The 260 Journey

Day 258 Today's Reading: Revelation 20 A young man was drinking heavily and decided to go for a swim at a California beach. Fortunately, an older man was watching the young man as he entered the water and saw that when he dove in, he did not come back up for air. The older man ran toward the struggling young man, dove into the water, and saved his life. A few years later, that same young man was standing in court facing a sentence on drug charges. Suddenly, the young man realized the judge was the very same man who’d saved his life when he was drowning years earlier. He looked at the judge and said, “Sir, don’t you recognize me? You saved my life a few years ago. Don’t you remember?” The judge nodded and then looked at the young man. “Young man,” he said. “Then I was your savior, but now I am your judge.” While we are alive, Christ is available to all who will trust Him now as their Savior. But if we reject Him in this life, we will stand before the Lord and know Him only as our Judge. Savior or Judge—that decision is ours. What will we do with Jesus while we are alive? If we do not choose Jesus as Savior, Revelation 20 speaks about the setting and the court we will be in called the great white throne judgment—in this final scene in human history where all will be judged. This is what John the apostle saw: I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15) The way we live here will have eternal, unchangeable, and profound consequences. Who we are today—and who we are becoming today—is preparing us for who we will be for all eternity. And only in this life can we impact our eternity. There are two judgments in heaven: the great white throne and the judgment seat of Christ. The latter is for the saints of God who receive a reward for their Christian life. The great white throne judgment is when it’s all said and done. It’s over for a person if they appear at this heavenly hearing. A misconception is that while we are at the throne of God, that will determine whether we go to heaven or hell. Whether we go to heaven or hell is not determined in heaven, it is determined in this life right now. There is no opportunity to reroute our travel plans after we have died. One second after we die, our eternal destination is unalterably fixed. If Christ has not bore our punishment in this life, we must bear our own in the next. As Matthew Henry tells us, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.” Your attendance is mandatory at one of two judgments: the judgment seat of Christ or the great white throne judgment. This is an appointment humanity will keep. Which one you will be at will be determined by whether you are born again or not. If you are not born again, you will be at this Revelation 20 great white throne judgment.  Here are the characteristics of this Revelation 20 judgment:  We will be judged fairly: no jury bias, no venue change because none is needed. We will be judged thoroughly: no loopholes and nothing missed on the evidence. We will be judged impartially: all proceedings will be fair, and no one can buy off the Judge. We will be judged individually: no one will stand with us as we stand before the Judge of all the earth. What makes this day incredible is that the Savior of the world will become the Judge of the world. Jesus tells us that God will not judge us on that day, but the Son will: “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). The day the Savior turns to judge. When I think of John’s description of this frightening day, my mind goes all the way back to the book of Genesis and a conversation Abraham had with the angel of the Lord. It was right before the judgment and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 18:25, Abraham made an eternal statement in question form: “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The resounding answer to Abraham’s question is yes! During one of Billy Graham’s final interviews, Diane Sawyer asked, “What do you hope [people] will say?” In other words, she wanted to know how he would like to be remembered” He responded, “I don’t want them to say big things about me because I don’t deserve them. I want to hear one Person say something nice about me, and that’s the Lord. When I face Him, I want Him to say to me, ‘Well done, thy good and faithful servant,’ but I’m not sure I’m going to hear it.” The humility of Billy Graham is staggering. I think he did hear those words a few years ago when he passed away. C. S. Lewis said this about that day: “Precisely because we cannot predict the moment, we must be ready at all moments.”

Day 257 Today's Reading: Revelation 19 For a number of chapters, we have been through some dark moments, but now in today’s chapter, the hope bursts on the scene with loud shouting! It is God making all things right, and heaven explodes in praise over it: After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bondservants on her.” And a second time, they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bondservants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.” (Revelation 19:1-6) Hallelujah! That’s a great word to use when great things happen. Heaven shouted it! We see it here four times. A great multitude in heaven shouted it twice: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.” Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures said, “Hallelujah.” Then the bondservants said hallelujah so loudly that it sounded like Niagara Falls or thunder in the heavens. What a great word. But what does hallelujah mean? The word is an interjection, a part of grammar that is an interruption to a sentence. It is an emotional and, many times, a good interruption. It’s a word that just pops out. It bursts out of the mouths because of joyful hearts. That happens in many of the psalms of the Old Testament. It’s a Hebrew expression that means, “Praise Yahweh [the Lord].” We would translate the phrase as praise the Lord! It’s a victorious shout. In the New Testament, hallelujah only occurs in Revelation 19 in the triumphant song of praise as heaven sings about God finally making things right and getting His banquet ready to celebrate. In this chapter, all of humanity has been waiting for this day of judgment. God is avenging the wrongs done to His people.  It’s a great word to use when something great happens. I think hallelujah does two things: it gives God the credit, and it reminds me that He is good to me. We will get many hallelujah days now and will not have to wait until Revelation 19 to join heaven’s chorus. It’s important that God gets the credit for them. I love the simplicity of the word and the magnitude of it. It’s an exercise that we should start using immediately. When you have a good physical, and all the numbers are healthy, throw out a hallelujah. When your child has been in a car accident, and the only thing busted up is a car, but everyone is safe, throw out a hallelujah. When you are reading the Bible and come across a verse that is exactly what you needed for that day, throw out a hallelujah. When for some reason, there is no rush-hour traffic coming home from work, throw out a hallelujah. When the rent is paid . . . When there is food on the table . . . When the report cards are good . . . When there is gas in the car . . . When the sun is shining . . . When you wake up in the morning . . . throw out a hallelujah! It’s saying, “God, You get the credit. God, You are good to me.” There was a church that would not give God praise for anything. Every service, they just sat there. No hallelujahs came from this congregation—it was strictly a no-hallelujah church. The pastor knew he needed to do something epic to shake things up. He remembered what Jesus said in Luke 19:40: “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (NIV). So one Sunday, when the people came to church, they saw a giant boulder the pastor had rolled onto the stage. He’d spray-painted on it, “If you don’t, then I will.” Just remember, no matter how many praise God besides you and around you, they can’t praise God for you. You must praise God for yourself. Let’s start joining with heaven with some hallelujahs today. That is such a great word when great things happen. And great things are always happening!

