September 13 with Emma

 Sunday:  

Emma was called to work Saturday, so Jesse dropped her off to my house somewhere around 11:30. Needless to say, we did NOT watch a movie. We just visited for a short while, Emma ate some fruit and drank a chocolate shake, and then we went to bed.

Sunday morning, we attended IN PERSON the 11:20 service at Calvary Church. With all of the COVID restrictions, it's odd to be there in such a huge sanctuary with people "social distanced" to the max, face masks in place, etc. But Emma really feels that God wants us to BE THERE ... I have a lot of respect for what God tells Emma, so ... we attended!

There were so many good things about being THERE. We actually got to SEE and HUG Angela and Nigel, as well as to visit with their son, Stephen, and daughter, Jemima. This was before the service. I love these guys so much. I pray that some day the Lord will provide a husband for Emma that is as dear as Nigel is ... as dear as their son, Stephen, is. I am going to trust the Lord for this!

We are still in the introductory phase of the book of REVELATION. I just love it so much. We covered Revelation 1.9-20 this morning. Pastor was telling us that the apostle John must have been in his late 70's at the time of his exile to the Island of Patmos, and that he was there with others who had been banished from the Roman empire because of his faith and testimony about Jesus Christ. Most likely, the exiles were sent to Patmos to do heavy labor in the quarries on the island. I never heard that before! 

It was the Lord's Day and John was worshiping with others when he heard a loud voice (like a trumpet) behind him. When John turned to see the voice, he saw Jesus--as he once before saw Him on the Mt. of Transfiguration. But actually, John saw the seven lampstands first and the seven stars that were in the right hand of Jesus. The lampstands are the seven churches (us!) and the stars are the messengers that are sent out by Jesus. 

Pastor talked about the LIGHT, the lampstands from the tabernacle and the temple, the OIL lamps, and then the vision of Jesus Himself which coincides completely with Daniel's description (in chapter 7 of his book). The vision denotes all power and authority given to Jesus. The robe down to His feet suggests His priestly role of dignity and honor, His white hair of purity, holiness, Ancient of Days. His feet of bronze (mixture of copper and tin) signifies STRENGTH and power to crush His enemies. His voice was like the sound of rushing water--a mighty waterfall or huge waves of the sea--His hand held the stars, a sharp double-edge sword came out of His mouth signifying His Word being precise and convicting, and His face was brilliant, shining brighter than the sun in all its strength! But still ... John describes Jesus as "looking like a Son of Man." This vision of Jesus knocked John right off his feet!

DO NOT BE AFRAID!

Those are the first words Jesus speaks in this amazing book. If you study the Bible, you will find that "Do not be afraid" is the most repeated directive in the entire Bible. I love that. God is SO kind! Jesus tells John that He is "the First and the Last", i.e. HE IS LIFE! And then He tells John that He alone has the key that will unlock death. Pastor emphasized that John saw the lampstands first and the stars in Jesus' hand. The CHURCH is how Jesus reveals Himself to the world--what if we, the Church, do not shine? The stars are messengers that Jesus sends to the Churches, and we are going to study them in the next SEVEN weeks. 

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After church, Emma and I ate lunch, and then I told her the story of JOB, while she nicely colored in an illustration of that dear man. Job is one of my favorite books in the Bible!

Afterwards, we watched "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" together. I think Emma liked it, but not as much as I do--she mentioned that it was depressing--and I guess it is, except that it ends with such hope for Oskar and his mom, and even the grandpa. It's getting more and more difficult to come up with a movie to watch on the weekends. Please help me find good stories, Lord!