How often do you open the Book?
“When hope seems lost, I have to go back to God’s promises so I can move forward with a hopeful heart” (Grant Fishbook). God’s promises are verbal guarantees signed by the Creator himself. Thankfully, you don’t have to be prophecy major to read what the Spirit is saying unto the churches in the book of Revelation. Or anywhere else for that matter. I once studied Revelation 10. Before I make one essential point, a Google search reveals that students of the Bible generally take one of the following views of Christian Eschatology:
Escatalogical Views
AMILLENNIALISTS affirm that the millennial reign of Christ began after his Ascension and will continue until Christ’s return. This view does not hold that Jesus Christ will physically reign on the earth for exactly 1,000 years.
PREMILLENNIALISTS believe that Jesus will physically return to the Earth (referred to as the Second Coming) before the Millennium, a literal thousand-year Golden Age of Peace based upon a literal interpretation of Revelation 20:1–6.
POSTMILLENNIALISTS believe that Christ returns after the Millennium: “Jesus Christ establishes his kingdom on earth through His preaching and redemptive work in the first century and that He equips his church with the gospel, empowers her by the Spirit, and charges her with the Great Commission (Matt 28:19) to disciple all nations.”
PAN-MILLENNIALISTS can’t seem to decide so they settle for the position that says, “I believe it will all pan out the way God plans for it!” (Pun intended).
God’s Living Active Word
After one Facebook post, a former student intern who teaches Bible, replied that he “wasn’t sure he was there with me,” (IMO), but was glad to hear I’d been reading Revelation. I responded, “At least we are there trying to understand the living and active Word of God.”
With the blast of the Sixth Trumpet, a mighty angel—AN ANGEL WITH AN ATTITUDE — takes a power stance. One fiery foot is planted on the sea and the other on the land, shows a Conqueror taking possession of the whole world. He “comes to remind the secret ones of God that CHRIST IS WITH THEM ALWAYS, and that He will not hide His commandments from those who are living as strangers and pilgrims upon earth (Psalm 119:19; 1 Peter 2:11).
Every Word has 70 Faces
According to rabbinic tradition, every word of sacred Scripture has seventy faces and 600,000 meanings. Perhaps this why Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, wrote, “The words printed on the pages of my Bible give witness to the living and active revelation of the God of creation and salvation, the God of love who became the Word made flesh in Jesus, and I better not forget it. If I fail to listen to this living Jesus, submit to this sovereignty, and respond to this love, I become arrogant in my knowing and impersonal in my behavior. Let the reader beware.”
Discover the Bible’s Treasures
THE OPEN BIBLE is our SOURCE of STRENGTH and WISDOM and GUIDANCE come what may! Pick it up! Don’t just leave it lying there. Read it; absorb it; pray it; align your heart and your life to the open book. Why? Because what God says, God does!
God has given us hundreds of promises to cling to every day, even in the worst of times, if we just open the Book, live in the moment, take in the beauty. It’s been said, “The worst moment for the atheist is when he feels grateful and has no one to thank” (Luci Swindoll). But when we need a word, the Spirit will direct us. Don’t hesitate to ask.
Promises You Can Count on!
God has been known to whisper, “Go ahead, David, write in your name.” I did so as if He were speaking directly to me. In 2008 when housing prices tanked and my district was facing a $100,000 deficit, we did our best to cut expenses where we could. I voluntarily took a 10% cut in salary. And God said, “Double tithe as well.” I obeyed the Spirit’s prompting, fasted and prayed.
On the morning I made that decision, I recall asking, “Lord, do you have a promise for me?” He directed me to Jeremiah 15:11. I highlighted it in fluorescent yellow and underlined it in red ink. Then He said, “Now write your name above Jeremiah’s. Click the link to see what it says.
I know you’re asking, “What was the outcome?” We ended the year in the black. God supplied all of our needs. This was not the first time I strolled through Jeremiah. One time I faced a difficult board meeting. I dreaded the confrontation.
That morning God directed me to Jeremiah 1:17 — “Get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them.” Whatever you may be facing, God has a word to guide, comfort, or direct you.
Another time, the County Sheriff showed up late afternoon to deliver a summons informing me and the Southern Florida District that we were being sued for $150,000, a real estate agent’s commission on a church property in which we had re-titled the deed to the local church so that they could borrow money.
The next morning, The Spirit directed me back to Jeremiah. And here’s what it says, ”They will fight you, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
The litigation stretched out for almost a year. The day before the Arbitration Hearing, I asked the Lord, ”Did you really mean what you promised me on 11-8-08?” Just then, I heard the garbage collectors coming down our cul de sac. I hadn’t put out the bins. I rushed outside. There it was –a full rainbow stretching from horizon to horizon. So close I could almost touch it!
And the Lord, whispered again, “David, just so you know, I always keep my promises!” He does and He did. The Arbitration Judge ruled in our favor and the date 9-30-09 was noted in the flyleaf of my Bible. Prayer prayed. Prayer answered.
“Whenever we continue to look TO HIM and HIS WORD, He takes away the power of the problem over our lives” (Deborah Rosenkranz paraphrase)!
Pick a Promise and Drop Anchor
I think it was Mark Batterson in If who encourages readers to pick a promise and drop anchor. If you tend to be a negative person, here are a few simple tactics: Get into God’s Word on a daily basis to anchor yourself in the promises of God. Start keeping a gratitude journal. Write thank you notes (or texts) to people you appreciate. Share wins with your family or friends.
If we don’t drop anchor over the promises of God we will live in fear and worry over things that may never happen, and forget that God is in control. When you are struggling to stay hopeful, go back to God’s promises. Your hope will be renewed so that you can move forward with confidence.