Day 256 Today's Reading: Revelation 18 When Michael Bloomberg was still mayor of New York City, he announced he was stepping up his efforts beyond his role as mayor to battle a number of social issues, including fights against smoking and obesity, and for gun control. He detailed his plans in an interview in which he predicted his crusades against those issues would serve him well in the afterlife.  Then billionaire Bloomberg said, “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.”  That is scary talk, Michael Bloomberg. That is Babylon talk. What is Babylon talk? It’s the prophecy in today’s chapter of the fall of Babylon. But I don’t think Babylon is Babylon at all.  The Revelation 18 Babylon has been the topic of so much eschatological speculation and guessing about who that actually is. I think that is dangerous and usually ends with the wrong assumptions. Scholars have speculated that it could be Rome or the United States. I don’t see either. When people become sure of what the Bible calls mysteries, my antennae go up. Why? I think Babylon is bigger than a localized and specific name of a city or country. It is a spirit of security that comes from wealth and influence and seeing no need of God for our forgiveness or help in getting to heaven. Fallen Babylon is the fall of humanism and every false foundation it is built upon—from science to affluence and influence, riches, power, and personality. Without God, Babylon will fall and always fail. Here is what John saw of what was considered Babylon the great: After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.” I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:1-5) Babylon was a specific Old Testament place. At one point at the height of her power, Daniel chapter 5 says the king of Babylon saw the finger of a man’s hand write on the wall of his palace a message of judgment that needed someone to interpret. It was during a feast that the image crashed their Babylonian party. It was so frightening that the Bible says it affected King Belshazzar physically: “The king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together” (Daniel 5:6). Daniel is called to interpret the writing and says basically, “Babylon, your days are numbered and this kingdom is coming to an end.” And the end for them happened that night with the invasion of the Medes and Persians.  The party was over in one night. And now, in Revelation 18, the party is over again. But I don’t think it’s the same city again. I think it has to do with anyone, anything, any country, system, or government that feels no need of heavenly help. The scary part is that Revelation 18 almost sounds like Daniel’s interpretation from more than 2,500 years earlier. The Revelation Babylon party has a timed ending too. Twice in the chapter, it says, “for in one hour your judgment will come” (verses 10 and 17). Any system that tries to last without God is simply Babylon, be it a country, a person, a system, or a billionaire. Even if you are the best at these, your sins and forgiveness of them need God. Let me give a word to those who have Babylon talk and left God out in their lives. Someone said it like this: “There are two ways whereby God punishes sin: the fires of hell and the blood of Jesus. These two things go together: the fires of hell and the blood of Jesus. It’s not a question of whether your sin will be punished, it’s a question of how.” Remember, God always wins. Everyone who pronounces their power over God will fall like Babylon. In the mid-1700s French humanist Voltaire, at the end of his life, had some Babylon talk. He declared that his writings would displace the Bible and that in one hundred years, the Word of God would be forgotten. You can’t fight God, or you will fall like Babylon. Here is what happened. Twenty-five years after Voltaire’s death, Voltaire’s house became the printing center for the Geneva Bible society, and tens of thousands of Bibles were printed and sent from his house. You can’t mess with God. He always wins. Or, as Allister McGrath said, that many are “trying to exterminate God and finding out that he outlives his pallbearers.” I wouldn’t spend my time trying to figure out if Babylon is an actual place in the tribulation future. I would spend my time making sure I am trusting in the only thing that can get me to heaven, the blood of Jesus. Have you heard the story about the rich man who was determined to “take it with him” when he died? He prayed until finally, the Lord gave in. There was one condition; he could bring only one suitcase of his wealth. The rich man decided to fill the case with gold bars that he’d invested in. The day came when God called him home. One of the angels greeted him but told him he couldn’t bring his suitcase. “Oh, but I have an agreement with God,” the man explained. “That’s unusual,” said the archangel. “Mind if I take a look?” The man opened the suitcase to reveal the shining gold bars. He thought gold would be good everywhere. The angel was amazed. “Why in the world would you bring pavement with you?”  Revelation 21:21 tells us that gold is the pavement in heaven. Why trust in something that God says has no great value? Our greatest value is the blood of Jesus.

Day 255 Today's Reading: Revelation 17 A few times in high school, I had to fill in on the track and field team because some players were lost due to injuries and the track coach pulled athletes from other school sports. I remember being asked to run a relay. I found it intriguing how these runners crossed the finish line in a close race. They leaned forward, sticking out their heads across their chests because in that sport, milliseconds matter. And if the head crosses, the other parts of the body win too.  The Bible says in Colossians 1:18 that Jesus is the head of the body, which is His church. And as God’s children, we are the body of Christ. He’s the head, and we are the body—that’s the New Testament image. And as a runner wins the race with his head first, so it is true with us spiritually. If the head crosses, the rest of the body wins. The book of Revelation reminds us that the head of the body is crossing the finish line. And because He wins, you and I win! Revelation 17 shows evil unleashed on the planet through the great harlot, Babylon, and the beast. This unholy trinity seems to launch on all cylinders with one target in mind: the saints of God. In fact, their hatred for the saints is so intense that John describes it as “being drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus” (verse 6). Then we read about the head. And wherever the head is, the body goes with it: “These [the unholy trinity of the harlot, the beast, and Babylon] will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). I grew up in the church. We used terms and terminologies so often and frequently that I never knew context or reasoning, which has the capability of watering down the power of phrases. One of those phrases is King of kings and Lord of lords. We would say this about Jesus all the time. But to see it in the Revelation 17 context reminds me, this church boy, how powerful this phrase really is. What makes King of kings and Lord of lords powerful is the word that comes before it, because. That word because is a subordinating conjunction, which means it connects two parts of a sentence in which one (the subordinate) explains the other. Part one of verse 14 says that these will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. How? The answer is in the subordinating conjunction, because. Because He is the Lord of lords and King of kings. That phrase, which I heard in songs and sermons, is connected to the greatest victory in all human history—the Lamb defeats hell forever. Because no king and no lord is higher than Him. But that’s just part one of the subordinating conjunction. Without bogging us down with grammar, we get a conjunction within the subordinating conjunction. We read, “Because He is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and [because] those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” The good news for us is that because He wins, you and I win. Because the head crosses the finish line, the body gets the reward also. Because He is the King, you and I are royalty. Because He is the Lord, you and I are protected and provided for. I was reading the story of someone that knew the power of the words King of kings and the Lord of lords instinctively. When Queen Victoria had just ascended her throne in the mid-1800s, as was the custom of royalty, she went to hear George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, rendered by the London Royal Symphony. She had been instructed as to her conduct by those who knew the royal protocol and was told that she must not rise when the others stood during the “Hallelujah Chorus.” When that magnificent chorus started, and the singers were shouting “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,” witnesses of the event said she sat with great difficulty. It seemed as if she would rise in spite of the custom of kings and queens but contained herself. Finally, when the oratorio came to that part of the chorus where the choir echoes the sopranos proclaiming Him “King of kings and Lord of lords,” and as it kept modulating higher and higher, suddenly the young queen could no longer contain herself. She rose and stood with bowed head as if she realized that a higher authority was being sung about and to at that moment. She realized He is the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords, and so she must rise and declare it against all tradition and protocol. And Queen Victoria was right to do it. King of kings and Lord of lords means there is no authority higher than the Lamb, and that is why every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. You can confess that now on your own, or you will be forced to confess on the day of judgment. I choose now.

