Pray:
*  that we can honor God as a church as we end this fast.

Passage of the Day:  Revelation 22

¹ Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

⁶ The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

⁷ “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”

⁸ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. ⁹ But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”

¹⁰ Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. ¹¹ Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”

¹² “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you^[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Reflection

It seems fitting that we are reading the last book of the bible for the last day of the fast.  In a way, the whole bible leads up to this passage, and John’s response to what he has seen seems like not only a response to his vision, but to the bible as a whole.  At the same time, as we read this passage and end the fast, we, as a church, are asking what our response should be to the things that have happened in us and to us during the fast.

John’s response is worship. But initially, he begins to worship the angel who showed him all of these things.  The angel then has to correct John and point him back toward God, saying, “Worship God!”

Sometimes we may react similarly to things that God does in our lives, especially when God does the miraculous or seemingly impossible.  Sometimes, our response to seeing these manifestations of God’s power is to idolize the experience or power and forget that it is God, who has a personality and seeks to relate to us, that caused these experiences to happen in our lives.  However, this is a mistake because once the experience has passed, we may tend to forget that it was God worked in our lives in the first place, and fail to worship Him for what he has done.  God may have done miraculous things in our lives as we sought Him during the fast–if so, praise Him!  Let’s make sure that we have made God our focus in response to His working in us and through us, and that we continue to worship Him because of his love for us.

The second response we should have is to share with others about God’s work in our lives. John is directly told that the purpose of him seeing the visions in Revelation was not only for John’s benefit, but so that he could share this news with others.  As we end the fast and move on from it, may we remember how God touched us, and pray that God gives us the courage and opportunity to share Him with others.

Pray:
*  for God’s wisdom and anointing on UPC’s pastoral and administrative staff.

Passage of the Day:  Revelation 21

¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’^[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. ⁸ But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

⁹ One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹ It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. ¹⁶ The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia^[c] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. ¹⁷ The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits^[d] thick.^[e] 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.^[f] 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Reflection

I was never really the girl who dreamt about her future wedding.  But last year, when I started planning my wedding, I realized that even though I had never thought of specific details I wanted on my wedding day, I had formulated some general ideas or assumptions of what I thought it would be like.  One of those assumptions was that as much as possible, each detail of my wedding should be full of meaning to me. With this in mind, I spent a lot of time preparing the details of the wedding.  I wanted my invitations to be one-of-a-kind, so I designed them myself and spent a lot of time sourcing pocketfolds and papers, and put them together with my fiance’s help.  I found a company to do custom embroidery of my bridesmaids’ initials on the jewelry  cases I got them as gifts.  I bought stamp kits, ink pads, paper tags, heart-shaped hole punches and cellophane bags to create packaging for the Diddy Riese cookies we gave as favors.  The only jewelry I wore that day was given to me by my family, including a bracelet that my mother’s parents gave to her on her wedding day.  I invested all this time into planning and creating this wedding because I knew that it was important to me and I would have the memories from that day for the rest of my life.

This passage spends a lot of time talking about the details of this city, Jerusalem, which is the “bride” of the Lamb.  I have to say that I don’t know the significance of a lot of the details here, like the repetition of the number 12 or the meaning behind the different materials described.  However, even without knowing the meaning of the number 12, I can tell that it is very significant to the builder and that the builder took great care to include it in His plans for the city.  Similarly, it is clear that only the best of materials was used to build the city.  The builder’s attention to detail pays off.  We are told that the city is so beautiful that it shines with the glory of God.

This city seems to be Heaven, which we are told God is preparing for us (John 14:3). The care with which God is shown to be preparing the city, especially the level of attention he has paid to the details, remind me of my efforts spent planning my wedding.  How much more does God anticipate and cherish the day when we are brought home to Him!  I planned my wedding for nearly a year, but He has been planning for us for much longer.  To me, this is a reminder of how much more God loves us than we can even fathom, and how willing he is to give us his best.  I hope that my response is one of mutual preparation–that because God is preparing our future home, I should also be in constant preparation, living my life in such a way as will help me become the bride that God wants me to be.

