In The Book of Revelation we find: 7 - Beatitudes (Blessings); 4 - In the Spirit Statements; and 3 - I Am coming soon promises: Read in order they say:
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.” (1:3) “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” (1:10-11) “At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald.” (4:2-3) “Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.” (14:13b-c) “Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame” (16:15b) “So he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. (17:3) “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (19:9b) “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.” (20:6) “And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. (21:10) “See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (22:7) “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of prophecy of this book.’ (22:7b) “See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (22:12-13) “Blessed are those who wash their robe, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.” (22:14) “The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen, Come, Lord Jesus! (22:20)
To me, this exercise of extracting the promised blessings, along with John’s statements of “being in the spirit” while practicing spiritual disciplines combined with promises of God’s soon return then reading them combined highlights God’s love, grace and mercy while removing the darkness often associated with the Book of Revelation. There is a reminder of the awfulness of the wilderness state and what can be experienced there; but overwhelmingly these blessings and promises remind us of God’s Over-the-horizon promises and our responsibility to live with Over-the-horizon faith. Surely God’s return is coming soon! Do we cry, Amen, Come on God! Or wait, I’m not ready. O please, that we all are able and willing to cry out, Come on God! And mean it. Let this be our cry this last day of 2016, every day of 2017 and all the days to come until our Lord returns.