"They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give Him glory."
Revelation 16:9
Revelation 16:9
It is very interesting to me that the Word of God closes much like it began: with the sin of His children. Numerous times in these final chapters we read of individuals refusing to repeat and turn to God. I am reminded of another group of stiff-necked people in our reading. The Israelites refused to repent of their sin and give God the glory due to Him. The story has come full circle and it appears that not much has changed.
I want to change. I want the end of story with the Lord to be different than it was in the beginning. It is my desire to be aware of my sin and to repent of it. Never do I want to steal or even share glory that belongs to my Savior. In the end, when ever that may be, I pray I will be found pursuing excellence in my walk with Him, yielding to His Spirit's direction, and living a life worthy of my calling.
I want to change. I want the end of story with the Lord to be different than it was in the beginning. It is my desire to be aware of my sin and to repent of it. Never do I want to steal or even share glory that belongs to my Savior. In the end, when ever that may be, I pray I will be found pursuing excellence in my walk with Him, yielding to His Spirit's direction, and living a life worthy of my calling.
12 Comments:
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I agree Wendy I don't want to stay the same. As I learn more and more through His word I'm wanting it to change me (and it is).
One more day! ... For this year :)
So Friday 1/1/10 we are starting over again right? Looking forward to even greater revelations this year.
Have a wonderfilled day!
Blessings
Lynn - OR
Amen Wendy! Me too!
What did you guys think about the city that is the great prostitute? Did the description not sound so much like what our culture is right now and what this country is living out? Just hit me as I was reading that so much of that describes us:
Rev. 18:3 For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her. Because of her desires for extravagant luxery, the merchants of the world have grown rich.
Rev. 18:5 For her sins are piled as high as heaven...
Rev. 18:7 She glorified herself and lived in luxury...
Rev 18:11-15 talks about how merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her because she bought all their good and made them rich. Now there is no one left to buy the goods. "All the fancy things are gone" it says. The rest of chapter 18 talks about this fall as well. Verse 18 talked about "watching as the smoke ascends" and I immediately though of the twin towers.
Just wondering if anyone else saw that today or if I am way off. What do you guys think? I know some of you read commentaries, do they say anything about who or what this great city is?
One thing John, Will and I like to do is pile on the couch at night and watch Jeopardy and Are You Smarter than Fifth Grader before Will's shower and bed time. Last night we were watching Jeopardy and they had Bible quotes and you had to name the book. The last questions was just what we had read yesterday from Revelation about the 7 seals. It was pretty cool :)
Hope you all have a wonderful day. We are off to my parents to celebrate Christmas with them. We had to post-pone last weekend with Will getting that stomach virus. He is super excited to go down there since they have cats. He LOVES cats!
Blessings,
Brandee, TN
Good Morning! I can't believe we are so close to the end! One more day! Wendy, I high lighted what you said also. Daily, I want to be ready. Waking up & anticipating His return. Daily, seeking to further His Kingdom, and giving Him the glory in everything. Following the Lamb wherever he goes, 14:4. "Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me," 16:15.
Brandee~ The end times seem near to me also. I did some 'digging,' and read that: Babylon is a city personified as a woman. She pretends to represent the Church; but she is a deceiver-attempting to corrupt Christianity. Harlot (false religions) together with the beast (political powers) (world government) {ruled by the antichrist} is called Babylon.
Harlot, pretending to be the true Church will demand the "equality of all religions." They will fiercely oppose Jesus Christ as the only way to obtain eternal life. This 'future super church'
will be based on social issues, humanitarian objectives, & sadly, it will appeal to the majority of the people. (II Tim. 4: 3,4)
So, "Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is the Lord of all lords,and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him." 17:14
Unfortunately, in end times, many will not be able to discern between the one false church {with all its worldly splendor and power} and true Christians. In the false church, the Word of God will NOT be present. Works of men will be obvious.
Another reason for all of us to stay in God's Word daily. To seek to know Him more. More. Everyday. His Spirit in us everywhere and coming out for our light to shine.
Our God is sovereign. He sees all, knows all, and is everywhere. Everything on Earth is happening according to His perfect plan.
"Praise the LORD! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Praise the LORD! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and let us give honor to him." Rev. 19
Thank you dear Ladies for blessing me. I learn so much from your posts. God is so good to bring us all together. Thank you dear Wendy for listening to Him and obeying His lead. I know I have grown so much this year. When I think back to a year ago, and how I was afraid that I would not be able to "fit this in!" Shame on me! Can you imagine? Not able to fit in daily reading of His Word. Mercy! Now, it's the first thing on my mind! :) Praise you Father, for drawing me so close to You. All the Glory goes to You. I love you with all of my heart. Amen.
Hugs, Lori
Thanks Lori for the insights! That makes perfect sense. Revelations is hard to understand. Will got me up this morning so I have not had the alone time I normally do and I have not been able to research and look anything up. Once he gets up he is going a million miles a minute so quiet time for me does not happen if I don't get up before him :) Thanks again...you ladies have blessed me so much with your insights and knowledge this year. I am ready to go again! I have already read for tomorrow and it is good! Excited about placing my book mark back at the beginning this morning.
