Do you want to know what it was...
The title has a lot to do with this post.
No, I didn't forget the turtle. That was today. Yesterday... we FOUND a turtle. A giant stuffed turtle to be exact. (Like a stuffed animal... not a stuffed animal... get my drift? TOY. Not dead animal. Get it? (got it) Good.)
It's now the Pirate's mascot. His name is Tortuga.
I found him at the thrift store yesterday. Annnd now he's with Adam. But we had to take him to youth group tonight... and we forgot him. We walked into the church and this happened:
Brandon: Hey guys! What's up?
Me: Not too much... I FORGOT THE TURTLE!
Yeah. That happened. Then Hannah and I turned around and went home and grabbed the turtle and went back to church. We named him Tortuga. Spanish for Turtle. Creative. I know. =P
Then we did NIPTO. Revelation 2 today. We discovered that N'O is a great abbreviation for NIPTO. N...O. See? haha. Oh dear. I think I'm a little tired.../ distracted. Listening to some good music that my friend Anna suggested to me... Passion Pit. Good music. Okay. Not listening to them any more... my stupid computer is soooo slow. Had to close my browser. But I'm back and ready to blog. (I'm listening to a NIPTO playlist. (Now playing(=♥) Lily of the Valley)
Revelation 2: Letters to churches. Ephesus is first. There's a general pattern that Jesus used when he narrated the letters to John and it goes somewhat like this: Revealing a picture of who he is, the good stuff that the church is doing, the bad stuff the church is doing, then a closing encouraging statement. (♥ The Stand-Hillsong)
All right: Revelation 2:1-7
1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Now, my annotated version: (♥ You'll Come-Hillsong)
1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
Part 1: The seven stars that Jesus is holding represent the angels of the seven churches and the seven golden lampstands represent the seven churches. Jesus is walking among the lampstands.
2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
2nd part: Good things the church is doing/has done. God knows the things they've done. They don't have to tell him. Dictionary.reference.com helped me out with a definition for perseverance: steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state,etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. (♥ Marvelous Light-Charley Hall) There's a "theological" definition but I don't like it. So I'm not going to give it here. You can look it up if you want.
Jesus liked that they didn't tolerate (to allow the existence, presence, practice, or act of withoutprohibition or hindrance; permit.) wicked people. He liked that they tested them and found them to be false.... annnnd continue:
3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
That persevere word again! Endured hardships... and not grown weary. Congratulations Ephesus! Then the big FANBOYS (For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (NASB has but, NIV has yet)
4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
3rd part: the bad stuff. BOOM. So up until now Ephesus has to be pretty happy with how they're doing. Thennnn this. OUCH. They forgot and gave up on their first love: Jesus. . . that's gotta hurt.
5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
So... They were doing the right things at first. Then the weren't. They needed to repent. Or turn from their ways. Here's something that might make people not want to read Revelation: If they didn't repent, Jesus was going to take their lampstand out of his presence. Jesus was walking among them. If they didn't repent, Jesus is GONE. CRAZY.
The also hate the same group that Jesus hates? Good I guess.
(♥ Thank You For Hearing me-David Crowder*Band)
7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
4th part: Closing/encouragement. These last parts have what are sometimes called "overcomer statements." They're our inheritance. What we get for overcoming difficult circumstances for God. This one: To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Paradise people! Crazy. This isn't Cheeseburger in Paradise people... this is FOR REAL paradise... I think I want that more! haha Might elaborate on this more tomorrow if I feel like it. If not, it'll be a section from Romans 3!
Oh man. I'm tired. It's not even 10:30. But I'm going to go to bed. Because tomorrow is a school day. And I have to get up early... Sleep it is!
I'm a Princess part 2 is coming tomorrow at some point too! Look out for it :)
(♥ Come and Listen-David Crowder*Band)
No comments:
Post a Comment