Thursday, June 15, 2006

Good Morning 

 

Here's a great note from Brigette Severance:

 

Good morning!  I have an update on Angie, my co-worker with the brain tumor.  She had an MRI and a CAT scan done last week that revealed no sign of the tumor!!  She still has to finish out her radiation treatments, but the news is wonderful!!  Thank you for all your prayers on her behalf!!

 

Brigitte    

 

Today's Reading:    Revelation 14:13, Barclay 128-129

 

-- this is a short section today, and Barclay doesn't really connect it with the section that had gone before, about the doom awaiting those who "sell out" to the beast by taking his mark and worshiping him.  The end of that section talks about those who are steadfast in their committment to the Lord, and who are loyal.  This section talks about those who die in the Lord, and their reward.

 

-- I think that those sections are connected, because of my expectation that, during the time of the beast, those who refuse to take his mark and worship him will die or be killed.  That's always been my expectation of that time is going to be about.  So, I think reassuring those who are facing that prospect is part of what John is intending to do here.

 

-- I think that the other thing to remember/takeaway from this section is that this is another example of God reassuring us that our faithfulness will be rewarded.  But I think that the thing that we need to remember is that all of these reassurances of God's reward for faithfulness are necessary because God realizes that being faithful and loyal to him is difficult, if not downright fatal in certain circumstances.

 

-- one thing noted in the scripture today is the thought that those who die in the Lord "from now on" will be blessed.  I'm not sure why those words were added to that verse.  I guess it also depends on your point of view of the timeline -- where does this vision of John fit into the overall timeline of Revelation and of world history.  If the beast was Rome, then "from now on" started thousands of years ago.  If the beast isn't Rome, from now on hasn't started yet.  That said, if it hasn't happened yet, this doesn't mean those who have been faithful won't receive a blessing -- I think of this passage as just a note that those who die in the midst of all this exceptional percecution will have a special blessing.    

 

 

Today's Scripture 

 

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Romans 8:38

 

Today's prayer requests:     Saundra Aaron

Valerie's brother's mother-in-law continues to go through treatment for cancer.  Need to remember her and her family in her struggles    

Today's class member prayer: 

Andrew Peebles    

 

Jay