Oh Wendy, how my heart echoes your prayer as well. Although our reading today may lead us to believe that not much has changed, yet so much has changed. From satan's victory in the garden to his defeat for all eternity; from people hiding from God to those living with Him forever; from tears shed to no more tears or sorrow; from being doomed to death, to the defeat of death, from a world full of sin to no more sin, and as I wrote in my ponderings today, from paradise lost to paradise found. Yes, things may appear the same, but God is at work in ways we cannot see.
I think the same is true in us. God is working in ways we cannot see. I look at my life over the past year, longing to see change. Desiring to know that my relationship with the Lord is not at the same place it was January of this year. I pray that more than I see a change, other's will see Christ clearer when they look at me. I pray for that same sensitivity to sin that you wrote about. I want to reject sin's first approach, not rationalize or compromise. Charles Wesley wrote the following:
"I want a principle within
Of jealous godly fear,
A sensibility of sin,
A pain to feel it near
Help me the first approach to feel
Of pride or wrong desire;
To catch the wand'ring of my will,
And quench the kindling fire"
Oh to resist temptation.
Well...before I leave, wanted to share God's Word to me today. I love it when the Lord repeats Himself. After yesterday's "Call of the Wild", today He is saying, “Come with me” Revelation 17:1
“There is a place where Jesus sheds
The oil of gladness on our heads;
A place than all besides more sweet,
It is the blood-bought mercy seat.”
From the hymn, “From Every Stormy Wind that Blows” by Hugh Stowell
It was a year ago I heard God’s call to “come with Me”.
Come with Me, through the pages of My Word. Take a journey from Paradise Lost to Paradise Found. Beyond the people, events and history, meet Me afresh. Go deeper into My heart. Discover Me anew.
As the year closes the Lord is repeating His call. A call to come deeper still. Another invitation is being extended. His desire that He might refill me with His Spirit, renew me with His love, refresh me with His presence, refocus my priorities, revive my heart, restore my vision, and remove sinful thoughts and ways.
We all need regular, repeated times of rest, refreshment and renewal. Life can rob us of life and we need to retreat into Christ. To the extent that we live in His presence, we are filled with His joy.
Just as God told Noah to build, Daniel to pray, Jonah to go, Joshua to march, Rahab to hide, Moses to leave, His call to me is come.
Answering the call to a daily, momentary rapture.
Risking my heart to rediscover His,
Joy
Happy New Years Eve Eve!
I had many of the same thoughts as you today, Wendy. Stiff necks and hard hearts are not hard to find among God's children. Please Lord pull me up by the short hairs when I display those characteristics!
Oh, what a battle there will be On That Day...but moreover What GLORY.
I believe in the end of the story, and I want to live my life as if That Day is always here...for in my heart I know Our Lord is ever-present and ever-coming. We need not wait for That Day or all of these signs. Satan roams the earth, but Jesus has already defeated him. When God gave his only son on the cross for redemption of all humankind Satan knew he was a goner.
It's just a matter of time, and I don't need to see it to believe it!
Meanwhile, we can live in freedom because the battle is won, and will be won again.
Amen, Amen, Amen!!
Liz
AK
Amen Wendy. Wonderful posts all. Can we believe we've done this for a whole year? Wow, the time flew by for me. To know Him more and more. Yes. What will I glean from His word next year? Let's find out!
COME LORD JESUS! Is what my heart says.
Morgen
Wendy-
I jumped on in November and have been so blessed already. Loved reading through Revelation and yesterday heard a song by Philips Craig and Dean"Revelation Song." So beautiful and went along perfectly with the readings.
Bought my 5 subject spiral notebook yesterday and am excited to hear the next steps with that!
Here's to not being the same in 2010 and having less of me and more of HIM. Kimberly
Hi Wendy,
I am looking forward to taking the journey with you this year. Can I ask why a 5 subject spiral notebook is recommended?
My favorite verse for today:
Rev. 17:14
"Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings."
Why do I like this verse so much? Because the angel talking to John states the truth so plainly... like (in my human interpretation), hello, there is no competition here b/c the Lamb IS Lord of lords and King of kings... no question, end of story, done, no-brainer, the truth, cut to the chase, His enemies don't even stand a chance, all the war planning in the world could never defeat the Lamb! etc.. That angel is just saying it like it is, plain as day.
Krista
From a late joiner, may I say how this group has been a blessing to me? Thankful to Joy for leading me here.
Brandee - my younger son and I are also Jeopardy fans. We are thrilled when the category is bible related because we know the answers! I am glad that they have not banned the bible from tv altogether.
Three verses came to me in today's reading:
Rev 15:7b...your judgments are true and just.
Then the same verse that you quoted, Wendy.
And finally, the one cited by Lori Rev 17:14. Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.
God's judgment is inevitable. It is coming. We can feel the birth pangs. Tomorrow night, our pastor is going to be giving his insight on prophetic events happening in the world. As he puts it, it is exciting to watch Ezekiel 36-39 unfold before our very eyes.
It is also painful to watch others keep rejecting Jesus. What would it take? Apparently, not even the bowl judgments. Their hearts are so hardened that they can rationalize these things away. It breaks my heart.
In the end, though, in the end, the Lamb wins and what's more, we will be with Him. Looking forward to seeing you all in that line up.
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