Archive for Devotional with Hymn

Ultimate Urgency

2019-03-01 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 22:6-16,
be ready

We are approaching the gate to eternity.

The end will come
quickly,
suddenly,
unpredictably,
irreversibly.

The fate of each person will be eternally fixed.
The righteous will go to
complete, unending union with
the Source of all good.
The wicked will go to
complete, unending separation from
the Source of all good.
Heaven or hell,
blessed or cursed,
inside or forever outside.

Jesus had seen
earth and heaven,
time and eternity.
He spoke of His return and the judgment
with absolute, ultimate urgency.
His coming again was
the overriding reality that should determine
our every decision,
our every priority.
He urged us,
implored us to
get ready and
stay ready.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Second Coming Hymn
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

The Fruits of Your Presence

2019-02-22 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 21:22 – 22:5,
the glories of heaven

Father, we will have no more need for a temple,
no need for a symbolic reminder of Your presence.
Your presence will be
full,
personal,
immediate.
We Your people will be Your temple.
You will live in and among us.

We will need no other sources of light.
You and Your Son will be the light, and
You will shine
within us and
in our midst.
We will glow and sparkle transparently
with the glory of Your presence.

Life will be
fresh,
fruitful,
abundant,
freely available,
constant,
forever.
We will live at its very source.
There will be no need to
horde it or
haul it in small doses.
It will flow in the water around us.
It will grow on all the trees.
Health and wholeness on every level will be
complete and
universal.

There will be no more curse,
no more shame.
Never again will we hang our heads and say,
“I am only human.”
Christ the Holy,
Christ the Glorious
is the new Adam, and
we are of His race.
We are His beautiful bride,
His chosen ones,
a blessing to all creation.

No longer will we be banished from the presence of the King.
We will see His face.
His name,
His character,
His glory
will radiate from us.
We will fully share
His life,
His authority,
His holy splendor
forever and ever.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: When Christ Our Healer’s Work Is Done
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

The Jewel

2019-02-15 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 21:9-21,
the New Jerusalem

Father, in the new creation
Your splendor in
Your Son
will be
the Light of the world and
the glory of all the universe.

We Your people,
redeemed from every age and nation,
will be fully formed as
Your temple,
Your dwelling place.
We will be expertly prepared,
pure and transparent, so that
Your blazing glory,
the light of all You are, will shine
within us and
out through us
unhindered.
Your presence within will make us
glow and
sparkle
like a precious jewel.
We will be perfectly fashioned to radiate
Your love,
Your life,
Your holiness,
Your boundless joy.

All the universe will bask in the beauty of
Your presence in
Your people.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Revelation 21
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Unbroken Oneness

2019-02-08 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 21:5-8,
all things new and God all-in-all

Father, in the new creation, the source of the entire
glorious transformation
will be Your
full,
immediate,
personal,
undiminished,
unveiled presence.
Your life force,
Your unbridled joy,
will make all things new.
You will be
the life,
the splendor, and
the holiness of the new heaven and earth.

We Your people will finally
see You and
live in You and
know You
for what You have always been:
the Beginning and the End,
the Source and the Goal.
All of life,
every breath, will be lived
from You,
through You, and
to You.

As Your true children,
all that is will be ours
in You.
But our greatest inheritance will be
You, Yourself.
As You are the joy, peace, and sufficiency of Your Son Jesus,
You will be our joy, peace, and sufficiency,
constantly, completely, forever.

Heaven will be
unbroken,
unclouded,
unhindered,
uninterrupted
oneness with You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Imagine Your Creator’s Breath
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Our Joining

2019-02-01 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 21:1-4,
the holy city and the new creation

O Father, the new creation!
How we long for it!
All the root of sin and
all the fruit of sin
will be gone
completely and forever.

But surely the crown of the new creation
will be the crown of the first creation:
Your people,
made in Your own image,
breath of Your own breath,
life of Your own life.
We who were once
stained by sin,
bound by death,
rebellious,
far away and
unfaithful,
will be the pure and glorious bride of
Your own dear Son.
As His bride, we will not arise from the earth but will
descend from heaven itself,
perfectly prepared and
beautifully adorned
by You.