Pray for:
*  UPC Youth Group — that they would know Christ more deeply and be a bold witness for Jesus.

Passage of the Day:  Revelation 20

¹ And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

⁴ I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They^[a] had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

⁷ When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Reflection

Revelation 20 plays out like a fast-paced action film: an angel binds Satan and throws him into the abyss for 1,000 years, the martyrs rise to life and reign with the Messiah for these 1,000 years, then Satan is released and wreaks such havoc in deceiving the earth that it culminates in the final battle between the whole world and the beloved city of God.  At last, the Devil’s army is consumed by the fire sent by a holy God, Satan is himself thrown in hell forever, and the redeemed are rescued.  The story does not end here, however: next comes the judgment day, perhaps the most iconic end-times scene in pop culture.

All the dead line up before the throne of God; no one is excepted.  Queen Elizabeth, Joseph Stalin, the kind grocer from the neighborhood market, and the petty thief all stand before their Creator in the same line.  Suddenly, nothing matters but what is inside the books opened in the throne room of God.  All the books but one contain the work of every life ever lived.  Think of what you might hear again on that day: the moment you brought a warm meal to a starving family – revealed; the thankless hours you spent fixing someone’s house – revealed; the love you offered to a coworker who can make things difficult – all revealed … but also the time you ignored the homeless man who really did need some help, and the time you said, “I hate you” to your parents, and the coldness of heart that said that person can live in hell forever without having heard the Gospel from me because he doesn’t deserve to be saved – these too are brought to light in the presence of God.  And we will be judged based on what we have done.

This might all seem to imply a “works-based” system of salvation: work hard, be a good person, and that will be good enough to save you on Judgment Day, but frankly, that’s not enough, and hell will be full of people who calculated a good life as “close enough.”  We “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, according to Romans 3:23, and a holy God cannot admit sin into Heaven.  Hell would be the deserved destination of every one of us if it weren’t for the other book opened on Judgment Day: the book of life.  In Revelation 3:5, Jesus declares, “…the victor will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life…”.  Who is the victor?  The one who has placed his faith in Jesus, accepted His grace, and stands not on the righteousness of all the good things humanly done, but on the righteousness divinely given.  All of us have sins to our name that we are ashamed of, but because of the Name of Jesus and His perfect righteousness, we may have hope for life as we come before the Almighty God on the day of judgment.

If, as Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast,” then don’t work on your own to get to Heaven.  In Romans 8:8, Paul affirms, “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God,” and when we depend only on the human ability of our own nature to do good things, we cannot please God.  It is impossible.  The only way is to submit to the holy nature of God, to live in the power and perspective of the Holy Spirit.  Living no longer under the law, we only need to adhere to the one principle of those who have accepted and live under grace: “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).  That’s it — love God fully and allow His Spirit to indwell you and to act through you.  God isn’t asking you to complete the “good work” list for Him, He’s asking you to accomplish it with Him and by Him.  Today, ask God how He would like you to join Him in His work, and ask Him to give you the ability.  Then, watch your life produce the fruit of the Spirit that truly honors God.

Pray for:
*  the Family Cell Group, that the families will be strengthened and that the Lord will raise up leadership and build community within the group.

Passage of the Day:  Revelation 19
 ¹ After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:

“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
² for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

³ And again they shouted:

“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”

⁴ The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:

“Amen, Hallelujah!”

⁵ Then a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”

⁶ Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
⁸ Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

⁹ Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

¹⁰ At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”^[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

¹⁷ And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. ²¹ The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Reflections

We’ve been blessed with many weddings in the UPC congregation in just the past year, and it is a joy to witness these newlyweds embark on the journey of a lifetime together.  Perhaps my favorite part of each ceremony was watching the groom’s face when the bride entered.  It was so moving to see the hope and love (and maybe a manly tear or two) fill their eyes as they took the hand of their wives at last.  The scene in Revelation 19 is something like that, but even more life-changing: this is the long-awaited marriage of the Lamb (“the groom”) to the Church (“the bride”).

