This means war!

Revelation 12, Nahum 1-3

Revelation 12:11 – And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb…

Revelation 12:17 – The dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Lord God, I read Revelation and it becomes clear that there is a spiritual war going on around us all of the time.  It’s clear that the Devil is a roaring dragon, a fire-breathing dragon who wants to destroy Jesus followers.  It’s clear that we are in the last days before you return. Lord Jesus, it’s easy for me to fall into a way of thinking that forgets we are at war.  He wants to lull me into a false sense of security and complacency. And when he has lulled me to sleep, he will come like a lion crouching in the tall grass, ready to pounce.  It’s that dangerous for me to fall into false sense of safety.  And it happens so easily when things in my life are going well.  When things in life are smooth, it’s easy to think that things in the spiritual realm are smooth too.  But it just isn’t so.  The Devil is furious and he is off to make war on those who follow Jesus – that’s me!  Lord Jesus, keep me always alert, awake, and aware of the devil’s schemes. He is at war with me and he wants my soul. Also, keep me always alert as a watchman.  The devil isn’t just after me, he is after all of the people in my life.  You’ve given me to them to sound the battle cry, to rouse them for battle, the battle that is coming to us because the devil hates us.  At the same time, Lord Jesus, help me to rest my soul and my head on the ultimate victory that you won on the cross.  That victory is mine.  The devil can’t have me.  Let this confidence live in my heart and give rest to my soul.  Amen.

Listen, Lord.

Proverbs 30:11-23, Psalm 140-143

Psalm 141:2 – Let my prayer rise before you like incense, the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.

Lord God, your ears are open to my every prayer.  It amazes me every time.  That you would hear me.  That you would even care to hear me. That you would pay attention and not just smile and nod.  Lord Jesus, I owe God’s ear to your blood.  His ear is tuned to me because your blood opened the way.  Father, that you would hear me, slug that I am is a gift of your grace and that you would consider it a pleasing aroma is grace upon grace.  Almighty God, that I can enter your most holy place with my prayers is just plan astounding.  Lord God, I beg you, hear me when I pray.  Receive my prayers like incense.  Make it a pleasing aroma in your sight.  Answer me. Direct my footsteps.  Guide me.  Grant me peace.  Grant me more – your Holy Spirit, the greatest of all your gifts.  Amen.

The Good.

Revelation 10-11, Micah 4-7

Micah 6:8 – He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Lord God, sometimes we make serving you so hard.  We want to do the great things, to do the things everybody notices.  We want to accomplish great things for you, things that will matter, even things that will last.  But here, God, you make it so simple.  What is the good that you want?  You want me to do justice.  You want me to love kindness.  You want me to walk humbly with God.  That’s it.  Lord, I pray, first help me to grasp your astounding, justifying, cleansing and saving love for me like never before.  Let your love overflow the rim of my heart so that it flows out into my life.  Fill my heart with the certainty of your love so me that is over the moon. Then, as I live my life, keep me from worrying about doing the so-called ‘great things’ in your sigh.  Keep me gaze on the simple things: doing justice, loving kindness and walking in humility with you.  This is the good you have given me to do.  Help me to do it and to do it in faith.  Amen.

Broken and Contrite

Revelation 8-9, Micah 1-3

Psalm 51:17 – The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Lord God, as I read through the prophecy of John and of Micah I notice a sad refrain.  As often as you came to the people, as often as you disciplined them, as often as you preached to them, they did not repent.  It shows up again and again on the pages of Scripture.  Lord God, my prayer is two-fold. First, as your servant, make me bold to be a preacher of righteousness like Noah was in this wicked and evil age.  Give me a forehead of bronze to call out sin, to call for repentance, and to call for faith.  But, more importantly than all this, Lord God, I need your Spirit to break my heart and to lead me to repentance.  It is too easy to grow hard to the rebuke from others about sin. It is easy to excuse and rationalize.  It is way to easy.  Lord God, keep my heart soft and broken to hear your rebuke and to receive your discipline.  Lead me to repent of my sin, all of it. Show me the sin in my blind spots.  Uncover them all to me, Lord, that I may be healed.  Amen.

Marked

Revelation 6-7, Obadiah 1

Revelation 7:3 – I saw another angel ascending and saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads.”

