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After this I looked and there was a door that had been opened in heaven. The first voice that I had heard, which sounded like a trumpet, said to me, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in a Spirit-inspired trance and I saw a throne in heaven, and someone was seated on the throne. The one seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and surrounding the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. Twenty-four thrones, with twenty-four elders seated upon them, surrounded the throne. The elders were dressed in white clothing and had gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came lightning, voices, and thunder. In front of the throne were seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God. Something like a glass sea, like crystal, was in front of the throne. In the center, by the throne, were four living creatures encircling the throne. These creatures were covered with eyes on the front and on the back. The first living creature was like a lion. The second living creature was like an ox. The third living creature had a face like a human being. And the fourth living creature was like an eagle in flight. Each of the four living creatures had six wings, and each was covered all around and on the inside with eyes. They never rest day or night, but keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is coming.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one seated on the throne, who lives forever and always, the twenty-four elders fall before the one seated on the throne. They worship the one who lives forever and always. They throw down their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, because you created all things. It is by your will that they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:1-11, CEB)

I was in a spirit inspired trance? And the seven torches are the seven spirits of God?

The four living creatures were covered with eyes on their front and their backs.

A Lion covered in eyes.
An Ox covered in eyes.
A Human face covered in eyes.
An Eagle flying covered in eyes.

Is this supposed to bring me joy or peace, because this gives me the Willy’s and really creeps me out.

This is a vision of heaven, in a spirit inspired trance.

I honestly am not sure what to make of this. And I think anyone who thinks they completely understand this vision is making it fit into their world vision and not living in the reality of a spirit inspired trance.

Know we do not have to completely understand all of scripture to let it point us to who God is calling us to be in the world.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

lukewarm

“Write this to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I’m about to spit you out of my mouth. After all, you say, ‘I’m rich, and I’ve grown wealthy, and I don’t need a thing.’ You don’t realize that you are miserable, pathetic, poor, blind, and naked. My advice is that you buy gold from me that has been purified by fire so that you may be rich, and white clothing to wear so that your nakedness won’t be shamefully exposed, and ointment to put on your eyes so that you may see. I correct and discipline those whom I love. So be earnest and change your hearts and lives. Look! I’m standing at the door and knocking. If any hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to be with them, and will have dinner with them, and they will have dinner with me. As for those who emerge victorious, I will allow them to sit with me on my throne, just as I emerged victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Revelation 3:14-22, CEB)

You think you have all the answers and know the right things to say and force everyone else to follow your ways and do things the way you think they should be done. You are Lukewarm and causing issues.

You got just enough understanding of how God calls us to live to think you know it all.

But your hearts are not changed and you are not actually loving like God asked you to, you are keeping the status quo in place.

Love radically and change the world. Do not keep normal in place.

Love like Jesus. Do not be lukewarm.

Loving People. Loving God.

fear

“I tell you, my friends, don’t be terrified by those who can kill the body but after that can do nothing more. I’ll show you whom you should fear: fear the one who, after you have been killed, has the authority to throw you into hell. Indeed, I tell you, that’s the one you should fear. Aren’t five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them is overlooked by God. Even the hairs on your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before humans, the Human One will acknowledge before God’s angels. But the one who rejects me before others will be rejected before God’s angels. Anyone who speaks a word against the Human One will be forgiven, but whoever insults the Holy Spirit won’t be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, rulers, and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what you should say. The Holy Spirit will tell you at that very moment what you must say.” (Luke 12:4-12, CEB)

Jesus tells us to fear God here. And I find that troubling. And the word in the original language is fear. One of the figurative extensions of the word is “to have profound reverence and respect for deity, with the implication of awe bordering on fear — ‘to reverence, to worship.’” God is a loving God who is patient to wait for all to see and understand the love, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Why would we fear this?

If it is awe or reverence, then that is different. Because God loves all of us and doesn’t want any to perish.

Reverence God and love all of creation.

Loving People. Loving God.

suffer

“Write this to the angel of the church in Smyrna:
These are the words of the one who is the first and the last, who died and came back to life: I know your hardship and poverty (though you are actually rich). I also know the hurtful things that have been spoken about you by those who say they are Jews (though they are not, but are really Satan’s synagogue). Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison in order to test you. You will suffer hardship for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Those who emerge victorious won’t be hurt by the second death. (Revelation 2:8-11, CEB)

Do not be afraid of what you are going to suffer. People will say all sorts of things about you as you stand up for what God has called you to stand for. But you will emerge victorious. And those who emerge victorious won’t be hurt by the second death.

We might suffer for our faith, but death is not the end; it is a step to eternity with God. Know God is always with you.

Love like Jesus and always speak truth.

Loving People. Loving God.

Alive!

I, John, your brother who shares with you in the hardship, kingdom, and endurance that we have in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and my witness about Jesus. I was in a Spirit-inspired trance on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet. It said, “Write down on a scroll whatever you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” I turned to see who was speaking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven oil lamps burning on top of seven gold stands. In the middle of the lampstands I saw someone who looked like the Human One. He wore a robe that stretched down to his feet, and he had a gold sash around his chest. His head and hair were white as white wool—like snow—and his eyes were like a fiery flame. His feet were like fine brass that has been purified in a furnace, and his voice sounded like rushing water. He held seven stars in his right hand, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His appearance was like the sun shining with all its power. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. But he put his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, but look! Now I’m alive forever and always. I have the keys of Death and the Grave. So write down what you have seen, both the scene now before you and the things that are about to unfold after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands, here is what they mean: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. (Revelation 1:9-20, CEB)

The figure that greets John in the vision says he was dead but now is alive forever!

