After a decade of dreaming about it; we finally did it!  We remodeled our kitchen on a slim budget.  We stripped off the old and painted the cabinets a clean, bright white.  But, knowing our limited abilities, we hired a guy who was gifted and meticulous in tiling and countertop installing to pull out the old and put in the new.  We left for a week while he did his part as soon as the paint dried on the cabinets.  We also had to remove all the contents of collected stuff in the cabinets which was a chore but worth it.  We got rid of  tons of stuff we did not need or would want in our new dream kitchen work area.

We waited with intense excitement for the “big reveal.” We learned that our guy who had become our new friend in the process was as excited as we were! The day finally came!  We walked into the kitchen to see a beautiful, clean, durable backsplash, countertop, and new sink!  It was much more than we imagined it would be. The new sink that replaced the old stained sink was a perfect fit.  The prayers, planning, sacrificing financially, measuring many times, and prework preparation all came together as our dream was realized. It was worth all the work of gathering what was needed, getting rid of what we didn’t need, patiently waiting through delays, and the sore muscles and joints to see this dream realized! 

Jesus blessed John with a Big Reveal of unimaginable proportions!  Jesus gave John a glimpse of what eternal life with Him in God’s Kingdom will look like. While John was at worship, the reveal given in a glorious vision.  Since this same John was one invited to see Jesus transfigured on the mountain top that one day, John is ready for more.  He knows Who is talking to him while showing these great signs of things to come. 

The gates of heaven were pulled back to reveal what lies ahead for those who remain firm in faith and truly believe all that God said about eternal life found in His Son, Jesus.  John, the Beloved disciple who encouraged many churches in the Name of Jesus was given the privilege to see with the command to write down all that saw of the Big Reveal so future readers of the reveal will know God as Truth and Love.  Only Jesus, without sin, who died for our sins, is qualified to be the final judge. 

Hang on, the reading for understanding might blow our minds through the metaphors, but will reveal to us the importance of staying true to our “first love”—Jesus.  Come let us worship God in Jesus Name as we read…

Revelation 1, The Message

^1-2 A revealing of Jesus, the Messiah. God gave it to make plain to his servants what is about to happen. He published and delivered it by Angel to his servant John. And John told everything he saw: God’s Word—the witness of Jesus Christ!

³ How blessed the reader! How blessed the hearers and keepers of these oracle words, all the words written in this book!

Time is just about up.

His Eyes Pouring Fire-Blaze

^4-7 I, John, am writing this to the seven churches in Asia province: All the best to you from The God Who Is, The God Who Was, and The God About to Arrive, and from the Seven Spirits assembled before his throne, and from Jesus Christ—Loyal Witness, Firstborn from the dead, Ruler of all earthly kings.

Glory and strength to Christ, who loves us,
    who blood-washed our sins from our lives,
Who made us a Kingdom, Priests for his Father,
    forever—and yes, he’s on his way!
Riding the clouds, he’ll be seen by every eye,
    those who mocked and killed him will see him,
People from all nations and all times
    will tear their clothes in lament.
        Oh, Yes.

⁸ The Master declares, “I’m A to Z. I’m The God Who Is, The God Who Was, and The God About to Arrive. I’m the Sovereign-Strong.”

^9-17 I, John, with you all the way in the trial and the Kingdom and the passion of patience in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of God’s Word, the witness of Jesus. It was Sunday and I was in the Spirit, praying. I heard a loud voice behind me, trumpet-clear and piercing: “Write what you see into a book. Send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.” I turned and saw the voice.

I saw a gold menorah
    with seven branches,
And in the center, the Son of Man,
    in a robe and gold breastplate,
    hair a blizzard of white,
Eyes pouring fire-blaze,
    both feet furnace-fired bronze,
His voice a roar,
    right hand holding the Seven Stars,
His mouth a sharp-biting sword,
    his face a blinding sun.

I saw this and fainted dead at his feet. His right hand pulled me upright, his voice reassured me:

^17-20 “Don’t fear: I am First, I am Last, I’m Alive. I died, but I came to life, and my life is now forever. See these keys in my hand? They open and lock Death’s doors, they open and lock Hell’s gates. Now write down everything you see: things that are, things about to be. The Seven Stars you saw in my right hand and the seven-branched gold menorah—do you want to know what’s behind them? The Seven Stars are the Angels of the seven churches; the menorah’s seven branches are the seven churches.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Come to Jesus with hearts, minds, and souls opened to trust and obey.  May Love lead the way.

Pray without ceasing. 

Worship God as a lifestyle of communion, two-way conversations daily of talking and listening, with laying our lives before Him as an offering to Him.  This is our spiritual act of worship.  (Romans 12:1-2) It is through worship of God in Jesus Name that He reveals Himself to us.

Caution:  Avoid wondering in “the weeds” of what we do not understand now.  Let us apply to our lives what we do understand—because there is plenty!

In his introduction of Revelation, The Message Bible, Eugene Peterson prepares us with words of worship we can grasp and hold on to God with a believing heart, renewed mind, and a soul given to Jesus—

“The Bible ends with a flourish; vision and song, doom and deliverance, terror and triumph.  The rush of color and sound, image and energy, leaves us reeling.  But if we persist through the initial confusion and read on, we begin to pick up the rhythms, realize the connections, and find ourselves enlisted as participants in a multi-dimensional act of Christian worship. 

John of Patmos, a pastor of the late first century, has worship on his mind, is preeminently concerned with worship.  The vision, which is THE REVELATION, comes to him while he is at worship on a certain Sunday on the Mediterranean island of Patmos.  He is responsible for a circuit of churches on the mainland whose primary task is worship.  Worship shapes the human community in response to the living God.  If worship is neglected or perverted, our communities fall into chaos or under tyranny. 

Our times are not propitious for worship. The times never are. The world is hostile to worship. The Devil hates worship.  As The Revelation makes clear, worship must be carried out under conditions decidedly uncongenial to it.  Some Christians even get killed because they worship.

John’s Revelation is not easy reading.  Besides being a pastor, John is a poet, found of metaphor and symbol, image and allusion, passionate in his desire to bring us into the presence of Jesus believing and adoring.  But the demand he makes on our intelligence and imagination are well rewarded, for in keeping company with John, our worship of God will almost certainly deepen in urgency and joy.” –Peterson

Lord,

I worship you with all that is in me. There is none like you!  You saved me and restored me.  You reconciled me to you.  You are provider, healer, protector, to all who believe.  Your Holy Spirit comforts, convicts, challenges and compels us to be more like you.  Thank you for giving us a glimpse of things to come.  May all I think, say, and do today be worship of you.  Continue your remodeling work in me!

In Jesus Name, Amen