The Blood changes our curses into blessings!
I have had prophetic dreams in my life, however, they are not an everyday event with me. Just as I was finishing the proofing and the final edit of this book, God gave me a prophetic dream.
In my dream, I was in my home, and I saw my wife invite a lion into our home. It truly gave me fear. I felt as if this lion could and would destroy me. The lion simply walked around peacefully. The fear continued to grip me. I was attempting to appease him.
Then the lion approached me and stood up on his back legs. He placed his front feet on my shoulder which brought his face right up to my face. The fear was intense! I put my hand on his nose and said, “Good boy, good boy.” His face became very friendly, but my fear continued. I was just glad that I was not being eaten alive!
My wife and I laughed about this dream for the entire morning. Then about noon, the Lord spoke to me about the dream and tears flowed down my face, as I understood it.
I do not feel adequate to write about what the Lord said, but I will attempt it. I pray that the Holy Spirit does the translation for you, the reader.
Revelation 5:1-5 says,
1 “And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?’
3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
5 But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.’”
We know that Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
John was sad and was weeping because he did not see anybody worthy to open the Scroll. Then an elder told him that Lion of the tribe of Judah had prevailed, or overcome, and that He indeed was worthy.
The Scroll is the curse as shown in the Book of Zechariah. It is also our rightful inheritance and Satan’s rightful inheritance. It represents the curse turned into a blessing for us, and final judgment on Satan. That is why John wept, because he did not see anyone who was worthy to perform this miracle, the miracle of turning our curses into blessings and watching Satan receive his due punishment.
Revelation 5:6 says,
6 “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
Notice, when John looked, he did not see the Lion of the tribe of Judah, rather he saw the Lamb. The Lamb had become the Lion because He had overcome. The Lion and the Lamb were one.
Revelation 5:7-14 says,
7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
12 saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’
14 Then the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.”
Anytime we look a lion in the face, we are likely to have fear.
I sensed the evil in my dream, but at the same time the lion did not harm me. I believe the evil I sensed was all the evil that this Lamb/Lion had “digested.” The Lamb had digested the evil, and He had converted the evil into a blessing. This process of overcoming had created a Lion who now rules.
However, this overcoming required the very blood of Jesus, the Creator. This is the blood of the everlasting covenant.
You can choose how to respond to suffering. Let the Lamb digest the evil in your life.
“There is a very ancient teaching that if you know the right name of anything, you will have the power to control it; but if you call it by a wrong name, you give that thing power over you. Bringing this into a totally Christian perspective, those circumstances, people, or situations we call and see as “bad” will indeed be bad experiences for us. Our reactions to life’s problems are the key. If we can see a nuisance as an opportunity to practice heavenly reactions, be certain of this, heavenly results will blossom from it.” [1]
The overcoming process will do this for you! It will give you a share in the Lion’s dominion over your curses and over Satan. Why allow Satan any victory? You can win every time by allowing Jesus to do the overcoming. You may not win in your definition, but you certainly will win according to God’s definition. And when you go to be with the Lord, what will be important? Of course, this type of victory is only possible if you live the “overcoming lifestyle.”
Allow the Lion spirit to rise up within you through overcoming so that you may help others. How? Through the overcoming lifestyle that is embedded in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 12:11 says,
11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Revelation reveals more that you think!
I believe that there are multiple messages in the Book of Revelation, and the one I am describing here is certainly not the only message.
I am going to look at Revelation from a different point of view than many are accustomed to. I am going to use it in the same way that God has used it in my life. God has used it for me as a present day devotion, something practical to show me what is going on in the spiritual world as I am overcoming. This is not so much my theology as it is my personal testimony and experience. Dr. Mark Rutland, president of Global Servants and Southeastern University, says that Revelation is more like a Hebrew opera, a drama with music and poetry, than a theological text book. I am not saying that Revelation does not have to do with future world history, but I am saying that is more than that. It applies to your current history as well.
We have often used the term “Junk to Jewels.” How does this happen? What happened in the process of junk becoming jewels? At the end of the Book of Revelation we see the Kingdom of God with a foundation of jewels. During the middle of the book we see the suffering John, and ourselves, overcoming and turning our junk into those jewels.
John was suffering on the isle of Patmos (definition: my killing- a rugged and bare island in the Aegean Sea). He had ministered with Jesus; he was His closest friend at one time. Jesus entrusted His mother to John at the Cross. John saw Jesus for many days after His resurrection. John had a powerful ministry during the early church days, starting with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He, as an elder, wrote His precious epistles in an effort to get people back to basics, a relationship with Jesus.
Imagine how John must have felt now that he was a prisoner on barren island of Patmos. He was carrying rocks from a quarry up and down the hills as his daily work task. Perhaps he was wondering: “Jesus, what is going on? Peter is crucified, James is beheaded, the church is persecuted and in shambles, and things do not look good. What is this all about?” Have you ever felt like John?
Than suddenly, on one Lord’s day, “Bang.” He sees Jesus in all of His glory, but not like he had know Him before. Jesus was so on fire and powerful looking that John fell at His feet as dead (Revelation 1:9-18). Read it.
Not only did Jesus want to make some sense out of John’s affliction and the affliction of the church in those days, but also He had John write the Book of Revelation so that you and I could make some godly sense out of our afflictions. He wants us to know that He has not deserted us, but that He is on task wanting to turn our junk into jewels.
Jesus started out by revealing Himself to John as the One in control, and as the Judge. Jesus also revealed to John who he was, and who you and I are, that is kings and priests. We are destined to rule and reign and to be the bridge between lost mankind and God.
