Archive for month: February, 2024

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 3:7-13.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 3:7-13 (NIV) 
7  “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
8  I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

On verses 7-13:  The church in Philadelphia was going through a similar trial as the church in Smyrna, which was persecution from a group that claimed to be Jews but were not.  Jesus calls this group of persecutors a bunch of liars (v9) and, as He did in Revelation 2:9, “a synagogue of Satan”.  To the suffering church in Philadelphia, Jesus expresses His love in several different ways:

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 2:1-7.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 2:1 (NIV) 
1  “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:

On verse 1:  Starting in chapter 2 John records 7 messages from Jesus that he is told to send to 7 churches in the province of Asia.  The first message is for the church of Ephesus.  Notice how the message is worded “To the angel of the church in Ephesus”.  Who is this angel?  The Greek word for angel here is angellos, which is mostly translated in the New Testament as “angel” but is sometimes translated as “messenger”.  According to some scholars, the two main possibilities for what the “angel” is referring to are: (1) the “angel” refers to an actual angelic being who supernaturally watches over the church; or (2) the “angel” refers to the pastor of the local church, who practically serves as God’s messenger to the church and who would likely be the one to receive and read out to the church this particular message that John had written.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Revelation 1:9-20.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 1:9-18 (NIV) 
9  I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 
10  On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 
11  which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” 

On verses 9-18:  John is in exile on the island of Patmos for preaching the Gospel (v9 – “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus”).  On Sunday (“the Lord’s Day”) he is praying deeply and sensing the presence of God (“in the Spirit” – v10) when he hears from behind him a voice like a trumpet telling him to write down on a scroll what he sees.  The voice behind John tells him to send what he writes down to the seven churches in the province of Asia (v11).  When John turns around to see who is speaking to him, he sees someone that he can only describe as “someone ‘like a son of man’” (v13).  One reason is because this person resembles a human being, yet his physical presence is unlike anything an ordinary human being has:  fully white head and hair, eyes like blazing fire, feet like bronze in a furnace, voice like rushing waters, his face like the sun in its brilliance.  He is wearing a robe with a golden sash across his chest (v13) and he stands among seven golden lampstands (v12).