Revelation 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: One of a Kind

I have a sweater I never wear. It's too small.  Some of the buttons are missing, the thread is frazzled.  I should throw it away. I'll never wear it again. Logic says to clear out the space, get rid of the sweater. But love won't let me.
What's unusual about it? It wasn't produced on an assembly line. It's the creation of a devoted mother expressing her love. That sweater is unique. It's one of a kind.  It can't be replaced. And although the sweater has lost all of its use, it's lost none of its value.
That must have been what the psalmist had in mind when he wrote, "You knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13). You were knitted together. You aren't an accident. You weren't mass-produced. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth by the Master Craftsman.
From The Applause of Heaven

Revelation 11

New International Version (NIV)
The Two Witnesses

11 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.”[a] 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.

7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

11 But after the three and a half days the breath[b] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.

13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet

15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

“The kingdom of the world has become
    the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
    and he will reign for ever and ever.”

16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
    the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
    and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry,
    and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
    and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
    both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
Footnotes:

    Revelation 11:4 See Zech. 4:3,11,14.
    Revelation 11:11 Or Spirit (see Ezek. 37:5,14)


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: Ephesians 5:15-21

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Instructions for Christian Households

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Insight
In today’s passage, after exhorting the believers to “be very careful” (niv) in how they live and to be skillful in handling life (v.15), Paul went deeper by asking them to look at their lives and ask: Who or what is in control of my life and dictates how I live? Instead of allowing wine (or anything else) to control one’s mind and actions, believers are to let the Holy Spirit continually fill them so that He governs how they live (v.18; Prov. 20:1; 23:21,29-35). A life under the Spirit’s control is characterized by joy, gratitude, and the fear of the Lord (Eph. 5:19-20).

Better Than Planned

 January 28, 2014 — by Julie Ackerman Link

Giving thanks always for all things. —Ephesians 5:20



Interruptions are nothing new. Rarely does a day go by as planned.

Life is filled with inconveniences. Our plans are constantly thwarted by forces beyond our control. The list is long and ever-changing: Sickness. Conflict. Traffic jams. Forgetfulness. Appliance malfunctions. Rudeness. Laziness. Impatience. Incompetence.

What we cannot see, however, is the other side of inconvenience. We think it has no purpose other than to discourage us, make life more difficult, and thwart our plans. However, inconvenience could be God’s way of protecting us from some unseen danger, or it could be an opportunity to demonstrate God’s grace and forgiveness. It might be the start of something even better than we had planned. Or it could be a test to see how we respond to adversity. Whatever it is, even though we may not know God’s reason, we can be assured of His motive—to make us more like Jesus and to further His kingdom on earth.

To say that God’s followers throughout history have been “inconvenienced” would be an understatement. But God had a purpose. Knowing this, we can thank Him, being confident that He is giving us an opportunity to redeem the time (Eph. 5:16,20).
Lord, so often it’s the little things in life that get
to me, and there seem to be so many of them.
Whenever I’m tempted to lose my temper, blame
someone, or just give up, help me see You.
What happens to us is not nearly as important as what God does in us and through us.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 28, 2014

How Could Someone So Persecute Jesus!

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? —Acts 26:14

Are you determined to have your own way in living for God? We will never be free from this trap until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Stubbornness and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self-respect, we systematically disturb and grieve His Spirit. And when we finally understand that it is Jesus we have been persecuting all this time, it is the most crushing revelation ever.

Is the Word of God tremendously penetrating and sharp in me as I hand it on to you, or does my life betray the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the very spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of only one thing— a perfect oneness with the Father. And He tells us, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). All I do should be based on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that others may use me, go around me, or completely ignore me, but if I will submit to it for His sake, I will prevent Jesus Christ from being persecuted.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Unprotected Area Gets Burned - #7057

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Beware of the Florida sun! Especially if you're an office-white Northerner. Yeah, that's the voice of experience! I started out for a walk on a Florida beach before the burning hours, which is supposed to be like 10:00 a.m., right? That didn't help me because I can burn next to a 60-watt light bulb.
So I put lotion on the exposed spots. That is, most of the exposed spots. I didn't put any on my legs, and I was wearing shorts. I walked farther than I had planned. I was out later than I had planned, but I avoided a sunburn except for the legs, which one of my kids affectionately called "lobster legs" after that. I knew my legs where okay I went there, but we sure weren't getting along too well that night.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Unprotected Area Gets Burned."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we're in Ephesians 4:27. It's very plain and very simple, "Do not give the Devil a foothold." Now you combine that with 1 Peter 5:8 that says, "He's a roaring lion, looking for whom he may devour." And I think you should realize that the Devil is looking for a place to get into your heart, your mind, your life, your family. Don't give him one. Don't give the Devil, as one translation says, "a place to stand." In other words, don't leave a part of your life unguarded-unprotected, because you can be sure he will burn you there.
There's a wise old saint of another generation who told us that the Devil would use one of three loves to bring you down: The love of money, the love of power, or the love of women...or men perhaps in your case. Three ugly loves. Which one is the weakness Satan could most readily use in your life? I hope you know, because he sure does. He targets that. If he's attacking your weakness and you're not attacking it; if you're not acknowledging and protecting that weak area, you are headed for a fall.
The Bible seems to allude to those three loves in 1 John 2:16, "Everything in the world; the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father but from the world." Maybe you have a weakness in the area of money, or the things money can buy. That's your exposed area, and your enemy is going to take you out there. Or maybe you're vulnerable in the love of power; the desire to control, to be noticed, to be important, to manipulate, to get ahead. Satan knows that. So he's devising ways to use that to lead you into sin. Or maybe your weakness is with the opposite sex. You can be sure the Devil is pulling you toward a compromise in that area.
Whatever your exposed area, the enemy will try first to lure you into some small, seemingly harmless "this won't hurt" little compromise. And then step by step he will pull you slowly into sin you never dreamed you'd commit. So many people who have been there could look back and tell you, "Go back now when it's small. You have no idea where it's going to go." Don't give your enemy a place. Fight the very first little compromise. Protect yourself in that area where you're vulnerable. First you do it through regular clean up. Every morning you begin by confessing any sin in that area; any little beginnings of sin in that area, and clean up so you get started by repenting each morning in your area of weakness.
Then a regular checkup. You need someone who will regularly check up on your progress in winning over this thing; someone who will hold you accountable. And then a regular giving up; giving that area to the Lordship of Jesus Christ each new day, acknowledging you're powerless against it, and acknowledging Christ's power over it. That's like your spiritual suntan lotion; it's protection over the spot that might otherwise get burned.
I didn't have to get burned that day on the beach. There was protection available; I just left part of me unprotected. Don't make that mistake with the vulnerable spot in your life. What you surrender to Jesus, He'll protect. And what Jesus' protects, Satan cannot burn.