Ephesians 2-3

Ephesians 2:1-10 – New Life in God’s Grace

If you are not a Christian you are spiritually dead.  A person who is not born again follows the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, Satan.  Satan works in the disobedient.  They have a sinful nature gratifying their own desires and thoughts – (Eph 2:1-3).  If you are a Christian, these verses describe your past.

Transgression means to slip or stumble.  Sin means you missed the mark or target.  God’s holiness is the mark.  We start sinning from the beginning of life.  We are this way as babies and cannot overcome influences of the world, Satan or our sin nature.  We may be able to do some good, but we are still spiritually dead.  We can’t meet God’s standard and the penalty is death.  We are the “walking dead”, but God says “I love you so much”.

Why has God gone to so much trouble for you?  Because He loved us even while we were sinners – (Rom. 5:8).  He didn’t wait.  Sin is way more than breaking the rules.  It’s working against His love.  Grace and mercy is God’s love in action.  When we became a Christian, we became alive and responsive to spiritual truth.  His Word became real to us and then He placed us in the heavenly realm with Jesus. 

Why did He do this?  He has a plan (see verse 6) so He can show Himself to the world and show that He is kind and merciful.  You can’t say “I am a nice person”, “My parents are Christians”, or “I have several Bibles in my home”.  We are wretched!  Now What?  Once we believe we are alive and are royalty and children of the King.  We are a new creation in Christ.

What does it mean to be born again?  It means you have confessed your sins and repented (turned from your sinful desires) and now follow Jesus.  You believe the gospel – that He died for your sins and was raised on the 3^rd day and now sits in heaven on the right hand of God.

How do you know you have been born again?  You believe the gospel, have faith and trust in Jesus as Savior, don’t habitually sin, don’t conform to the world’s standards.  You have the Holy Spirit’s seal promising you eternal life and you let Him guide and direct you.  “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” – (John 5:24).  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – (Rom.10:13

Eph. 2:4-9 tells us what God has done for believers.  “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

How does one get faith?  “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” – (Romans 10:17)

What is the good work, Paul talks about in verse 9-10?  We are God’s workmanship (masterpiece) so we are His good works.  We are saved by grace and there is no more work to be done.  We are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works” is that not by our own strength we are not able to lead a Holy life, but in Jesus we can.  He made us righteous and holy.  He prepared a path of good works for us to do.  This is His purpose for us.  As we do the work it reveals the heart of God as it pertains to Christ.

Principle:

Believers saved by grace through faith are God’s masterpiece of love and mercy.

Are you trying to be good enough?  No one is good enough.

Is your name written in the family tree of God?

Have you discovered His plan for you?  If you are in His plan, you will encounter Him and you will grow in your faith.

Are your plans already underway and don’t need any interference from God?

Do you know all you need to know about the Bible?

Does He have authority over you?

Ephesians 2:11-3:13 – New Life in God’s Family

Paul tells the Ephesians to remember how they once were as Gentiles, without hope and excluded from citizenship in Israel and considered foreigners. What do you remember before you had a relationship with Christ?  How does remembering make you love God more?  Jesus brought peace to the world by His blood on the cross.  He did away with the law and its regulations.  The world methods of peace are threats, alliances, treaties, force, power, tolerance and a live and let live attitude.  By following Jesus’ example we can practice love and unity to maintain peace with others.  We can pray.  He became our peace by His love and His blood.

If you belong to Christ, you are reconciled to God through the cross.  You have access to the Father.  You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household. – (Eph. 2:14-20)

The Jews and Gentiles hated one another.  The Jews were prideful and hated the Gentile for their idol worship.  The Gentiles thought the Jews were religious snobs.  Rom. 1 says all know the true God and many refuse to honor Him.  Christ came to destroy barriers and dividing walls of hostility.  He came to make peace and to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God through the cross.

A Christian should view social and racial barriers by seeing everyone as brothers and sisters.  Social barriers are man-made and not from God.  God does not show favoritism.  You don’t always have to be right.  We are no better than anyone else.  There is hostility all around, but you can’t control the actions of others.  How willing are you to do your part?  Are you willing to repent of your resentments and forgive?  All Christians have the same unlimited access to God.  We are all one in Christ Jesus.  When the church lives like the world, it does little for the world. 

How does your attitude toward church need to change?

