Two Posts - "Time" and Rev. 8 and 9

MAKING TIME FOR STUDYING: PART 1
Posted on | March 1, 2011
Sage Cohen
http://pathofpossibility.com


(This is a modified article by Sage Cohen “Making Time for Writing.” …she posts a blog to writers…giving them ideas for improvement. This one was about having enought time… I changed the words ‘write” to "study," etc…It is her article with the words changed. Iwill leave this on this site for only a few days.)


The universal chorus of complaint from Bible students of all stripes seems to be: not enough time. The truth is, Bible students make time for studying. And everyone does it her own way. Your job is to find your way. Every Tuesday for the next, six weeks I’ll be offering suggestions to help you investigate how your relationship with time is moving you forward or holding you back.(I will try to share them with you)

You have all dayThe fiction writer Grace Paley was once asked in an interview, “Grace, you are a mother, a teacher, a writer, and an activist. How do you find the time to do it all?” To which Grace replied, “Well, I have all day.”

Time is a level playing fieldWe all get the same twenty-four hours in a day. What you do with yours is up to you. You may believe that you have “no time,” but the fact is, you have just as much time as anyone else. What varies for every writer is our unique mix of work and family responsibilities, financial commitments, sleep requirements, physical and emotional space for studying, and perhaps most importantly, our ability and willingness to prioritize studying in this mix.

Consciousness is the first step toward changeBecause I don’t know you, I can’t tell you exactly how you can make time for studying; but I assure you that you can. I can also tell you that your relationship with time is far more subjective than you might imagine. The best way to get a handle on how much authority you actually have over our time is to start becoming aware of how you are spending it.

Pay attention to how you’re investing your time today, and you’ll develop a clear picture of the mix of mandatory and voluntary activities that shape your days. Once you become conscious that your relationship with time is not something that happens to you but a dynamic orchestrated by you through dozens of large and small choices you make every day, you can evaluate if you would like to choose to continue the pattern you are in, or to create a new one.



Revelation Chapters 8 and 9

Chapters 8 and 9 are difficult to read! They are filled with so much trauma and death! Woe Woe Woe to the people who have to live through it...and woe woe woe to those who will die during these times.

As I glanced at the last two verses of Chapter 9 I noticed how it sounds like TODAY!!! Drugs, death, sexual immorality etc...

Here is how I might study Revelation chapters 8 and 9.

STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!
Study Rev. 8-9 together

STOP!
Stop and read. Note any words that I do not understand.


LOOK!
Read again. Ask/ answer questions. For these chapters write a summary of the seals and trumpets:

Seventh Seal -

First trumpet 8:7 -

Second 8:8-9 -

Third 8:10-22 -

Forth trumpet 8:12-13 -

Fifth trumpet 9:1-12 -

Sixth trumpet 9:13-21 -

Seventh Trumpet is delayed until chapter 11

Read Chapter 9: vs 20-21. Chapters 8 and 9 are difficult to read! They are filled with so much trauma and death! As I glanced at the last two verses of Chapter 9 I noticed how it sounds like TODAY!!! Drugs, death, sexual immorality and greed!


LISTEN!
If the book of Revelation is the “unveiling of Jesus Christ” how do these two chapters descirbe, or ‘unveil’ Him?

What is God trying to teach us in these chapters?
What if these two chapters had been left out of Scripture?
How do these two chapters impact my life today?