Day 254 Today's Reading: Revelation 16 One of the scariest movies I have ever seen was not in a theater but in a church. It was called A Thief in the Night, and it was circulating in the 1970s about the end times. I knew I wanted to be ready for the rapture, the second coming of Jesus. I remember leaving that church service as an elementary student knowing full well in my heart that I needed to be ready for that day. I went on to read Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth. At that time, they had it in a comic book form, and it was the clincher for me that I was going to be ready for Jesus to come back as a thief in the night. If things could get any worse for earth and humanity, Revelation 16 tells us it does in the great tribulation. As if seven trumpets of disaster were not enough for the planet, God unleashes seven bowls of wrath into the earth, from bodily affliction to polluting rivers and water. What’s interesting is that in the midst of these wrathful bowls of God’s judgment, one theme keeps being shouted by the angels inflicting the punishment: “Righteous art Thou O Holy One.” Their words remind us that God is not doing anything we don’t deserve—this is a day of wrath and judgment after millennia of mercy and patience. These bowls are terrifying, as is men’s response to the outpouring of God’s wrath. Almost as many times as it says “God is righteous” after one of the bowls is poured out, it says as many times, “They did not repent so as to give Him glory.” How corrupt is man by this time in his history? The chapter ends with a name many of us are all familiar with. As if things can’t get any worse, we are introduced to Armageddon, the place of the final battle on the planet. All that to say that in the midst of these horrific verses, a parenthetical statement shows up and stands alone in these passages because the verse speaks to the now and not to the future: “(‘Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.’)” (Revelation 16:15). Verse 15 is a parenthetical life preserver for humanity now, right now before this chapter comes upon the planet with the wrath of God. When I say parenthetical, it’s just a large word for parentheses, an insert of another thought, a little path from the original thought. But this is not a little diversion. This is deliverance from the wrath of God. It is as if John breaks from the vision and, in terror of what will happen, says to humanity, This doesn’t have to happen to you. Stay awake and ready for the rapture. The parentheses show us John being overwhelmed and wanting to help us all. The parentheses bring us to the rapture, the second coming of Jesus. The apostle John says that Jesus will come like a thief in the night, but this is not only John’s description of the second coming of Jesus. Jesus says in Matthew 24 that this is the way it happens. In 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Paul uses the thief-in-the-night image. And in 2 Peter 3:10, Peter also says He will come like a thief. The thief-in-the-night day is the rapture. The rapture is Jesus coming physically a second time to the earth, not to redeem it but to start judging it. The rapture has two important days attached to it: the wedding day and the judgment day. The wedding day is the celebration of the “born again” dead and living all going to heaven. It’s the final call, our reward of heaven. And the Bible calls it a wedding-day celebration. The second day is judgment day, and it is God making all wrongs right. No one gets away with anything because of this day. Every person will be judged for what they have done. Hitler and Saddam Hussein will be there. Stalin and Castro. People from your city and my city and every place throughout the ages. Every person will stand before God. In, Who Will Face the Tribulation?, Tim LaHaye vividly imagined what the unexpected suddenness of the rapture would be like:  When Christ calls His living saints to be with Him, millions of people will suddenly vanish from the earth. An unsaved person who happens to be in the company of a believer will know immediately that his friend has vanished. There will certainly be worldwide recognition of the fact, for when over one-half of a billion people suddenly depart this earth, leaving their earthly belongings behind, pandemonium and confusion will certainly reign for a time.  A million conversations will end midsentence. A million phones . . . will suddenly go dead.  A woman will reach for a man’s hand in the dark . . . and no one will be there. A man will turn with a laugh to slap a colleague on the back, and his hand will move through empty air. A basketball player will make a length-of-the-floor pass to a teammate streaking down the court and find no one there to receive it. And no referee to call it out-of-bounds. A mother will pull back the covers in a bassinet, smelling the sweet baby smell one moment but suddenly kissing empty space and looking into empty blankets.  Just as the Old Testament is saturated with prophecies concerning Christ’s first coming, which we call Christmas, so both testaments are filled with references to Christ’s second coming. One scholar has estimated that there are 1,845 references to Christ’s second coming in the Old Testament, where seventeen books give it prominence. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second coming of Christ. One out of every thirty New Testament verses speaks about the Second Coming. Twenty-three of the twenty-seven New Testament books refer to the second coming of Jesus. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first coming, there are eight that look forward to His second! The first time He came, He came as an infant. The second time, He comes as the infinite. The first time He came in humility, deity in diapers. The second time, He comes in purple robes of royalty. The first time He came, men killed Him. The second time, every man will bow before Him.

Day 253 Today's Reading: Revelation 15 There is beauty in diversity and variety. Think about how diverse and beautiful America’s landscape is. Parts of our country have mountains, deserts, forests, plains, and cities with skyscrapers. The diversity of landscape brings a balance that delights the eye. The same is true for God. The smallest chapter of Revelation has a very large concept in it. It’s a word Christians rarely use anymore concerning God. When we get stuck on a single part of the landscape of His character, we make God small, which allows unhealthy theology to arise. For instance, we know that God is love. That’s what made God send His Son for our rescue: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” I am grateful for God’s grace and His mercy. His goodness is overwhelming at times. But there’s another aspect of God’s character that makes us uncomfortable, so we don’t talk about it: the wrath of God. Today’s chapter talks about it, so it’s important for us to pay attention to it: “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished” (Revelation 15:1). The seven angels who have the seven trumpets have the most destructive judgment the planet has ever seen. John describes those as seven plagues because of their devastation. But the word that sums up these seven plagues from these seven angels and seven trumpets is the wrath of God. As I mentioned in a previous day, my Italian father had a statement that dealt with his wrath when I was growing up. When we were acting up at the dinner table and getting close to the edge of where judgment needed to come, my father would say, “The bag is getting full.” That is how wrath works. It contains patience, warning, and then judgment. God has been sending warnings from the beginning of time and showing patience to the human race. Now Revelation shows when the bag has gotten full. Wrath does not come without thousands of years of warning, but it comes with people disregarding the warning and His patience. What is the wrath of God? When we think of wrath, we think of anger, explosive anger. But this is not an accurate description of God’s wrath. Revelation doesn’t portray God losing it on the planet and going off on humanity. We see this kind of anger as irrational, the loss of self-control. Nothing could be further from the truth of this very important part of God. The best way to describe the wrath of God is by connecting it to God’s hatred for sin. Revelation shows when God’s patience reaches a limit, and His calculated judgment comes with wrath against a planet that has rejected Him. In Free of Charge, Creation theologian Miroslav Volf spoke about how early in life, he disdained the idea of God’s wrath and even rejected God for it. But part of his conversion to faith was in understanding how important God’s wrath is and how it’s connected to God’s love. Listen to Volf describe it: Though I used to complain about the indecency of the idea of God’s wrath, I came to think that I would have to rebel against a God who wasn’t wrathful at the sight of the world’s evil. God isn’t wrathful in spite of being love. God is wrathful because God is love. The wrath of God is necessary if God is love because God’s wrath is His righteous retribution against sin, the enemy of God. Because God is love and God is good, He can never not address evil and sin. How can a police officer be a good cop if he sees crimes committed and does nothing about it? Being a good police officer has a positive side to the law-abiding community but a negative side to the law-breaking criminal. The same is true for God. He is so good that when His wrath is released, He will separate sinners from saints in heaven and hell. Tony Evans says, “God’s wrath is not saying God is cruel but it is saying that God is just. In the same way you want the rapist locked up because you want justice that is what we are talking about, God must respond to the crime called sin. God must respond to sin based upon His nature.” Let’s look at Psalm 45:7, and we will see love and hate present in the same verse: “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.” God hates sin because God loves righteousness. His hate is expressed through His wrath. The book of Revelation reminds us that no one gets away with anything. God’s wrath is God’s justice. My father said, “The bag is full.” Consider how Paul talked about it in Romans 2:5: “Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” That’s the best description of wrath and the book of Revelation. The storage unit of wrath is now full and unleashed. In Psalm 7, David gives us a vivid picture of the wrath of God on evil: Yet if the wicked do not repent, you will not relent with your wrath, slaying them with your shining sword. You are the conqueror with an arsenal of lethal weapons that you’ve prepared for them. You have bent and strung your bow, making your judgment-arrows shafts of burning fire. (verses 12-13, tpt) David says the patience of God is Him not releasing the bent bow that has been pulled back. The wrath of God is released because His mercy and grace have been ignored. So here’s the good news in the midst of all this wrath talk: the bow is still bent and hasn’t been released. A bent bow means we can repent and ask for God’s forgiveness. God is a God of wrath. And God is a God of mercy. The bent bow means we have time. Use this time to get right with God instead of waiting till the bag gets full. We can experience angels worshiping in heaven or seven angels unleashing the wrath of God. How do we get the latter? Paul tells us in Romans 5:8-9: Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly! And there is still much more to say of his unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in my sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God. (tpt) Saved from the wrath of God through Jesus.

