Heavenhigh

God Our Refuge!

# 27 2022 Dev. Psalm 142:5. God Our Refuge! Read all of Psalm 142 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 142:5 “I cry to you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.’”

Intro. Ps.138-145 are eight Davidic Psalms of Prayer/ Praise leading close to the end of the Psalter. The series is framed by two praise Psalms, Ps.138 praising God for answered prayer and Ps.145 praising God for His care of all of creation.

Psalm 142 is a prayer for God’s mercy. David appeals to God for help. He is hiding in a cave, probably from king Saul who is out to kill him. Was this prayer in the cave where David was hiding from King Saul? David had the opportunity to kill Saul but he refused to strike down the Lord’s anointed, because evil deeds come from evil men. (1 Sam. 24)

Vs.1-2 “I cry aloud to the Lord;” The prayer is personal, all in the first person. This prayer could come from anyone of us, who may feel alone, or persecuted, or may have relational problems, any number of troubles. “I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.”

Vs.3-4 “When my spirit grows faint within me,” It is you, Lord, I depend on, you know my path and all the pitfalls waiting for me. Today, how quickly we feel alone, how easily we are abandoned over difference of opinions, we all feel the lack of concern, lack of love.

Vs.5 “I cry to you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Here faith overtakes legitimate complaints, faith confronts trouble, faith, sees God as a refuge in the storm. You, Lord, are our portion, our healing, our salvation, our refuge and place of rest in this life and in the life to come. Praise the Lord!

Vs.6-7 “I cry to you, Lord;” not to friends, not to escape’ like drugs, alcohol, or sex, only you, Lord, can rescue me. We need to know when we cannot go on alone, admit we need help, only you, God, can set us free.

When we proclaim God as our help, our Savior, our refuge: “Then the righteous will gather about me (us) because of your goodness to me (us).” That is what church is all about, fellowship, support and witness. We thank God!

The Answer to Loneliness!

# 26 2022 Dev. Genesis 2:18. The Answer to Loneliness! Read chapter two first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Genesis 2:18 “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

A little history. We have finished the new Testament and are close to finishing the Psalms. Week by week it has taken five years. You many see all of our post at heavenhigh.org. We hope and pray these devotionals are and continue to be a blessing,

Back ground: We began at the beginning. A lot can be unpacked from the first sentence of scripture, perhaps a whole book. But we will give only a short introduction: whatever people perceive the scriptures to be it is first and foremost an account of God’s love seen in His relationship with people. That first sentence also confronts us with a decision: will we accept this as the Word of God? Will we accept God’s Word by a function of our faith? The world, of course, accepts non of this and even many theological commentators do not accept the first eleven chapters as historical, not to mention the evolution issue. Today, even the most secular scientists admit creation has intelligent design, of course it has, followers of Jesus know that. The first three chapters of Genesis corresponds with the last three chapters of Revelation.

Intro. Gen. 2:4 seems to start over, after the initial introduction of the 7 days of creation. That 7 days’ summary appears to be a mnemonic device (a memory aid), 7 is a perfect number that could be a much longer length of time.

Vs.1-3 God sets aside the 7^th day, blessed it, proclaimed it holy, and designated it as a day to rest. Christians celebrate rest and worship on the 1^st day of the week, the day Jesus rose from the dead. In the Old Testament, Saturday is designated as the Sabbath. God designates earthly rest as a precursor to God’s eternal rest in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

Vs.4-7 In these verses God details for us the creation process. “God spoke and it was so” and God used the natural processes He put into nature, that He continues to use today. God watered the earth, springs, dew, no rain at that time. Growth came up at God’s direction. He “formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” We do not agree with the idea of evolution, however, there is microevolution, not a crossover from one species to another but changes within the species to accommodate the environment.

Vs.8-9 God “planted a garden… for the man he had formed.” A sanctuary of fruit trees, pleasing to the man’s eye and for food. But there is a catch: “in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” In the sanctuary, as in life, there is a place to choose good and evil.

Vs.10-14 “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden;” There are four headwaters to this river, The Pishon; we do not know this river, the Gihon; flowing from the south, we do not know this river, the Tigris; flowing from the north, and the Euphrates; flowing from the north east. Given the size of the rivers we know, the river in the garden was large, indicating a very large garden. In Rev. 22 we see a restoration of the garden: “Then 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.”

Vs.15-17 God “took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” And God set a limit for Adam, do ‘not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’” Jesus, recreates us, we who believe on Him, will certainly not die, but live forever. Praise God!

Vs.18-25 The Lord God said, ‘it is not good for man to be alone I will make a helper suitable for him.’” God also created all the animals and all the birds, Adam named them all “But for Adam no suitable helper was found” … Man was lonely. “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib^[^h^] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”

²⁴That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

God created men and women, in His own image, equally created to complement each other. Someone said to me once, Husbands and wives are like “Lego” they work together, they fit together, they hold together.

“Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” This is a fantastic story, it is not scientific, nor does science discredit its validity, it is a story of God’s love for His people and God’s desire for fellowship with all of His creation. I hope Adam and Eve lived a long time in the garden in peace and harmony before Satan came along. We thank God!

A Urgent Prayer!

# 25 2022 Dev. Psalm 141:1. A Urgent Prayer! Read all of Psalm 141 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 141:1 “I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you.”

Psalm 141 is a prayer for deliverance from the wicked and from wicked ways. The center of the prayer is v5, Let the righteous direct us, punishment is a kindness, “rebuke…is oil on my head.”

Vs.1,2 “I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;” This prayer is an urgent plea: “come quickly”. The Psalmist appeals to current (Old Test.) worship practices: “May my prayer…like incense” stand before you. May lifting my hands “be like the evening sacrifice.” May our prayers identify with worship today!

Vs.3,4 “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;” Our mouths speak out of our hearts. Guard our hearts, Lord, control our speech and our actions. May evildoers not prosper.

V.5 The center of the prayer is very personal: “Let a righteous man strike me- that is a kindness; let him rebuke me- that is oil on my head.” The Psalmist prays for physical intervention, for verbal correction, he will not refuse it. In other words, in the time of the author and hopefully today, he/she will listen to correction. Are we listening to the ultimate correction, God in His Word? Are we accepting the love and grace of Jesus? Are we responding to the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

Vs.6,7 These two verses give us insight into the consequence of doing evil. The world makes light of God’s justice, after all, where is God? Well, there is a God and He is a God of justice but not only justice, He is also a God of love, mercy and of grace. God is in control of history, He has a plan, a purpose for mankind. Thank you, Lord Jesus!

Vs.8,9,10 “But my eyes are fixed on you.” This is the bottom line at the time of this prayer and for our time today, “in you I (we) take refuge.” Keep us safe from the evils of the worldly and the world. There are traps and snares all around us, like, online gambling, casinos, availability of drugs on line and in the streets to mention a few. There are too many pitfalls to list here but we all are responsible to trust God to protect us. But my (our) eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord; in you I (we) take refuge…” Trust God for the future!

The Beginning!

# 24 2022 Dev. Genesis 1:1. The Beginning! Read chapter one first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”

Intro: Today we begin at the beginning. A lot can be unpacked from the first sentence of scripture, perhaps a whole book. But we will give only a short introduction: whatever people perceive the scriptures to be it is first and foremost an account of God’s relationship with His people. That first sentence also confronts us with decisions: will we accept this as the Word of God? Will we accept God’s Word by a function of our faith? The world, of course, accepts non of this and even many theological commentators do not accept the first eleven chapters as historical, not to mention the evolution issue. Today, even the most secular scientist admits creation has intelligent design, of course it has, followers of Jesus know that. The first three chapters of Genesis corresponds with the last three chapters of Revelation.

Day one, “darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. The Spirit, the Breath of God, is the the source of all life on earth. ‘’’And God said let there be light,’ and there was light.” What kind of light? God does not need the sun or moon, “there 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 (Rev. 22:5).” And God saw that the light was good.

Day two, “God said, ‘Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from the water… God called the vault ‘sky’. And there was evening, and morning- the second day.”

Day three, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear… then God said. ‘Let the land produce vegetation:’ and the land produced, plants, trees and fruit. “And God saw that it was good.”