The mystery that God revealed to Paul is in Eph. 3:6.  Through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel and members together of one body and share together in the promise of Christ Jesus.   God’s purpose for humanity is to bring unity in heaven and on earth under one head, Jesus.  We are encouraged that God is in control and we don’t have to fix anything.  He can handle anything. 

Principle:

God intends the church to make known the purpose and power of salvation in Christ to the world.

Ephesians 3:14-21 – New Life in God’s Power

Paul’s prayer is one we should all pray.  The word “Father” in the Bible means acceptance.  Grace through faith comes and dwells in a Christian’s heart.  His Spirit is at home.  When you hear the word “rooted”, you think of plants.  When they have deep roots, they have resilience and better growth.  To be powerful in Christian life, you must have power in the roots.  He wants to fill us with all His attributes.

Are you “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God”?  A person who is filled to the measure of all the fullness of God always wants to please Him, always seeks His will for their lives, puts others first, and exhibits the traits of the gifts of the spirit.  It is a process and we should constantly move toward the full completeness that God intends.

Principle:

In faith believers access God’s immeasurable knowledge and power through His Spirit.

Believers never need to live without love and suffer without strength.  How open is your heart to His Spirit?  God’s love is immeasurable.  So live it!

Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1:1-14 – God’s Plan for Believers

Do you ever have pity parties?  Life is hard.  Like this week we saw all the destruction from the storms and tornados.  The study of Ephesians 1 shows the love of God through Christ Jesus and that should cancel out all your pity parties.  All the blessings mentioned in Ephesians bring hope to unity of the world. 

What kind of impact is the church making to the world today?  What have we substituted tolerance for the truth?  When the Bible is applied, it changes the world.

Paul had God’s authority to write this letter to the Ephesians (Eph. 1:1).  He wrote it when he was chained to a Roman guard and he writes the things that were on his mind.  He refers to the saints.  Saints are believers.  Paul wanted them to have grace and peace from God and the Lord Jesus (Eph. 1:2). 

Paul experience God’s grace and peace many times throughout his life.  Especially on the road to Damascus when he was confronted by Jesus.  Even though he persecuted Christians for a living, he was forgiven and was allowed to preach the gospel.  What an amazing example of grace!  Two other examples are:  God raised him after he was stoned in Acts 14:20.  He freed him when he was in prison in Acts 16:25.

God planned salvation (Eph. 1:3-4).  The phrase “in Christ” is referred to 27 times in the book of Ephesians showing our position as believers.

God blesses his people with “every spiritual blessing” in Christ from the “heavenly realms”.  This means we have all of God’s blessings through Jesus and it all came down from God in Heaven.  No spiritual blessing is withheld from believers.  The blessings He mentions here are:  He chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight, in love He predestined us to be adopted sons through Jesus, He freely gave us grace, we have redemption through Jesus’ blood, He forgave us our sins, and He gave us wisdom and understanding. (Eph. 1:4-8)  To the believer He has made know to us the mystery of His will through Jesus.

The word chosen and predestined stirs us up and so does election vs. freewill.  Our understanding is limited this side of heaven.  He doesn’t elect anyone to go the “hell”.  When someone says, “I want to believe and trust in Jesus”, God doesn’t say, ”No”.  It’s our choice to believe or not.  We are predestined, but God doesn’t remove man from the responsibility to choose.  Why did He choose us?  He chose us for His pleasure and His will (Eph. 1:5).

God chose and called us for the purpose of adopting us as His sons and to be like Jesus, holy and blameless.  If you don’t go to church, some of these words are scary and foreign to you.  Hang in there.  God will enlighten you the more you study His word.

Redemption means rescue, deliverance, pay-off, the act of delivery from sin or saving from evil.  He paid the price to free us from our sins and delivered us to God.

Sealed means to fasten or close securely.  The Holy Spirit works on us then, when we believe He moves in and seals us and NEVER leaves us.

Forgiveness means to carry away our sins because of His grace.

Wisdom and understanding is to have insight of the mystery of God (our salvation).

Sins are tearing the world apart, but through God’s plan one day He bring all things in heaven and on earth together under 1 head, Jesus. (Eph. 1:10)  This has only been partly accomplished today.  There are many people in the world who do not believe and are still under the rule of Satan.  God is still waiting  and giving these people time to repent, because He loves us so much.

The phrase “to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14) means – glory is to give honor and praise.  Our lives should be a reflection of Him.  We are to be a worthy example so other will see His glory in us.

Do you set a good example for others?

Would Jesus be please with your actions?