Day 252 Today's Reading: Revelation 14 The Beatitudes are a unique part of Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount that all start the same way: “Blessed are . . .” Jesus said, “Blessed are . . .” nine different times in Matthew 5. The word beatitude actually means supremely blessed. It is a state of utmost bliss and happiness.  Here are some of Jesus’ beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (verse 3). “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (verse 4). “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (verse 5). “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (verse 8). “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (verse 9). But the strangest beatitude has to be in Revelation 14. It starts just like the Matthew 5 Beatitudes, but we would never think the word blessed belongs with the following words. It’s radical, counterintuitive, and sobering: ‘I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”’ (Revelation 14:13) Blessed are the dead. Sounds morbid. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. The Holy Spirit responds to this beatitude and says, “Yes, so that they may rest from their labors.” We are part of a culture that is trying to stay alive the longest they can. Our culture says, “Blessed are the living,” yet God says here in Revelation 14, “Blessed are the dead.” The world judges by the wrong standards; they don’t have eternity in their minds and hearts. They are trying to stay alive and extend their life longer when they need it extended forever. Blessed are the dead . . . with a very important attachment to it: “who die in the Lord.” So that means that not all who die are blessed, happy beyond bliss. Think of all the death that happens every day. And blessedness is for those who die in the Lord. There are more than 6 billion people on earth. On average, 60 million of them will die this year. That is 175,000 people dying every day, 8,000 people dying every hour, 200 people dying every minute, eight people dying every second. It is unavoidable and undeniable, and one day, you will become one of these statistics. But not all will be blessed. Of the 175,000 who are pouring into eternity every day, there is a company that believes in Jesus and is on the blessed list.  As Robert Murray McCheyne wrote: ‘There is no blessing on the Christless dead; they rush into an undone eternity, unpardoned, unholy. You may put their body in a splendid coffin; you print their name in silver on the lid; you may bring the well-attired company of mourners to the funeral in suits of solemn black; you may lay the coffin slowly in the grave; you may lay the greenest sod above it; you may train the sweetest flowers to grow over it; you may cut a white stone, and grave a gentle epitaph to their memory; still it is but the funeral of a damned soul. You cannot write blessed where God hath written “cursed.”’ Mark 16:16 says, “Whoever believes and is baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is damned.” You cannot write “blessed” where God has written “damned.” No three words could be more important to the living than in the Lord. That must be our goal, that when we die, we are “in the Lord.” That’s not the strangest beatitude but the ultimate beatitude. We are learning something about heaven and death with this beatitude. If the Holy Spirit agrees with the voice from heaven that “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord,” then the ultimate happiness and bliss are not here but in heaven. Then death is not our enemy but our entrance into that joy. One of the most amazing books I have ever read on the subject of dying is Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Dying and Caring by Henri Nouwen. It revolutionized my life and helped me overcome any fear of death. Listen to how he starts the book: “Is death something so terrible and absurd that we are better off not thinking or talking about it? Is death such an undesirable part of our existence that we are better off acting as if it were not real? Is death such an absolute end of all our thoughts and actions that we simply cannot face it? Or is it possible to befriend our dying gradually and live open to it, trusting that we have nothing to fear? Is it possible to prepare for our death with the same attentiveness that our parents had in preparing for our birth? Can we wait for our death as for a friend who wants to welcome us home?” Nouwen then tells us from the Bible that death is our enemy. First Corinthians 15:26 says that. But here’s what is revolutionary. In Matthew 5:44, the same chapter with the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Love your enemy.” Nouwen says, “death included.” To befriend death makes death lose its sting. How does this happen? When we understand that death is not the end but the doorway to ultimate happiness into the presence and home of God Himself. C. S. Lewis spoke to it this way: “Our Father refreshes us on our journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.” There is a longing for home. There is a call deep in the human spirit for more than life, as we know it can provide. What Lewis was saying to us was, why would we want to stay forever at a hotel when we have a beautiful home waiting for us? Why long to stay here when something inside of us tells us God is preparing a place for us? That’s why blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. We no longer have to live in a hotel. We get to go home.

Day 251 Today's Reading: Revelation 13 If you are a baseball fan, the number 42 is an important number. It belonged to Jackie Robinson, the first African American to cross the racial lines and play major league baseball in 1947. That number has been retired from all MLB teams. This means that no future MLB player can ever wear Jackie’s number. It commemorates the courage and bravery of what Jackie Robinson did for the game of baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The number was retired in a ceremony, which took place April 15, 1997, at Shea Stadium to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Robinson’s first game with the Dodgers. That number was important not just for baseball but for the racial divide in our country. It is also important and significant today and more so in the future for a different reason. In today’s chapter, we look at something else important and significant for today and the future, where the number forty-two is seismic for the planet. When we see the prefix anti, we immediately think it means “against” or “opposite.” Consider some of these words with the anti prefix attached to them:  Anticlimax—the ending of something is disappointing. You expected more. Antisocial—it’s the opposite of being outgoing and inviting. Anti-inflammatory—we older folks know about this. It’s that which fights against swelling in the human body. But how about this disturbing one—antichrist? Revelation 13 introduces a character yet to be named in human history who is eviler than any one person who has ever walked the planet—the antichrist. Many believe that the beast from the beginning of this chapter refers to the antichrist. Let’s read this chilling account of what is coming to the earth: “I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was given to him to make war with the saints.” (Revelation 13:1-7) Revelation 13 closes with the antichrist’s mark of the beast, the number 666. Whenever you hear people talk about eschatology, the study of the end times, many like to speculate about this number and its meaning. I grew up during a time when there was wild speculation about who the antichrist might be. Some even went as far as throwing out some names using the 666 as the key to unlocking their identity. One name I heard growing up was Ronald Reagan. Why? His full name is Ronald Wilson Reagan. Every part of his name has six letters, thus ending up with 666. Seriously? Nobody said it better about Revelation speculations than R. T. Williams: “Young men stay away from the subject of prophecy. Let the old men do that. They won’t be around to see their mistakes.” Brilliant. The things the apostle John detailed are scary and sobering. Let me give you three points of this time in the future. First, it is disturbing to see the similarities between Christ and the antichrist. Listen to the language: ten diadems, like a lion, he has power and authority and a throne. And if you look closely at his head, it looks as if he has been slain. How deceptive this is. But no one can forget the beast’s power comes from the dragon. What an awful combination—a beast and a dragon make an antichrist.  Second, the world is sucked in and duped by all of this. The whole earth is amazed and follows the antichrist. And they will worship the dragon and the beast. What insanity, before the tribulation, the world is made aware of the Lamb of God who died for them but not amazed and will not follow Him or worship Jesus. The satanic deception is awful. Third, his job is to discredit the true and living Christ. He will speak blasphemies and arrogant words against God, His name, His tabernacle, and to all of His children who are in heaven. He will make war and inspire others on the planet to do the same. Just as it seemed hopeless for African Americans ever to play in major league baseball until number forty-two paved the route, so forty-two gives hope again to humanity. Here is the hope in the midst of this planetary mayhem. Remember, God is the CEO of the universe, not Satan. Satan is not an independent power who can do whatever he wants. He is under God’s rule and control. Satan is God’s puppet. And as we see, here comes number forty-two again! God gives the beast forty-two months to wreak havoc. It will seem God is absent and not defending Himself or the saints in heaven, but this is all in God’s plan in the end times. When we see all of these characteristics of the antichrist, it seems hopeless. But the part we cannot miss is these words: authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. This brings everything back to the reality of who is actually in charge.  Forty-two means God sets the boundaries. Forty-two means Satan is God’s Satan, and the beast and the dragon are not separate entities that call the shots. God says essentially, “Do your thing for forty-two months, then I will do My thing. And when I do My thing, your future is about to come to an end.” When I read these chilling details and remember forty-two, I’m always reminded of what E. Stanley Jones said: “When Satan attacks you, command him in the name of Jesus to bend his neck. On the back of it you’ll find there’s a nail-scarred footprint.” Amen.