Day four, “God said, ‘let there be light in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night,” and so it was, “God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night…and God saw that it was good”

Day five, “God said, ‘let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky…God blessed them and said, ‘be fruitful and increase on the earth.” God’s intention is to have abundance on the earth, forests, grass lands, birds and fish in the sea, a world of plenty for His people.

Day six, “God said. ‘let the land produce living creatures according to their kind: livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And so it was so. “God said, ‘let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish… birds, over the livestock and all the wild animals…’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” We see God’s glory in His creation, and we share in that glory by the blessing to increase and fill the earth. That is only possible in the family unit that God has created, male and female, God blesses procreation as He does through out His creation. Any other relationship is on the wrong side of God’s created order.

“God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” God is good all of the time. Since the fall, not all is good, but in Christ God’s goodness to mankind is restored, He has restored good in the followers of Jesus. Thanks be to God!

God Our Protector!

# 23 2022 Dev. Psalm 140:6,7. God Our Protector! Read all of Psalm 140 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 140:6,7 “I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God.’ Hear, Lord, my cry for mercy.
Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer…”

Intro. Ps.138-145 are eight Davidic Psalms of Praise leading close to the end of the Psalter. The series is framed by two praise Psalms, Ps.138 praising God for answered prayer and Ps.145 praising God for His care of all of creation.

Psalm 140 is a four stanza prayer (song) with a two verse conclusion. Seven different physical descriptions are used. In our day we may well identify with the Psalmist, lawlessness is all around us, there are no consequences, the restraint of the law is non existent in some areas. We cry out to God for the many innocent victims and for the children.

Vs.1-3 “Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers…” A prayer for protection, from those wiling to use violence against those of a different ethnic orientation, against those who disagree, against those of a different religious or political thought. Even in some churches today you may not have a different opinion, a different spiritual orientation. Rescue us Lord!

Vs.4-5 “Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked…” Keep us safe from violence, from spiritual pitfalls, snares and traps set on followers of Jesus by many people influenced by Satan.

Vs.6-8 “I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God.’” The Psalmist confirms God as his protector: “My strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle.” As followers of Jesus, we are in a battle in our time, conservative Christians are canceled, maligned, we are the enemy, in the world, in our country, and even in the church. We pray to God: “Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord; do not let their plans succeed.”

Vs.9-11 “Those who surround me (us) proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them.” This we pray, Lord, leaders are leading us astray: our political leaders and our religious leaders are hard bent on destroying what is good, what is right, what is according to your will. We pray, Lord Jesus; “may slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent.”

Vs.12-13 We know that God is in control, that is what we confirm along with the psalmist. “I (we) know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. Surely the righteous will praise your name, and the upright will live in your presence.” Praise be to God!

Christ is on the Way!

# 22 2022 Dev. Rev. 22:7. Christ is on the way! Read all of Rev. 22 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think and interact with. This is God’s story. Will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Rev.22:7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”

Intro. These visions that John sees are not actual events but will and have come to pass at one time or another and will be repeated in increasing intensity until the end. The vision is put into the words of men so that those who believe will understand by the power of the Holy Spirit. What is being described here is from eternity to eternity. God, who is outside of time, operates in the eternal present, represents to us what is about to happen in time, as long as time lasts.

Rev. 22 is the last chapter of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. Ch. 21 already introduced us to the New Jerusalem, that is the New Heaven and the New Earth. There are three sections: Eden Restored, John and the Angel and an epilogue: invitation and warning.

Vs.1-5 The center of this new universe is the throne of God and of Jesus and the Holy Spirit represented here as the river of life. Eden is restored and is up graded past the original garden. The blessing of original Eden; direct fellowship with God, the innocence of sin-less-ness, the fruit of the trees, always ready, ripe, and never going bad. All that is restored but to a higher and greater degree; face to face with God, sin no longer possible, not depending on night and day, or depending on the weather, yet God’s creation is still with us in all it’s glory that the tree of life symbolizes.

Vs.6-11 reiterates the beginning of the book, John is chosen and told to write all he sees. The reason for the book is to comfort God’s people: “Look, I am coming soon!” Here John is told “do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near…” God’s time: a thousand years is as one day to God. We are still waiting for Christ’s return, with all that is going on right now; a destructive and an unjust war, horrible shootings of innocent children, a world wide economy that will plunge millions of people into debilitating poverty around the world and the gender issues. Many believers want Christ to come soon, but He comes like a thief in the night, when we least expect it.

