Who We’re to Be…And Not
Revelation is one of the books of the Bible I’ve always been a little afraid of. There’s so much that’s difficult to understand, and it simply seemed overwhelming to dissect and absorb.
When I got to the end of reading the Bible through in a year in 2013, I became enthralled with Revelation 2-3, the prophesies of Jesus to the churches. I realized there was a lot to be learned if I really wanted to live out this prayer. It’s a passage of the Bible where there’s a lot of information in a condensed format about what pleases and displeases God. It clearly reveals real righteousness in opposition to our self-righteousness.
So I’ve been digging into the scripture. I’ve been looking carefully at each word, meditating on it, and letting it mess with me. I’ve been reading commentaries and doing some word searches, and I feel believe God is birthing something big in my heart.
I’d love for you to be on this journey together! Below, I’ve included a PDF of the outline I’m using to study. If you’re a subscriber, you’ll need to click on the title of the post to access the PDF on the website. I’ve included one table with a few notes and another that’s blank for your study. Each week I’ll write about some things God has shown me about one church, and I’d LOVE to hear what God shows you. We’ll do a little community Bible study.
Here’s the PDF:
Simply print the chart and spend some quiet time alone with God filling in what you’re learning. In the notes section, write some additional insights from outside resources. Both Crosswalk and Bible Gateway have great resources–concordances, commentary, dictionaries, etc– to do deeper study. If you’ve never used them before, I’ll do some explanation as we go.
Next week we’ll look at the church at Ephesus. I’m so glad we’re learning together!