You could always improve your example of how to be “to the praise of His glory” in your home, school, business or church.  You could give Him more honor, more praises, more thanks.  You could not argue so much, not be so self-centered.  You could be kinder, exercise more patience, be more forgiving, be more loving and more compassionate toward others.  We need to be Jesus to others.  Give Jesus the credit in front of others.

There are 3 stages involved in a person being included in Christ.  “…when you heard the words of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:13-14).  When you are sealed, He sets His seal of ownership on you.  He’s in your heart and you are guaranteed what is to come which is your inheritance.  This should give you comfort just knowing that nothing can be done to take you away from God.  You are His FOREVER!

Principle:

Believers are rich in Christ’s spiritual resources.

What has occurred in your life that impacts you? 

Have you been mistreated and wanted to know why did God not stop it? 

Do you think you are not good enough? 

How will you respond when your feelings conflict with His Word?

Are you living as a rich woman or man?

Nothing separates us from God’s love.  We are set apart.  We are loved unconditionally as a child of the King.  You have all the riches you need.  How will you allow these riches to influence your hope or persecution you are facing today? 

Ephesians 1:15-23 – God’s Purpose for Believers

Live like you are rich with confidence.  Paul knows the best is yet to come.  What kind of rich person are you?  Are you generous, kind, patience or rude, judgmental, and whinny?  Our faith impacts others.  God gives us wisdom and revelation.  Do you only know Him as Savior or more as Lord and teacher?

Revelation is the unveiling of God – to know Him better.  The heart is the inner man, the thinking process, our understanding, our minds – not our emotions.  When you put feelings in front of God’s truth, it short circuits God.  Truth should come before emotions.  Hope is assurance of the believer.  We have living hope to face anything.  Does the way you live display your hope?

We inherit all His blessings.  He inherits us.  We are His love gift to Jesus.  We have His power.  We have the power to endure suffering.  We are surrounded by His power and have the same power He has.  2 Cor. 4:8-9 – “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; stuck down, but not destroyed.”

Paul gives us an example of specific items to pray for yourself and for others:  to give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so we will know Him better, that our eyes and hearts will be enlightened so we will know the hope which He has called us and the riches of our inheritance and His great power for us who believe. (Eph. 1:17-19).  We receive these things through Jesus. 

Why pray?  Praying makes a difference in our lives.  When we pray, we get to know Him better, we trust Him more, we understand His sovereignty, we love others more by understanding His love.  It also encourages us, strengthens us and gives us confidence in Him and in our salvation.

It makes us trust Him more.  It draws us closer to Him in every way.

Where is Jesus today?  He’s been raised to life and is sitting on the right hand of God in heaven and is above all rule and authority, power and dominion.   All things are under His feet (Eph. 1:20-22). 

This should be a great comfort in your life.  He’s in control and you don’t have to worry about doing or fixing anything.  You mean everything to Christ.  You know you are very important to Him; after all He did die for you.

Principle:

Hearts prayerfully open to truth become lives that glorify God.

How often does glorifying God come to your mind?

What do you pray for often?

How often do you ask Him to teach you?

Not totally convinced?  You can trust God.

He is at work for you to know Him.  It’s up to you to live out these blessings in Christ.  Will you surrender to God’s spirit?

A Christmas Poem

             

               It’s the Christmas season

               and we all know what that means.

               Shopping, pageants and parties

               with stress in between.

               It’s the time of the year,

               when we think more about our fellow man.

               We show our love by giving gifts

               to the less fortunate when we can.

               But, why be so nice

               just at this time of the year?

               Could it be the first Christmas

               that we remember so dear?

               When a long time ago a man Joseph

               and his wife Mary,

               Traveled a long way on a donkey,

               the unborn Christ child she did carry.

               Back to the city from where Joseph

               had once belonged,

               To be counted for the census

               they journeyed, the two of them alone.

               When they arrived in Bethlehem

               the city was filled within,

               With fisherman, tailors and merchants

               and their next of kin.

Mary was tired and weary

with her time drawing near,

To give birth

to a Heavenly Child so dear.

No room in the inn

and no warm bed,

They found shelter with dry hay

in a barn instead.

That night the long awaited babe was born,

a gift greater than gold.

A prophecy the ancient saints

had once foretold.

With awe and love in her heart

Mary wrapped Him in swaddling cloths,

And placed Him gently

in the cattle’s troth.

