Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 2:1-7.  There are so many powerful lessons we can learn from this passage.  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 that the way the message is worded is “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”.  Thus, 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 a messenger, the one who delivers messages, to the church and who would likely be the one to receive and read out this particular message from Jesus to the church.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 1:9-20.  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 Jesus Christ (“someone ‘like a son of man’” – v13) standing among seven golden lampstands.  Jesus’ physical presence is awesome: 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. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today we begin the book of Revelation.  Written in approximately 95 A.D., the book of Revelation was written by the apostle John while he was in exile on the island of Patmos for preaching about Jesus.  While on Patmos, John receives multiple visions which he understands to be from Jesus Christ and is told to write them down.  The result is the book of Revelation, a highly significant book that describes what will happen before, during and after the return (second coming) of Jesus Christ.  This book also shows how many Old Testament prophecies will be fulfilled.

Today’s passage is Revelation 1:1-8.  Let’s go!

Revelation 1:1-2 (NIV) 
1  The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2  who testifies to everything he saw–that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

On verses 1-2:  Here John makes clear that what he is writing about is not something he himself manufactured.  Rather what John is writing down is “the revelation of Jesus Christ”.  What John is about to share is what was revealed to him as “the word of God” and “the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Zephaniah 3:1-19.  Let’s go!

Zephaniah 3:1-7 (NIV) 
1  Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
2  She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.
3  Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning…….

On verses 1-7:  Chapter 3 of Zephaniah begins with God expressing His utter displeasure with the city of Jerusalem.  He describes the people of Jerusalem as rebellious and unholy (v1), disobedient and unteachable (v2a), refusing to trust God or draw near to Him (v2b).  He describes Jerusalem’s political and military leaders as lions and wolves (v3), her prophets as arrogant and deceitful (v4), and her priests as hypocrites (v5).  The only One righteous in Jerusalem is the Lord Himself (v5), who “does no wrong” (v5) and who continues to act justly despite the unrighteousness around Him (v5).  In verses 6 and 7, the Lord laments how despite disciplining Jerusalem with hardship, the people of Jerusalem continued to act corruptly.