Thurs Devo: Patience in Evil

Like we talked about last week, the “plagues” from Revelation chapters 6-9 are warning signs to the inhabitants of the earth. God is getting everyone’s attention. He is offering multiple additional opportunities for people to repent, turn to Him, and worship Him for who He truly is before He completely destroys this earth. How do you think people will respond?

Revelation 9:20-21    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.

We can’t make people repent and believe, but we can be prepared ourselves.

II Peter 3:10-15 ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

It can be frustrating to live in a world where evil continues to grow and increase. The delay in God’s final judgment and destruction of this world, though, means He’s giving additional opportunities for others to accept His way of salvation. He displays His grace, mercy and patience as we wait for evil to be avenged.

Will you and I remember that when evil seems to prevail, God is patiently granting more time for others to repent and turn to Him?  

Alice

Thurs Devo: Deadly Water

Most of you are well aware of the water crisis in Flint, MI. What if a third of all the rivers and springs were contaminated everywhere? That’s what will happen when the end to this earth is near.

Revelation 8:10-13    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.

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 “plagues” from chapters 6-9 are warning signs to the inhabitants of the earth to wake up and realize who created them and everything around them. God won’t unleash all of His wrath impulsively at once. He will patiently and slowly release part of His wrath, giving opportunity for people to respond and repent.

When we see and experience the results of sin around us, like in the Flint water crisis, how do we respond? Do we question God? Do we try and find who to blame? Or, do we repent of our sin that contributes to the fallen state of the world around us? We can then turn to God for hope, remembering His eternal promises beyond the limitations of this life!

Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, we are all born sinful and live in a sin cursed world that will continue to decay and not improve. However, God has promised to destroy this sinful earth and create a new one where sin will be forever removed! In the New Heaven and New Earth there won’t be deadly water, but only streams of living water!       

Alice