Angels sang and there shone

a great heavenly light,

Out in the fields as the shepherds

watched their flocks by night.

“Go to Bethlehem

and worship the new King,

for God has sent us a Savior”

                                             they did sing.

What a joy and fulfillment

that first Christmas to tell.

What great love God gave us

in Christ Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Why can’t we show kindness toward others

the rest of the year,

And not just at Christmas time

should we care?

So don’t let your heart be a busy inn

and no room for thee,

But a cradle for the Living Christ

and His nativity.

Be thankful to God

in all He has done,

Loving one another, for in His

power we have won.

With all our hearts and souls

we must ask Him to be our own

and He will always comfort us.

We will never be alone.

To those who choose to follow Him

He will take away all our sin.

Praise to God and may peace on earth

               bring good will year long to all men.

                                             By Linda Vittitow

My Summer with Micah

I have been busy this summer and have not had much time to post to my blog.  I have been keeping my new grandson, Micah.  He’s 12 weeks old and soooo cute.  Babies are truly miracles.  God certainly knows what He’s doing when He knits them together so perfectly.  Each time I see Micah I am in awe and amazed all over again.

Soon I will be attending Bible Study Fellowship as I have for the past 5 years.  When it starts in September, Micah will be going with me.  BSF now has a program for infants.  He will be prayed over and sung to.  Not only will I be learning more about God and His word in my classes, but Micah will be learning to in his classes.

BSF is an 8 year study, studying a different book each year.  People all over the world are studying the same book at the same time.  There are classes for men, women and children and classes are offered day or night.  You can check their site for dates and times.  I am sure there are classes in your area, since they are all over the world. 

http://www.bsfinternational.org/

I look forward to seeing what God has for me this year as we study the book of Acts.  I will try to reflect my insights in my blog.  So keep watching for my next post.

God bless you all,

Linda

Overview of Revelation

I posted this in February 2011 and thought it was worth reposting.

People don't read or study Revelation as much as other books of the Bible, because they don't understand or they are fearful of what it says. Revelation is the only place in the Bible that blesses those who read it; "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." - Rev. 1:3  Do you want to be blessed?  Then read it.

Why does God say this? I think it's because He wants us to know the ending, be aware of what's going to happen so we're not afraid, and we can stand firm when the Anti-Christ come and tries to deceive us. He wants us to be steadfast in our Christian walk, have sound doctrine, and be separated from false teachings.

Revelation has 3 sets of 7 (denotes divine completeness) Judgements - Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls. I will explain as much as I can - or that is humanly possible (only God knows what it all really means).

Theme -The Revelation book theme is in verse 19: "Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things."

Author - Revelation was written by the Apostle John while he was in exile on Island of Patmos.