Father, today, I thank you for my parents and those other servants whom you used to bring me to baptism.  I didn’t come by own own horse power.  They brought me because they knew that I needed this gift. Father, thank you for baptism.  There you adopted me as yours and I became your child, wholly and dearly loved.  There you claimed me as your own.  Since that time, Father, you have been at work in my heart and life by your Spirit to raise up faith in me, to transform me by the gospel so that I might be a servant in your kingdom.  Lord, I pray let your name continue to be tattooed on my head and on my heart.  Continue to mark me with your cross so that I may end my days in faith.  And while I wait for your appearing, help me to use the time that I have to reach more and more people and to make the most of every opportunity.  These are the days you have given me by your grace to serve and to share you.  Amen.

Don't! Please, don't!

Revelation 4-5, Amos 5-9

Amos 8:11 – “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD God, “when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”

Lord God, take anything else form me, just not that. Take my goods, my reputation, my property, even my health; take even my family away from me, Lord.  Just don’t take your Word.  Lord, if you take away your Word from me by false teaching or by my own neglect or even by taking away my access to it, then how will I know what you have said?  Then how will I be lead to repent?  Then where will I find forgiveness, peace and hope?  Then where will I get guidance and direction for my life?  Lord, if you take your Word away from me or anyone else, then who can be saved!?!  Lord, don’t!  Give your Word to me, to my family, to al the world.  Let it be taught purely, truly, rightly. Let law and gospel be given in the truth and purity.  Give us your word of peace and forgiveness, of rebuke and repentance, of guidance and direction.  And Lord, especially give us the Word about Jesus, the Savior of the world, even of me.  Let your Word remain, Lord, so that I may be saved. Amen.

Prepare to meet your God.

Revelation 3, Amos 1-4

Amos 4:12 – Therefore this I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

Lord Jesus, keep me from being slow to learn the lessons of love you want to teach me.  When in mercy you send discipline and rebuke, help me to hear it and to quickly turn back.  Keep from excuse making and from rationalizing, even justifying myself.  Send your Spirit on me so that my first reaction is, “Lord, you are right; I’m sorry.”  Break my heart with your Word so that I receive your rebuke.  Heal my heart with your Word so that I am refreshed and restored to serve you again.  Exalt me by your Son so that I can lift up my head with joy and confidence, a joy and confidence that comes from you alone.  Amen.

Just the Right Amount.

Proverbs 30:1-10, Psalm 137-139

Proverbs 30:8 - Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and stand and profane the name of my God.

Lord God, Solomon is so wise.  He shows me that both poverty and riches pose a danger to my soul.  The one leads me to praise myself, the other leads me to curse God. I pray, give me and give my family just the right amount so that we are left to rely on you and on you alone. Give us just what we need so that’s we call on you for daily bread and trust you to provide it. Give us just what we need so that we don’t become self-reliant or boastful. Give us a contented heart whatever provision you give us so that we are happy, thankful, and content in whatever season or blessing you give us.  God, I pray, continue to give us daily bread, each day.  Most of all, dear Lord, help us always to have our hearts fixed on you and full of joy to worship and honor you.  Do whatever it takes in our lives to keep us close to you and believing in you.  Amen.

Hold on!

Revelation 1-2, Joel 1-3

Revelation 2:25 - Only hold fast what you have until I come.

Lord God, through your prophets you preach fire and brimstone, judgment and salvation, hell and heaven.  It is clear.  In fact, judgment seems to be a louder and more frequent theme.  Lord, as I meditate on judgment, I pray, keep me in the faith so that when you return I will be righteous in you.  Lord do the same for my family, for those whom I love.  Make me a better family shepherd for their souls so that they will know you better.  I also pray, give me determination and grit.  My callings from you call for determination and grit to face what is about to come and what is already coming.  Give me an iron-forehead to take on whatever is coming.  Help me to hold on to the truth of your Word.  Help me to meet the challenges of holding on and holding forth the Word of truth in an age and place that seems to grow cold for your Word.  Lord, make this a fertile place to preach and teach, to scatter the seed.  Make me bold and compassionate to share the truth with those who are letting go of the truth.  They need me to speak up and into their lives.  Help me to set my priorities for the sake of my family.  Help me to make the most of the opportunities which you give to share the truth with anyone and everyone whom you put in my path.  Amen.

How can I?

Jude 1, Hosea 11-14

Hosea 11:8 - How can I give you up, O Ephraim?  How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboim?  My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.