This is the wedding to end all weddings: God pulls out all the stops in this celebration of Christ’s love for us.  Instead of a string quartet and two hundred guests, there is “a great multitude” all exclaiming jubilantly, “Let us be glad, rejoice, and give Him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come”!  Instead of a chapel, this couple marries in the splendor of Heaven, in the perfect home Jesus has been preparing for us since His return to the Father.  No wedding here on earth can compare to the marriage of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to us one day.

So, like brides counting down to our wedding day, let us eagerly prepare for the return of Jesus by not failing to share His love with other people, and not hesitating to share the Gospel in a way somewhat similar to giving out wedding invitations.  Finally, as many brides spend weeks selecting and tailoring their wedding dress, we as the bride of Christ should also invest our hearts, time, and effort in the best possible garment of fine linen, which represents “the righteous acts of God’s holy people.”  Then, we can appear on the day of union with Christ without regrets, only the bliss of the greatest love ever, fully realized.

Pray for:
*  the graduating seniors, that God will guide them in their future plans.

Passage of the Day:  Revelation 5
 ¹ Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. ⁴ I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits^[a] of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign^[b] on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Reflection

If there is any doubt that Jesus is truly the Son of God, the events of Revelation 5 serve to confirm His deity.  John writes, “I wept and wept” because no one was worthy enough to open the scroll in the hand of God.  No one person, out of every human that has ever lived, could possibly approach the throne of the Holy God and take this scroll – except God Himself. It is Jesus who takes the scroll from the Father, and when He does, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders surrounding God’s throne fall down before Him.  In the previous chapter, we learned that these creatures constantly declare the holiness of God and the elders also continually worship bow down before the Father seated on the throne, so when they all fall down before the Lamb, they affirm that Jesus truly is God.

When Jesus takes the scroll from the hand of His Father, He is commencing the end times.  In the next four chapters, the consequences of each seal on the scroll are revealed – famine, earthquakes, and the dismantling of the earth, to name a few.  These events can be quite fearsome to think of, and yet I am comforted that such awesome power can only be wielded by God.  He who has the authority to bring destruction on the imperfect earth we live on as temporary residents is also the Architect of the perfect new home we have with Him in Heaven.  What a privilege it is to know this mighty God, and to be called His friends, His children!  Because He alone is worthy of our awe and praise, as acknowledged by “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them,” let us not fail to give Him the glory in our lives, and to be thankful for the life we do not deserve but may still claim because of His measureless sacrifice.  Take some time to tell God how thankful you are for His gift of a new life with Him, praise the Lord for who He is, and determine to view each day in this world through the perspective of a citizen of the kingdom of God.

Pray for:
*  UPC’s Worship Team — that they would be filled with God’s Spirit as they lead the congregation in worship and pray for new members to join.

Passage of the Day:  Revelation 4

¹ After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” ² At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. ⁴Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits^[a] of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’^[b]
   who was, and is, and is to come.”

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

Reflections

The words of Revelation 4 can be quite confusing – One with the appearance of jasper and ruby, a rainbow that shone like an emerald, and creatures with eyes all over their bodies – all these images are foreign to us, and it is likely we won’t really be able to comprehend their true nature until we reach Heaven and see it for ourselves.  One part of this passage we can relate to right here and right now, though, and that is the majesty of God.

Living in Los Angeles, it is so easy to lose ourselves in “the concrete jungle” of skyscrapers and six-lane freeways, and it can be difficult to step outside the manmade construction and into the astounding wonder of God’s own creation of nature.  When I walk through a forest, or go on a boat far out in the sea, or hike along a rocky mountain trail, I begin to remember how small I am and how awesome my God is.  The great I Am is the God who made all the world, and owns everything in it.

