In late May, I began 202 days of journaling through the 404 verses of the final book of the Bible, Revelation. To go along with my personal study and preparation to preach through this book in 2013, I’m trying to tweet something from every verse. Today I finished chapter 4. Here’s a compilation of my tweets followed by the reference.
Revelation 1 | Revelation 2 | Revelation 3
John’s revelation was open, concerning the future and rooted in exalting Christ. (Revelation 4:1)
Heaven will be a place where Jesus reigns unequivocally. (Revelation 4:2)
Jesus is glorious in majesty and splendor as the exalted Lord of glory. (Revelation 4:3)
Jesus is definitely King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 4:4)
Jesus’ supremacy means He has the power and right to judge at His disposal. (Revelation 4:5)
The rule and reign of Jesus is resplendent and glorious. (Revelation 4:6)
Even creatures around Jesus’ throne are pointing to His majesty. (Revelation 4:7)
Forever we will marvel at the eternal holiness of Jesus. (Revelation 4:8)
The appropriate response of worship to Jesus is to give Him glory, honor and thanks. (Revelation 4:9)
Worshipping Jesus means not only outward allegiance, but laying down “our rights” for His supremacy. (Revelation 4:10)
Because Jesus created all things, He has Creator rights to be worshipped. (Revelation 4:11)
Tweets From Revelation 3
In late May, I began 202 days of journaling through the 404 verses of the final book of the Bible, Revelation. To go along with my personal study and preparation to preach through this book in 2013, I’m trying to tweet something from every verse. Today I finished chapter 3. Here’s a compilation of my tweets followed by the reference.
Revelation 1 | Revelation 2
Jesus knows your involvement in the local church and whether or not it’s a show or for real. (Revelation 3:1)
Some of us need to WAKE UP from complacency & sloppy inconsistent living of what we believe. (Revelation 3:2)
God’s remedy: remember what you’ve learned, keep it and repent, lest He come. (Revelation 3:3)
Jesus always has a people who are set apart from the world, walking with Him. (Revelation 3:4)
As we persevere in faith, Jesus will keep us pure and persevering, commending us to the Father. #gloriousmystery (Revelation 3:5)
Not only is the Holy Spirit alive and real, He’s got something to say to the church. Listen up. (Revelation 3:6)
The church need to listen and be awed by Jesus, who is holy, true and fully of authority. (Revelation 3:7)
Jesus knows your life and is in control. Feel weak? He still calls you to honor His name. (Revelation 3:8)
Jesus will one day right the wrongs of deception out of love for His people. (Revelation 3:9)
Persevering in keeping God’s Word ensures that He will keep us, no matter what comes. (Revelation 3:10)
Because Jesus is surely returning, we ought to continue to persevere toward our eternal reward. (Revelation 3:11)
Perseverance = being established by God Himself, eternally. (Revelation 3:12)
Got ears? Listen to what God is saying…for reals. (Revelation 3:13)
When Jesus speaks, He speaks an an authoritative, reliable and relevant person. (Revelation 3:14)
Jesus knows your life and wants you to believe. (Revelation 3:15)
Casual Christianity (relating to God as it’s comfortable) isn’t appealing to Jesus. (Revelation 3:16)
Living life without an active dependence on God grossly underestimates your spiritual reality. (Revelation 3:17)
Jesus’ counsel is that we come to Him as desperately needy people. (Revelation 3:18)
Jesus demonstrates His love by correcting those He loves, so we should nurture a heart for Him. (Revelation 3:19)
Hey! Jesus longs for fellowship with His people, so give Him a warm welcome. (Revelation 3:20)
When we persevere in Jesus, in the end we are given a hero’s welcome by Him. (Revelation 3:21)
Open your ears and hear what Jesus has to say. (Revelation 3:22)
Tweets from Revelation 2
In late May, I began 202 days of journaling through the 404 verses of the final book of the Bible, Revelation. To go along with my personal study and preparation to preach through this book in 2013, I’m trying to tweet something from every verse. Today I finished chapter 2. Here’s a compilation of my tweets followed by the reference.
