Preface

2011 by Kay Frances Graves.  All rights reserved.  Do not use this material in any manner without prior written consent of author.

(Scripture is from the KJV, unless otherwise indicated.  Bold words, underlining, and brackets are added by the author for emphasis.)



Preface

I was just seven years old when God first made Himself known to me.  My younger sister and I came across a multicolored bird, feathered in a variegation of deep iridescent emerald, ruby-red and blues.  It was lying dead on the path in the West Virginia woods where we played every day.  I had never seen a bird like this before nor have I ever seen one since.
       After poking the poor creature with a little stick and determining that it was really dead, we decided to give it a proper burial.  We covered it with a small mound of dirt on the side of the path and carefully placed wild violets around the circumference of the tiny grave.
       Donna and I had been to the movies often enough to know that a prayer comes after the burial.  So we knelt down before the grave, bowed our heads, and called on God.  But I did not know what to say to God about this beautiful lifeless little bird.
       Questions about life and death began spinning in my mind.
       Suddenly the light went out in the woods.
       A dark cloud covered the sun and a strong, piercing wind funneled down the path, almost blowing us away.  The friendly adventurous woods we loved so much became a cold, dark, and very frightening place to be.
       My prayer and thoughts about life and death had been interrupted.  Where was God now?
       Shivering from the frigid wind blowing through my light cotton dress, I looked upward through the tree tops toward heaven searching for Him.
       At that very moment, the woods became still, I saw the sun peek out from behind the dark cloud, illuminating the spot we were standing on, warming and comforting our little bodies.
       This time a different type of chill shook me to my core.  Somehow I knew God was right there in the woods with us.  He was telling me not to be afraid and assuring my troubled heart and mind that He would be with me always.
       I took my sister's hand and we ran back to our little cabin.  Through excitement and tears, I proclaimed to my mother that I had seen God.  She told me not to be so upset.  She said that I had quite an imagination, that I should just forget about it, stop crying, and go out and play.
       But I could not forget it.
       Twenty years later, after I became a Christian and read the Book of Revelation for the first time, I was shaken to my core again, after all those years when I read:

(16)And he had in his right hand seven stars:

and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword:

and his countenance

was as the sun

shineth in his strength,

(17) And when I saw him,

I fell at his feet as dead.

And he laid his right hand upon me,

saying unto me,

Fear not; I am the first and the last:

(18) I am he that liveth, and was dead;

and, behold, I am alive for evermore,

Amen;

and have the keys

of hell and of death.

-Revelation 1:16-18

       To this day, this passage in Revelation still gives me goose bumps every time I read it.  the similarity to my childhood experience in the woods in West Virginia that day could not be overlooked.

       The description regarding what the writer of this passage in the Book of Revelation saw and heard made me realize that God wanted me to know that He held the answers to my question-filled prayer about death.  God had, indeed, assured me that He was alive and eternal and that He had been, and always would be, with me.

       However, the rest of the Book of Revelation remained rather foggy for the next 30 years.  Then one day I came across another passage in Revelation that took on a whole new significance:

Blessed is he that readeth,

and they that hear

the words of this prophecy,

and keep those things

which are written therein:

for the time is at hand.

-Revelation 1:3

       I was missing this blessing by not reading the Book of Revelation as often as the other books of the Bible.  I guess I had been avoiding it because I found it rather difficult to understand.

       This verse was telling me that I would be blessed by reading, hearing, and keeping [from #2334 in the Greek, meaning to attend to carefully, guard, and observe] the things that were contained in what was written.

       Did it matter to God whether I understood what I was reading or not? 

       Yes. . .and No.

       No, because the verse said that the blessing would come from reading and hearing the words.  God was saying, "Just read it."

       But the answer was also, "Yes," since God certainly wanted me to understand what I was reading so I could preserve and observe it.

       It was only logical then that God would have to eventually give me an understanding of the words, if I was going to be able to observe something that I could not at the moment comprehend.

       In other words, God was telling me that this Book, like the rest of the Books of the Bible, had to be read by faith believing that God Himself would impart its meaning to me.

       I went to a dollar store and bought a CD of the audio version of the Book of Revelation and every night when I went to bed, I played the CD and every morning when I woke, I played it again.  After several months, God prompted me to move my Bible study to the computer.  First I typed out the passage and then prayed that God would give me something from it.

       When I became anxious that I might not understand what was written, God asured me that I did not need to know everything perfectly.  He led me to search for what He wanted to give me at that moment and not worry about understanding everything else.  God reminded me that His Word has many levels of understanding and the Word interprets the Word through the Holy Spirit that resides both in my heart and in His written Word.  In this way He would assemble the building blocks of the Word and begin revealing what He wanted me to know.

       My computer study soon brought me to Revelation 2:4-5 and the serious warning Jesus gave about something He had against the church of Ephesus:

(4) Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,

because thou hast left thy first love.

(5) Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen,

and repent and do the first works;

or else I will come unto thee quickly,

and will remove thy candlestick

out of his place,

except thou repent.

-Revelation 2:4-5

       I asked Him to reveal exactly what it means to "have left your first love."

       Over the course of the next year, God showed me that I already knew what it meant.  I just had to remember and identify it.  Now He wanted me to help others identify it too, because without knowing, remembering, repenting, and returning to the first love and first works, no one will be able to endure to the end.

       The Book of Revelation is specifically designed to "reveal" vital information in end times.  While I admit that I do not completely understand the entire Book of Revelation, I am grateful that He has given me this important piece of the puzzle to share.  So be it.  This is my mission.  Thanks be to God!

Kay Frances Graves

January, 2011

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