Lord God, you heart is so clear in these verses.  Your people had wandered far from you and deserved so much wrath from your hand.  And you were ready to give.  You were ready to pour out the cup of your wrath on your people.  But then you stepped back and your heart warmed and grew tender. You loved your people, rebellious and stiff-necked though they were.   You were compassionate for your people even though they deserved your anger.  O God, you are so patient with me.  I clearly see how I have rebelled from you in so many ways.  It isn’t hard for me to see how I have justly earned your rage.  But then you ask: How can I? How can I hand him over?  And that’s why you handed over your Son. You couldn’t bear to see me destroyed so you handed over your Son in my stead.  It is more than I can fathom.  Thank you Lord! Lead me to ask this today: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness too me? How can I show my love to him who has been so compassionate and loving toward me?  Let my life show my thanks to you for all of your goodness to me.  Amen.

The Day is Coming

2 Peter 2-3, Hosea 5-10

2 Peter 3:11-12 - Since all these things are to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God!?!

Lord God, Peter warns and speaks to me with such urgency and seriousness.  This is an urgent call to action.  There is no time to waste.  Jesus is coming.  Judgment comes with me.  What I want, Lord Jesus, on the last day is to be found in him, not having a righteousness or a goodness that comes from me.  I want to found in him being perfectly pure and totally good through faith alone.  I want to bring glory to you, Lord Jesus, by the life that I live for you, full on, all out, urgent, careful, obedient.  Lord, help me to live, teach, love and obey you with end times urgency and seriousness.  There isn’t a moment to waste. Repentance is not something I can put off until later.  Faith isn’t something I can wait on.  Fruit isn’t something I can wait to bear.  You are coming.  By faith, make me ready for that day. By your Spirit keep my faith living and active until that day when you come down from the clouds.  Amen.

Diligent Practice

2 Peter 1, Hosea 1-4

2 Peter 1:10 – Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

Lord God, you’re not done with me yet.  There is so much more that I need to add to my faith.  There are so many areas in which you want me to grow. And I need the reminder.  It’s easy, so easy, God, to fall into laxity in faith, to be content with the way things are.  It’s so easy to even think to myself that I’ve arrived at faith’s final destination.  But here through Peter you remind me that I have a long way to go.  You urge me to add virtue to faith, knowledge to virtue, self-control to knowledge and more.  You urge me to be transformed by the power of your Word and the working of your Spirit.  And this takes work.  It takes repentance.  It takes study.  It takes meditation.  It takes discipline and practice.  Lord God, help me to keep on working with your Word, to keep on hearing your Word.  Open my heart to keep on receiving the work of your Spirit, the chiseling work of your Word, and the refining work of life’s trials and troubles.  These are the way that you make my calling and election sure.  Keep me from becoming lax or complacent.  Keep me always working in and with your Word and in this way, Lord God, you will make my calling and election sure. Amen.

Surge!

Hebrews 13, Daniel 10-12

Daniel 11:32-33 – But the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.  And the wise among many people shall make many understand.

Lord Jesus, as we live in these last days, the days before you return to judge the world in justice, we see many terrible things on every side.  It’s everywhere and it’s terrifying.  As a Christian and as a church, it’s easy to sit back behind the doors of the church and just try to stay safe.  It’s easy to throw up our hands dejected because “the world won’t listen anyway.”  It’s easy to give up.  But that’s not what you’ve called us to do.  You’ve told us to stand firm and to take action. You’ve told us to take your word and to help people understand you and your Word.  Lord God, there are two options in front of me. 1) Shrink back and be destroyed.  But that’s not who we are.  We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve our souls (cf. Hebrews 10:39). 2) The other option is to stand our ground and even surge forward with the gospel of God and the sword of the Spirit.  This is what Daniel sees the church doing in the last days. He sees us surging forward to help people know God.  Lord God, help me to do this.  Help me to surge forward with boldness and with your gospel. Amen.

Whatever He Wants

Proverbs 29, Psalm 133-136

Psalm 135:6 – The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the sea and in all their depths.

God, your power and might are clearly on display throughout history.  Your mighty acts of righteousness and deliverance are there for all to see.  Even now, generations later, I still marvel at your creative and redemptive acts.  I am in awe.  And what strengthens me and give me hope is the truth, God, that you are still the same God. You are the God who parted the seas and rescued your peoples.  You are the God who created the heavens, the earth, the seas, and all that is in them.  And you are the God – for endless years the same – who does the same acts of deliverance and creation in my life.  And you God, are beholden to none.  You never have to ask permission or send it up the chain of command.  You are unlimited and unrestricted in the help that you want to give your people.  All of us, any of us – all the time!  God, sit on your throne and keep doing what you have always done.  Because, that Lord God is always good. Amen.

Don't Delay.

