living is one that requires some work on our part.  In the message Jesus sent to the church in Thyatira highlights there is a battle between heaven and earth on spiritual truths. Jesus wants us to know His message so well we can sift through teaching by those who would venture away from the message God has given us.   Verses 25 and 26 says, “ Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to hi I will give authority over the nations…”.    God’s challenge for us is to know His principles, share those principles with others and be...

Read Revelation 2: 6-7- When you look at the practices of the Nicolaitans, you must wonder how they ventured away from the basic Jewish and now, Christian principles. They were condemned in these two verses because of their eating of food offered to idols and there is also some thought of illicit sex that may have been involved with the group. Jesus spoke directly against them for their deviating from basic principles, but he praised those who stood against those practices. “But you have this in your favor; you have the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” We also see Jesus reminding all of us of the great prize that awaits us by accepting Him. We need to make sure we are sincere in our decision to accept Christ in that we are accepting Him because of simply who He is, not for any ot...

Read 3 John 1: 1-8- God has a lesson for us in this short letter. First, John encourages Gaius and urges him to continue to do what he was doing. Gaius was caring for those who were giving of their lives to preach and spread the message of Jesus Christ. We are to encourage each other, but especially those who are actively working to make sure the gospel of Jesus Christ is heard. John wrote personally in verses 5 through 8, “ Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers. So, we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.” John also clearly shows we are also partners with those who work full-time to preach God’s word...

Read I John 5: 20-21- God was thinking of us when He put His plan of life together for us. He knew the world would be offering us so many different distractions. He also knew we would need to know more about His principles and God knew we needed encouragement to not lose sight of Him. In verses 20 and 21 John wrote, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your heart.  

Read I John 5: 11-12 - There are many in society today who want to placate every religion in the world. They want to work to make everyone with a spiritual focus to believe their ideas of God and spirituality are good enough and all roads lead to one unified God. In this passage John makes a clear delineation in who people should believe in. Verse 11 and 12 , “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (12) Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” This is what Christianity is based on. This is the path as outlined by God in the Bible. All the different activities of the Bible point to this one truth. According to what the entirety of the Bible portrays is one path to one God. As Christians, we need to be confident in our knowledge of the Bible and believe in by faith. The power of the Holy Spirit has shown our spirits the truth in the Bible and the one path to gain eternal life in God, ...

Read  John 12: 37-41 This passage is a very interesting passage because it hints at how God allows people to  ignore what they saw in Jesus.  They were so excited about Jesus and how His message  was so different and how He changed so many lives.  Yet, they chose to not believe.    Why? Look at verse 40, “ He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” According to things I have read, there were certain things that had to happen so the plan of God could be realized.    Allowing Judas Iscariot to be turned over to Satan is another such instance.    Pharaoh’s heart was hardened so he would eventually see the power of God.    The people of this time allowed their hearts to wander, and the plan of God was to allow this to happen so His ultimate plan would be fulfilled.    As Chris...