When Revelation 4:5 says, “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder,” I remember how afraid I was of thunderstorms as a child.  Only a few minutes would pass before my mom would hear the knock-knock-“Mom?” on her bedroom door, and I would crawl into the safest place I knew – next to her.  Frankly, I’m still not terribly comfortable around lightning, but now I know that I no longer need to worry about the storms in my life (literal or figurative), because my Father in Heaven is Creator of the Universe, and His arms are the safest place I can be.

We may not always understand what the Holy Spirit demonstrates through Revelation, but our hearts can still offer the same praise to the powerful and incredibly gracious Father who loves us:

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Let us honor Him not just with the praise of our tongues, but of our hearts and our actions today.

“Be Exalted” – Cory Asbury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB6IiCXmvOk

To Pray:

• For God’s help and guidance to practice His Word in our lives today.
• For UPC’s Bible study leaders – for strength, encouragement, and wisdom.

When led of the Spirit, the child of God must be as ready to wait as to go, as prepared to be silent as to speak. -Lewis Sperry Chafer

Today’s Passage: Ephesians 6

¹ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— ³ “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”^[a]

⁴ Fathers,^[b] do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. ⁶ Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. ⁷ Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, ⁸ because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

⁹ And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Final Greetings

²¹ Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. ²² I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.

²³ Peace to the brothers and sisters,^[c] and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.^[d]

Reflections

In this passage of Ephesians 6:10-20, we can learn several things. First and foremost is that strength and power are in the Lord (v.10). Our hearts must be in full agreement with this statement before we go on to the next verses. It is in Him and in His mighty power that we can be strong and stand firm in our faith.

The “full armor” in its root word is panoplia, which includes a shield, sword, lance, helmet, greaves, and breastplate. It is interesting that while these are physical things that protect our body, the panoplia of God are unseen things that protect our soul.

Take a look at what we are in battle against in verse 12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. Our battle is not against another body or physical weapons, but against the rulers, authorities, powers, and spiritual forces of evil.

What does this mean for us? What are these struggles we are battling against in our daily walk with the Lord?

I think we can find the answers in the way that God dresses us in His armor. It is against the lies of the enemy we are in battle against, hence the belt of truth. It is against unrighteousness, hence the breastplate of righteousness. It is against unpreparedness, hence the feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. What lies are we struggling against today? What unrighteousness? Are we not prepared to stand firm in our faith and therefore do not have peace which comes from the gospel?

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (v.16).

The shield of faith can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. If our struggle is against the lies, then let us take up the shield of faith and believe that the Truth has set us free (John 8:32). If our struggle is against unrighteousness, then let us take up the shield of faith and believe that we are considered righteous because of the blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22). If our struggle is against unpreparedness, then let us take up the shield of faith and seek God who will equip us with everything good for doing His will (Hebrews 13:21). And lastly, if our struggle is against unbelief, let us cry out to the Lord and ask Jesus to help us overcome our unbelief (Mark 9:24).

In this way, the enemy’s flaming arrows have no harm on us if we have faith. Every flaming arrow is extinguished by faith. If we have faith in Him who is our strength and power, there is nothing that can break us. The righteous will live by faith (Romans 1:17). No matter what our struggle is today, let us live by faith and fully trust that nothing can withstand the full armor of God.

To Pray:

• For God’s help and guidance to practice His Word in our lives today.
• God would provide jobs for those who need jobs and for strength and encouragement in the process.

Today’s Passage: James 2

Favoritism Forbidden

¹ My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. ² Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. ³ If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

⁸ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”^[a] you are doing right. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,”^[b] also said, “You shall not murder.”^[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Deeds

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[d]? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[e] and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Reflections

This week we are praying for breakthroughs in our faith. In James 2:14-26, the message is simple and clear to us: faith without deed is useless.

What good is it? What good is it?

