Whenever I read a book, I always read the last
chapter first. That way I eliminate the mystery, suspense and unpredictability
of the story line. Then, I can read from the beginning, without the stress of
not knowing how it will turn out.
Some of you may enjoy horror movies and suspenseful
mysteries, but they cause my psyche too much anxiety. I love to watch Hallmark
movies, because as my husband derisively points out, the endings are
predictable. There is very little stress and suspense in these wondrously sappy
romances.
I did this with the Bible too. I read Revelation
first. This colorful depiction of symbolic drama gives us a bird's eye view of
the culmination of time as we know it.
Revelation confirms the prophetic books of the
Bible, such as Daniel, Ezekiel and Isaiah - as well as the New Testament
letters such as the gospels and Thessalonians. They report to us God's
intention for creation, redemption and restoration.
When we know how the end plays out, these facts
remove the guesswork from life and give us a fool proof game plan to follow in
our walk of faith through the Son of God.
God made His will plain and stress-free for us
through the Biblical account of His clear timetable of events leading up to His
final return to earth and His eternal plans for humanity.
God does not dwell in time. The 6,000 years since
creation are all in the present to Him. He is not restrained, directed or controlled
by the hands on the clock like we are (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8).
Our Creator and King dwells in eternity. He invites
us to join Him in this place of unhindered existence through salvation in His
Son. Jesus won this privilege for us by taking on the form of a man and dying
in our place (Philippians 2:6-8).
God also provided us with His Word in order to
afford us hope for a joyful future and instructions for living in a peaceful
existence through every moment of each new day regardless of our circumstances
(Jeremiah 29:11).
Prayer:
Father
God, thank You for Your Word, which takes the guesswork right out of life.
Remind us to check with You before we do anything, so that You can direct our
plans (Proverbs 3:5-6). When Satan attempts to hinder us, teach us to use
spiritual warfare through the power of Christ in us to withstand his
onslaughts.
Thank
You for always answering our prayers, and for not always giving us what we
want, but what is in our best interest. We squirm under the pressures of life
and often feel like we know how to alleviate these trials; but we often jump
out of the frying pan into the fire. Keep us in the center of Your will and
walking in the fruit of Your righteousness.
Thought
for the Day:
Our
Father is God and there is no one like Him; He declared the end to the
beginning. - Isaiah 4:9-11
