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You are welcome. Glad it resonated with you.

Here is a helpful verse from 1 John 4:18 from the Amplified Bible. There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love]. God’s invitation to respond to Him is simple: it is an invitation to love Him. Remember, He loves you. When you love someone, you are for them. You want them to succeed. You aren’t trying to trap them or catch them in the wrong so you can punish them. God simply wants a relationship with you. It is a relationship based on pursuing Him with your heart - it is not an intellectual exercise of knowing the right doctrines and figuring out some riddle to come into His Kingdom. His invitation is simple. Believe His message: that He loved you enough to send His Son Jesus to come for you and rescue you. He loved you enough that He paid for you with His life. Receive this truth. Jesus is Lord over all, paying the debt of our sins, defeating death, and giving us full access to God the Father - who longs for us to be His people. Invite Jesus to direct every part of your life. When you fail, confess your failure to God and press on (1 John 1:9). This is a life of learning to love Him with all your heart. Like any relationship, it grows deeper over time. If you’ve received Jesus by faith and desire to draw close to God, take comfort in the fact that you indeed do have a relationship with Him, and that you can trust Him in that. Trust. Don’t worry. You have an enemy that wants to steal your peace. Ask God to settle this matter in your heart so that you can rest in Him and enjoy your relationship with Him without overthinking and worrying about your salvation. If you are willing to study a book of the Bible, I highly recommend 1 John, which was written “so that you may know that you have eternal life.” God doesn’t intend this to be a riddle for you!

Having fear of the Lord is not wrong as long as it is righteous fear. As a child you feared your parents because you didn't want to get in trouble, but at a certain point your fear of them was because you didn't want to disappoint them and lose their love. God is the supreme father, so it should be natural to fear Him. If you read the Bible for what it says and what the authors intend it to say, don't use your own interpretation, it won't be riddles to you. If you put your trust in Jesus fully, live to please Him and not satisfy your own desires, you won't have to worry. His law is written on our hearts, if you are fighting every day to do right and not wrong, and it grieves you when you mess up, your salvation is assured. Worry can be a sin because you are not trusting God's promise. Read your Word everyday, pray and talk to God, put Him first, and you will be alright. God bless you.

@@Wise_Son thank you for your insight. I am reading my Bible every day and praying every day still I don’t have peace that surpasses all understanding and even less I have joy. I repented for whatever I sinned in the past (like an average everyday person nothing extreme) and I’m trying to connect to God every day.

Yes. Love leads to a surrendering of our will and life to His will for our life (obedience). Those who "Looks to the Son and believes" steps into this life-transforming journey.

We love that way by making Him the 1st priority in our life. Our love doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does need to be real. If our love for God is real, we will begin to live for what pleases Him rather than living for what brings us pleasure. (It actually pleases Him that gives us pleasure because we love Him, if that makes sense.) God knows we won’t do this perfectly. It is a journey of leaving the old life (living out of love and devotion to ourselves) for the new life (living out of a desire to please the Lord). When you obey God because you want to please Him with your life, you are living with the right motivation. When you disobey the Lord and your heart is grieved because you feel like you’ve hurt Him, this is a very healthy sign that your love is genuine. He forgives (1 John 1:9), and encourages us to continue pursuing Him.

Thank you so much! It makes my day to hear from the Philippines!! I hope you are doing well, and the Lord is blessing your work in the ministry!

my pleasure

You are welcome, Janis! Thanks for sharing. Understanding the views is very helpful when interpreting the Book of Revelation.

That's great Tracy!! I'm so glad you are giving this a try. This is such a powerful habit to embrace!

Thanks!

I love that, Mary! You are absolutely right - putting a verse to a melody is a very effective memorization strategy. (That's what the book of Psalms is all about-it's the Bible's hymn book.) However, I have personally found the method in this video more effective for larger portions of Scripture (when I'm looking to memorize 100 verses or more). Thanks for watching!

Worshipping God as creator - great pick!

Not sure what passage you are referring to. 1 Peter 3:3-4 maybe? "Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." This passage doesn't forbid those things - it's just a redirect of our attention from outward beauty to inward beauty before God. My wedding ring is a show of the commitment of the heart, not an attempt for outward beauty. (I don't think it would get me that far!).

Glad you are diving into the book Chery! I have found knowing these views helps me understand where others are coming from when I talk to them about Revelation, or when I read an author's views on the book. Happy reading!

