He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
Revelation 22:20 (NLT)
I look forward each Fall and Winter to women’s Bible studies at our church. The past few weeks we’ve been studying Catherine Martin’s study on the book of Revelation entitled A Heart to See Forever. I know pastors who have never preached a sermon series on Revelation so I approached the study with some trepidation. But the word that kept appearing over and over each week was HOPE—my word for 2013.
Reflecting on all that I’ve learned, it doesn’t matter whether you are “pre,” “post,” “a,” or “pan,” the future is clear and we are headed to both a great battle and a great celebration in the New Jerusalem. Rather than worry about it, we are called to have an eternal perspective: “the ability to see all of life from God’s point of view and have what you see affect how you live in the present.”
Our Father and Bridegroom have not left us floundering but have given us instructions on how to live today in anticipation for tomorrow:
Watch and be ready.
Be about the Lord’s business.
Be in God’s Word.
Urgently share the Good News.
Look up!
Catherine translated HOPE from the Greek as a joyful and confident expectation. What better news for believers than to know that this world with all of its wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution, false prophets, and lawlessness will be defeated in the end?
We WIN.
HALLELUJAH!