Hebrews 12, Daniel 7-9

Daniel 9:18-19 – O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our please before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Lord God, for the sake of your glory, for the sake of your Son’s name, for us your people who are daily at risk – rise up! Defend us.  Protect us.  Use us.  Do something for your people and for the people of this city who are lost in the darkness of unbelief.  Do what is good in your sight for your people.  Amen.

Better Country

Hebrews 11, Daniel 4-6

Hebrews 11:10 – He was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:16 – But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Lord God, I’ll admit it. We get to settled here.  We live in homes that are very permanent.  We could live in this home for the next 30 years or more and it wouldn’t even be a problem.  Our country has been very stable and settled. Even now, we are very secure and stable.  No one – or very few – is looking for a way out.  We pout down roots and make this place our home.  But what we miss out on is the longing for something better.  We fix our eyes and our hearts here instead of there.  And when these foundations are shaken, then we are shaken.  Lord Jesus, I am very thankful for the stable life that you have given my family and I.  I have lived in this city for a long time and I’m quite settled. Father, I recognize the danger.  I fix my eyes on my slab here on earth and forget about the city above, the city with foundations, the city that you have built.  Lord God, as I live here, set my mind on this city, the city you have built.  Set my heart on things above where you are seated at God’s right hand. Increase in me a longing and a hopeful expectation for my eternal home with you.  And, as I wait, help me to make the most of the time that I have. Not fixating on my earthly home, but storing up for myself a treasure in heaven. Amen.

NOT US. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO US.

Hebrews 10:19-39, Daniel 1-3

Hebrews 10:39 – But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Lord God, keep me from losing confidence in your gospel.  Keep me from losing confidence in its power to save me and to save other people.  Set me on fire to preach it, to teach it, and to make it known.  Let this gospel set your people on fire by the gospel and for the gospel.  Do your work in me by your gospel so that I am set on fire and set free to live for you. Fill me up! Stir in me a gospel centered, Christ centered, Spirit powered confidence.  Inspire me to use that gospel freely and liberally, reckless and frequently, even lavishly.  It is the one thing that has the power to save me and convert everyone else.  Amen.

No more sacrifices

Hebrews 10:1-18, Ezekiel 45-48

Hebrews 10:18 – Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Lord Jesus, it is part of my natural way of thinking to want to work it off, to try to make up for my sin, to make up for my weaknesses and sins. All of the sacrifices of Christian and Biblical times as well as non-Christian shows it all the time. That’s how we end up with animal and even human sacrifices. That’s why we sacrifice ourselves in work, in effort, in time, and energy; we’re trying to make up for things that we’ve done wrong. Today, our sacrifices look very different, but the goal is still the same. I even drift into this. If I put in the hours, if I make the sacrifices of time, of talent, of treasure, then I will make up and atone for sin. This is such a pressured way to live. This is certainly good news for me! Since I have the forgiveness of sins from Jesus, there is no longer any sacrifice or offering for sin. It has all been atoned for.  It has all been forgiven.  Already.  Done. Finished in the past. What a relief! Help me heart to rest in the finished sacrifice of Jesus.  Amen.

More Excellent.

Hebrews 8-9, Ezekiel 42-44

Hebrews 8:6 – As it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than the old, as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises.

Lord Jesus, teach me to depend on your grace and mercy above.  All that you have obtained for me is better and more excellent than I could ever achieve on my own, through any earthly work.  Teach me to give up my reliance on my own working and to trust in yours alone. It is better and more excellent than anything I could ever come up with.  Help me live this out as I live and work for you this week.  Amen.

Waiting.

Proverbs 28, Psalm 129-132

Psalm 130:5-6 – I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his Word I put my hope; my soul waits for the LORD more than watchman wait for the morning, more than watchman wait for the morning.

Lord God, I remember when I was waiting for my first child to be born, and then my second and then my third.  It was a joyful and expectant waiting, always hoping and always waiting with excitement for the time to come.  Those watchman waiting for morning must have felt the same way as they longed for sunrise to come.  Lord, I’m waiting for your mercy just like that.  I need your forgiveness and your grace like that every morning.  It can’t come often enough.  It can’t soon enough.  Lord, I’m waiting for your help just like that.  I need it every hour, and more often please.  I’m waiting for heaven, Lord, with the greatest hope.  I can’t wait for that.  I know there is still work to be done.  I know that you’re not done with me here yet.  But Lord, I can’t wait for that day when I’ll open my eyes in heaven.  Turn all my groaning into yearning, and all my sighing into praying, waiting, watching, longing for you, Lord.  Amen.