Revelation

 

From Elizabeth Prata's blog on June 7, 2023

The word apocalypse comes from the Greek for “revelation,” or “unveiling.” It’s about future things dealing with the return of Christ and the events of the end time. Do you know that a third of the Bible is prophecy? Did you know that every book in the NT except Philemon speaks about the end times? It’s not just a Revelation thing. It’s a Jesus thing, and Jesus is throughout the entire Bible.

So what IS going to happen? Jesus is going to punish sin, plain and simple. Punishment is never pleasant, and Jesus said that the Apocalypse will be the worst time on earth there will ever be. (Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1b). Daniel 9:24 explains the 6 things God will do during the Apocalypse punishments. God, who is loving, wants us to be righteous so we can be with Him in heaven, so He sent Jesus. God, who is holy, is going to punish the unholy, who reject Jesus.

There will be earthquakes so bad that entire mountains crumble and islands flee away. One hundred pound hailstones will squash men. Plagues (and wars and beasts) will kill 1/3 of people. Demons will be let out of the abyss to inflict a painful bite so bad that people want to die: but can’t. They’ll chew their tongues in agony. Starving people will die in the streets, but no one will care. Things will come upon the earth so frightening that people have heart attacks on the spot. The sun and moon go dark, stars fall from the sky. Jesus said it will be so bad that if He let it go longer nobody would survive. As it is, 4 billion die within the 7 years. (Revelation 6-19).

Sin is real. God’s judgment of sin is real. Satan is real. Hell is real. The coming Antichrist is real. Everything in the Bible is real. Not any other book. Apocalypse will happen. The rapture will be the signal that it’s beginning.

How can I be so sure? Because for 43 years I had everything I ever wanted. Money, fame, comforts, ease, professional recognition, world travel, and yet I felt empty. I felt in my soul that there had to be something more. What was this longing? This hole I felt within me? (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Is this all there is? Live a life and then die? It seemed like a lot of trouble to go through just to die. Is there a heaven? Will I go there? I wondered all these things.

It was the lack of knowing Jesus that was the problem. He created us. (Rev 4:11) and because we are born with a sin-nature, I was separate from him. THAT’S what I was feeling. I had been trying to fill that hole with temporary and unfulfilling things. I finally found the answer, at middle age without ever having gone to a church (so I’m not brainwashed into Christianity, lol). When you confess your sins and repent to Jesus, He forgives you and He brings you to fellowship with Him. He sends the Holy Spirit to make the things of God understandable, like the Bible. (2 Corinthians 3:14). Before I was saved, the Bible made no sense. I thought it was stupid. I thought Bible thumpers and Jesus followers were stupid. After I repented, the Bible made total sense and I loved Jesus.

I now see death differently from all the rest of the world that has no hope. It is simply a transition, from something tiring and full of struggle, to something wondrous and glorious beyond compare. I have no fears of the Apocalypse, because I won’t be here to experience it. Those in Christ will be taken out of the way, because He is not angry with us. We’re forgiven sinners. He is angry with unrepentant sinners. O, it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God!

I am very sure this age will come to a terrible end. I am sure that time is not long away. I am very sure that I will be lifted bodily away from earth to meet Jesus in the air at the rapture to live with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.) If you want that certainty too, then repent of your sins and turn to Jesus. Believe He is Lord, who sacrificially died to satisfy God’s wrath about sin and who was raised on the third day. I will be in heaven. I hope you will be too.

Obedience versus Relationship

 

Obedience to God is all about relationship
By James Washington For The St. Louis American



I’m sure I’ve written on this before, but I thought the significance of obedience was important enough to repeat here. It occurs to me that obedience to God is, or certainly should be, an exercise in ‘want to’ as opposed to ‘have to.’

The analogy given in church is simple enough. When parents enforce rules and discipline with regard to their children, if the child is to respond out of respect and love, a relationship must exist between parent and child.


If a wholesome relationship does indeed exist, then the child’s love for the parent will result in that child wanting to comply.

If all one does is obey the rules because of the consequences and punishment associated with disobeying the rules, then the rules generally get thrown out the window when the rule-maker is no longer around.

I guess what I’m saying is that when grounded in love, people want to respond favorably according to the wishes and will of the person who is the object of that love. By our very nature we want to look good in the eyes of someone we’re trying to impress.

Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.’’ John 14:23.

Examine this use of the term “obey.” What Christ is saying is the same thing that many a mother and a father believe about their kids.

First and foremost, we all know the things that would upset mom and dad. We know this because they spent a lifetime (yours) instilling values and integrity into your character.

You might still do things they wouldn’t condone, but you certainly know the difference between the right and wrong of it because of your upbringing. That upbringing, if nurtured in the spirit of love, reveals to all of us the source and nature of the consequences and the resulting discipline.

It’s all about love. Y’all know that ‘this is going to hurt me more than it’s gonna hurt you’ thing.



Christ is merely reminding us that if you love him, then obeying his rules, his teachings, which were given to us out of the love of the Father, should come from the heart. Our desire to please should override our mere compliance to the rules.

The point is obedience to God has so much more to do with wanting to do the right thing for the right reason, than doing the right thing because it is law, punishment notwithstanding.

One is the result of relationship and the other is the result of fear of consequence.

Throughout scripture, Jesus constantly refers to the love of the Father. How many of you do what your mother would expect of you and your mother has been dead for many a year? How many of you pass those same expectations along to your kids? Why?

I submit that you do this because of the relationship you had/have with your mother. That’s why I’m convinced that the key to understanding obedience to God is establishing, or for many of us re-establishing, a relationship with the Almighty. This is achieved by studying his word, getting inside of his commandments and examining the life of Jesus Christ, who because of a love thing with his Father, carried out Hhs Father’s wishes to the letter.

“I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.’’ John 14:30-31.

To obey should be an act of love. Our goal should be to understand God’s love for us and to simply do our best to return it; acting accordingly, so to speak.

May God bless and keep you always.