James repeatedly challenges us with this question in verses 14 and 16. The word good here in its root word ophelos can be translated into- advantage, use, and profit. In other words, what advantage, use, and profit are there to our faith in Christ? How is our faith in Jesus being put to use for the good of others? God surely didn’t just save us to be happy campers and do nothing to benefit those around us for His purpose.

How is my faith being used as an advantage and profit for God’s kingdom today?

I think this is an application we can all make to have breakthroughs in our faith. It is not to say we do things out of wanting to be seen and recognized by people or to prove ourselves worthy (not that we can do this anyhow). Surely it says that Abraham and Rahab were considered righteous (by God, not by ourselves or others) for their actions. It is not to consider ourselves righteous by our deeds and performance, but to be considered righteous by Him who will call us His friend and credit us as righteous (notice the directional statement; it is from God to us, not the other way around).

Take the example of a brother or a sister in physical needs. In our own lives, we have many things and talents that God has blessed us with. However, how is my blessing being passed on to bless others? This is where action comes in because faith is made complete by what we do. Faith alone is useless (has no benefit) if not accompanied by action. Whether it be giving our material goods, words of encouragement, sharing the Gospel message, our faith needs to be beneficial to those in need for Jesus Christ.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. -1 Corinthians 10:31

If we just look around us today, there are so many things we can do and we do anyhow that can be all for the glory of God. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do today, do it all for the glory of God – to be useful for Jesus Christ.

To Pray:

• For God’s help and guidance to practice His Word in our lives today.
• For Koi Cell Group–that the members will continue to build one another up and grow in discipleship.

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake. ~Victor Hugo

Today’s Passage: Hebrews 12  (Key verses: 1-3)

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

God Disciplines His Children

⁴ In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
⁶ because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”^[a]

⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸ If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. ⁹ Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! ¹⁰ They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

¹² Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ¹³ “Make level paths for your feet,”^[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Warning and Encouragement

¹⁴ Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶ See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy

¹⁸ You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰ because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”^{[c] 21} The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”^[d]

²² But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”^{[e] 27} The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.”^[f]

Reflections

Today’s key verses wraps up the portion of Paul’s letter to the Hebrews which calls us to remember the faithful heroes in the Old Testament. The imagery evoked in this passage is one of an athletic contest in a great amphitheater. The witnesses are the heroes of the past who have just been mentioned, cheering us on by being inspiring examples of how we should hold on to faith and hope. They bear testimony to the power of faith and to God’s faithfulness.

The imagery depicts the Christian life not as a short sprint where we rush as fast as we can to obtain holiness and once we have obtained it, can claim our growth complete and revel in our success. Instead the Christian life is depicted as a long race. Just as the racer keeps his eye on the finish line, we are instructed to keep our eyes on Christ: our goal and objective of our faith. After the long list of faithful people Paul asks us to emulate, he ends his exhortation on faith by giving the Ultimate Example of a man who suffered more than we ever will: Jesus Christ. Since he understood any trial was worth the joy that he would obtain by accomplishing our eternal redemption and his glorification at the Father’s right hand, we can be encouraged that any bad day, any trial, any attack on our faith is worth enduring for the joy we receive from an eternal relationship with our loving Father in heaven.

The Hebrews at the time of Paul’s writing had been facing some persecution, yet not to the point of death. They were tempted to drop out of the race, so after laying down example after example of God’s children who endured so many trials and yet persevered, he also encourages them to view their trials as discipline from God.

“How can that be encouraging?”, you might ask. Paul explains that a father who truly loves his children will discipline them, knowing that providing structure and rules (and following through on them) will cause his children to grow, mature, and be better people, able to face the world and its challenges. Only a father who doesn’t care about his children ignores them and allows them to do as they wish with no discipline. Such a child will grow up with no standards, no sense of responsibility, and most likely will not succeed in the workforce or in raising a family.