Chapter 1 - Things you have seen.
1:1 - tells us that this book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ and is from God to Jesus to the Angel and then to John and then to us. (Revelation means to unveil.)
1:11 - the angel told John to write in a book what he sees and send it to the 7 churches.
1:13 - Jesus was in the middle of the lampstands (churches) to protect them.
Chapter 2-3 - Things which are (message to the churches).
Chapter 4-22 - Things which shall take place after these things.
Chapter 5 - The Lamb (Jesus) is the only one worthy to break the seal of the scrolls. God couldn't open it. God had a plan. He had given the right to man to rule the earth. Jesus took human form and came to earth. He is the only perfect man and has overcome the devil so He had to be the one to open the scrolls.
Chapter 6 - Starts the 7 Judgements - 6 seals are broken. John sees what the future holds.
1st seal - one on a white horse with bow, crown given to him, went our conquering
2nd seal - one on a red horse to take peace from earth, and that men should slay one another, had a great sword.
3rd seal - one on a black horse with a pair of scales (sounds like famine to follow)
4th seal - one on ashen horse named Death and Hades followed him, he was given authority to kill with sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts.
(These horsemen are usually referred to as the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse)
5th seal - John saw those killed during the tribulation
6th seal - was a great earthquake, sun became black, moon became like blood, stars fell, sky was split apart, mountains and islands moved from their places.
6:17 - "great day of wrath has come..."
Chapter 7 - 144,000 sealed - these are Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel that are sealed during the Great Tribulation.
Chapter 8 - There was silence in heaven for 1/2 hour. Worship stopped. God's wrath is coming!
7th seal - 7 angels with 7 trumpets
1st angel - sounded his trumpet and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, they were thrown to earth, 1/3 of earth burned up, 1/3 of trees burned up and all green grass burned up.
2nd angel - sounded his trumpet and something like a great mountain burning with fire thrown into sea, 1/3 of sea became blood, 1/3 of the creatures in the sea died, 1/3 of ships destroyed.
3rd angel - sounded his trumpet and a great star called Wormwood fell from heaven burning like a torch, 1/3 fell on rivers and streams making with waters become wormwood, men died from the water which was made bitter.
4th angel - sounded his trumpet and 1/3 of the sun and 1/3 of the moon and 1/3 of the stars were darkened so 1/3 of the day and night were darkened.
Then an eagle with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the 3 angels who are about to sound!"
Chapter 9 -
5th angel - sounded his trumpet and a star from heaven fell to earth with key to bottomless pit (the Abyss - confinement of supernatural beings, the earth was safe as long as pit was locked) which opened, smoke went up like a furnace, sun and sir were darkened. Out of the pit came locust as big as horses and power was given them as scorpions. They could only hurt men who didn't have the seal of God. They could not kill anyone, only torment them for 5 months.
1st WOE is past, 2 more to come.
6th angel - sounded his trumpet and told to release 4 angels who are bound at the river Euphrates. They were released to kill 1/3 of mankind. 200 million horsemen with fire, smoke, and brimstone coming out of their mouths and killed 1/3 of mankind. The rest of mankind did not repent.
Chapter 10 - Another strong angel with a little book told John to eat the book and that it would make his stomach bitter (could be because the contents were so awful and terrible)
Chapter 11 - 2 witnesses given authority to prophesy 1260 days (Some believe that is Elijah is one of the witnesses - Malachi 4:1-5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord").
The Beast will come out of the Abyss and attack them and kill them, their bodies lie in street for 3 1/2 days, God will give them breath and they go to heaven. At that hour a great earthquake - 1/10th of the city fell. 7,000 killed and the rest were terrified and gave glory to God (They gave God respect or acknowledge, but the Bible didn't say they repented).
2nd WOE is past, 3rd WOE is coming quickly.
7th angel - This starts the 3rd WOE - "Thou hast begun to reign". Nations were enraged, God's wrath has come, time for the dead to be judged, saints to be rewarded, time to destroy those who destroy the earth. The temple of God opened, Ark of Covenant appeared, flashes of lightning, thunder, earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
Chapter 12 - Signs in heaven - woman, which is Israel, red dragon, which is Satan (Rev. 20:2). War in heaven, Michael and angels with dragon and his angels. Dragon thrown down from heaven (he could not go back and forth from heaven to earth as he was able to do) to the earth and sea, because Satan will have great wrath for he has only a short time.
Chapter 13 -
1st beast, which is the Anti-Christ, given power and authority by the dragon to perform signs. God gave him that power for 42 months.
2nd beast, which is False Prophet (Rev. 19:20), makes earth worship the 1st beast (Anti-Christ), can perform great signs also, deceives the earth, makes image of 1st beast and makes earth worship him, gives breath to the image and causes many to worship the image or be killed, makes all on the earth take the mark of the beast (666) - if they did not, they can't buy or sell.
Chapter 14 - this chapter could be an overview of the bowls or 7th trumpet. The 144,000 now in heaven.
another angel - "Fear God His judgment has come"
2nd angel - "Fallen is Babylon the great"
3rd angel - "Whoever takes mark will be tormented..."
4th angel - "...hour to reap has come." Son of Man on a cloud swung His sickle and earth was reaped.
5th angel - also had a sharp sickle
6th angel - had power over fire, came out from the altar and called out, "Put in you sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth,..." He swung his sickle and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
Blood from wine press came out up to horses' bridles for 200 miles.
Chapter 15 - 7 angels with 7 plagues with them the wrath of God is finished, victory over beast, they cam out of temple, 7 angels given 7 bowls full of wrath of God.
Chapter 16 -
1st bowl poured on earth became loathsome and malignant sore upon men with mark of beast
2nd bowl poured into sea, became blood, every living thing died
3rd bowl poured into rivers and springs, became blood of the saints and prophets
4th bowl poured upon sun and scorched men with fire, they refused to repent
5th bowl poured upon throne of beast, his kingdom darkened/gnawed their tongues with pain, they blasphemed God and refused to repent
6th bowl poured upon Euphrates River, it dried up, gathered kings for Armageddon
7th bowl poured upon the air, voice said, "It is done."
Lightning, thunder, great earthquake, city split, cities of nations fell, Babylon remembered by God for His wrath, hailstones, men blasphemed God.
Chapter 17 - Woman (Babylon) sitting on scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names with 7 heads and 10 horns, drunk with blood of saints and witnesses. Beast - 7 head = 7 kings goes to destruction, 10 horns = 10 kings receive authority for 1 hour, was war against the Lamb, but Lamb will overcome them.
Chapter 18 - Fall of Babylon
Chapter 19 - Jesus is coming! Multitude in heaven rejoices, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the Marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride (church/believers) has made herself ready."  Lord comes on white horse who judges and wages war, armies in heaven follow Him. Beast and False Prophet seized and thrown into lake of fire, rest were killed and birds ate their flesh which is the Great Supper of God. 
Chapter 20 - Angel with key to abyss, bound dragon (Satan) for 1,000 years, threw him into abyss so he couldn't deceive the nations until 1,000 was complete, then he will be released for a short time.
1st resurrection - those who did not receive the mark - verse 4.
After 1,000 reign the unbelievers will be brought to life which is the 2nd resurrection. After 1,000 year reign, Satan released, then thrown in lake of fire with false prophet.
Great White Throne Judgment - dead judged if name not written in Book of Life thrown into Lake of Fire.
Chapter 21 - New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem.
John saw New Jerusalem -
12 gates - names of the 12 tribes written on them
12 foundations stones - names of 12 apostles
1500 miles - length, width, height
Wall - 72 yards
City - gold, adorned with precious stones
Streets - pure gold
No temple - Lord God and Lamb are it's temple.
So sun or moon, - glory of God will illumine it, it's lamp is the Lamb.
Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be there.
Chapter 22 - River of life coming from throne of God and Lamb, Tree of Life no longer any curse, no longer night, throne of God and Lamb shall be in it, they shall reign forever.
22:7 - "Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
22:19 - "If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book".
22:12 - "Behold I am coming quickly, my reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done."