Vs.12-21 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Jesus is not talking about sins committed, believers are forgiven, He talking about what we have done for Him, for the Kingdom of God and the people of God, indeed we will be rewarded accordingly. There is also a warning about adding or subtracting from God’s Word. That, in my opinion, includes interpretations and misrepresentations of God’s word that enhance our own evil agendas, of which there are many in the world and moving into some churches. This is one of the reasons true believers are anxious for the Lord the come quickly. But Jesus comforts us in v 17: “The Spirit and the bride (the church) say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” That has been God’s call from the beginning of creation to this day and until the end of time.

We end this book as John ends the Word of God: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

Our Days Ordained!

# 21 2022 Dev. Psalm 139:16. Our Days Ordained! Read all of Psalm 139 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Psalm 139 is a prayer for God to examine our lives, our hearts and our soul. The prayer has four section: vs.1-6,7-12,13-18,19-24 each section highlights the main theme: God’s knowing and searching our lives, our thoughts, our very being.

Vs.1-6 “You have searched me, Lord…” God knows us though and through, where we have been, where we are going, what we are thinking, and what we will do. Not only does God know us, He is taking care of us, “You hem me in behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” We should be overwhelmed with God’s knowledge and care for us, for us as individuals it is personal, think about that.

Vs.7-12 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence. Those of us who follow Jesus, know there is no place on earth, in hell, or in heaven where God does not have access. Yet, there are so many people, even some who claim to have faith, thinking they can hide from God by not acknowledging God or by ignoring His Word, they think God is only in church. No, God is everywhere in the universe and we, the believers, are comforted, Amen!

Vs.13-18 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Think about this process: first, how parents get pregnant in the first place, a metaphor for the relationship of Jesus Christ and the church, His bride. Second, the Holy Spirit joins that child at conception, children of believers are holy, but the Spirit joins every child, the Spirit gives life to all of God’s creation. Parents have been given the great privilege of participating, along with God, in His creation. It is therefore, that abortion is abhorrent and offensive to God and to true believers. Children are God’s gift to us: God, “your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” God has a plan and purpose for every child; “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! God has ordained all our days. Abortion, except for rape, incest and the life of the mother, disrupts God’s plan and isolates parents from the privilege of co-creation with God.

Vs.19-22 “If only you, God, would slay the wicked! The Psalmist despairs, because our “God is slow to anger,” God’s intention is to reconcile all of His people back to Himself, that is one of the main functions God has given His bride, the church. Believers, are able to identify with the Psalmist, but we must take on the mind, and the actions of Christ.

Vs.23-24 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” This closing prayer must be the prayer for all believers, they desire that all people on God’s good earth would breathe this prayer and put their trust in God our creator. Lead your people Lord Jesus,“in the way everlasting.” Amen!

God Among Us!

# 20 2022 Dev. Rev.21:3. God Among us! Read all of Rev. 21 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think and interact with. This is God’s story. Will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Rev.21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

Rev. 21 is a description of the New Heaven and the New Earth, including the New Jerusalem as the bride of the Lamb, including a metaphoric description of the glory of God as described in the the city of God coming down from heaven.

Vs.1-4 is a preview of the chapter: “then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” This present world will pass away. While God is with us spiritually now, in the new order of the universe we will be physically present with God.

V.5 God: “I am making everything new!” This began the day Jesus was born, His birth and ministry changed everything and His salvation changed the present world and culminates in the new order of our physical presence with God.

Vs.6-8 He said to me; “it is done…” Jesus said that on the cross, that was the beginning of the end. For those who believe, they will be victorious. The unbelieving; those listed here, without repentance, will suffer the second death.

Vs.9-14 Here, the new Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb. It is a metaphor for the Christ church relationship introduced in Eph.5: 25-33 highlighting: “God’s creation of man and woman in his image, male and female he created them.” God brought the woman to the man and He blessed them; “be fruitful and fill the earth.” Any other relationship is a violation of the created order.

