Today’s reading is Revelation 9:1-10:11.

Revelation 9:5 jumped out at me today.

“They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them…”

That reminded me of God’s instruction to Satan about Job in Job 2:6, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”

The difference between Job and the folks in Revelation is that Job hadn’t been living in sin before this, but by the time he was done with this temptation he repented of the sins he had committed (Job 42:6). The folks in Revelation didn’t repent no matter what discipline they saw, even after another trumpet was blown and plagues killed mankind.

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts” (Revelation 9:20-21).

I can’t help but think of some of the devastating things that happen in our world. I’m not saying that tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes are the direct judgment of God (though they might be). However, there is no doubt that God allowed them to happen. These great displays ought to cause those who remain behind to repent and turn to God, seeking the life and salvation He offers. Sadly, it seems that most often these cause folks to become more entrenched in sin believing God must not be out there. That is really not logical. It is as if folks believe because God allowed something they don’t like, He must not exist. That is no evidence either way. The thing we need to see is that life is a vapor. Death is coming. It may come from cancer. It may come from a car wreck. It may come from a hurricane. It may simply come from old age. But it is coming. Repent now. Glorify God now. Turn from idolatry now. Do these things while there is still time for you to glorify God and draw close to Him. Remember what we learned yesterday. He is the one who holds salvation.

***Question: What forms of idolatry still plague the world today?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is 2 Peter 2:1-3:18.

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9).

What a comfort. I don’t know how many times I have been asked by people, “What if I’m, like you know, driving in my car and someone pulls in front of me and I yell some cuss word and give the guy the bird right as I get in a car wreck and I didn’t have time to repent? What then? Will I go to heaven or hell?”

First and foremost, I have to say that I’m not God to decree what judgment you will actually receive. However, more importantly, I wonder what kind of God you think we actually serve? Do you truly think we serve the kind of God who is going to take an otherwise faithful servant and kill him/her the moment they have slip just so He can cast their soul into hell? Do you think we serve a God who is waiting for opportunities to squash us like bugs and then watch us burn for eternity? Really? That’s the God you serve?

I don’t serve that God. My God is a patient God. The God I love is a God who wants everyone to come to repentance. He is patient with each and every one of us. That tells me something about Him. I can trust Him to do what is right with me. I can trust Him to do what is merciful with me. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. For all I know, I may die in a car wreck in which I slipped with my mind and my tongue. Here is what I’m confident about. If I am judged to spend eternity in hell, it is not going to be because I committed one sin right before I died without having time to repent. Further, if, as some believe and teach, it is true that the one slip would make me guilty of hell, then I know my God will give me time to repent. 

That is comforting to me. I don’t have to dream up crazy scenarios to test God’s grace or to increase anyone’s fear for eternity. We serve a God who wants us with Him forever. We serve a God who wants to bestow grace upon us. We serve a God who wants to welcome us into His heavenly home. He’s not waiting to punish us forever. We can trust in Him and His grace.

So, why not take the patience God has extended to us today and use it to turn from whatever is still enslaving us in sin. Turn your life over to God today in every way. 

***Question: What other aspects of God’s nature provide you with comfort in Him?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Revelation 15-16 provides apocalyptic pictures of God’s judgment on the beasts (oppressive government and false religion) and those who bear the beast’s mark. Twice in Revelation 16 God makes a statement that really gets me.

“The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”–(Revelation 16:8-9, ESV).

“The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.”–(Revelation 16:10-11, ESV).

They did not repent.

Did you catch that? The point of this discipline was not merely judgment. Rather, it was an opportunity to repent. They were disciplined and given time to change sides, given time to leave the beast and be marked with God’s name. But they didn’t do that.

I can’t help but think about me. Now, I certainly don’t think every negative thing that happens to me is necessarily God’s judgment on me. Nor do I think it is necessarily God specifically disciplining me for some specific thing. However, I believe nearly every occurrence in my life can be used as God’s discipline. What lessons do I learn from these things? If those lessons show that I have not been glorifying God as I ought, will I let them prompt me to repent and glorify Him? Or will I let them galvanize me away from Him?

Some folks face hardship with increased faith, learning the lessons that help them rely on and glorify God more. Others flee from God when troubles come thinking they mean God no longer loves them. I obviously cannot speak about God’s direct involvement in any specific hardship you have faced. I simply know this: for those who love God, He uses all things to achieve good for them. Instead of turning your back on God when you face hardship, examine your life. What lessons can you learn? How can you use what you are facing to repent and glorify God even more? 

Praise the Lord, He gives us opportunity to repent when we need it.

Keep the faith and pass the word along,

ELC

In Revelation 2:1-7, Jesus reveals to John His message for the church at Ephesus. This congregation had been doing some great things. They had endured patiently. They could not endure those who were evil. They stood up to those who claimed apostleship but were false. They had not grown weary. 

Amazingly, however Jesus still had something against them. They had left the love they had at first. I believe this hearkens back to Jeremiah 2:2-3 or, at least, makes the same point. There, God spoke of the love of the newly married. That early devotion in which the partners will simply follow the object of their love wherever they go. Ephesus had left that kind of love. 

They were doing some right things, but they were not doing them for the right reasons. That was dangerous because they were simply heeding some rules without devotion to the rule-giver. Without that love and devotion, they were a hop, skip and jump away from changing the rules to fit their desires.

What was Jesus’ prescription to fix their problem? We might think that He would talk to them about their feelings. “Go back to the feelings you had at first,” we expect Him to say. “If you work on those feelings, then the right works will come.” That, however, is not Jesus answer. Instead, He said, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.”

Clearly, for all the good they were doing, their lack of love had caused them to stop doing something. Jesus’ prescription for their spiritual illness was to restart the works they did at first. He doesn’t just command them to recapture their early feelings. He tells them to reinstate their early works. You see, we cannot feel our way into right actions. However, we can act our way into the right feelings. Jesus’ point was if they just started doing the right things they had been doing at first, then those feelings that had accompanied those works would come back.

The take away for me today is that I shouldn’t wait until I feel like doing the right thing. I need to just do the next right thing. As I take that step, the feelings will follow. It will be an upward cycle and spiral of righteousness in the grace of Jesus Christ.

So, what is the next right thing you should do in your relationship with your spouse? What is the next right thing you should do in your relationship with your co-workers? …with your friends? …in your congregation? …in your relationship with God? Even if you don’t feel like it, just do it. The feelings will come.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC