Sorry, I had to use the title to get the Barry Manilow song in your head, but I DID IT! Cover to cover, I read the Bible in a year. Well, it took me a little over two years to actually do it and I started over at the beginning of the year and did it in less than a year, but I did it. My Bible and I did it. We made it. WOW, it is pretty cool.

It is all pretty summed up for me in the last day of reading of Revelation:

“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.” Revelation 22:7 (NLT)

What’s next. To read it again. It’s funny and I am embarrassed to say it, but when I first starting reading the Bible, I did it almost as a “bucket-list” type thing. To say that I had read the entire Bible. And I am excited about the accomplishment, but it did something to me. This has begun a lifelong habit of reading the Word and applying it. So now I start the new year with a telephone book sized Study Bible that I got for Christmas to dive in even deeper. I am fired up and I am excited about sharing in the next year with tools to help my friends do the same.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19:7-11 (ESV)

Thank you again for joining me on the journey. We’ve only just begun (yet another cheezy 70′s song reference). Get ready because we are only getting started! Here we go…

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Where were we? Oh yeah…

Three more churches get the warning from Jesus:

• Sadis: They started out great, but became complacent and spiritually dead. I have to say how I enjoy this blog as it keeps me accountable in learning in the Word. It’s a seven day week, not just Sundays. That is cool.
• Philadelphia: My favorite church as they were small and weak, but they continued to follow God when oppressed. Jesus promised the church protection and we all get that when we follow Him, even in our weakest hours. That is even more cool
• Laodicea: Man, do they get it! I have heard from these verses many times, “…that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth” (v3:15) Passion is what is all about! Can’t you tell when you see the passion. That is what it is all about. There is no movement with out passion.

John’s vision moves to heaven where the is worship for God and the seven scrolls which only Jesus, the lamb, can open. These are not good and we find that only those that follow Him will survive the horror.

Then the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy people, the people with great power, and every slave and every free person – all hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks. “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of wrath  has come, and who will be able to survive?” Revelation 6:15-17 (NLT)

I love to live my life in peace and show the love of the Lord, but we do need to get angry to prove a point.  This is the epitome of it. It always amazes me that some people need this demonstration to get what is right. Some are so inward focused that you need to rattle their cage to get their attention. Anyway, we know that a day will come when the ultimate demonstration comes. Powerful stuff. Read on…

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I have to say that starting Revelation has probably been the most challenging of all the books to date. I mean, how are you supposed to respond to the Lord bringing commands to the seven early churches with situations that are still relevant today?

Uh, alright. I get it…

With that being said, I will do what I can to give a quick overview and how it still applies to us today, which is just simply amazing! So, the Apostle John is worshipping while exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the Word when he has the vision of Jesus. The early churches have been falling down a bit, as we still do, and God is sending Jesus with a pep talk. He starts with something that we all now know so well:

I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One.” Revelation 1:8 (NLT)

Jesus arrives in the vision and John responds as any of us would, much how I have felt writing this post:

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. Write down what you have seen – both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen later.” Revelation 1:17-19 (NLT)

That pretty much sums up how I have felt about posting on Revelation! What am I going to add to this conversation? So, I continue with the seven early churches and what Jesus has to say to them. In this read, we touch on four of them:

• Ephesus: After early success, their faith has begun to wane. Jesus says to “turn back to me again and work as you did at first” (2:5). It’s funny how we can believe that we have it all covered, but we never have it all covered. This is way too big for us to comprehend and we must continue to learn.
• Smyma: They suffered and perservered. Satan was throwing what he could at them. Jesus promises “Remain faithful even when facing death, and I will give you the crown of life” (2:10). Satan throws stuff at us every day, but very few of us have to face death. We can handle this stuff and we will see Him again. That is cool.
• Pergamum: This church also was getting knocked around by Satan, but for the most part, they remained faithful. But, a few were getting caught up in sexual misconduct. How relevant is that today? It’s this stuff that trips us up and we need to remain consistent in our walk or our testimony is useless. How hard is it when you hear that Christians are hypocrites? Me too…
• Thyatira: Again, these folks were doing great – “I know all the things you do – your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.” (2:19). But some of them were being lead astray by a false prophet Jezebel. We need to keep in mind who we are following – Jesus. We need to constantly be aware of Jesus’ teachings for ourselves so that we are armed against those that might twist his words and lead us astray. Again, still happening today…

For the last couple of months, I have been able to comment on these reads and give observations on my own. While I peppered the comments of this post with my own views, I couldn’t have done it without the notes of my Every Man’s Bible Study Bible. I have to give credit where credit is due. Thanks for stopping by. Read on…

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Thanks Randy for the comment to help get me jump started. For the last several books, I have been using my Study Bible, but I have been passing on the notes because I wanted to write from my heart regarding the Scriptures, but I have to tell you, I am needing to dive into the notes for Revelation. This is DEEP!

With that being said, I am doing some studying tonight and will write about the read tomorrow.

Finally, you have probably figured out that I have launched the mult-blog site, albeit very minimally. I working to make it what it should be and that will cut into the read, as I have mentioned before. But, not too much! I am going to keep on it and I will have posts up shortly. Thanks for taking the journey with me.

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