Day 250 Today's Reading: Revelation 12 Some years ago, I read an interesting book called Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War by Eliot A. Cohen and John Gooch, in which the authors noticed that throughout history, defeat rises out of three basic features: the failure to learn, the failure to anticipate, the failure to adapt to changing conditions. We are in a different war called spiritual warfare. And in today’s chapter, we find one of the most descriptive places in all Scripture of this battle. We also see in these verses the battle lessons that Cohen and Gooch speak about—that we can learn about this battle, we can anticipate the enemy’s movements, and we can have new weapons to adapt to his attacks. Here is the battle we are in: “There was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.’” (Revelation 12:7-12) We find so much in these verses about hell, heaven, and the believers. There is a battle going on against the soul of every Christian. This is the origin, the reason, the cast, and the results of spiritual warfare. We see all the descriptive words of the devil. He is called the dragon, the great dragon, the serpent of old, the devil, the accuser of the brethren, and Satan. We learn that he and his angels were thrown out of heaven. They are fighting a war they can’t win, and they know the time is short, but that doesn’t stop their devilish onslaught. They fight with great wrath and anger. And their target is God’s church. The last verse of the chapter says, “The dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (verse 17). We are the offspring. And if we are the target, we need a weapon. But we don’t get just a weapon. We get three weapons: “They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death” (verse 11). Here are God’s three devil-winning strategies to overcome Satan: First, the blood of the Lamb. This is a judicial weapon. Judicial means we have legal rights. The blood of Jesus is our assurance that our sins are forgiven. In the long list of his names, the devil is called “the accuser of the brethren.” He accuses us of our sins to try and get us to doubt that we are God’s children. When we have been born again, the blood of Jesus goes over the doorposts of our hearts, just as the children of Israel needed to put it on their actual doorposts, so the angel of death would pass by. We are covered by the blood, Satan has to pass by, but not without throwing some fiery darts. The second weapon is the word of our testimony. This is an evidential weapon. We have history from saints in the past that God delivers. When we read and hear about God’s deliverance in His children’s lives, this is a weapon. How do we use it? Like this: When we tell or hear testimonies, we are encouraged and know that if God did it for others, He could do it for us as well. The third weapon hardly gets mentioned: “They did not love their life even when faced with death.” This is a sacrificial weapon. It’s the realization that our lives are not our own. We have been bought with a price. We don’t have to go into self-preservation mode. Our timelines on earth are determined by God, not by cancer, violence, or tragedy. We are on God’s clock, and He determines our home-going date, so we don’t have to fear death. As A. W. Tozer so powerfully reminds us, “When God calls a man, he cannot die until he has done the work God has called him to do. If God calls a man to a work, and the man says yes, that man cannot die until that work is done. The man God calls is immortal until his work is done.” Man doesn’t decide our death. God does. That’s why Jesus said, “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:18). Charles Spurgeon gives us this warning: “The trumpet still plays the notes of war. You cannot sit down and put the victory wreath on your head. You do not have a crown just yet. You still must wear the helmet and carry the sword. You must watch, pray, and fight. Expect your last battle to be the most difficult, for the enemy’s fiercest charge is reserved for the end of the day.” But something good comes out of this war and battle, as evangelist Smith Wigglesworth reminds us: “Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.” This is a great fight we are in, but we will come out with great faith, great testimonies, and great triumphs because the Lamb of God gave us weapons in this war.

Day 249 Today's Reading: Revelation 11 Whenever I read Revelation 11, my mind goes back to the three temptations Jesus experienced in the wilderness that started His public ministry—especially to the third temptation. Today’s chapter reminds us that Satan will tempt us with the right outcome but with bad shortcuts getting there. Always remember the journeys God puts us on toward a desired end have our spiritual growth in mind. One of those shortcuts that Satan has gotten so many to bow to has been immorality and fornication. Fornication is having sex outside of the covenant of marriage. The lie of immorality has been, If I love you, then I should sleep with you. It’s sabotaging the growth journey. Commitment and covenant are the prerequisites for intimacy, not love. Love leads us to commitment and covenant, not to the bedroom. In the waiting period, we learn patience, we learn how to develop other important areas, we learn respect, and we learn what real love is. Immorality and fornication are shortcuts that will always hurt the future of a relationship because they are sins. Jesus was tempted to take a shortcut when His ministry was launched with forty days of fasting and Satanic temptation. In order to see the magnitude of the Revelation 11 verse, we have to see the three temptations of Jesus and key in on the third one. In order for the temptation to be a temptation, it has to attract us. It has to have something that we want. What was in it that attracted Jesus? There were three satanic requests made to Jesus: make bread from stones, throw Himself off the pinnacle, bow before Satan. Satan requested those things because he was asking Jesus for proof: prove You are God’s Son, prove the Bible is true, prove You don’t want it now. In the first temptation, Satan is saying, the way to fix your own doubts/insecurity is by what you do instead of trusting what God says. God already told Jesus that Jesus is His beloved Son, so Satan said, “If You are the Son, turn these stones to bread.” In the second temptation, Satan quotes the Bible and wants Jesus to live out a misinterpretation of Scripture. He quotes Psalm 91 but not completely, telling Jesus to jump off the temple, and the angels will rescue Him. But Psalm 91 isn’t meant for random temple jumping. This is like what churches are doing by snake-handling to prove Mark 16:18: “They will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them.” It’s dangerous, and people have died. Don’t jump without a full context. Finally, in the third temptation telling Jesus that He can have it all sooner than He thinks if He only takes a shortcut: “The devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8-9). That’s what Satan told Jesus. That’s what Satan tells Jesus’ children: “Bow down now, and you can get what you want sooner.” But what he doesn’t tell us is by taking the shortcut, we lose the process and the maturity that comes in pain and affliction, and patience. These are some shortcuts: cheating on a test to cheating on a marriage, lying to get money, lying on an application, not tithing, exaggerating, plagiarizing, and the list goes on. The satanic proposal is that we should have it all now, and the only thing we have to do to get it is to bow. To Jesus, he was saying that He could bypass suffering and the cross and the three years of ministry by bowing to his agenda and clock, not God’s clock. When you get it sooner than God’s clock, you also get exhaustion, disappointment, strained or tainted character, and no joy. The good news is that Jesus did not bow! Jesus did not take the shortcut! But what about the kingdoms of this world? Now we enter into Revelation 11, the result of not bowing and taking the shortcut: “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever’” (verse 15). Jesus got it all God’s way. And heaven got loud with that statement. Many times God’s way is the long way, but it’s the right way. Don’t be afraid of it taking too long. When it’s all said and done, I want heaven to get loud for you and me by not bowing when we have had every opportunity to take Satan’s shortcut.

Day 248 Today's Reading: Revelation 10 David Wilkerson was a spiritual father to me. His investment in my life was so significant that I am in ministry today because of him. He is the founder of Teen Challenge, the author of The Cross and the Switchblade, and the founding pastor of Times Square Church, and he made an imprint on my life, unlike anybody in my early years. From the investment of wisdom, finances, time, and opportunity, one thing I have today, which he gave me when he ordained me, was a New American Standard Bible that he signed in the front. He also included a verse from Revelation 10. Let’s look at our passage for today, which includes the verse David Wilkerson wrote in my Bible: “The voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.” (Revelation 10:8-10) David Wilkerson was challenging me to be a man of the book. The book means the Bible. He was wanting me to understand that when we devour the Bible by reading it and studying it, there will be places in it that will be sweet and some places that will be bitter. When John was being challenged to eat the book, it was not literally but figuratively. Eating meant study, read, and apply, not actually eating. I read this crazy story of someone who missed the point of Revelation 10. In the early 1900s, the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II grew ill. Believing the Bible could cure him, he ate pages of the Bible. He died in 1913 after eating the entire book of 2 Kings. The book of 2 Kings is good but not good enough to eat all twenty-five chapters. The Bible becomes bitter when truth troubles me when it contradicts me. Then it’s swallowing a bitter pill but a healthy one. When it’s bitter, I am tempted to theologize the concepts away or to pass over it, but that’s hard to do when you are eating the book. E. Paul Hovey so insightfully said: “Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself but because it contradicts them.” Those are the bitter sections. But to be honest, there are a lot of sweet spots in the Word. And when you hit a sweet spot, there is nothing like it. A sweet spot is getting something from the Bible that you needed that day, that moment, for encouragement and hope. I can say without a doubt, the honey-sweet verses make the bitter verses palatable, because when I hit a bitter verse, one that is challenging my behavior and attitude, a verse that refuses to move for me, I remember all the sweet ones and realize I can’t always have dessert but need vegetables too. And that bitter verse isn’t going to move. It’s asking me to move. An officer in the navy had always dreamed of commanding a battleship. He was finally given commission of the newest ship in the fleet. One stormy night, as the ship plowed through the rough water, the captain was on the bridge and spotted a strange light rapidly closing in on his own vessel. This was before radio, so he ordered the signalman to flash the message to the unidentified craft, “Alter your course ten degrees to the south.” Only a moment passed before the reply came: “Alter your course ten degrees to the north.” Determined that his ship would take a backseat to no other, the captain snapped out the order: “Alter course ten degrees—I am the Captain!” The response came back, “Alter your course ten degrees—I am Seaman Third Class Jones.” Now infuriated, the captain grabbed the signal light with his ow

