Cover-to-Cover

Revelation 7 There are a couple of things that happen in between the sixth and seventh seal. At the beginning of chapter 7, God holds back the four winds from the four corners of the earth. Whenever the four corners of the earth are mentioned, God is including the entire planet, including all direction, north, south, east, and west. When God is talking about wind from the four corners, He...

Revelation 6 In chapter 6, we read about the first six seals that were broken. Each seal revealed a sorrow that was permitted to happen in the seventieth week, the Jews’ last seven years before the Day of the Lord. We can also see these things happening from Jesus’ prophetic words in Matthew 24. FIRST SEAL: A white horse for the Antichrist From Daniel 9, we know the Antichrist will...

Revelation 5 Chapter 5 gives us an introduction to the seven seals. The seals give us an overview of the seventieth week of Daniel, the final seven years for the Jews before Christ’s return. John is in the throne room. A scroll with the seven seals is presented by a strong angel, asking who is worthy to open the scroll. They found no one, so John was moved to tears....

Revelation 4 When interpreting the visions of John, it is best to take it literally whenever possible. Chapter 4 is John’s description of the throne room of heaven. John is living in an earthly body, and is given a spiritual vision. John tries to describe what he is seeing to the best of his ability, using the words “like” or “in appearance” nine times in this chapter. God was describes...

Revelation 3 What are you overcoming? Jesus spoke to these seven churches and encouraged them to overcome and to continue to overcome. Is there something He has revealed to you that needs overcoming? Maybe you are doing everything as you should, and you just need to keep overcoming every day. SARDIS: The Dead Church Jesus describes Himself as having the seven spirits of God (also Revelation 1:4; 4:5) and the...

Revelation 2 Jesus has messages for the churches, writing to the pastors (the spiritual authority) to share with those churches (2:7). Jesus addresses these pastors in regard to the city to which He called them. At that time in history, the church was just starting to spread, and as far as we know, there was just one Christian church in a city. The purpose of the kingdom was to spread,...

Revelation 1 The first words of this book are, “The revelation of Jesus Christ,” showing us this book is focused on revealing JESUS and His return to reign over the earth. One emphasis is how Christ’s government will overthrow all human, self-sufficient, arrogant, earthly governments that existed before Him. He is the King over all kings. He is the Alpha and Omega, who was in the beginning and who will...

Jude Jesus had natural brothers and sisters, siblings from his parents, Joseph and Mary. One is James, the leader of the Jerusalem church. Another is Jude, whom we believe to have written this book of the New Testament. Jude, like many early Christian leaders and like many leaders today, have to spend some time debunking false doctrine and warning our followers of false teachers. These false teachers would infiltrate churches,...

3 John This short letter contains several wonderful gems. One of my favorites is in verse 5-8, which is helping to support traveling missionaries on their journey, becoming fellow workers for spreading the truth. Their giving was said to have shown their love. What a wonderful testimony when the world sees our love for the Lord and His kingdom by supporting ministers. In verse 2 John mentions these loved one,...

2 John Amplified version of verse 6 says, “This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you continue to walk in love [guided by it and following it].” John understood that our behavior stems from our heart. If we love God and love people, it will show in the way we behave toward one another. The world is deeply broken in the area of love, twisted...

1 John 5 John continues to speak of the love of God and a relationship with Him that causes us to live our lives according to His life and His ways. When we are lined up with God’s ways, and we ask Him for anything that is according to His ways and His will, then God hears us with the intent to answer us. We can have a confidence of...

I John 4 John continues his message on love and light in chapter 4. The kind of love John is describing is not a mere human love, with our limits and our imperfections and our conditions. God’s love is unconditional, in other words, His love is based on His heart for us, not based on us or our performance. His love is kind, patient, and would never walk out on...

I John 3 The more we mature we are in God’s love, in more of His light we live. The more of His light that we know and apply, the better life will be for us and those around us! In His love, people receive truth of who God is and who we are. We stop believing the lies we were told. His Word is a lamp, showing us the...

1 John 2 “My little children” or “my beloved children” is a phrase where John is communicating the affection and the authority he has as a spiritual father, an apostle, giving the churches instruction they are to follow. In the preceding verses John writes about the forgiveness available for a repentant Christian. He didn’t stop his thought, but he continues on, speaking of Christ being our advocate with God. An...

1 John 1 We are greatly loved by our Father God! When we are confident of His love, we will be open to His light, allowing Him into our heart to see and know everything about us. If we aren’t confident that God is good or that God loves us unconditionally, then we don’t trust Him to turn on the light and see what would be considered unpresentable to someone...