In Jesus Christ, Your holy and loving Son, we will be
lovingly,
intimately joined with You
in perfect, constant, eternal union,
with all trace of separation gone forever.
One with You, Father.
One in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

O Lord, how we long for His return!
How we yearn for our joining!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Christ and His Bride
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

The Judgment

2019-01-25 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 20:11-15

Each of us will face Jesus Christ personally, and
He will judge us.
He knows what it is to be human.
He knows our temptations.
He knows the cost of our salvation and
what it provides.
He knows and understands each of us
in every detail,
with nothing hidden.

He will judge from His great white throne in
absolute authority and
absolute rightness.
His judgment will be final and
without appeal.

He will judge us according to our deeds.
We are saved by faith,
but our daily lives are the
indisputable evidence of our faith.
We will each be judged by our
living,
active
relationship with Jesus Christ.

Those found in Him will go on to an
even higher life.
Those separated from Him will be cast into an
even deeper death.

Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ.
Trust Him.
Follow Him.
Live as He lived.
Love as He loved.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: When I Face You, Lord
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Satan Bound

2019-01-18 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

Reflection on Revelation 20:1-10

Not everyone will agree with
this interpretation of the millennial reign.
I offer it for your consideration.

Has Satan been bound?
Is the millennial reign being fulfilled now,
in our day?
Don’t look at the broad, largely-unbelieving world.
As with all the other fruits of the Kingdom of God,
we see Satan’s binding best
in the Church and
in the lives of individual believers.

Wherever Jesus Christ is
trusted and
followed,
see the Kingdom come with power (Mark 9:1).
See how Elijah has restored all things (Matthew 17:11).
See Messiah received as a conquering hero (Luke 19:28-40).
See His temple
now cleansed,
now a house of prayer for all nations (Matthew 21:12-13).
See resurrection life in full bloom (Matthew 28:1-8).

See Satan bound (Revelation 20:1-3).
See his house being plundered (Matthew 12:29).
See him falling like lightning (Luke 10:18).
See him disarmed and cast out (Colossians 2:15; John 12:31).

See Christ living and moving among His obedient people.
The Kingdom of God has come in Jesus!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Have Come, God’s Living Temple
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Our Childish Perspective

2019-01-11 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 20:1-10,
the millennium 

Father, You think and act in eternity.
We live second-by-second in our little
time and
place.
Exactly when and
exactly how
will Your eternal actions
touch us?
That’s what we ask.
It’s all we want to know, and
we don’t always understand Your answer.
Our perspective is too
small and
self-centered.

But Your timing is always perfect.
Your ways are always right.
Your gifts are always flawless.

You never take short-cuts.
You never rush.
You patiently work our redemption till it is
full and complete,
perfect in every detail,
no matter how long it takes.

Father, we joyfully and gratefully
wait on You.
We relax in Your care,
trusting and
worshiping all the while.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Wait on the Lord
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

You Are in Full Control

2019-01-04 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 20:1-10,
Satan bound, freed, and cast into the lake of fire

Father, You bind and You loose the forces of evil
as suits Your purpose.
You give them just enough rope to
hang themselves.

When Jesus was being tortured and killed,
it seemed that evil had a free hand to do
anything it wished to the Son of God.
But even then, You were sending signals
reminding us that You were in full control:
Prophecies given long ago
were being fulfilled.
Pilate unwittingly testified to Christ
by his sign on the cross,
“Jesus the Nazarene,
the King of the Jews,”
The repentant thief acknowledged
who Jesus was.
As Your Son died,
You shrouded the world in darkness.
You tore the veil of the temple.
Even in those dark hours, You were still sovereign, loving God,
faithfully working Your loving will and
fulfilling Your timeless plan.

In the tumultuous last days,
when it seems that evil has a free hand to do
anything it wishes to Your dear children,
You will still be in full control.
You will still be sovereign God.
All will happen according to
Your loving plan.
You use even those who rebel against You
to bless Your people
perfectly and
completely.

Praise to You, sovereign Father!
We are always secure in Your care!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God Blesses His People
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

In the End

2018-12-28 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 19:17-21,
the doom of the beast

In the end,
the rage of hatred will be swept aside by
joyful, self-giving love.

All that is false will vanish completely in the
beautiful, blazing light of the truth.

Evil will be crushed under the full weight of
all that God is.

In this wicked world,
the slaughter of all wickedness will be
vast,
profound, and
sobering.
Its end will be
total,
final, and
forever.

Those who have separated themselves from
the Source of all good
will be left as
empty shells,
fit only for consuming flames.
All that is not of God will be
burned away.
All that remains will glow with
the radiant reality of
His immediate, glorious presence. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God Will Be Exalted
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

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