 ________________________________________

Hopefully you will be encouraged and informed by reading what God has revealed to me.  I have studied Revelation several times, but am not a Bible scholar.  These are my thoughts and my current beliefs and understanding of the Bible. I welcome any constructive thoughts or criticisms you may have.

Life After Death

Part I - Hell

What is Hell?

Hell is the place of final judgment created for the devil, his angles, and all who die without making peace with God.  It is described as the Lake of Fire and a place of utter darkness.

What does the Bible say about Hell? 

Jesus talked about Hell more than the joy of Heaven. 

Jesus said “those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned”. (John 5:29)  Hell is a horrible place - a place of “darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 5:12, 22:13, 25:30), a place “where the fire never goes out” (Mark 9:43). 

The Bible says Hell is a place of choice.  “For God so love the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  If you haven’t chosen to follow Christ, you have chosen to go the Hell.  It’s that simple.

People are stubborn and independent and ignore how their long-term choices will affect them.  People are too busy worrying about their day to day lives than of their life after death.  They say, “God is too loving to send people to Hell”, “I have plenty of time, I want to enjoy life”, or “I’m a good person.  I’m not a murder or thief”.   

Appearances can be deceiving.  People don’t look like they deserve Hell.  They are not evil like Hitler and serial killers.  (Romans 3:1-18) – talks about the wickedness of good people.  If people don’t acknowledge their sin and believe in Jesus Christ, the day will come when they will stand before the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) and see themselves as they really are.  The final judgment will be done by Jesus Christ Himself.  He will be completely fair and not show favoritism – (Romans 2:11).  We only die once and then there are no more chances - (Hebrews 9:27).

Today more than ever before we see more frequent devastation all over the world with more wars, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunami waves, floods, etc.  Jesus talked about the signs of the end of the age. (Matthew 24:3-8) - “…..You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

Don’t wait too long.  Your time may be running out.  We do not know the hour when the Lord will return.  “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” – (Luke 1:40)

God has the right to expect us to make Him Lord and give Him thanks – He did die for us, you know.  We are full of pride, full of ourselves, and full of our own lives and the pursuit of happiness.  (Romans 1:18) – The wrath of God is on the human race.  When people refuse to believe, they are counting on themselves not God. 

The Bible warns sinners about Hell and should motivate believers to do all they can do to reach people with the gospel.  It shows us how terrible sin is in the sight of a holy God. 

