Sunday, March 13, 2016

Revelation!

Though I am currently reading a three volume set by William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, Michele Morin teased me with an introduction to The Heart of Revelation by J. Scott Duvall (you can read her masterful review HERE) and so, even though I didn’t have my ipad with me this weekend, I couldn’t wait–I purchased the Kindle version and downloaded it to my iPhone. 


Let me say this about that: I’ve never attempted to read a book on my cell phone but it actually wasn’t so bad and certainly was an acceptable alternative in a pinch. As small as type can be on a weensy devise, I still was able to blow through the 195 pages it in a few hours. Who knew?

I must grudgingly concede, mark one up for modern technology. 

Now, while I can’t begin to add to or improve Michelle’s review, I do want to share what this book did for me.

First of all, having been an outlier all of my life, one who simply cannot see things the way the mainstream collective does, I have had long dry periods along the way when I was sorely challenged to hold fast to what I believe and/or know. It’s only human when no one else seems to understand as you do that dark clouds of doubt can easily form. 

Five years ago I, while quietly reading The Revelation for the umpteenth time, closed my Bible and prayed. “Lord God, I just want to know the truth whatever it is. Even if it’s nothing like everyone seems to believe. Will You please guide me to it?”

Something settled in on my spirit. I realized that I was on the brink of something. I admit at first I was scared. But I’m nothing if not tenacious. I did ask if I had to share what I might learn. The answer was, not without permission. I wasn’t asking to start something, you see. I just wanted closure on questions that long accepted answers did not fit. I have learned that maturing in the spirit opens one up to greater understanding of God’s mysteries and this is why reading Scripture over time reveals new insights when one is ready to receive them.

So, I began with certain Scriptures in mind from both old and new testament and I read all of Revelation in one sitting and then a few days later I did it again. After a few weeks some things began to stand out for me. Oh! I said out loud, more than once.

I took my time and when I felt I had received what I was able to receive I eventually (several years later) wrote my experience down and created a pdf file I titled Where is Wisdom?. I have rarely shared this treatise with anyone else. And here is why:

I just wanted to know and so I asked. If what I was given is true then anyone else can do the same. Apparently J. Scott Duvall did too. Though his book and my 33 page essay come to the same conclusions, we each came with different approaches so our questions and therefore our focuses were just slight variations on the main theme. But even so, his analogies were so often similar to mine there were times when I stood up, and shouted, “YES!” 

Fortunately, no one else was in the room to question my sanity.

Here I am now completely flummoxed and can’t begin to express my shock and awe. At the end, as I closed the Kindle app on my phone, I didn’t know whether to laugh or sob. Someone else, a someone with credentials and a mandate to use them has put in print the truth I was given in my private meeting with God. 

Confirmation! What an amazing feeling! I truly am stunned. You can know what you know, but if you can't share it or prove it, when someone else says it, you feel corroborated. Or something.


I’m not being all that coherent here so I leave it at this - ask and ye shall be given - but ask with an open mind, emptied of long-held manmade doctrine, and a spirit willing to hear, and you can walk through a door you didn’t even know was there. 

And read the book–if you dare. 

For Him,
Meema



6 comments:

  1. I have to say this has peaked my interest. Revelation has always been the book that I have always tended to avoid. I found it on Amazon so I’ll let you know what I think after I read it.

    VL

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    1. Please do comment after you’ve read it.

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  2. Meema, this is just as satisfying as a book club meeting! (And no calories!)
    Thanks for sharing your good thoughts on this book.

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    1. Ha! Definitely love the no calories part! :-)

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  3. I just wanted to know and so I asked. If what I was given is true then anyone else can do the same. Apparently J. Scott Duvall did too. Though his book and my 33 page essay come to the same conclusions, we each came with different approaches so our questions and therefore our focuses were just slight variations on the main theme. But even so, his analogies were so often similar to mine there were times when I stood up, and shouted, “YES!”

    This really hits home - a similar thing happened to me. It was both exciting and very humbling for me. Exciting that a person - with lots of letters after their name - explained in a book something that God had already shown quietly to me. But also humbling that Almighty God would reach down and take the time to teach someone like me - that I matter that much to Him!

    The book was written at an intellectual level. God showed me simply. But we both "got it" and were amazed at God and His Kingdom. Who is like our God???

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    1. Humbling, thrilling, stunning, breathtaking, mind-blowing, flabbergasting, exhilarating, did I mention humbling? I cannot think of enough adjectives to describe how it feels to absolutely know that regardless how small and unimportant one can be, God doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves or others. He is indeed wondrous and no Thesaurus in the world can come up with any synonyms that could possibly be adequate to describe our God. :-)

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