Thank you for watching the video and commenting Carl. John sees the church in a time of tribulation, even in his day, which it certainly was. In chapter 1, he was not referencing the specific time period he would prophesy about in Chapters 6-19, the final Great Tribulation. John certainly lived in a time of terrible tribulation. Domitian demanded he be confessed as Lord and had 40,000 Christians killed. Most likely, this is why John was exiled to Patmos. The church was under terrible persecution. He communicated that the church was in the “last hour” (1 John 2:18). The church has faced tremendous tribulation since its birth, but I would distinguish between this general tribulation and Daniel’s 70th week, the final 7-year tribulation. The saints in heaven before the throne in Revelation 7:9 are the saints of all ages, including the church. Yet there will be saints on earth enduring the Great Tribulation who will be martyred by the Antichrist (the Beast). He will make war and conquer these saints (Revelation 13:7). I believe the church will have been raptured and will be with the Lord in Heaven at this point (as you referenced in Rev. 7:9). Those saints belonging to the time of the church cannot be conquered by the antichrist. (Mt. 16:18). I agree with you that we are not destined for God’s wrath. The church saints will not be on earth to see God's wrath in the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments.

@@pastorjohngreen I hear what you’re saying but the translators chose to use the word “the” not “in” tribulation in Rev 1:9. As a matter of fact I have been unable to find an English translation that uses “in” regarding that verse. So imho your argument is extremely weak. John then again refers to the tribulation in verses 7:9 and 14. How do you reconcile that? Verses 1:9, 7:9 and 7:14 of Rev make perfect sense. I’m no scholar but seems to me pretribers have to ignore these verses or change their meaning to make them fit their narrative.

@@Carl-bd1rf That’s a good observation Carl. The way I have understood this is in light of John’s outline for the book in Rev. 1:19, where Jesus tells him to “write therefore the things that you have seen (Chapter 1:9-20), those things that are (chapter 2-3), and those that are to take place after this (Chapters 4-22). The tribulation John is referring to in 1:9 is the current tribulation he has experienced with the church since its birth. The tribulation referenced in chapter 7 (during the seal judgments) is a much more severe tribulation yet to come that Jesus spoke about (Mt. 24:21 - For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been form the beginning of the world until now, and never will be.) In my understanding, this allows for both the tribulation the church faced during John’s time, (as well as our time), but still recognizes a time of distinct and incredible tribulation yet to come.

@@pastorjohngreen I hear what you’re saying. I believe Jesus said after the abomination that causes desolation occurs the world will see such great tribulation as never before or ever will. Another question I have that no one seems to have an answer for is where does scripture state that “the tribulation” is synonymous with Daniel’s 70th week. It’s obvious Daniel’s 70th week is a time of great tribulation but I can’t find where it says it’s “the tribulation”? We see in Revelation that John speaks to “the tribulation” and Gods wrath as separate time periods. Again I’m not a biblical scholar but I find it interesting how John speaks to two different time periods and today the church leaders want to combine the periods into one.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I always leave room for interpretation when it comes to end-times views. I share what I find to be the most compelling view. The word “rapture” is not in the Bible, you are correct. The Greek word is “harpazo” (1 Thess. 4:17), which means “to snatch away.” In Latin, it is translated as “rapturo.” This is where the word rapture originates. In the days of Noah, God judges wicked humanity and delivers the righteous. This is the teaching of the rapture. The righteous church will be snatched away before the wrath of God falls on the earth. The saints in the tribulation, however, will not be given safety. The Beast (Antichrist) will be allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them (Rev. 13:7). This doesn’t fit with the days of Noah. I’m not looking to argue (I know there are many views!), but just showing there is validity behind the view of the rapture worth considering. The important truth is that Jesus is coming again - and hopefully, that truth unites us even in our different opinions on the details of that return.

@@pastorjohngreen nope, those who endure to the end will be saved. As a pastor, you will be held accountable for what you are preaching.

You are right! 4 of them will be released to wipe out 1/3 of humanity. The Trumpet Judgments will be terrible. Revelation 9:14-15 ...to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind."

Because people who are out of hope and struggling in life need someone to listen to them, genuinely care about them, and share truth with them that can change their lives and give them hope.

@@pastorjohngreen I agree. I just dont think it should be an imaginary being that does it.