God has proven His love in many ways.  He sent His son, Jesus to die on the cross for our salvation – (John 3:16).  Listen to Him and put your trust in Him.  Listen to His warnings before it’s too late.

Part II - Heaven

What is Heaven?

Heaven is the dwelling place of God.  God is everywhere, but His dwelling place is heaven, the location of His throne, a place where He accepts our worship and hears our prayers.  Heaven is a place where death doesn’t end - a place where the soul lives on.  When believers die, they will be immediately in the presence of Christ.  Not all will enjoy the glories of heaven - only those who have faith in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Heaven is referred to as the “heavenly Jerusalem” - (Hebrews 12:22)  From scripture we think of it in three ways - where faithful spirits of the dead now live, a satellite city from which believers commute to earth during the millennial age, and the new city which will ultimately rest upon “a new earth” (Revelation 21:2).  From the book “Portraits of Eternity

In Revelation 21 John saw heaven glowing with God’s glory with 12 jeweled foundations, pearly gates, golden streets, and a crystal river.  He gave its measurements - the city was laid out in a square, 15,000 miles long and wide, it’s length, breadth, and height were equal, a beautiful place with no worries, no pain, no heartache, no tears, no more death, no sorrow, no sin - only happiness.  It will be a place where we all will worship and serve Him.  It’s a place where all believers will reign with Christ for all eternity.

WOW!  What a place!  I hope I will see you there.

How can you get to heaven?  

Admit that you are a sinner, confess your sins, repent, and believe that Jesus was born, died on the cross to pay the debt for your sins, and was raised by God on the 3^rd day.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” - (Matthew 18:3).  “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” - (John 14:6). “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” - (John 3:3).

(Luke 13:5) – “… unless you repent, you too will all perish”.

Once we believe and put our faith and trust in Him, God will not condemn us.  “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” - (Romans 8:1).   “Through Him everyone who believes is justified … - (Acts 13:39).  Through His love and grace we are saved.  He will protect and provide for us.  We are His and we are a part of His family.  He is saving a place for us in heaven.    

He has rewards awaiting us in Heaven for our faithful service.  We will receive a crown of life.  “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” - (Revelation 2:10). We will receive a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8), an incorruptible crown (1 Cor.9:25), a crown of rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19), a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:24). We will receive a new body. – (1 Corin. 15:42-49).  

Make certain that Heaven will be your eternal home.

Walk to Emmaus

My Walk to Emmaus weekend 

Last weekend I participated in Walk to Emmaus. What a wonderful and amazing weekend!  I made some new Christian friends, felt a closeness to God more ever before, and my faith was definitely strengthened.

The Walk to Emmaus is a retreat and spiritual renewal program which is used to strengthen the local church through developing of Christians to be better disciples and leaders.  The walk is the retelling the resurrection story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35.   

An Emmaus weekend is experienced through worship, Holy Communion, support of caring Christian communities, and many other expressions of God’s love.  It consists of small group discussions, common meals, singing, worship, and sharing of lives.  After the three-day walk together, we leave to start our “Fourth Day”, which is every day after the weekend - emphasizing participation in  church, community, and support groups for mutual encouragement, guidance, and accountability.

We learned in order to have a relationship with God we need to live a life of piety, study, and action for balance. 

• We should live a life of piety.  It’s not a life that become Pious, but instead it’s a life giving our hearts to God - to live in total connection with Him.  You will get out of a relationship just what you put into it.  Some characteristics of a good relationship are: Time, Resources, Attention, Learning, Commitment, and Honesty.  Our relationship with God influences our relationships with all others.  A friend knows all about you and loves you just the same.  Lip service will not build a relationship.  
• We need to study scripture - to acquire knowledge.  We need to grow to reach full development or maturity.  Romans 12:2 Paul said that “we are transformed through the renewal of our minds.”  We grow through study by knowing the good news that God freely gives grace to everyone in Christ Jesus.  Studying scripture helps know the heart and will of God.  It helps know you are a child of God equipped with special gifts to be used for His purposes.
• We need to have action - People see God in us through Christian Action.  If we are faithful, we will get out and do something.  Christ has no hands but yours.  Remind yourself that God is with you.  Listen how and what He might be calling you to do.  John 13:14-15 - "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.  I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you."

I highly recommend going to Walk to Emmaus for a weekend retreat.  They are held all over the US.  It was the most moving and memorable retreat I have ever participated in.  My life has been changed forever!