Wedding of the Lamb

I just got married this past May and I experienced so many emotions all at once. I was excited. I was nervous. I was anxious. I was scared. The only emotion I never felt was doubt. I knew that my husband was the man that God intended for me to marry. God brought us together and I knew that God would remain the center of our lives.

In the few days right before the wedding, I felt frazzled. There were so many things that I had to finish and so many expectations I felt I had to meet. I was extremely nervous and insanely excited at the same time. Details and emotions. It was a roller coaster ride for me that I knew would come to an end as soon as the wedding was complete.

The day before the wedding, I was so nervous, I barely spoke. I couldn’t believe that life as I had known it for 30 years was about to change — forever.

The day of the wedding is now a blur. I remember bits and pieces and live the day through photographs and videos. I waited for this day my entire life and it was finally here. And then it was gone. I was married and the day that every little girl dreams about was finished. Another page had been turned in my chapter of life.

The last part of the book of Revelation is the Wedding of the Lamb. It’s Jesus Christ and His bride (the church) sitting around a large table and feasting on the Wedding Supper. It’s amazing to read about the building and the jewels and the lake as clear as crystal. It’s a day that every Christian longs for. A day that lives in their heart and mind as a very soon reality. A day that pushes us to do our very best for God and to please Him. But unlike my wedding day, the Wedding of the Lamb is something that will last forever. I look forward to seeing my Savior. I look forward to serving Him and praising Him throughout all eternity.

Seven Bowls or Salvation?

Seven bowls of wrath? If you sit and read the about the seven bowls of wrath, it isn’t hard to imagine the agony that will follow each bowl when it is poured out on the earth. What is hard to imagine is that people are more willing to follow the “beast” and his prophets and they aren’t willing to follow Christ. The followers of the beast follow him into destruction. There is no other eternal resting place for the lost than that of the lake of fire and total destruction.

The first bowl of wrath is boles and sores on the skin. The second and third turn all water on the earth into blood and every living creature in the waters, die. Why blood? In chapter 16, verse 5, an angel responded to the Lord saying, “you are just in these judgments . . . for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” When the Lord repays evil, it is far more just and deserving than anything mankind could ever dream of.

The fourth bowl allows the sun to scorch the people with fire. The fifth plunges the earth in darkness and the sixth prepares the way for the great battle of Armageddon. The seventh and final bowl relinquishes the elements of air on earth. Storms. Hurricanes. Earthquakes. All of which the earth has never seen before. There will even be hailstones weighing about 100 pounds each that will upon men and they will STILL curse God and refuse to repent (v.21).

Why? Why are some so engrossed in their sin and their pleasure that they cannot understand that there is something SO MUCH better out there for them? Imagine being imprisoned for your crimes for years upon years with no freedom in sight. Your hands and your feet are binding you to the cold wall with solid chains. You are covered in filth and your bones ache so much that it hurts to breathe. Your throat craves water and your stomach cries out for food, but the only food you see are the rats crawling at your feet. You are desperate. You can’t take it anymore, so you cry out. “Somebody, please save me!”

And then He does. A man you have never met walks into your prison and releases your chains. He washes your clothes white as snow and offers you living water and food to quench your urges. Once you are free, you watch as your “hero” puts your filthy rags on His broken and bruised body and chains His hands and feet to the wall. Your hero not only set you free, but He agrees to stay and take the punishment that YOU deserve.

How would you repay your “hero”? Would you accept His gift of freedom and embrace Him or would you turn your back on Him and run, never to look back? Never to even acknowledge the price He just paid for YOU? This may sound like a wild exaggeration, but it’s true. We are captives of our sins. They bind us and restrict us, even if we can’t see the chains or feel the emptiness they leave us, it’s still there. Jesus Christ is our “hero”. He came to earth with the sole purpose of dying a painful death on a cross for our sins. He paid our price and bought our freedom with His life.

How do we repay Christ for His sacrifice?

The Lamb and The Beast

In the book of Revelation, the term “dragon” is always used in reference to Satan. In chapter 13, the dragon stands on the shore of the sea as a beast rises from the waves. The last part of verse 2 states that “the dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and his authority.” The beast is a tool that Satan employs to have domain over the earth.

Verse 3 says that the beast seemed to have a “fatal wound,” but that the wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast, worshiping the dragon because he had given authority to the beast. The believed that there was no one that could conquer the beast and the world worshiped him.

Verse 5 says that the beast was given a mouth to utter “proud words and blasphemies” for forty-two months. He slandered the name of God and Heaven and those who followed God and now live in Heaven. The beast creates a war against the saints of God and destroys all who oppose him. Verse 8 states that “all the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

In Luke 1, the gospel writer tells of the birth of Christ. An angel appears to Mary and announces that she has found favor with God and that she will bear a Son that will be called the Son of God. Verse 32 of the same chapter describes the Son as “great” and worthy to be called the Son of the Most High. God gave the Son the throne and the authority and the power to rule forever. His kingdom will never end (v.33). The Son of God is God’s gift to the world. A gift that was sent to save the world from damnation and to return God’s children to Him. Luke 23 talks about the crucifixion of Jesus and His death and burial. Luke 24 tells of His resurrection on the third day.

The beast received full authority from Satan. Jesus Christ received full authority from God, the Father. The beast died and Satan healed him, raising him from the dead. Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose on the third day. The beast is all about hatred and revenge and murder and lies. Jesus Christ is all about grace and forgiveness and unconditional love. The beast uses his mouth to blaspheme God and His followers. Jesus Christ uses His mouth to speak words of love and encouragement.

