I have been thinking lately about my faith and my walk with Christ. I have felt that something has been missing, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I finally decided that besides studying the Bible much better and more than I have been, I might try getting to know Jesus better. So I pulled my The Jesus I Never Knew book off my shelf. (P has asked me to read it with her, and I haven’t been ready to until now.)

Right now I was reading about the birth of Jesus and was quite taken aback by the account in Revelation 12:1-6. Yes, there is an account in that book.

" 1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days."

Now, I have never given a lot of thought to Revelation, for it is quite a different sort of book. I have read it but have never taken the time to understand it very well. That passage depicts Christ’s birth, but I am pretty sure that when I search through the Christmas cards this season, that is one scene I won’t find. Yancey writes “in daily life two parallel histories occur simultaneously, one on earth and one in heaven. Revelation, however, views them together, allowing a quick look behind the scenes.” It was quite amazing to learn that Revelation gave me a parallel look at the two worlds. I have always believed that Satan is at work in this world but never viewed it like that and didn’t realize that Revelation did.

If you go on to read in chapter 12, you come to this passage.

"13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus."

Again, since I haven’t studied this book, I found a passage new to me. I was most taken with verse 17. I am counted among her offspring, which puts me at war with that dragon. I sat and thought on that for about 5 seconds, and decided I needed to share what I just
learned.

Now what have I just learned? And how will it help me to grow? That is something else I recently read. I learn and I grow. Learning is taking in new information, but growing is changing whom I am and becoming something more. Hopefully closer to whom God wants me to be. If we are Christians, we should always be striving to be more like Christ. We should not be stagnant. And I think that has been my problem. I have been stagnant. I haven’t been growing, and it has left me feeling dispassionate about my faith. That is certainly not how God wants me. What good am I than?

Back to what I learned. Revelation may be a strange book, but I still need to study it, for it is relevant to my life and very applicable. Christ entered this world with Satan chasing after Him, and since Satan has no sway over Jesus, he tries his wiles on us, Christ’s followers. And yes, he does find those who can be tempted into sin.

How will I grow? A starting point is to oil my armor and stand alert.