Day 247 Today's Reading: Revelation 9 Not only was Thomas Jefferson our third president, in his retirement, he also founded the University of Virginia. Believing that students would take their studies seriously, he encouraged a more lax code of discipline. Unfortunately, some students took advantage and misbehaved, which turned into a riot. Professors who tried to restore order were attacked. The following day the university’s board, of which Jefferson was a member, held a meeting with the defiant students. Jefferson began by saying, “This is one of the most painful events of my life,” but couldn’t continue because he was overcome by emotion and burst into tears. Another board member asked the rioters to come forward and give their names. Nearly everyone did. Later, one of them confessed, “It was not Mr. Jefferson’s words, but it was his tears that broke us.” Just as the students were moved by Jefferson’s brokenness, so is God by ours. When we are truly broken and sorry for our sins, this leads to repentance. William Taylor describes true repentance like this: “True repentance . . . hates the sin, and not simply the penalty; and it hates the sin most of all because it has discovered God’s love.” The last few verses of today’s chapter contain a response from mankind that still has me shaking my head, even though I have read this many times before. It leaves me dumbfounded. Let me explain with the background. When the seventh seal was broken in Revelation 8, there came out of that seal seven angels with seven trumpets with the most horrific judgment coming on the earth. Each trumpet was relegated for a disaster to judge mankind. Revelation 9 has the fifth and the sixth trumpet. The fifth plague on the earth came directly from the bottomless pit of hell. It was five months of absolute terror on the planet. It would be so bad that men would want to die, but John says these sobering words, “They will long to die but death flees from them.” The sixth trumpet is an angel of death who kills a third of mankind. These trumpets are horrifying. Why would this be important to describe and detail in this chapter? It’s what happens at the end that is most mindboggling. Let’s read what happens to two-thirds of the planet’s population who are still alive after experiencing the judgments of trumpets six and seven: “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20-21, NIV) Twice it says that mankind still did not repent. The brazenness and the hardness of humans that the worst tragedy can hit the planet and yet they will still refuse to turn to God. Can love for sin be that strong that people will not even repent? Puritan writer Thomas Watson reminds us of the mistake of repentance: “Many think they repent, when it is not the offense, but the penalty troubles them.” Watson wants us to know that repentance has to do with wanting to stop sinning, but many just want the penalty and result of their sin to stop. What will it take to get someone to repent? Based on Revelation 9, I know it’s not catastrophe because it doesn’t get more catastrophic than these trumpets. Look what happened to people after September 11, 2001. The churches were filled, but it didn’t last. Tragedy is not what makes people repent of their sins. Repentance is a word not used much, if ever anymore, today in churches. If people would hear the word repentance, they might see it as puritanical or legalistic, when it is a surrendered will to God that hates sin so much that they want nothing to do with it, that there is a 180-degree turn from any known sin. No

Day 246 Today's Reading: Revelation 8 You know a relationship is in trouble when silence occurs between the two parties. Nothing is worse than a silent home between husband and wife. I’m not condoning it, but yelling at each other is better than silence. At least people are voicing their opinions. But when silence occurs, it means I’m done talking. It’s over. Silence means the end is near. After the Roman soldiers took Jesus into custody for His crucifixion, both Pilate and Herod questioned Jesus. We have his responses to Pilate. But when Jesus appeared before Herod, something eerie occurred. Here is how Luke recorded the scene: “Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing.” (Luke 23:8-9) But He answered him nothing.  Herod was an apostate. If Herod would not listen to John the Baptist’s warnings and had him beheaded, he was not going to listen to Jesus. In fact, we are told that all Herod wanted was a sign performed, a trick to see. Herod had wanted to see Jesus for a very long time, and when he finally did, he received only silence! The only one talking in the room was Herod. He had the Son of God in his presence, the One whose very word created the ground he was walking on, and he was the only one talking. Silence from the Son of God. And now, in Revelation 8, we see that all of heaven has gone silent for thirty minutes. Do we understand the ramifications of this silence? For seven chapters, heaven has been bursting with praise, and now everything comes to a screeching halt. All of the angels, elders, and four living creatures stop their worship. The chapter prior shows that they are declaring that robes have been washed white in the blood of the Lamb. They are announcing in the last verse of chapter 7 that God shall wipe every tear from their eyes. And now in chapter 8, nothing: “When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth.” (Revelation 8:1-5) When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, it caused silence. Why? That seal contains seven angels with seven trumpets, which are seven judgments about to be released on the earth. I think the silence is shock and awe by heaven’s host. What they are about to see has never been witnessed before. Heaven has seen nothing but mercy and grace shown to the planet and all of humanity. But now, mercy and grace have run their course, and it’s time for God to hold court on the world and its wickedness. It is earth’s final judgment. It is the beginning of the end. Heaven has never seen anything like this before. The mouths that had nothing but praise in them, now can say nothing at all at the breaking of the seventh seal. What amazed me about this chapter is what seems to break the thirty-minute silence in heaven. It isn’t an angel, an elder, or one of the four living creatures. It seems to be prayer—the prayers of the saints. There is no more prayer in heaven, only praise. So these prayers are coming from believers on the earth before the first trumpet sounds. The power of these judgment trumpets are so awful, it silences heaven. But prayer is so powerful that it can end the si

Day 245 Today's Reading: Revelation 7 I think we have mixed up our priorities. Author Gordon Dahl agrees. Consider his observation: “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worship. As a result, their meanings and values are distorted.” Worship is not an optional spiritual practice for Christians. It is a response to how we see God. A low view of God shows up in a view that worship is an inconvenience. A high view of God shows up as an automatic response to His worthiness. The word worship literally means worth-ship. It’s to see the true value of something or someone. It recognizes their worth. In today’s chapter, we see something amazing happen with worship. The apostle John has multiple visions of worship happening in the heavens, but the one in chapter 7 seems to be the climax. Before we look at that one, I need to take us on a worship journey in Revelation starting in chapter 1, so we can see how worship progresses. Starting in Revelation 1:6, we see two notes of praise: “He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:6). The two notes: glory and dominion. Then in chapter 4, we see three notes of praise: “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created” (4:11). The three notes: glory, honor, and power. In chapter 5, we see four notes of praise: “Every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever’” (5:13). The four notes: Blessing, honor, glory, and dominion. Now we come to chapter 7, where the worship seems to reach a crescendo with seven notes of praise: “All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen’” (7:11-12). The seven notes: blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God. Wow! Worship reaches an apex in heaven. It seems that it kept building to this moment, and those in heaven couldn’t help themselves. Worship was worthship pouring out from them. Heaven is where nothing but truth exists, maximum truth. The truth of who God is is unveiled. And since that happens, worship is the proper response. Everything is clearly seen in heaven. The price of salvation. The value of the Son of God coming to earth. What mercy and grace really is. All of these are unveilings, just to name a few. When we see the true God and know the true God, we must worship God. Let me put it this way: if our idea of God, if our idea of the salvation offered in Christ, is vague or remote, our idea of worship will be fuzzy. The closer we get to the truth, the clearer becomes the beauty, and the more we will find worship welling up within us. That’s why theology and worship belong together. If they are separated then theology is just a head-trip, and worship without truth is just an emotional experience as we enjoy singing or listening to songs about God. But heaven joins the truth of God and the emotion that He stimulates in our hearts to bring about a seven-note climax of worship. In 1744, hymn writer Charles Wesley, John Wesley’s brother,

