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Dear Heavenly Father, Praise I join with the elders and say, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign” (Rev 11:17). I praise you today as the God of all power, the God who will rule and reign over the nations of the earth. They may rage, but they cannot defeat you! You will reward those who fear your name and destroy all those who hate you. Praise the Lord! Today in Your Word Today you shared with me more of the revelation of Jesus Christ. When Jesus broke the seventh seal, all activity in heaven stopped and there was silence for about half an hour. This was fitting, for the seven trumpet judgments were about to sound, and they were more terrible than the seals. Before the angels blew their trumpets, another angel came and offered incense to you mingled with the prayers of the saints. This teaches me that my prayers are like a sweet smelling incense which you savor in satisfaction and delight. My words come up before you like perfume, and you treasure my fellowship with you. You also take what I say seriously, for after the angel offered the incense and prayers, he filled a censer with fire and threw it on the earth. The world shook and shuddered under the impact of your judgment in response to your people’s prayers! How encouraging to think that my prayers are so important and significant to you. The seven angels sounded their trumpets, and the sky was filled with hail and fire mixed with blood. Dreadful creatures came up out of the abyss, and the four angels of the Euphrates killed a third of mankind. I was stunned when John paused after the sixth trumpet to tell me that the rest of the earth did not repent of their idolatry or their murders or their immorality or their thefts. This shows me how hardened and rebellious people can become. Even when faced with your awesome judgment, they will not repent! Yet you are patient and longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, and you sent two witnesses to preach a message of repentance. Instead of listening to them, the people did everything they could to kill them. When the beast finally prevailed over them, the people let their dead bodies lie in the streets of Jerusalem, and everyone sent presents to one another. You could have destroyed the world right then and there, but again you showed restraint. You knew that when you raised the witnesses from the dead, some of the people would “give glory to God” (Rev 11:13). This teaches me that you give the wicked every chance to repent before the end. After the seventh trumpet sounded, two great signs appeared in heaven: a woman (Israel) and a great red dragon (Satan). John watched as the dragon tried to kill both the woman’s male child (Jesus) and the woman herself. These amazing scenes teach me that although Satan fights against you, he will not prevail. Yet he is not a foe to ignore, for he will raise up a world empire that will make war on the saints and conquer them. They will be called to endurance and faith (Rev 13:10), and I would do well to heed this call today. Reflection Is there any area of disobedience in my heart for which I have not repented? I need to be careful that I don’t marvel at the tribulation world’s refusal to repent and yet hold on to some small sin myself. Request Father, your revelation clearly shows that there is a great spiritual conflict raging in the heavens. Help me to resist temptation and obey your Word. Enable me to stand strong in the faith! Thanksgiving Thank you for the assurance of knowing that Satan is a defeated foe. He may conquer for a day, but his final doom is sure. Praise the Lamb, who has destroyed the works of the devil! In Jesus’ name, Amen. Suggested Hymn: “From Time to Eternity” – Daniel S. Warner. Meditation Verse: Revelation 12:11. |