When John had a vision; he saw things that were hard to explain. Why? He saw things that he had never seen before; so he explains to us in the best way that he had vocabulary and knowledge to describe to us.

But as years pass, we like John, are able to understand more and more of Revelation because knowledge is added to our existing gifts of understanding. I have discovered it’s best to take it in “bite-sizes” along our way and not bite off more than we can handle at the time and become frustrated.

Revelation 1:9-20

Vision of the Son of Man

I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus. It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. It said, “Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

“Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen. This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (NLT)

We know that John had been exiled; send to an island for preaching the Word of God and testifying about Jesus. At tines throughout history, Christians can relate with John in persecution. Within this last year, we have seen great examples of being shutdown as a believer in Christ Jesus. In some States in America, some have been told they cannot worship anymore. The sad part, is that some churches allowed the enemy to use the “Pandemic” as a way to silence the preaching of the Word of God and also the testifying about Jesus. Now we find ourselves in 2021, with many churches closed down and many will never open their doors again. Many have lost their trust and faith in God.

Read through the verses several times, and just look at what is being said; don’t try to focus too much on the meanings of the description given to us right now. I would suggest getting a notebook and writing down some questions you may have and then ponder on those words later.

One question for me, would be – “What would the trumpet look like to us if we saw it today? Would we have a word for it now? Keep the questions simple.

What touched me most this morning was how fearful John became at what he saw. It must have been overpowering to him. And yet he is told, “Do not be afraid!”

How many times have we been told throughout God’s Word to not fear? A lot! Many of us have had moments of fear this past year and we still don’t know or understand what is up ahead. We don’t even know if we are being told truth or not. But throughout our struggles, we can listen and hear our Heavenly Father telling us to not be afraid. To trust in Him. To follow Him. To not get caught up in the cray-cray that surrounds us.

Prepare your hearts for what is up ahead. We will be looking at each individual church and what Jesus had to say to the Seven Churches. Prepare your heart to hear what he has to say to the churches of our generation.

Be blessed in the fact today that our Heavenly Father loves us and he does not want us to be fearful, but to open up our hearts and minds for what he wants us to know and understand for today.

Heavenly Father, the excitement builds as we look at the words in Revelation wondering what you will reveal to us this go around in reading your Words. May we not be fearful; may we rest in your love and your faithfulness knowing you are with us to the end of our journeys. Thank you, Father. I love you, Lord. I ask this in Christ Jesus’ name, Amen.

My Song: is a little different today. Have you ever stood up to fear and let the enemy know that he does not own you? Becoming brave means that sometimes you must stand up to fear and not allow the enemy to use others or even situations to try to drown you in fear – but to stand up and say – I am not afraid – I will trust in God!