Happy Thanksgiving from Greece!!!It has been a HUGE blessing from God to have my mom here this week with me.
He has blessed us with AMAZING weather - blue skies and sunshine, when there could easily not be. Also, He has directed each step of our journey w/ out us even being aware...
making metro connections, looking up after praying for a travel agent and seeing one in a 2 inch window, agent staying open 30 min longer than normal for us to buy tickets the next EARLY morning to Kos island so that we could enjoy a full 3 days on the islands, (after visiting Athens and Corinth last weekend and monday)... enabling us to rent a car to zoom around Kos and discover beautiful beaches, enjoy the fresh wind, and see an amazingly stunning coast where waves crashed into the rocks, dancing and jumping 20 feet high!!! wow!!! Then we took a super fast (we experienced some G-forces and fought to stand at the front of the boat - it seemed like we were flying over the water!!!) BIG boat to Patmos Island... a Greek island near Turkey where John (one of Jesus' closest disciples) was sent/exiled to for his love of and teaching about his understanding that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, God with us!! It was here, back in maybe around 80 AD (?) that Jesus (in his glorified self) came to visit John and share with him some things to write down, a REVELATION, about what was to come, and a message to the current churches and to those who believed in Jesus, that He was who he claimed to be.
Here is the 1st and final (22nd) chapter from this book of what John saw and testifies...
(its a great book to read - says that you will be blessed if you read it and blessed if you hear it and take it to heart, because the time is near...)
Revelation 1 (New International Version) First Chapter
1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Greetings and doxology
4John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits
[a] before his throne,
5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
One like a Son of Man
9I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
13and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man,"
[b]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.
20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels
[c] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Footnotes:
- Revelation 1:5 Or the sevenfold Spirit
- Revelation 1:13 Daniel 7:13
- Revelation 1:20 Or messengers
Chapter 2-5 are really good too... read the whole book, and ask God to give you understanding and His revelation, His Truth...
Revelation 22 (New International Version) Final Chapter
The River of Life
1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."
Jesus Is Coming
7"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."
8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
10Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."
12"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you
[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
17The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.
Footnotes:
- Revelation 22:16 The Greek is plural. (texts taken from www.biblegateway.com)
Amen!!!
Love you guys!!! Thanks for being such a great support network, with your love and prayers on this whole journey. To the finish!!! By His strength and provision and enabling and grace and love and power and might!!!
Blessings to each of you,
ericka :)
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