Thoughts From the Bible

Read Revelation 22:14- 21 - Jesus tells us He is coming back to earth.  He has given John the vision of the spiritual future of the world and how it will be lived.  Some of what is written is so grand, I contend we cannot fully fathom the reality of it all.   Then this is written in verses 18 and 19, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book; if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described int his book.” People have a lot to say these days, me included.  One thing we must all guard against is adding anything to what God has given us.  Whether the message in Revelation or any other book of the Bible, we need to hold to what we are given and see how that message impacts us.  We cannot start making wild assumptions about different parts of the ...

Read Revelation 22: 8- 13 - In this passage John was admonished to not bow down and worship the angel sent to speak to him. I do not necessary fault John for bowing down. He is seeing a heavenly creature created by God and the message being sent was a holy message.  But John’s behavior is a lesson for us to stay focused on God.  Regardless of the gran deur before us, we are shown here to stay focused on God.   We then here this from God, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and last, the beginning and the en d.” God reminds us He has total control over how this world responds and He will provide for us regardless of what is swirling arou nd us.    

Read Revelation 22: 6- 7- God has put promises all through the Bible.  God placed those promises in the Bible to show His continuing love for us, but He also put those promises into place to show us what we can expect of God.  These short two verses give us another promise. In verses 6 and 7 , ‘And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and t rue. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take place.” “And behold, I am coming soon.  Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” ’ First, Jesus will be returning soon.  We have the responsibility to not only be ready but be looking forward to His return.  Secondly, God has promise d us we will be blessed if we believe the words of the book of Revelation. God has promised to bless our lives.  God continues to find ways to enrich our lives, we need to believe and live our His principles.  

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 21: 9- 27 - John, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit begins to describe Heaven for us.  John gives us dimensions.  He gives us characteristics of the place God has created for all of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.  I contend the language of John’s time was not nearly adequate to fully describe what God has prepared for us.  His human ability was totally inadequate to accurately tell us the magnificence God has created. It is wonderful however, verses 22 and 23 tell us what is most important, “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”  The God of all creation, J esus Christ our Redeemer and the power and breadth of the Holy Spirit is all that really matters in this awesome city.   We need to allow that to be so today.

Read Revelation 21: 1- 8- A new heaven and a new earth. I am not sure I am even equipped to visualize such a thing.  Can one even grasp a concept of a new heaven and a new earth? The other thing to consider is that the new heaven and the new earth are actually secondary to life at that time.   The primary thing is found in verses 3 through 5, ‘And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also, He said, “Write this down, for these words are trust worthy and true.”’ The overwhelming experience is being in the presence of God, nonstop. Our reward for believing ...

Read Revelation 20: 11- 15- This is the part of Revelation so many people today do not want to talk about.  They do not want to talk about the judgment of God.  They only want to talk about God’s love for people. They want to lean on this idea and ignore there will be a day when everyone will be judged according to what they did.  It is clear in verses 11 and 12, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it.  From His presence earth a nd sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small , standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Then another book was opened which is the book of life.  And the dead were judged by what was written int he books, according to what they had done.” Many people want to talk about their good works while alive on this earth at this point.  Some religions even dwell on good works as the only way into heaven.  On e must look at the Bible in its entirety to...

Read Revelation 20: 7- 10 - I enjoy reading and I enjoy reading books without knowing what the story is about at the beginning.  Never, do I ever, read the end of the book first to see how the story ends.  God has provided us with direction for our lives through the Bible. God has also shown us how this whole story of mankind actually ends . In verse 9 we read this, “ and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. ” Satan defied God.  Satan has worked to destroy God’s creation, and all the people God created.  Even after being bound for almost 1000 years, God will still allow men and women a chance to choose God over Satan.  Unbelievably, there will be those who will still side with Satan, even though we know how this story ends. Satan’s end is known. We need to understand Satan has only our destruction in mind. God has his...

Revelation 20: 4- 6- “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.  Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  The rest o f the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended .   This is the first r esurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.”   As Satan reigns in the Tribulation period, it will take great courage for those to deny him and be committed to God.  God’s plan rewards those courageous people by giving them a special place in His Kingdom. God’s great plan for the peo...

Revelation 20: 1- 3- “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.  And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him , so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.” This is al l part of God’s plan, the destruction of Satan. This is why God is God and I’m not. I would not let Satan loose from the bottomless pit for any reason, but God has infinite wisdom and knows there will be thos e who will still need to make a choice, Satan or Jesus Christ. During the Millenium , there will be those born who will need to make the decision to follow Jesus and Satan will be loosed for a short period to basically make his case to those individuals .  This is why we continue to pray for others who have n...

Read Revelation 19: 17- 21 - Jesus Christ returns but Satan still feels he ha s a chance to rule and reign over Jesus. We see quickly, this will not happen. Verses 20 and 21 tells the story, “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.  These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.” Jesus Christ ends it all.  God’s plan is fulfilled, and we see how His love for us has preserved us . That is one of the benefits of reading Revelation and seeing God’s grand plan and knowing through all the love of G od is for us.