December 27, 2012 … <'KOKO>< = "Keep On Keeping On In Christ!"

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 362

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Revelation, Chapters 1-5 To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passages: Revelation 1: 1-3: 9-11 : [NLT] … {The Apostle John, exiled by Rome from Ephesus to Patmos in about 95AD (about 60 years after Jesus’ death/resurrection) is writing about a revelation from Christ Himself, given through John to seven churches in Asia Minor and to any Christian who might read these prophetic writings. And for the one who might be tempted to ask why should we read/study Revelation because of its imagery, see verse 3 of Chapter 1 underlined below, which is from God and certainly reason enough to read and do all we can to interpret this challenging book of the Bible. } ...  
1 This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him concerning the events that will happen soon. An angel was sent to God’s servant John so that John could share the revelation with God’s other servants. 2 John faithfully reported the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ — everything he saw. … 3 God blesses the one who reads this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to it and obey what it says. For the time is near when these things will happen. … 
9 I am John, your brother. In Jesus we are partners in suffering and in the Kingdom and in patient endurance. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and speaking about Jesus. 10 It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast. 11 It said, “Write down what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”  
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Highlight Passages: Revelation 2 [Please use the link above to read/study through the letters to four of the churches] : [NLT] … {Chapter 2 begins four of the seven letters to the churches in/around Asia Minor, where John had been living prior to being exiled to Patmos. And these seven churches represent types of churches in the world today, which makes these letters pertinent/powerful warning to the Kingdom of God in the here and now. In each instance, save one in Chapter 3, the Lord has a warning to repent and return to the ways of Christ. } … ============
Highlight Passages: Revelation 3: 10-13 : [NLT] … {The last three of the seven letters are in Chapter 3; and I’m quoting the one church, in Philadelphia, which received only affirmation and kudos from Christ for their Kingdom living the faithfulness. Hence I’m quoting below from that letter; but please take the time to read through all seven letters.} …
{To the Church in Philadelphia} 10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 Look, I am coming quickly. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write my God’s name on them, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And they will have my new name inscribed upon them. 13 Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”  
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Highlight Passages: Revelation 4: 1-3 : [NLT] … {In Chapter 4 of The Revelation, John moves from the pragmatics of kingdom living in the previous three chapters to prophesy about living forever in the New Jerusalem. }...   
1 Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” 2 And instantly I was in the Spirit,£ and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it! 3 The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.
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Highlight Passages: Revelation 5: 6-8 : [NLT] … {And John unfolds more of his vision of heaven for all who believed in Christ as their Messiah and LORD.}...   
6 I looked and I saw a Lamb that had been killed but was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that are sent out into every part of the earth. 7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8 And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense—the prayers of God’s people! 

My Journal for Today: Okay … after 362 days in my chronological trek through the Bible with YouVerson.com online, and using my Parsons Commentary CD Rom to help me, I’ve arrived at that oft dreaded Book of The Revelation to close out my year; and this book of the Bible has always been imposing to me; but I will do what the title of my journal entry today proclaims.

I will “KEEP ON KEEPING ON IN CHRIST” and complete this work of discipleship for 2012.

 And I’ve titled this blog entry as stated because, in many respects, that is the theme entry of The Revelation, where God first gives to His Church letters addressed to there-and-then churches near where John had spent the last years of his life near Ephesus in Asia-Minor. And as The Revelation opens, Christ is practically dictating, through John, the Lord’s challenge and charge to His Bride to get it together, repent, and return to His will and His ways, … i.e., to return to Kingdom Living and avoiding fleshly or worldly living.

I hope you have, as I have, gone back and studied through those seven letters in the first three chapters of The Revelation; and if you have, I think you’ll agree that my title today, “Keep On Keeping On In Christ,” is an appropriate summary of what the Lord was trying to communicate to the Church through John. For example, He wanted the Ephesians to return to their first love (i.e., the Lord); and really that was the main message for all the other churches, save the church in Philadelphia, who had remained true and faithful in their Kingdom living.

And then John, through the vision God gave him of heaven, launches (today in Chapters 4-5) into that Revelation of our LORD ruling in The New Jerusalem. And we’ll close out 2012, looking at this vision, realizing that all who’ve come to faith in YESHUA HA MASHIAH will be worshipping and praising the Lion of Judah and sharing His Heaven with the Lamb of God forever.

WORTHY IS THE LAMB, Who sits His throne of grace!!!

My Prayer for Today Praise You, My Lord … forever and ever !!! … Amen