Death Knocks

Scripture:

Revelation 6:7-8 (NIV)

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Devotional:

One thing is for sure; death does knock on your door.  The question is when.  Listening to the news you hear about someone being killed.  This group slaughtered a bunch of people.  In the nineteen hundreds we had World War One, World War Two, Korean War, oh wait it was a conflict, Vietnam.  Finally in the late eighties and nineties there was the Golf War.  This doesn’t cover all the conflicts or wars.  Scores of people were either hurt or killed, and not just soldiers either.  Today it seems things are just getting worse.

In any of these events people thought for sure the end was here and it was the “End Times.”  Some people think we have been going through Revelation for generations now.  In fact some of the events in Revelation have already taken place.  To be honest I don’t think it matters where we are in the timeline.  A few things I do know.  One is that God is in control.  He is the master planner and no one is greater than He is.  Second, we must be prepared.  We need to live each day as if it were the last.  1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 (ESV):

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.  But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

We have been told more than once that Jesus will return unexpectedly.  We also know that there will be death.  There will be wars and rumors of wars all the way until the end. 

One thing you can count on, God.  He is steadfast, trustworthy, reliable, loving, merciful, and most of all in control.  There have been wars and conflicts in the past.  There will be more wars and conflicts in the future.  Through it all Death does come knocking in times of war as well as times of peace.  I do believe when the sixth seal is unbroken it will be unlike anything else we have ever seen. 

The Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared”

Feast, Famine, Salvation

Scripture:
Revelation 6:5-6 (NKJV)

When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

Devotional:

Reading commentaries and listening to what people say you can get various interpretations.  Some people believe that we are going through the various seals even today.  Other people believe it is all still to come.  In some ways the Roman Empire brought a false sense of peace to parts of the world in those days.  After World War One and World War Two there was another false sense of peace.  We have had wars and rumors of wars all through the ages.  Some minor and some worldwide.  

In Verses five and six we are faced with famine and scarcity of food.  In the United States, and several other countries, there is an abundance of food, for most families.  In other parts of the world people are dying of starvation every day.  It seems that the cost for just enough food for one person to survive is outrageously high.  I look at what it costs today for bread and milk among other groceries and I think it is outrageous.  I find myself doing what I said I would never do.  I compare prices from when I was young to what they are today.  After all when I was first married you could buy bread and milk for under a dollar each, OK milk might have been as much as a dollar fifty.  Today depending on the brand of milk you can spend well over four dollars, on average about three and a half dollars.  Bread is now easily over two dollars for a loaf, I have seen it as high as three dollars.

The point is not the actual cost of the bread or milk.  We have seen skyrocketing price increases over the last several years.  There have been wars and conflicts on the rise.  Even natural disasters appear to have gotten worse.  You certainly think the end is coming.  I am not going to say we are or are not going through the various stages of the seals.  What this tells me is that time is getting short.  Regardless of which stage we may or may not be in one thing is clear.  We must reach out to the unsaved before it is too late. Christians cannot afford to sit on the sidelines leaving the work for someone else.  Christians need to step up and do their part in making a difference.  We can be that difference for someone having food to eat, or a place to sleep.  What one person does today can change hundreds of lives not only today but for weeks, months, even generations down the line.  

One person can and does make a difference.  Even if by reaching out you only change one life you made a difference.  One life would be saved.  Who knows how many lives that one life might change?  For every life saved there will be celebration in Heaven…

Is It The End? Are You Prepared?

Scripture:

Revelation 6:1-4 (NIV)

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.  Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

Devotional:

As I look around and read more and more headlines on the Internet it is easy to become despaired.  All around us we hear of violence and destruction.  There are wars and fighting going on all over.  Peace does seem to be slipping away.  Not all peace is leaving with the end of violence either.  Unrest comes in many forms at all times of the day. 

I hear people say we are in the “End Times” Revelation is here.  I normally comment on the fact I don’t think it is here yet.  The signs are there.  They have been there for generations.  Many people thought Hitler was the antichrist.  Some people I talk to say that this person or that person today is the antichrist.  While I am not so sure the end isn’t here, I am not convinced it is either.

The truth of the matter is that we don’t know when the end will come.  Christ could return upon the clouds today.  Times are tough and they will get worse before it is over.  All we can do is be prepared.  Do our part in reaching the world.  Our daughters watched the movie “Hoodwinked” and in it a goat sings a song.  The song is about being prepared.  It is a cute song for kids but there is a ring of truth in it.  It is also the Boy Scout motto.  Be prepared, are you?

Worthy Is The Lamb

Worthy is the Lamb
Scripture:
Revelation 5:1-10 (NKJV)

And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”

Devotional:

After reading the first seven verses of chapter five I am reminded of King Arthur. Excalibur was thrust into the stone. The legend has it that only the true king of England can draw the sword from the stone. Knights from near and far would come to try and draw the sword and become king of England. One after another they all failed to draw the sword. Finally a boy comes along and slips it easily out of the stone.

Christ is the only one worthy and able to open the sealed scroll. He alone can open the seals to reveal what is written within the scroll. Jesus is worthy of our praise and worship. More importantly He is the only one qualified to save us. Others proclaim victory and redemption. Others come along and proclaim to be the messiah our savior. They speak supposed truth and salvation. A way to freedom and the heavens. The truth of the matter is that there is only one who is worthy and only one who can actually save us. Jesus is the way, the truth, and life. John 14:6 (NKJV) “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

No one else is worthy. No one else can truly save us. It is through Christ that we are redeemed and made righteous. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Worthy is the Lamb…