Revelation 3:14-22

What is the main point of this passage and what kind of challenge does it level at us? I think this passage speaks a really powerful message to Christians living in the United States of America especially...a challenging message about priorities. The Church in Laodicea is being confronted because they have gotten too comfortable. A few thousand years ago, Laodicea was a wealthy trading hub and many of the people were so comfortable with their lifestyles that they began to believe that they didn't really need God. They looked at themselves and saw blessing and wealth and vitality, but when God looked at the Christians in Laodicea He saw people who were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. The main point of this passage is that human comforts and material possession will never truly satisfy, and when people begin to worship the material - they are no longer worshipping the one true God. Jesus challenges the people to make up their mind...he doesn't want them to say they are Christians and then place all their trust in wealth. He wants them to either say they are Christians and live like it, or to be honest and say that they are truly non-Christian. It is easy to see how this applies to suburban Christianity in the Unites States. We allow ourselves to get so distracted by trying to be "successful" from the perspective of the world, that we are ignoring the fact that Jesus is calling us to something more. He is knocking, but we cannot hear the sound because of all the noise - schedules, entertainment, possessions, obsessions, etc. In my opinion, the vast majority of Christians in the U.S. are very comfortable with their look warm-faith and their burning desire to consume popular culture.

Revelation Chapter 20 - May 13, 2009

21:1 - "New heaven and a new earth" leads me to believe that there will be a physical earth of some sort to live on somehow...fortunately God has that all under control and I don't need to know all the details.

21:3 - That sounds so incredibly refreshing. To walk in the presence of God...to bask in His glory...to connect to the creator God I was made for. Can't wait!

21:22 - This is another great picture for me. There is no need for temples and church buildings because the God is there. This directly applies to us today - God is with us...He is not somehow chained to the inside of a church building. We have his power and love to call on at all times.

Revelation Chapter 20 - May 12, 2009

20:1-10 - It is better to be on the side of God any way you look at it. It's better right now for your life...and it is definitely better when the end comes. Make sure you are on the right side of the equation.

20:11 - Some people want to know why God doesn't literally show up and let us see Him. Why don't we get to see God? Well, this verse may answer some of the questions. There is no place for God here, in all His glory and majesty and power. He cannot be contained within the earth and sky. In the end He will bring us into His presence, because there is nothing created that contain the glory of God.

20:12 - The only way it is possible for the book of life to proclaim you as righteous, is if your sins have been erased from the book by the blood of Jesus Christ. If everything we had ever thought or said or did was written on the pages of the book of life, imagine how humiliating and disturbing it would be to hear it all read out loud. Imagine that! We would find out just how broken and sinful we were...we would understand just how far we are from God. Thankfully, the sacrifice of Jesus offers us a righteousness...a cleanness we could never attain on our own.

Revelation Chapter 19 - May 7, 2009

19:7,8 - This tells of the uniting of Jesus with his bride the church. This is the culmination of God's plans. My rebelled, God put His plan to work, Jesus paid the price for our sin and now we can be united with God like we were originally supposed to be. I like how the passage says, "it was granted her to clothe herself," since we all have to understand that we only get to put on righteousness because Jesus has allowed us to...through his death, we are made worthy of being his bride.

19:10 - This jumped out at me, because sometimes I get these things I like to call "theological man crushes" where I almost bow down to incredible Christian communicators that I like. I need to remember that we are all just fellow servants of the most high God. No bowing down to anybody but Him!

19:11-21 - The return of Jesus. He takes a little different approach this time, huh?

Revelation Chapter 18 - May 6, 2009

18:4-5 - This is a call from the angel of God for all of us and for those who come after us to leave the world behind and go running to God. God is giving people a second chance, calling them to Him even out of Babylon (Or the world of self worship). God is calling us to leave the lies behind and experience real life.

18:7 - WOW! Talk about a wake up call. How many times in life has that been me? Glorifying myself and seeking comfort for myself...seeking luxury? How many times? It is brutal to see the great prostitute Babylon described in a way that easily paints a picture of who I have been before...that hurts. We have to understand the price for serving self and seeking only comfort is way too high...torment and mourning! Am I willing to pay with my soul for a few shorts years of earthly comfort?

18:14 - Read em' and weep. This is truth. Eventually everything the world chases after will be worth absolutely nothing - TVs, cars, houses, popularity, vacations, clothes, technology, fame, everything! We will all see that clearly at some point. I hope for our sake, we see that before the end.

Revelation Chapter 17 - May 5, 2009

17:5 - What is the mysterious name of the great prostitute that is leading people away from God? Her name is lust, pride, temptation, selfishness, lies...she promises fulfillment, but never delivers. She is the fallen wisdom of this world (See James 3).