Vs.15-21 The city is measured indicating perfection, and unbelievable value. This is how the church must be seen today; perfect, four square, valuable, loved and protected by God. Thank God for your church here on earth, build her up, cherish her, pray for her daily!

Vs.22-27 “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” The glory of God lights the city. Everyone will walk by God’s light, that is how it is today; God lights our lives, we walk by His light, the Word of God. Everyone written in the Book of Life will have access, the gates are never closed. As imperfect as things are now we should realize that we are in the city now, with complete access to God, prayer, protection by the Holy Spirit, His light, the Word, His love, forgiveness, declared righteous by Jesus. Praise be to God, we have arrived. Believe it. Thanks be to God!

God’s Compassion!

# 19 2022 Dev. Psalm 138:4. God’s Compassion! Read all of Psalm 138 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 138:6 “Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.”

Psalm 138 contains three stanzas of praise, with vs. 4-5 as the middle, calling for praise and the singing of praise on the earth.

Vs.1-3 “I will praise you, Lord…I will sing your praise. I will bow down… and I will praise your name.” Why? Because “for your unfailing love and your faithfulness”. How does the Psalmist know God so well? “when I called, you answered me,” You, O Lord, empowered me. Let us reflect on these three verses: Have you called on God this week? I know some of you have. Do we praise God as the Psalmist does when He answers? God always answers but in His time and place. Praise Him!

Vs. 4-5 “May all the kings of the earth praise you Lord…May they sing of the ways of the Lord.” My prayer today is that our leaders would walk the talk, that the faith they profess would actually guide their lives and decisions. That the Glory of our Powerful and Majestic God would overwhelm all of us, Amen.

Vs.6-8 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.” God is always near, he is omnipresent and omnipotent, He sees us long before we are aware of Him. All His power comes to bear when it comes to those who belong to Him. “Your love, Lord, endures forever- do not abandon the work of your hands.” That is our prayer, God answers: We are the work of His hands, physically, His creation. We are the work of His hands, spiritually, His new creation in Jesus. God will not let us out of His sight, from now to evermore. Amen, Praise to our God!

The Book of Life!

# 18 2022 Dev. Rev.20:12. The Book of Life! Read all of Rev. 20 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think and interact with. This is God’s story. Will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Rev.20:12 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life.”

Rev.20 is a chapter of Judgment, it is also a controversial chapter because of the different interpretations of the meaning of the thousand-year reign of Christ. A full review is beyond the scope of this devotional. The most common view is the “Premillennialists view: the thousand-years is literal, all believers who died are raised, the devil is bound, Christ will reign, add to that the “dispensationalists view”, meaning that Christ will reign from Jerusalem, the temple is rebuilt, Israel restored, for a time of peace and tranquility for a thousand-year on earth before the end. It is therefore that they call Israel the people of God. Reformed people call Christians Israel referring to the Old Test. and the New Test. Church. Further, Jesus, while on earth said we are in the last days: designating the thousand years from the time of Jesus’ incarnation to the time of His return.Our Lord reigns now, amen!

Vs.1-3 John, in a vision sees “an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand-years.” The names are familiar to us, the same names in Ch.12:9 are repeated here. After the thousand-years he will be released for a short time.

Vs.4-6 Now the vision is in heaven: “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.” All believers, all those not deceived by the beast from the beginning of time to the time of Jesus’ return are resurrected spiritually into heaven. Scripture confirms this in many places but the most convincing is Jesus telling the thief on the cross next to him: “today you will be with me in paradise.” This is the first resurrection. “The second death has no power over them…they will reign with him for a thousand years.” I believe that is going on right now. Amen?

Vs.7-10 Back on earth: “when the thousand-years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations…” We get the impression that he is impotent, harmless when bound, but no, not the case, he is bound by a chain, he can’t get to you, but you can get to him, and many people do. There is a war going on right now, a spiritual war as well as physical wars. God is in control as we see in the vision “fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” That is what we pray for concerning all war, “and the devil was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur”.

Vs.11-15 Back to heaven: “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” The dead stood in front of the throne, everyone that had died, all people were judged according to what they had done. All not written in the book of life are lost, all Christians would be lost if we relied on our works, but by God’s grace, his election and by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, our names are written in the book of life. Praise be to GOD!