Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy to Give Witnesses Power (6/12/25)

After telling my kids to go and pick up everything in their rooms, I usually tell them what the consequence will be if I come and find anything left out. Often I give them another opportunity to go and make sure they didn’t miss anything. Sometimes I send a sibling or two to go and remind their other siblings before I come and inspect.

Jesus has laid out expectations in the Bible for how to live a life pleasing to Him and how best to be ready for His second coming. He didn’t just tell us once but has given us many opportunities. In fact, before the very end of this world, He will send two witnesses with His power. They will teach and perform miraculous signs for 3½ years.

Revelation 11:1-6   I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. ² But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. ³ And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” ⁴ They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” ⁵ If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. ⁶ They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

John may have been asked to measure the temple, altar, and worshipers as a sign that they were to be evaluated on how well they had followed God’s instructions and standards. The Gentiles in the outer courts were already deemed unacceptable by their persistent rebellion against God. The two witnesses, though, would give one last call (possibly during the last 3½ years of the tribulation and the entire earth as we know it). Verse 4 contains references to earlier prophecies in Zechariah 4 about these two witnesses. Here in Revelation 11, the angel offers additional details about the amazing power given to these witnesses.

You and I may not be given power to spit fire from our mouths, but Jesus will give us the power to do whatever work and witness He has called us to do (Matthew 28:18-20 ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.) Where is Jesus calling you and me to speak His truths? How will you and I rely on His presence and power?  

Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy to Reveal the Sweet and Sour (6/5/25)

 My kids have dared each other to eat a Warheads sour candy! I didn’t join in the “fun.” I tried one about 30 years ago and never want another one! Sarah can withstand the extreme sour taste long enough to eventually get to the sweet taste, but other kids can’t (and me neither!).

Similar to the Warheads, John ate a sweet and sour scroll.

Revelation 10:8-11           ⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” ¹⁰ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

In reverse of the Warheads, John’s tasty scroll was first sweet and then sour. It may mean that the prophecy he was given to share includes sweet victory for Jesus’s followers, but bitter judgment for those who reject Jesus. The book of Revelation certainly includes both! Jesus gives John the good and bad news together. Which are you confident you will ultimately experience? Sweet victory in Jesus or sour separation from Him for all eternity?  

Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy and Doesn’t Yo-Yo Us (5/29/25)

Have you ever been on a flight that had one delay after another? On one flight, I received over a dozen notifications about changes to the departure time. The estimated departure was often moved later, but some of the notifications indicated an earlier departure. I understand weather delays can’t be avoided and estimated maintenance times are hard to predict. It was stressful waiting, though, with the yo-yo time changes.

Jesus’s final judgment on all evil may seem delayed to us, but it will happen at the exact time and in the detailed way God prescribed. He won’t yo-yo on us. When the 7^th angel sounds the trumpet, He will finish the job.

Revelation 10:5-7   ⁵ Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! ⁷ But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

God’s given us the Bible which is full of His plans. We don’t have to be in the dark about the future. We can know the “mystery” of God as we read and study His Word. He’s given us exactly what He knows we need to be adequately prepared.

Do you and I truly believe God created everything, cares for everything, and has a master plan? If so, how are we taking advantage of the resources He’s given to us to know His plans? We don’t need to be stressed out like on a delayed flight. The better we know God’s truths, the more we will experience peace while we wait. 

Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy to Reveal and Hold Secrets (5/22/25)

Who likes to be in on secrets? My kids like to be in the know about gifts for their siblings. They especially enjoy being able to help pick out a gift. However, there are certain gifts no sibling knows about for the birthday kid until the birthday comes.

Similarly, through our study of Revelation, we get to be in on some of the secrets regarding the end of time, the new heaven and the new earth! Jesus hasn’t given us all the details, though. We won’t know or understand everything until our new life in heaven.

Before the 7^th angel sounded the trumpet, we receive an interesting interlude:

Revelation 10:1-4         Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. ² He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. ⁴ And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

Jesus (through the 7 thunders or 7 spirits or the Holy Spirit) revealed a mystery to John that only he knows. Why can’t we know it? Maybe it is too awful regarding the final and complete judgment on the entire earth. Maybe it’s beyond our comprehension. Maybe it was specific to John.

Whatever the reason, it made me realize how privileged we are to know any of Jesus’s plans. It’s amazing Jesus chooses to reveal some details to us. We can appreciate the “secrets” we do know and diligently study the Bible to understand all that He has revealed.

What time will you and I set aside each day to learn more of Jesus’s “secrets” (by the Holy Spirit’s help)? Which “secret” will you and I share with others?

Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy to Unleash the 6th Trumpet Judgment (5/15/25)

Our daughter, Sarah, lives and breathes horses and gets to ride horses 1-2 times per week. She is a petite girl and knows they are quite big and powerful. She has a healthy fear of them and knows to be careful moving around them. She is willing, though, to ride some of the horses that others are scared to try to ride. In fact, she was bucked off a less tame horse twice last week and yet got up and got back on!

As “wild” as Sarah’s ride was last week, it was nothing compared to the 2 million horses and their destruction after the sound of the 6^th trumpet!

Revelation 9:13-21 ¹³ The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. ¹⁴ It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

¹⁷ The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

²⁰ 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. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Jesus’s Sovereign patience is astounding! He could wipe everything out at once and be done with the wickedness in the world, but He graciously gives additional time. The 2/3 not killed had another opportunity to repent and turn to their Creator.

We may not be like these people who continue to refuse to repent. We may not intentionally worship idols or participate in sexual immorality, but are there things in our lives that take priority over God and His purposes for us? What areas of our lives are not totally surrendered to Jesus?

Like Sarah and horses, we are to have a healthy fear of God. He has the most powerful army of millions! He will win in the end! I want to be working for Him and not against Him. It ends terribly for those working against Him. Jesus is worthy of worship for all His power.

Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy to Unleash the 5th Trumpet Judgment (5/8/25)

Now back to where we were in Revelation! We are in the middle of the 7 trumpet judgments. After Jesus opened the 7^th seal of the scroll and heaven stopped in silence for half an hour, then we saw the first 4 trumpet judgments unleashed on the earth. The next three are even more severe.

Rev 8:13-9:12 ¹³ As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”

The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. ² When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. ³ And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. ⁶ During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. ¹¹ They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

¹² The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

This 5^th judgment is so severe that people seek death (vs 6). However, in God’s sovereignty, they will not be able to escape their pain through death. I think that is His grace. The people experiencing the pain might not think so, but He is giving them yet another chance to turn and respond to Him before they do die and it is too late.

God will also graciously spare those who have His seal on their forehead (see chapter 7 and the devotional from 3/20/25). Those with God’s seal will not experience this judgment like the people around them (vs. 4). What a gracious, detailed and Sovereign God we serve!

Jesus is not only worthy to open the scroll and unleash judgment, but He is worthy to withhold judgment from His sealed children! Are you one of His children? If so, how will you praise Him for His grace today?   

Jesus is our Hope on this US National Day of Prayer (5/1/25)

For those in the United States, what are your plans for participating in the 74th National Day of Prayer today?

This year’s theme: Pour out to the God of HOPE and be filled

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Guess what? The theme artwork for this year’s National Day of Prayer was done by a UK artist, Julie Ann Scott, based on passages from Revelation! Our greatest HOPE is the God of HOPE who reigns forever and will return for us.

One of the passages is Revelation 19:11-14     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.

My kids’ school is hosting an event tonight at 7pm. Feel free to come and join, if you live in the area.

 

Or, you can find an event near you at the National Day of Prayer website: https://www.nationaldayofprayer.org/events/gathering-search

Or, join the live broadcast at 8 pm ET here:

https://www.nationaldayofprayer.org/events/2025_broadcast

The specific 7 spheres of influence to be covered in prayer are Family, Church, Education, Media (including Arts/Entertainment), Business (and Workplace), Military and Government. Whether you plan to join an event today or not, will you stop right now and pray over these areas?

Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy to Unleash the 7 Trumpets (4/24/25)

 I was on a short trip part of this week, so sorry this is a day late. Normally I write the devotional Wednesday night and post it Thursday morning, but this week I didn’t get to write it until yesterday.

Remember the complete silence in Heaven when the 7^th Seal was opened by the Lamb a couple weeks ago? Well, that 7^th seal ushered in 7 more judgments via 7 angels with 7 trumpets.

Revelation 8:6-12    ⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

⁷ The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸ The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— ¹¹ the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

¹² The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

Jesus unleashes numerous catastrophic judgments on the earth in these first 4 “trumpet judgments.” A third of the ground, water and sky will all be affected. However, intentionally 2/3 will not be affected. Jesus’s judgments aren’t rash or impulsive. They are intentional and gracious. It isn’t random or coincidental. The orderliness in the judgment shows WHO is in charge. Jesus continues to give people a stark warning and additional opportunities to repent and turn to Him before it is too late.

As the Creator of all, His judgments point back to Him as the One in charge of all Creation. He is the One worthy of all worship. I have an easy reminder of that as I look outside. In Michigan this week, the spring colors suddenly popped. The daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, Magnolia trees, and Dogwood trees are all in bloom with yellow, red, purple, pink, and white scattered all over. Let’s praise Jesus as the Creator and sustainer of all! He is worthy of our worship as both Creator and Judge.