Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Worthy – As the Perfect Holy Week Lamb (4/17/25)

Today (Maundy Thursday) is the day we remember Jesus’s betrayal and arrest, among at least 10 other significant events that happened this last day before Jesus’s crucifixion. He was unjustly sacrificed for you and for me. Yet, that was God’s plan of redemption. Jesus was the only One who could once and for all pay the price for our sin. He was the only completely perfect Lamb. As such, He is worthy to be back at God’s right hand, worthy to open God’s scroll, worthy to reveal God’s plans to us, worthy of our service and worthy of our praise! 

Revelation 5:6-12 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 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 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!”

Jesus gave up all to give us all! How will you and I worship and serve Him today and this weekend for His worthiness as our Perfect sacrificial Lamb?

Last year, we washed each other’s feet, just as Jesus washed His disciples’ feet the day before His death. I would like to try to do that again tonight and talk about other ways we can serve each other as Jesus served His disciples. Jesus then served us in the ultimate way by laying down His life for us! Praise our worthy Lamb!!!

 

Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy to Open the 7th Seal (4/10/25)

Complete silence. Have you ever experienced complete silence for 30 minutes? No white noise or anything. What about on Good Friday? Often Good Friday services end in silence, but I haven’t attended one where it lasted 30 minutes. It doesn’t take but 30 seconds for someone to drop a pen or a kid to squirm. When Jesus opened the 7^th seal, though, all of heaven stopped for 30 minutes.

Revelation 8:1-5      When he [the Lamb] opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

² And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

³ Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. ⁴ The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

What’s about to happen from the 7^th seal must be quite serious if all of heaven is silent for 30 minutes. Remember from last week that John was just told that there would be no more tears for those who go to heaven? Yet, the judgments about to take place are world altering. John is given significant warnings to write down, but layered with encouraging assurance to those who follow Jesus.

One encouragement from this passage is that our prayers are a pleasing aroma to God! What value! He takes great pleasure in our time talking with Him. How much and how well do you and I value our time talking and listening to our eternal King, the Almighty God, who has all power and authority over every aspect of life?

Jesus is worthy to open the 7^th seal, worthy to hear from us in prayer regularly throughout the day and worthy of our silence so we can hear Him!