Revelation 1
Jesus is very involved and aware of the life and ministry of the local church. (Revelation 2:1)
Jesus knows what local churches are doing and has right to speak commendation and/or judgment. (Revelation 2:2)
Jesus is very aware of your patient endurance and your not growing weary in the difficult times. (Revelation 2:3)
Since love fulfills the law, Jesus is always calling us to deeper love of God and neighbor. (Revelation 2:4)
Jesus’ call for His straying people is always repent and return. (Revelation 2:5)
We ought to nurture a love & knowledge of God so that we hate what He hates. (Revelation 2:6)
Listen up! If we endure to the end we get eternal life in heaven. (Revelation 2:7)
Jesus, who died, was raised, & is everything has something to say to the church. (Revelation 2:8)
Jesus knows your good times and bad as well as the true condition of people around you. (Revelation 2:9)
Don’t fear but persevere in suffering for Christ; the time is short compared to the eternal blessings that will come. (Revelation 2:10)
Listen up! Persevere in Christ & enjoy eternal life. (Revelation 2:11)
The church needs to listen to what has been said in God’s Word. (Revelation 2:12)
Jesus knows where you are & what your life is: your faithfulness & faithlessness. (Revelation 2:13)
Jesus has disdain for teachings that don’t result in His worship. (Revelation 2:14)
An easy way to recognize false teaching is to examine the fruit it produces (Revelation 2:15)
If we refuse to repent, Jesus Himself will work through His Word to lead us there. (Revelation 2:16)
Listen up! Persevering trusts in God’s provision & our identity in Him. (Revelation 2:17)
The Lord Jesus is holy. (Revelation 2:18)
Jesus knows our life and whether or not we are living out what we believe. (Revelation 2:19)
Jesus is against us when we tolerate things that are an affront to Him. (Revelation 2:20)
Jesus calls us to repent of specific sins, most notably sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:21)
Refusing to repent has consequences, including further judgment. (Revelation 2:22)
Jesus searches our minds and hearts and perfectly judges accordingly. (Revelation 2:23)
There is a blessing for avoiding things that dishonor God. (Revelation 2:24)
Jesus is coming back; therefore, let’s persevere to the end. (Revelation 2:25)
If we persevere in well-doing, Jesus promises to reward it. (Revelation 2:26)
Look forward to the day when your faith is made sight and you live in God’s authority. (Revelation 2:27)
For those who persevere to the end, we will one day appear like Jesus. (Revelation 2:28)
Listen up, church, God has something to say today. (Revelation 2:29)
Helping You Help Me
A great post came over at the Gospel Coalition recently entitled Sermon Prep: A Week in One Life. I’m often super-blessed when I’m asked by people in the church how they can pray for me. My reply usually is something like “Pray that I would be faithful to honor God week in and week out.” While this sounds trite, this post on the nature of a pastor’s work week may help you understand some particular struggles inherent in my work.
I found this post helpful, as well, in reminding me of some important parts of my work. So, if you’ve ever wondered how you can pray for your pastor, why not take some time and check out this post, which begins: “For those unfamiliar with ministry, the pastor’s work week can be mystifying.”
Just One Word…
…makes such a difference. I found this out just today as I was prepping for a sermon this weekend on Hebrews 5:11-14. This passage exposes spiritual immaturity specifically highlighting the sluggish hearing to which the readers have fallen prey. They ought to be living out the implications of the Gospel and sharing that with others (like Jesus commanded in the Great Commission). Instead, they are needing a steady diet of milk, getting nourished again on what the Gospel is and how it relates to life Then, in v.14, we read:
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
The phrase translated “constant practice” reflects how most translations understand the original word in the text, transliterated as hexis. It’s only used one time in the Bible and its meaning is hard to get at. What this verse means with the translation “constant practice” has the implication that mature and those who are working hard to hold onto their mature state must constantly practice to have discernment.
Researching this word today, I came across a journal article by John Lee from 1997 on what this word means and he proposes this translation:
But solid food is for adults, who because of their mature state have their senses trained to distinguish good and bad.
The implication of this is simply staggering. Instead of working hard to be mature, the state of being mature means having good senses to distinguish good and bad. This is more in keeping with the Gospel, it seems to me.
The translation and interpretation mentioned first above almost suggest a works oriented system. The latter seems to suggest that the Gospel does a work that leads to perseverance. This leads O’Brien to write (in his Pillar commentary on Hebrews):
So because of their mature condition, the faculties of adults, that is, their physical senses including their minds, have been trained to discern both good and evil.
The Christian world, in some pockets, is consumed with knowing the Word, eating the meat of the Word and moving onto maturity. The writer of Hebrews is saying that the work of the Gospel in our lives naturally leads to maturity. If we would continue to flesh out the implications of the Gospel in our lives, we would inevitably end up mature.
Just one word does, indeed, make all the difference.