Day 244 Today's Reading: Revelation 6 Located in Washington DC is the iconic memorial to Thomas Jefferson. And written on the northeast portico of the memorial are these sobering and haunting words our country needs to read and digest again from one of our founding fathers: “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Wow, that is sobering. God’s justice will always be turned loose against sin. The best definition of sin I have ever read is from John Piper: “[Sin] is the glory of God not honored, the holiness of God not reverenced, the greatness of God not admired, the power of God not praised, the truth of God not sought, the wisdom of God not esteemed, the beauty of God not treasured, the goodness of God not savored, the faithfulness of God not trusted, the promises of God not believed, the commandments of God not obeyed, the justice of God not respected, the wrath of God not feared, the grace of God not cherished, the presence of God not prized, the person of God not loved.” God’s justice will judge sin. The problem is that, from our standpoint, it takes too long. Whenever we see sin and injustice, we want immediate recompense. The living asks for it, and in today’s chapter, we have another group asking for it. In Revelation 6 we hear the cry of the dead, but not just the dead—those who have died for their faith in Jesus. Listen to the cry of the martyrs when the Lamb broke the fifth seal, and we hear their hallowed voices: “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’” (Revelation 6:9-10) Many believe early church father Tertullian said these famous words, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” He argued that persecution actually strengthens the church; as martyrs bravely and willingly die for their faith, onlookers convert. In Christianity Today, Morgan Lee goes on to say: “Some 1,800 years later, restrictions on religion are stronger than ever. According to the Pew Research Center, 74 percent of the world’s population live in a country where social hostilities involving religion are high, and 64 percent live where government restrictions on religion are high. Does this explain why Christianity is likewise growing worldwide?” The Revelation 6 martyr’s question is our question: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” That is the question for the living and the dead. When is God going to put things right? When is God going to judge those who rightly deserve judgment? Here is what I have learned about God and immediate judgment. First, God is patient. God is willing to wait. Second, God is willing to be misunderstood in delay. While men cry for “now,” God sees the bigger picture as more important than answering our immediate cry. And third, there will be a day when God will make everything right; it just may not be the day on your calendar. So God is patient. God can handle mischaracterization about Himself while He delays. And God will have the final word. The book of 2 Peter gives such a great perspective to the “how long?” question the martyrs of Revelation 6 asked. The context of the answer is that people want Jesus to return quickly. They want that final judgment day to happen to show the mockers and skeptics that God is real and that they are going to get what’s coming to them. But Peter explains God’s reason for the delay: “His’ delay’ simply reveals his loving pati

Day 243 Today's Reading: Revelation 5 When I travel overseas, the first thing I have to look for in that new country is a currency exchange counter. I need to turn US dollars into the currency of that country. My currency doesn’t work on their foreign soil. I can’t use dollars when they only accept pesos or euros. In today’s reading, we are introduced to a currency that is required to live on eternal soil and a transaction that benefits the planet. The return or rate on the currency is unlike anyone has ever seen or heard. Listen to these words that John hears being sung in heaven: “They sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation’” (Revelation 5:9). Did you see the transaction? “You [Jesus] purchased for God”—the transaction “With Your blood”—the currency “Men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation”—the product purchased, all humanity The blood of Jesus was the currency that heaven accepted to purchase our redemption. The blood of Jesus is the only acceptable currency that allows me to go to heaven. If the value of an article is determined by the price paid for it, and Jesus died for you, then you can believe you are very valuable to God because God is not a foolish investor. Your worth to Him is the price of His precious Son’s life. “The temptation of our times is to look good without being good.” In other words, we try to use bogus currency that heaven, that foreign land, will not accept. We spend money and time trying to fix the outside, thinking it will fix the inside. “We suck and tuck and are still stuck and out of luck” (Brennan Manning). The inside issue is the issue, and the issue is a sin issue. The cross has revealed to good men that their goodness has not been good enough. Men have tried for ages to get by on bogus currency. Let’s see why this currency called the blood of Jesus is so important to understand. Jesus was punished for my sin because sin had to be punished. His shed blood was the result of my sin and its payment for my sin. If my sin was not transferred to Jesus, then someone else has to pay for it. Why? Because it is a crime against God, and all crimes must be paid for. You and I would not be here if we had to pay for that crime against God. Someone had to die for committing crime against God—and it was Jesus who died in our place. But with one caveat: the One who died for me rose again! Jesus’ death is the acceptable payment, the currency for all of humanity. Why is sacrifice necessary for the atonement of sin? Because Justice demands it. A crime cannot be forgiven without a payment or just an “I’m sorry.” We live in a time in which people try to pay the crime with the wrong currency and have never done the currency exchange. Let me give you three currencies that God won’t accept: Currency #1: Sincerity. Some think that because they mean well that this is enough. But we have to exchange for the blood of Christ. Currency #2: Service. Some think that God owes them something because of their basic decency. That good people go to heaven, and goodness is measured on a scale against their bad things, and if the scale tips in the good favor, then they’re in. Doing good or being good is their currency. But we have to exchange for the blood of Christ. Currency #3. Feeling sorry. Some think that if they feel bad for their sin and they cry, God knows their heart. The problem is that He does know our hearts, and the only remedy is a currency exchange, the blood of Jesus. Romans 5:10 says, “we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,” not by men’s currency of sincerity, service, or apology. We can’t leave Jesus out of the equ

Day 242 Today's Reading: Revelation 4 Pastor Gordon Lester says this about two important words: “Familiarity and intimacy are not the same. Each has a value in life, certainly in married life, but one is no substitute for the other. If one is confused for the other, we have the basis for major human and marital unrest. In marriage, familiarity is inescapable. It happens almost imperceptibly. Intimacy is usually hard to come by. It must be deliberately sought and opened up and responded to. Familiarity brings a degree of ease and comfort. Intimacy anxiously searches for deep understanding and personal appreciation.” These are not words for just the marriage relationship. These are two words for the most important relationship—our friendship with God. Familiarity and intimacy can be defined like this: familiarity refers to knowledge, having information about someone. But for intimacy to happen, it doesn’t stop at information; it needs to go further. When it comes to important things and people in our lives, if familiarity doesn’t turn to intimacy, then we face the danger of familiarity. Have you heard of this phrase, familiarity breeds contempt? All the information you have doesn’t move you closer to the person.  Intimacy is not for every relationship, but it must be the threshold we cross in the important ones—especially in our relationship with God. Intimacy means closeness. It’s a proximity word and a conscious effort to close the gaps between us. What I mean by closing the gaps is that all mysteries and hidden things are exposed. Intimacy knows the secrets and the motives. It’s like the old saying, the best way to define intimacy is into-me-see. That was God’s invitation to John the revelator: I want you to see deeper. I want to clear up some mystery for you. I am inviting you to intimacy. Here is the invitation: “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.” (Revelation 4:1-2) John knew the Jesus on earth, but intimacy calls for closing the gaps: John, you are now going to see the Jesus you have never seen before. The Jesus in heaven. You knew the Jesus on the cross, and the Jesus resurrected, but you have never experienced or seen the Jesus on the throne. Here’s what happened to John. When he was in the Spirit, He saw the throne. The word throne is used eleven times in this short eleven-verse chapter. Eleven times! I think God was trying to show John something. John was shown an open door, but it was his prerogative whether he would go through or not. That was the choice of moving from being familiar with Jesus to being intimate with Jesus. And when the gap was closed between John on earth and Jesus in heaven, he saw a throne. Intimacy revealed Jesus on the throne. That’s what happens when we walk in the Spirit. I think the best New Testament phrase to describe intimacy with God is walking in the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is to be in step with God, to walk in cadence with Him. Familiarity has moved to intimacy. To walk in the Spirit brings closeness and closes the gaps. When this happens, we see Jesus on the throne, the Jesus in charge, the Jesus who calls the shots. We see the sovereignty of Jesus. The phrase in the Spirit is used often in the New Testament. Ephesians says pray in the Spirit, Philippians says worship in the Spirit, Colossians says love in the Spirit, and Galatians says walk in the Spirit. And when John