Then in chapters 2 and 3 the church is told that they need to get their lives cleaned up because they are about to go to war and overcome. A soldier with a rusty rifle and a broken helmet cannot be victorious. You should study these two chapters to see if God is speaking to you about your own life.
Then in Revelation chapter 4 John sees a door opened in Heaven and he hears the voice, “Come up here.” We need to obtain God’s view of our circumstances so we can see them as He sees them. John noticed that he was in a courtroom; he saw God the Judge, he saw the Throne, and he saw a rainbow as a covenant promise.
The word “throne” used here in Revelation chapter 4 means a tribunal bench used for judges. God is now on the throne as a judge! There are multitudes of other examples showing God to be the judge. Some might say, ‘Oh, the Book of Revelation, and the judgment therein is for some future time in history.” Well it might be, but it is also in the now! We have the right to bring the Kingdom of God to earth now! I personally have experienced these kinds of judgments!
In chapter 5 John saw the Scroll in God’s right hand. The Scroll is the curse of the entire human race and for you and for me personally (Zechariah 5:3). Jesus unrolls the Scroll one seal at a time confirming the price He paid for our bondage to sin and curses. He is the only one worthy to do this. John wept because he thought that nobody would be worthy.
Then John heard the song.
Revelation 5:9-10 says,
9 “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’”
As each seal of the Scroll is broken open, judgment is executed. Judgment is two sided with God. For those who are consecrated and obedient and are overcoming, judgment is very good news. It means that Satan has been judged guilty and we have been judged innocent and set free! It is for our deliverance and the enemy’s destruction.
While I cannot explain all of the disasters and suffering to the very detail in Revelation chapters 6-18, I can say that they represent God’s judgments that are setting us free. The trouble is, so many of us feel these judgments and we feel like God has forgotten about us. We can feel like we are just victims, when in fact we are being delivered by all of this trouble. We just need to see it from God’s viewpoint.
Remember, as these disasters take place, you are only feeling their potential, but Jesus is holding your Scroll, and He is being pierced with your curse. He bore your curse and the penalties thereof.
Our blood covenant mandate. The three main things to observe.
Revelation 12:11 says,
11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Here are the “The Big Three.” His Cross, your cross, and words against the covenant breaker, Satan. Throughout this book we have mentioned the overcoming lifestyle, which is:
1. Continually seek out Scripture about His Cross, or what Jesus accomplished at His death and resurrection.
2. Continually submit yourself to God for His inspection and allow Him to convict you of those traits that are not His.
3. Continually speak the Word against Satan and for the promises of God.
You might say, “I have not done that in my life, it must be too late, I might as well give up.” No, no! Paul said in Romans chapter 7 that he always fought against his flesh and old nature. However then in Romans chapter 8 he went on to say that it is never too late, that there is no final judgment, or condemnation, for those who walk in the spirit and not in the flesh; meaning that we always have time to repent and be cleansed.
Finally, in Revelation chapter 18 and 19 we begin to see the world system fall, not only the one time in history when it will fall, but also the system that has kept you and me in bondage for so long. As we stand in the overcoming process, we see our enemies defeated.
In Revelation chapter 19 we see Jesus coming to rescue us on His white horse, and we see other saints, maybe you and me riding with Him rescuing others. We see the marriage supper of the Lamb, which speaks of a greater bride-like intimacy with Jesus, after we have endured so much.
Then in chapter 20 we see the devil who has been deceiving the unbelievers chained and disabled. I see that as a picture of the spiritual authority we have gained during the overcoming. Then we see in chapters 21 and 22 the glory of the Kingdom of God, which is more real to us now since we have overcome. Revelation 22:2 speaks of ministry.
Revelation 22:2 says,
2 “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations (nations, meaning gentiles, or unbelievers).”
Notice the ministry we partake in after overcoming.
In Revelation chapter 21, God showed John the Kingdom of God, and its foundation, which consisted of many types of jewels. I submit that each time we go through an overcoming process, that we place another jewel into the Kingdom. Thus, little by little, we displace and defeat Satan’s kingdom and build God’s Kingdom.
Finally, Jesus said, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
In Watchman Nee’s devotion titled A Table in the Wilderness,[2], he says,
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star" (Revelation 22:16). The book of the Revelation is the unveiling, the apokalupis, of Jesus Christ. It draws aside the curtain to reveal him. Its object is not primarily to enlighten us regarding coming events - the antichrist, the supposed revival of the Roman empire, the rapture of the saints, the millennial kingdom or the final downfall of Satan. John’s remedy of our ills is not a matter of so many seals and trumpets and vials. It is not in fact designed to satisfy our intellectual curiosity at all, but to meet our spiritual need by revealing Christ Jesus himself in fullness, that we may know him. For Christ is the answer to all our questions. Get clear first about him, and we shall know all we need to know about ‘things to come.’ He is the risen and victorious King of kings. All the events that follow are the outcome of his being that.
When challenges in life look like they will overwhelm you, remember, even if they get worse before they get better, the Lamb is there and so is the Lion. He was before the mess in your life, and He is in it with you, and He will be there with you when it is all over.
Consider, as too few people do, what will happen at your death when you finally see the Lord face to face. He may ask you how you responded to the challenges in life. Was it in faith, or in fear and despair? And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming (1John 2:28).
See the Lamb, see the Lion.
[1] Hurnard, Hannah, Walking Among The Unseen. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, Ill, 1977, page 172.
[2] Nee, Watchman. A Table in the Wilderness, Daily Meditations, Wheaton, Ill; Tyndale House Publishers. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania; - Christian Literature Crusade. p.p. May 19
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