My question is, how can people decide to follow the beast when Jesus Christ is waiting with open arms to accept anyone – just as they are? Satan works with his demons to try and cultivate our minds toward his way of thinking. Christ works with the Holy Spirit to break through our sin and offer us a life of freedom.

Revelation 1-12

Since I started this blog after I was already four days into my study in the book of Revelation, I will compile the first twelve chapters together. In chapters 1 - 3, John was instructed to write a letter to seven different churches. The churches were Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. While reading, I felt compelled to count the number of times I found the word "seven" in the book of Revelation. Seven is a number that symbolizes completion and it occurs 22 times in the first six chapters.
It was frightening to read the letters that John sent to the churches. Six of the seven letters began with praises for work well done. God sent word to the church that He was pleased there work in certain areas. How easy it is to please God? If I follow the ten commandments and try to live like a good person, will that be enough to please Him? If I attend church every Sunday, will that please Him? While all of the above is important, I don't believe it's enough to please the Almighty God.
Ephesus proved to be a church of great patience. They could not tolerate wicked men and they tested the ones who claimed to be apostles (1:2) In verse 3, God acknowledges, through John's letter, that the church has been through hardships in God's name and they perservered. Surely, this would be more than enough to please God. I continued reading and the first word in the 4th verse was "yet". Yes, the church had done great things in the sight of the Lord, but He was not fully satisfied. He wanted more. What right does God have to ask more of feeble humans? That can be answered in one word. Jesus. God sent His one Son, who was perfect and Holy, to earth to die for us feeble humans. We are nothing without Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. That is what God wanted the Ephesian church to realize. The fourth verse says "yet, you have forsaken your first love" (NIV). Who is the first love? God. God wanted His children back. Yes, they were doing good things in His name, but they had lost sight of the One thing that TRULY mattered -- God and His love and His grace.
The following five churches received similar letters in form, but not content. The letters began with a praise and ended with a command from the Lord. The letter that frightened me was the letter to Laodicea, the final letter. The church was, how God termed it, "lukewarm". They were neither hot or cold in regards to the Lord and His message. Neither for or against Him. They didn't care one way or another. The reason this particular letter frightened me was because this is how I see the world today. Too many people are "lukewarm" when it comes to God and He does not tolerate that. As a Christian, we are not to tolerate that either. I'm far from perfect and I have made plenty of mistakes, but I strive to keep the Lord the center of my life. Nothing else is important enough to come before Him.
Chapters 4 - 6
I could sit and read the book of Revelation all day, everyday, for the rest of my life and still not understand ever facet within its pages. It's so rich and full of prophecy. I'm sure that when most Christians start their daily quiet time, they begin with either the Old Testament or the Gospels. I had to start with Revelation. It's the book that both confuses me and compels me. While I am certain that my confusion does not come from God -- He is not the author of confusion -- I am just as certain that my confusion comes straight from Satan. Satan doesn't want us to understand, let alone believe, any aspect of God's Word. Satan knows he's doomed and he wants to take as many of us down with him as he can. Praise the Lord! There is another way!
Chapters 7-9
The book of Revelation is about the great tribulation period and the events that precede it and follow it. It's a book of great hope and encouragement to Christians and a book of great torment and torture for the lost. I've recently become addicted to the TV show "Ghost Whisperer". The show makes me cry every time. The actress is believable and the plots are heartwarming with a bit of suspence here and there, but the reality of the show is that it's not reality. In the show, the ghosts have a chance to finish any "business" on earth before they "cross over" into the light. They also have a choice, as ghosts, to go into the light or dwell on earth, or beneath the earth, with a suspicious looking man in a trenchcoat and a hat. While this adds drama to the show, it's not how God works. When we die, our choice for our final resting place has already been decided. We don't have any chance to decide after we die. The choice of either Heaven or hell is ours to make and it's made before we die.
Chapters 7 - 9 are filled with death and destruction. However, before God allows this destruction to begin, He commands His angels to "seal" His children. This seal placed on the believer's forehead protects the child of God from the wrath that is about to consume the earth. The church has already been raptured and these believers place their faith in God after the tribulation period starts. God doesn't care when we come to Him -- just that we do come to Him before He calls us home.
Chapters 10 - 12
I'm not going to pretend that I can comprehend everything I read in the Bible. There are several instances where I'm not sure I can even begin to try and interpret what I read. This does not mean that I don't accept it as truth. I believe that one day, once the events from the book of Revelation start taking place, Christian will see and understand what we couldn't before.
There is mystery in Chatper 10. John is commanded by God to leave something out of the book of Revelation. God commanded, "seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down." Why? What did the "seven thunders" say? I can't answer that. I believe that I will find out one day.
Chapter 11 is a description of the seventh seal and what destruction comes from it. It talks about the two witnesses that will prophesy for 1,260 days and that all who try and harm them will be consumed by fire until the time of the anti-christ, and he will be the only one that can destroy them. The anti-christ will be viewed as a hero among the earth because he destroyed the two who were prophesying against them.
Chapter 12 is about Satan. Satan and his demons fought with Michael and the other angels in Heaven until Satan and his demons lose and are hurled to earth. The angels say "woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury." This goes back to my statement earlier how Satan wants nothing more than to make us confused and miserable, doomed to a fate that he chose for himself.
We have the choice, too, just as Satan did. We can eiter decide to worship God and follow Him, or we decide to reject Him. It's as simple as that. We either have the faith to accept His love and grace or we don't. God does not force our hand, as much as He would love for all inhabitants on the earth to accept Him, He knows that it will not happen. His love and forgiveness is there for the taking. Anyone can accept it.