Day 241 Today's Reading: Revelation 3 Some time ago, Cindy and I were doing marital counseling for a couple who were struggling in their marriage. I asked a question I always ask in those types of counseling appointments. It is one of reality and judgment, so I can see how clear they are in their thinking. I asked the wife first, “Is there anything you can do to help the marriage? What do you need to stop doing and what do you need to get better in?” “I can’t think of anything,” she said. She was basically saying, It’s him, not me. She misjudged herself really badly. Today’s chapter looks at a church that was in the same boat as this deceived wife. The church of Laodicea was miles apart between their opinion of themselves and the reality of their situation. This is what Jesus tells them: “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” (Revelation 3:14-17) Paul gave the church at Rome a warning in Romans 12:3. Listen to these words because Laodicea didn’t: “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us” (Romans 12:3, NLT). The Message says, “Don’t misinterpret yourselves.” Now here is the Laodicean church who proudly said, We are rich, wealthy, and need nothing. That’s their judgment of themselves. But the only opinion that counts is how God sees us. And in verse 17, we have both reality and opinion. Listen to Jesus’ reality: “You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” Wow, can that be any different? Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard couldn’t have said it more clearly: “It is so much easier to become a Christian when you aren’t one than to become one when you assume you already are.” Nothing is more dangerous than a deceived Christian, especially when the Spirit of truth resides in us. How does my opinion of me match what Jesus assesses me to be? Am I Laodicea far off? Do I believe I’m rich when Jesus says I’m poor? Do I believe I don’t need anything when Jesus says I am blind and naked? Here is a great prayer for us to pray every day from David in Psalm 139:23 (MSG): Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life. I have learned that a number of factors can put me in the Laodicea category of misjudging myself: When I am not reading the Bible. James 1:23 says the Bible is a mirror. When I read it, I can see the stuff out of place.When I am not praying. Prayer is where God talks and the Spirit convicts.When I am attending church but not being pastored. I have no one speaking to the areas that need to be tweaked and examined. I have surrounded myself with cheerleaders but no truth-tellers. The last thing God says to this church is profound. And I have read it wrong for years. Listen to Jesus: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). For decades I used to pre

Day 240 Today's Reading: Revelation 2 Famed classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma was in a rush to get from one side of Manhattan to the other for a quick appearance. So rushed that when he arrived at his destination, he paid his driver, exited the cab, and forgot to take his cello with him. He’d placed the cello in the trunk of the taxi. And the cello was priceless: handcrafted by Antonio Stradivari in 1733 in Vienna, Austria, valued at $2.5 million. Frantic, Ma began a desperate search, eventually finding the cab later that day parked in a garage in Queens—with the cello still in the trunk. Wow, talk about leaving something priceless inadvertently. In today’s chapter, though, a church is accused of something more devastating—leaving their first love. Revelation 2 and 3 are messages from Jesus to seven churches. Not every message is encouraging. In fact, they are convicting even two thousand years later. The first church God speaks to is the church of Ephesus: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:1-4) You have left your first love. A few years ago, I left my Kindle on a plane. I’d leaned it against the wall in the exit row by my seat. I was packing up my bag as we were landing and something said to me, Put that in your backpack. I didn’t. I left a thousand books leaning against the wall of the plane. Let me be clear. I didn’t lose it. I knew exactly where it was—seat 15C, flight #629 out of Atlanta. Lost has no idea where it is. Lost means it fell out of a pocket, a car, or a jacket. The church of Ephesus left something bigger and more massive than a thousand books. For all my life, I have heard the wrong word used in this verse, which makes all the difference about the church of Ephesus. It’s a verse that if anyone has been in the church for any amount of time, they have probably said it, heard it, or even quoted it. I have always said, “You have lost your first love.” Not one version of the Bible puts “lost” in this verse. It is, “You have left.” Lost has the connotation of removing blame from the person, as in my “love for God” just got accidentally lost in the hustle and bustle of life. Let’s be clear: Ephesus left it. Ephesus did not lose its first love. There is blame here. That’s why they are not being challenged “to find it” but to repent for it. Repentance deals with responsibility. Ephesus is the only church to have two different apostles write letters to it. In the book of Ephesians, Paul offers two prayers for the church, that they might have more light and more love. This was one of the few places Paul stayed for a length of time (three years). The church of Ephesus was first pastored by Apollos. Timothy then became the pastor (the first epistle to Timothy was while he was pastoring the Ephesus church; see 1 Timothy 1:3). Later on, John pastored the church. It was while he was in Ephesus that John was exiled to Patmos. How do you lose your first love when your pastors were Apollos, Timothy, and John? How do you lose your first love when you had the apostle Paul hang with your church for three years? How do you lose your first love when you get two New Testament letters written to you? Two thoughts: First, Jesus say

Day 239 Today's Reading: Revelation 1 When music, lights, and atmosphere are what we need to get us to praise God, we have chosen cheap praise. Cheap praise needs props to inspire. Real praise needs a revelation. In today’s reading, we’ve reached the final book of the New Testament. Get ready for a roller coaster of a ride through the book of Revelation. The book’s title and first words keep us centered and steady in a very controversial book: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” The author, John, wants us to know throughout this book that we are not looking for events to happen but for a Person to come, Jesus. The word revelation actually means “unveiling.” It’s the unveiling of Jesus. And it is this unveiling that inspires us to praise. Notice the praise that comes out of John when he speaks of three things Jesus does: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6, NIV). What are the three things that Jesus has done for us that inspire praise? 1. to Him who loves us 2. freed us from our sins by His blood 3. He has made us to be a kingdom and priests to God  Let this sink in. First, He loves us. We have this mischaracterization of God that if we can get rid of our sins and clean ourselves up, then God will really love us. Nothing can be further from the truth of Scripture. The word order is so important here in 1:5. He loves us before He frees us. He loves us dirty but loves us so much He won’t leave us that way in our dirt. He loves then frees us. And thank God, He continues to set us free. Or to quote a familiar saying, “He loves us just the way we are, but He loves us so much that He won’t let us stay that way.” Second John says He freed us from our sins by His blood. Every time we celebrate Memorial Day and remember the amazing sacrifice our soldiers made for the greatest nation on the planet, I am reminded that freedom is not free. People paid with their lives to make us free. And nowhere does this price come out than in the freedom that Jesus gives us. He doesn’t just love us, He frees us. His love was costly, which John emphasizes in these three words, by His blood. Our freedom from sin cost the Son of God His life. Third, and finally, He made us kings and priests. We have three parts to what He desires to do in and through us: love, free, and make us. To be forgiven of sins is not the end of our journey. To make us kings and priests to God and Father is His goal and purpose. Kings and priests are two Old Testament words that were used only of special and exclusive groups of people. A king had authority, and a priest had access. And now John tells us because we are loved and free, we have access to God and authority in His name. Then before John can go any further with this thought, he bursts into praise: “Has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen” (Revelation 1:6, NIV). When John realizes that God loves us, God frees us, and God makes him something we have no chance of becoming on our own, he also realizes he has a reason to praise God. When you have a revelation of who Jesus is, you recognize praise is not limited to a building, a day of the week, or a time of the day. Praise is based on your knowledge of who God is and what God has done. Cheap praise needs props. Real praise needs a revelation. And the book of Revelation gives us plenty of fuel for praise. I grew up during a time when praise and worship came out of the book that was in the back