We have eternal life through Jesus, who came to show us how to love and how to live, and has made a place for us in all of eternity.

This vision is one of Hope, and the hope starts right here. Death is not the end; it is a step, for Jesus and for all of us.

Hope! Because he is alive, now and forever!

Loving People. Loving God.

disbelief!

It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.” Thomas, the one called Didymus, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.” After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!” Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replied, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.” Then Jesus did many other miraculous signs in his disciples’ presence, signs that aren’t recorded in this scroll. But these things are written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and that believing, you will have life in his name (John 20:19-31, CEB)

Finally, a translation that gets it closer to what the original language said. (Notice I didn’t say right, because we are still dealing with stories written a really long time ago in a language that is dead.)

This passage has been known as the doubting Thomas passage, which gives Thomas a bad rap. The passage usually has Jesus saying to Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe.” Theissues with this is the original langauage is ἄπιστος ἀλλὰ πιστός. In the original language, placing an α in front of a word was the same as in English putting an un in front of a word. And πιστός means faith, belief, trust. So if we say Jesus said, “Do not doubt, but believe.” We are saying doubt is the opposite of faith or belief. Which I do not think doubt is the opposite of faith, that is certainty. But the translation above says, “No more disbelief. Believe!”
Do not be unbelieving but believing!
Do not be untrusting but trusting!
Do not be unfaithful but faithful!

Believe in the promises. Jesus told us, God is faithful!

Loving People. Loving God.

Doubt

While they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” They were terrified and afraid. They thought they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you startled? Why are doubts arising in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet. It’s really me! Touch me and see, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones like you see I have.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. (Luke 24:36-40, CEB)

Why do you think I may not be real is what Jesus said to them, which is translated, why are doubts arising in your hearts. The word there means “to think that something may not be true or certain — ‘to doubt, to be uncertain about, doubt.’”

Why do we doubt the promises God gives us? We can not see them or prove them, but isn’t that what faith is? Belief in something I can not prove is faith. And doubt is not the opposite of faith; certainty is.

Doubt pushes me to discover and learn. Certainty tells me what is true and not and leaves no room for faith.

The disciples were certain Jesus was dead and could not be standing in front of them, but faith said he was there.

Do not be certain, live in faith.

Loving People. Loving God.

How?

The high priest, together with his allies, the Sadducees, was overcome with jealousy. They seized the apostles and made a public show of putting them in prison. An angel from the Lord opened the prison doors during the night and led them out. The angel told them, “Go, take your place in the temple, and tell the people everything about this new life.” Early in the morning, they went into the temple as they had been told and began to teach. When the high priest and his colleagues gathered, they convened the Jerusalem Council, that is, the full assembly of Israel’s elders. They sent word to the prison to have the apostles brought before them. However, the guards didn’t find them in the prison. They returned and reported, “We found the prison locked and well-secured, with guards standing at the doors, but when we opened the doors we found no one inside!” When they received this news, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were baffled and wondered what might be happening. Just then, someone arrived and announced, “Look! The people you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain left with his guards and brought the apostles back. They didn’t use force because they were afraid the people would stone them. (Acts 5:17-26, CEB)

So the powers that be were jealous of the apostles and had them arrested and jailed. But God saw fit to make sure they were released and advised them to go to the temple to teach. And the next day when the powers wanted to speak with them they were not in jail but in the place they were trying to keep them from.

And the guards were afraid to use force because the people would revolt against them.

Power wants to maintain its power. And people can rise against that.

God’s will will be done through us or in spite of us. Choose to stand with God.

Loving People. Loving God.

healed

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. They would come together regularly at Solomon’s Porch. No one from outside the church dared to join them, even though the people spoke highly of them. Indeed, more and more believers in the Lord, large numbers of both men and women, were added to the church. As a result, they would even bring the sick out into the main streets and lay them on cots and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow could fall on some of them as he passed by. Even large numbers of persons from towns around Jerusalem would gather, bringing the sick and those harassed by unclean spirits. Everyone was healed. (Acts 5:12-16, CEB)

People were healed by being in the presence of the disciples or having the shadow of one pass over them. Everyone was healed. Not just those who were a part of the gathering, but all people.

Everyone was healed, not those who believed or joined. Not those who lived as others thought they should. Everyone.

Why do we think we can be a doorkeeper for God’s house when plainly God loves all of creation and accepts all as they were made?

Loving People. Loving God.

who said what?

Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, bringing the fragrant spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. They didn’t know what to make of this. Suddenly, two men were standing beside them in gleaming bright clothing. The women were frightened and bowed their faces toward the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He isn’t here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee, that the Human One must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words. When they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. Their words struck the apostles as nonsense, and they didn’t believe the women. But Peter ran to the tomb. When he bent over to look inside, he saw only the linen cloth. Then he returned home, wondering what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12, CEB)

Read that again. I’ll wait…

The women went to the tomb because of the Sabbath; they were unable to prepare the body for burial with spices. Jesus was never prepared to remain buried. And when they arrived, they found the stone rolled away and Jesus gone. Then they were told Jesus wasn’t there, remember he told YOU while you were in Galilee. He told the women, as they were there with the disciples, because they were and are disciples. They were told he would be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again. Then they remembered and ran to tell the men, and the men thought it was nonsense and went to see. When they saw that Jesus was gone, they went home pondering what it meant.

The women told, the men were scared and told no one.

Women told us about the resurrection. Women were always there and disciples of Jesus.

Stop the nonsense that only men can be in leadership.

Listen to women. They will lead us to God.

Loving People. Loving God.