In this analogy, God acts as our Father who lovingly allows us to face trials in order that we might grow. If I think back on the times in my life when I grew the most, when I felt the closest to God, it was the most painful times of my life. In this case, discipline may not mean God is giving you a hard time as punishment for some sin. Discipline means corrective and instructive training, so I think a good analogy would be the discipline of making your bed each day, helping clean house, helping set the table, going to bed at a reasonable hour. In sports discipline is forcing your body to run 2 miles each morning, or pumping iron 3 days a week. Discipline is never “fun”, but the result is good character.

God does not want to keep us as infants, but rather to allow us to mature and grow through discipline because He loves us and wants us to be the best that we can be. This is the mindset that Paul asks the Hebrews to have of their persecutions, so let’s try to have that mindset when we face problems in our lives as well. We are being called to have faith that God has an ultimate purpose even behind our trials.

I do want to make a caveat statement, however, in that we should never just assume that any trial is specifically sent by God. There are dark forces in this world, so when we face persecution and trials we shouldn’t just sit back and take it thinking God is dishing it out to us and we should accept it. God may be allowing it to happen, but He may be allowing it to happen such that we PRAY more fervently to Him to make it stop, or to teach us to ACT in a way to help the situation and thus learn and grow in that area. God is not giving us the trial because he wants us to be unhappy or because he wants us to face the trial forever. God may allow a trial into our lives for the pure sake of wanting us to OVERCOME the trial, and once overcoming, to be stronger in faith, hope, and love as well as closer to His heart.

Chapter 12 ends with Paul making a final plea to the Christians who are wavering in their faith by pointing out that they have it much better than the Israelites who couldn’t even approach Mount Sinai because touching it meant instant death.  No, instead, they (and we) come to Mount Zion, where we may approach God directly amongst the heavenly host and with Jesus Christ our Mediator who has ushered in this New Covenant. Since we have been called to approach God so directly as never before, Paul warns that it would be quite horrible to turn our backs.

Instead, although our world may feel like it is shaking all around us, we can and should hold onto the promise in faith that God in heaven will never be shaken, and it is that unshakeable, permanent place that God is calling us to and that we have to look forward to at the end of our race.

• For God’s help and guidance to practice His Word in our lives today.
• For God’s protection and provision for those who are in need or experiencing homelessness. Pray that more people will be called to serve in our ministry to the poor and homeless.

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Passage: Hebrews 11:20-40

Key verses: These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us that only together with us would they be made perfect.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

²³ By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

²⁹ By faith the people passed through the Red Sea^[d] as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[e]

³² And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. ³⁵ Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. ³⁷ They were stoned^[f]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. ⁴⁰ God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Reflections

Haha, clearly I didn’t look ahead at the next day’s passage when I wrote yesterday’s blog. So I’ll keep today’s short and focus even more on yesterday’s point, and the final verse of this passage.

“God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

Yesterday we meditated on how these faithful characters’ lives may be similar to our own in some way and tried to apply their steps of faith to what we may be asked to do.

Today let’s meditate on the key verse and its implication that in fulfilling His promises, God might not bring everything to completion right away (in fact usually He doesn’t). Instead He waited to introduce the new covenant through Christ long after these Fathers of the Faith lived on earth for His perfect timing, such that we can all “be made perfect” together. As it applies to our lives today, we shouldn’t get discouraged when it seems we aren’t getting anywhere, even though we are following what God has willed for our lives. Sometimes it takes decades for His promises to come to fruition (if even that quickly), and it may be so that others may also benefit from His promises.

Is there something you are being impatient about? Let’s be encouraged and motivated by these examples of people who waited decades (think Moses as a shepherd for 40 years before leading Israel, Joseph as Potiphar’s servant and then in prison for 13 years before saving Egypt, etc.) before they understood why God allowed their lives to play out as they did. It may feel daunting, but we see that in the end God really does have a purpose behind it all. We can also be thankful for the promises God kept throughout the centuries in sending His Son as the ultimate atonement for our sins. We see that God may not be into immediate gratification, but He always fulfills His promises in due course.