Revelation 1 & 2 w/ Comments

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God Bless You Today, Lena B

Revelation 1
Prologue
1This is a revelation of 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. 2John faithfully reported the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ—everything he saw.
3God 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.
John's Greeting to the Seven Churches
4This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the seven spirits before his throne; 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the commander of all the rulers of the world. All praise to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. 6He has made us his Kingdom and his priests who serve before God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever and ever! Amen!
7Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him—even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will weep because of him. Yes! Amen!
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. "I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One."
Vision of the Son of Man
9I 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. 10It was the Lord's Day, and I was worshiping in spirit. Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast. 11It said, "Write down what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."
12When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13And standing in the middle of the lampstands was one who looked like a man He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were bright like flames of fire. 15His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades 19Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen later. 20This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the messengers for the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Lena Journals to Revalation 1
Revelation, revealing, appearing, exposure to human understanding, what was covered is now uncovered, veiled unveiled.
This is the revelation of Him, to us.
Revelation can be for both now and later, both symbolic and literal, or symbolically literal. This is why the revealing and the appearance. For if we do not see Him as He is we stay as we are, but when we see Him as He is, we are able to become Him. (see yesterday’s passages: Eph 3).
To see Him clearly in revelation is to know Him, to know Him is to love Him, to love Him is to obey Him. To obey Him is also to make Him known to others.
Active willing obedience bring forth the eternal plan of God, and glorifies the Lord in the earth, thus bringing forth the answer to our prayer led by Jesus, Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, amen.
God always uses men for the earth. He gives a message , a warning, or a revelation, to a man and expects that man to do with it what God made for him to do, talk, share, preach the good news.
I have heard many well meaning Christians say,” I don’t listen to men, I hear form God directly, men make mistakes and misinterpret, so I just do what God tells me to do.”
In this passage God is revealing Himself not directly, but indirectly through a trusted man, not trusted necessarily by a personality compatible human, but an obedient man who will faithfully carry the message. It is God who uses as He chooses the messenger, not us. If we pick and choose who we’ll hear a word of the Lord through or not, we’ll miss so much!
I think it is neat that each church had a messenger, which means a message sent to it specifically, maybe like an assignment to fulfill as a part of the great army of God in the earth. Churches are like companies, each may have a specialty in a community, adding to the whole scope of what God wants to do in that area.
Do we hear what the spirit says to our church? Through Pastors? Leaders? Or are we only moving upon what we hear God tell us directly, possibly missing the rest?
There is domestic rule and ecclesial rule.
We rule in our own homes first, and then if we are a part of a church body locally, we bring our own ideas of rule at home under the idea God has given a leader for the corporate body, willingly submitting our crowns to the crown of an ecclesial ruler for the purpose of unity being able to be expressed.
If we somehow cannot submit our orderly families to an ecclesial ruler, why would we even bring our
families to a church? Think about it, we come to unify and add the power of unity by joining in with what is established by God in a house, led by a man as head under THE head which is Christ. A church body cannot function well with many heads, all ruling as they “think it should be done”.
If we hold a personal opinion within a body that differs from the head of that body, our independent stance is taking away from the unity a local body is meant to display. The Body of Christ has been set up by God to be more than one person giving their own personal opinions into a corporate rule, submitting to the rules of others under God, sacrificing their own lives and ways that He might live and have His ways displayed That He might be seen clearly by the world who is seeking to find Him.
So rather than be a part of a corporate body, yet stay staunch, not ever yielding as a participant in the unity of a local body, why not lay down for the corporate good of others, giving your life for others, as Christ Himself did, as an example to each of us? It doesn’t mean your home life cannot be led by what you hear God saying for your family, it should mean that your family’s leading is also in unity with a vision that benefits a corporate community and house.
Does veering towards what a man is being led by God to do, going to harm your family? Probably not. Each family counts the cost, and should be saving up, possibly even working harder to be able to pay whatever price that family can, to unify for a power filled work in the earth. One can be powerful in Him, two more powerful in Him and three, wow! What about 4,5,6,7 and more!

Revelation 2The Message to the Church in Ephesus
1"Write this letter to the angel of F7 the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:
2"I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. 4But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first! 5Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first. If you don't, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the immoral Nicolaitans, just as I do.
7"Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
The Message to the Church in Smyrna
8"Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who died and is alive:
9"I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the slander of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they really aren't because theirs is a synagogue of Satan. 10Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The Devil will throw some of you into prison and put you to the test. You will be persecuted for 'ten days.' Remain faithful even when facing death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11"Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be hurt by the second death.
The Message to the Church in Pergamum
12"Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one who has a sharp two-edged sword:
13"I know that you live in the city where that great throne of Satan is located, and yet you have remained loyal to me. And you refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan's followers. 14And yet I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you who are like Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to worship idols by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15In the same way, you have some Nicolaitans among you—people who follow the same teaching and commit the same sins. 16Repent, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17"Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.
The Message to the Church in Thyatira
18"Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are bright like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:
19"I know all the things you do—your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. 20But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She is encouraging them to worship idols, eat food offered to idols, and commit sexual sin. 21I gave her time to repent, but she would not turn away from her immorality. 22Therefore, I will throw her upon a sickbed, and she will suffer greatly with all who commit adultery with her, unless they turn away from all their evil deeds. 23I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. 24But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching ('deeper truths,' as they call them—depths of Satan, really). I will ask nothing more of you 25except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come.
26"To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, I will give authority over all the nations. 27They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. 28They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star! 29Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
FOOTNOTES:
F7: Or the messenger for; also in 2:8, 12, 18.

Lena Journals Some of the passage to be brought for meditation:

You don't love me or each other as you did at first
Everyone who is victorious will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer.
Whoever is victorious will not be hurt by the second death.
I know that you live in the city where that great throne of Satan is located, and yet you have remained loyal to me. And you refused to deny me
But, You tolerate (what I call sin)…
Repent,
Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven (revelation will bring it out)
You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She is encouraging them to worship idols, eat food offered to idols, and commit sexual sin.
I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person.
To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!
Amen