17:6 - How intense is this verse? She is drunk on the blood of the saints of God. Whoa! What does that mean? It means she is drunk off the power of conquering the humble servants of God...it means she is drunk because she was able to hurt God's people in her war against God...she is drunk on bringing misery and death and making this world as miserable and broken as she is - she is drunk on living out a path that only leads to destruction for her.

17:6-7 - John tells us that he marvels at her. How often do you and I marvel at the things of this world? How often do we marvel at the lies of this world? Look at verse 8...we marvel at a corrupted world that will inevitably reap its own destruction. Not much to marvel at really.

17:14 - Fortunately for the true followers of Christ - Jesus is the king of kings...lord of lords...and he conquers all!

Revelation Chapter 16 - May 4, 2009

16:5-6 - God is just. That is who He is. He cannot be unjust. Those who destroy good and go to war against God and seek to spread evil in the world will be judged appropriately...they have to be, or God is not just.

16:7 - You gotta understand, it's not that God is not loving...justice is a part of loving. When you love someone you treat them justly...you hold them accountable for their actions. To love truly there has to be justice...there has to be consequences for sinful actions.

16:9,11 - Even in the face of the power and judgement of God, the evil people do not repent. Even when they receive the judgement for their deeds, they refuse to back down. They have chosen self over God and nothing can change that. God offers His love to everyone...He offers almost limitless second chances, but in the end He gives people what they want. If they choose to reject God, they will reap the consequences of that rejection.

Revelation Chapter 15 - May 1, 2009

This is a really short, simple chapter.

God's judgement will be swift and unstoppable when He decides the end has come.

How about that song in verses 3 and 4...The Song of the Lamb. Somebody needs to put that to music so we can be singing the songs they sing to God. Those words are incredible.

Revelation Chapter 13 - April 29, 2009

14:1 - The 144,000 are a symbolic representation of the faithful followers of God...not, in my opinion, an actual number representing the number of people who really follow God (Though sometimes I wonder).

14:3 - What new song are they singing? There is this really great new Chris Tomlin song they are singing...just joking...I think they can do a little better than Tomlin. No, the new song they are singing is a song of victory, since Jesus has conquered. The old songs were songs of hope for the future victory...now that the victory has arrived they can sing about it - YAY!

14:4 - Does this mean the only people who are truly followers of Jesus were celibate? No, I think what this refers to is people who have not prostituted themselves to the beliefs of the world...people who have remained true to the faith and follower Christ. This is a call for every one of us as present day Christians to hold on to the truth of God. Stay faithful.

14:7 - What is the eternal message? Give God the glory...worship Him...you don't know how long you have? That's it right? It really is the message...it is true in any era.

14:8 - The great Babylon is a symbolic representation to the systems of this world. Don't think just because you don't literally follow Babylonian culture that you are good to go. All human systems and cultures are flawed, and followers of Christ must stay true to His message as apposed to their lies.

14:10 - Those who chose in their life of earth to follow the world and serve themselves, will be tormented by the sight of Jesus and the saints because they will finally and fully understand just how wrong they were.

14:16 - This is a picture of the gathering of the people of God.

14:20 - This is a picture of the judgement that is poured out on those who rejected God...and it is a pretty brutal picture.

Revelation Chapter 13 - April 28, 2009

13:3 - After Nero died in Rome, the Roman empire was thrust into civil war. The empire was in chaos - wounded beast maybe? When Vespasian took over the rule by force, peace was restored and the strength of Rome was back. It probably looked like a miraculous resurrection.

13:4 - The people look at their great and powerful country (or beast) and use a twisted version of God worship by saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?" I wouldn't know anybody that inappropriately worships their country like that...oh wait, uh, maybe I do.

13:10 - That is the call to endurance and faith for the saints! How incredibly powerful is that? If captivity is coming...then I'm a captive. If death is coming...then I die. They trust that God is in control and that His will is going to be done. While the beast rises up and hunts down the saints of God...the saints practice non-violence and continue to trust God. How many modern day American Christians would hold to faith ideals like these?

13:11 - This next beast has the horns of a lamb...so he looks innocent yet speaks like Satan himself. How many men and women have led the world astray with a mask of innocence and a heart of darkness?

13:12 - Vespasian's son, Domition, was worshipped as the God Zeus. There is historical documentation that Christians who refused to worship their Roman rulers were executed.

13:18 - Everybody always wants to know this stuff, so here goes. 666 is a triangular number...one of only four from 0 to 1000. 36 is the square root of 666, and 8 is the square root of 36. 8 is a number that some biblical scholars believe applies to Revelation 17:11, where it talks about the eighth ruler...the new Nero - the anti-Christ. As always, I believe that there have always been anti-Christs and there always will be until the end. One commentator suggested that Satan always has anti-Christs ready for when Jesus finally returns because even he does not know when that will be...so in his opinion history has had a string of anti-Christs just waiting to war against Jesus (Which will be pointless and utterly futile, but hey, they get an "A" for effort).