Kris Ann

This is where most people are most of the time. We experience our wordly home with a physical and emotional presence. It is very hard to imagine anything more without some help. Sadly, I would call this behavior normal. Yes. The holy spirit must intervene. To cause my spirit to soften and be remolded. To ready my self-concept to accept truth, renewal, and change.

The Lamb is worshipped alongside God, who sits on the throne. The Lamb refers to Jesus, the Son of God, who died that we might be free from sin. Our lives depend on Him, who has the power to set us free. As we praise Jesus, we also praise the Father who the has exalted Him. And as we praise the Father, we also praise Jesus who has brought us to the Father.

Today's world is full of sin and corruption. Today's christians are called to be deciples of Jesus, to spread His word, and with Christ, bring lost sheep home to Him. But we are far from having full reign. The promised world will no longer be under the rule of corrupt governments and fear. The world that God promises to His Children is a world, here on Earth, where everyone follows His ways. We will be priests in that we will all know God, we will all be righteous, and we will all be in direct commune with Him. Today, Jesus reigns in my life, and in the lives of my christian friends and family. But still, it is not enough. Today, we are the children of God, but sin continues to be in our way of perfection. We must rely on Jesus and His perfect love, His perfect rightiousness, His mighty power. Later, after Jesus completes His task, we, the children of God will reign on Earth.

...because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5:9 The scroll has 7 seals. The 7 symbolizes completeness or perfection. The one who opens the scroll must be whole, complete, and perfect. He must have the power of perfection and wholeness to execute what is written. Just as He has already fulfilled other prophesies, He must be able to filfill what is written on the scroll. Jesus is the only one able to open this scroll. He has the power and perfection that is required. He sacrificed himself to save us all. Thus He is worthy to take the scroll and open it's seals.

[*] The Lamb is Jesus [*] Standing after slain is Jesus risen again [*] Horns signify power [*] Eyes signify knowledge [*] The number 7 relates to completeness and perfection The Lamb is Jesus as the sacrificial lamb who has taken the sins of the world. Though He died to save us from sin, He is yet alive and pure. His is the most powerful. His is the most knowledgable and wise. His power and knowledge is complete and perfect. He is omnipotent and omniscient.

"the lion of the tribe of Judah"The tribe of Judah were leaders. The Jews believed that the Messiah would come from this tribe. Jesus is both our leader and Messiah. He is victorious over our sins. "the Root of David" Jesus is a decendant of David. He is the one branch of the family of David that "bears fruit". He brings us to Him so that we too might grow to bear fruit. Jesus fulfilled these two prophesies. Just as He will fulfill the prophesy of Revelation.

Before I partake of the Lord's Supper, I must consciously and actively forgive others. As I partake of the Lord's Supper, I must consciously and actively ask for forgiveness so that I might learn. As I forgive, seek forgiveness and learn and grow, I become closer to the person God made me to be. It is the person that I wish to be when I am welcomed to the feast at the table in God's kingdom. I am reminded that although we need to be open and accepting to learn the lessons and teachings of God, it is faith and acceptance of Christ as our saviour that will be our invitation to the final Supper. And when we partake of this final Supper with Jesus at our side, we will be complete as one body in Christ. As a member of this body, we will be able to serve God completely.

When I think of all the pain and suffering that Jesus went through, I am shocked with sorrow. I love Christ. It is not right that He should have to do this. I love God. Couldn't there have been another way?Yet I am also filled with great Joy. Jesus cares for everyone. He loves us so much that He is willing to do anything to set us free from sin. He loves us so much that He takes the punishment for us. Like a big brother taking blame to protect a little sister...

The Lord's Supper is in recognition and acceptance of Christ being our Saviour. As we eat the bread and drink the wine, we are to remember that Christ died on the cross in order to save us from sin. As we accept Christ, we are forgiven. Since Christ has paid the ultimate price so that we may be forgiven, it would be contradictory to partake of this forgiveness without forgiving others. In fact, when we do not forgive others, we suffer from pain and anger. Yet Christ died to take pain and sufferings from us. How can He save us from pain and suffering if we are not willing to let it go?

Eating of the flesh and drinking of the blood of Jesus has always meant for me: remembrance of His sacrifice to save me, and growth as I learn to become more like Him. Just as we eat food to sustain ourselves, we must also allow ourselves to change toward Jesus' ways in order to sustain a life free from sin. The eating and drinking of the flesh and blood seems gorish to anyone. But it was even more radical for the Jews. They where prohibited by belief/custom from drinking blood. Yet now there is this Jew who claims to be the Son of God, telling them to drink his blood. For us today, the eating and drinking of the flesh and blood should still be a radical event. As we learn Jesus' ways, we need to be ready and accepting of radical changes within our lives. This is the only way we can really become more like Him. It is the only way we can sustain a life free from sin.

The Jewish Passover celebrated their freedom from slavery. The meal consisted of things that symbolized what it was that they where saved from, and how they where saved. As they ate the meal, they used hyms, readings, etc to further remind them the meaning behind the meal itself.Today, use the Lord's Supper to remind us of what Jesus did for us. We use it to celebrate our freedom from the slavery of sin. As we partake of the bread and the wine, we think of Jesus body and blood given for us. We also pray and sing hyms as we do this. As I think of the differences, I am only led to one point. The Jews where celebrating their freedom as a single group or nation of people. We now celebrate as members of many nations. And we new celebrate a freedom far greating than the freedom from physical slavery.

Those who had followed God's direction were 'passed over'. The blood on their door was a sign to themselves that God would spare them the punishment that others would suffer.The blood of Christ on the cross is also a sign to us that we are to be spared the punishment of our sins.

Being set free from our sin, being forgiven gives us the opportunity to live a new life. We no longer have to be burdened with the pain and suffering we cause ourselves and others.However, in order to remain free, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us. Just as we could not escape from the bondage of sin on our own, we cannot know how to change our ways without a teacher. As we ask the Holy Spirit to lead us, we must listen for direction, and we must be intent on pleasing God who was so gracious and merciful to set us free.

I am the slave. All of mankind are slaves. I am enslaved by 'an empty way of life'. We are in need of satisfaction, so too quickly we take the fast and easy road. But this does not satisfy us, so we repeat the fast and easy road - like a drug, it never satisfies us completely. Jesus the Christ offers ransom to set me and us all free from slavery. Who recieves the ransom? Great question. I'm not sure where to go with this. I would say that no one recieves it. The analogy was used to help us understand what God has done for us. An analogy means that slavery is not exactly or completely descriptive of what God did for us. It is simply used to describe what He has done in a way that we are able to understand. An analogy falls short of the reality of what actually happened.