Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 4:1-11.  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 4:1 (NIV) 
1  After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
 
On verse 1:  After receiving messages from Jesus for seven churches in Asia (chapters 2-3), John, still in a posture of prayer, sees in front of him a door open to heaven.  The same trumpet-like voice he heard before – Jesus’ voice – invites him to come up to the door and He will show John “what must take place after this”.  In other words, Jesus is about to show John things that will happen in the future.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 9:1-21.  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 9:1-11 (NIV) 
1  The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 
2  When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 
3  And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 

On verses 1-11:  If there was any passage in the Bible that resembled a science fiction movie, it’s these 11 verses.  What is going on here? The fifth angel sounds his trumpet, which then triggers “a star that had fallen from the sky” to appear. Apparently this star is not an actual star from space, but a fallen angel who is referred to as “he” in verse 2.  This fallen star (or fallen angel) is given the key to “the Abyss”.  While “the Abyss” sounds like some kind of spacecraft, it is not clear what exactly the Abyss is.  We do know that when the fallen angel opens the Abyss, enough smoke comes out of the Abyss to darken the sun and sky.  After that, the most powerful and scariest looking locusts come out of the Abyss.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 3:14-22.  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 3:14 (NIV) 
14  “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
 
On verse 14:  In His message to the church in Laodicea, we learn 3 things about Jesus:
 
 –  Jesus is the “Amen”.  What does Jesus mean when He calls Himself “the Amen”?  “Amen” carries the meaning of agreement, affirmation and certainty.  When Jesus calls Himself the “Amen”, it means that everything that Jesus is and everything that Jesus does affirms and agrees with who God is.  Jesus is the One who gives us certainty about who God is and what He is like.  If you want to know who God is and what He is like, look at Jesus.

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: