Becky Austin

God: Always In Control (Revelation 9)

11:30 AM

 


Revelation 9


Seventh Seal, Trumpet Judgements 5-6. 


This is a frightening chapter of events to come in the Tribulation. There are many variations that you can find about the interpretations of the details of this chapter, but the overall picture is one of torment, fear, and despair for those who experience its sufferings.  But there are 2 things to be comforted by:
1. God is in control.

2  God protects the believer.


In the opening verse, there is a fallen star who is given a key. Having a key = being given authority or control. Because this authority is given by God, God is ultimately controlling the parameters. There is a plague of locusts - whether literal or symbolic, this plague of locusts will bring much destruction and suffering to mankind. But God sets limits.

“They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” (v 4)


“They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes.” (v 5)


Notice that God exempts those who have his seal upon them. Believers are spared this wrath of God that is put upon this earth with the purpose of impacting those who refuse to turn from evil. 


The next event to follow, takes on an even grander scale of destruction upon mankind. And yet, God is still calling the shots.

“It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.”  (v‭ 14-15)


There are many who want to take comfort that this world will just continue as is, with all of its familiarity and comforts. But, just as we have experienced on a small scale with the pandemic, our worlds can suddenly turn upside down and everything we know can become strange and uncertain. The Bible is full of stories of plagues and the end times will certainly have their share. These released angels shall wipe out a third of the population with plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur.


You think that such catastrophic events would get one’s attention and make a heart changing impact. But sadly, this is not the case. God has given mankind much time and many opportunities to see the error of living in sin and corruption but there are going to be those that will not be repentant to the bitter end. 

“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (v 20-21)


I still see the love of God even in these harsh events. God’s ultimate desire is that no man perish.  This is stated in many places in the Bible but is very heartfelt in the plea of God in Ezekiel. “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭33:11‬ ‭


We all have a choice: choose God your Creator who loves you completely or reject God and embrace the destructive forces of sin. May we think on these future events and be grateful this wrath is not for us and may we be burdened to see souls saved. May we also be comforted that when the world seems chaotic, sin abounds and there is much uncertainty....God is ultimately calling the shots and always in control of our future. 


Acts 16:22-30

Trials & Tribulations {Acts 16}

5:12 AM


Friday March 6th-Walking in Wisdom!

Acts 16:22-30 

Image result for acts 16:22-30

Trials and Tribulations! 
How do you react when going through them?  We probably will never experience what the disciples went through, but we can be encouraged when we go through our own struggles.    
Can you imagine having your clothes torn off of you and then beaten with rods?  After much affliction and blows to their bodies they were then thrown into the inner prison with their feet in stocks. [Acts 22-23] 
I am sure they must have felt the pain of what they went through.  But, what were they doing around midnight?  There were praying and singing hymns of PRAISE to God.  Those around them got the benefit of hearing this and they whether they liked it or not got to listen to it.  [:25]
When we are rejoicing in the Lord, it is far reaching in our lives to those around us.

Image result for acts 16:25

Even there in the prison God was with Paul and Silas.  There is nowhere that you can go that God is not there.
[Psalm 139:7-12]
Do you know someone who seems at peace and calm through their storms of life? 
For me it was Corrie Ten Boom, [The Hiding Place] and Elizabeth Eliot [Through Gates of Splendor]. 
They  encouraged me when I first became a Christian.  How did they do that?  I believe that spending time each day with the Lord in His word and praying and praising Him is the answer.  The more time you spend with Him the more you will get to know Him and know who you are in Him. 
I encourage you to read Isaiah 53 and see what Jesus has done for you. 

Image result for isaiah 53




blessings!
Lyn

Angie Benjamin

When life gets too tough {Exodus 12:31-15:21}

1:55 AM



In today's reading we see God leading the Israelites through the wilderness. 

Haven't you felt as the Israelites in certain seasons of your life? Have you ever felt like you were going through a desert season? through a valley? or going around in circles?

We live in a fallen world...corrupted and evil, and in it's in those trials and tribulations that if we allow God to work in us, He'll show us who He is and what He's capable of doing...If we allow Him to go with us through "the valleys" or "deserts" He can certainly do something special in us.

How could we possibly learn to depend on Him if everything in our lives goes smooth, so smooth that we could handle everything by ourselves?

God led the children of Israel through the long and difficult way through the desert in order to prepare them and strengthen them for the battles they will inevitably face in possessing the promised land.

If the way to the promised land had been smooth, by the time they arrived they would have seen their enemy and run back to Egypt and become enslaved again in their former bondage...instead, through the trials, God taught them Who He was and that they could depend on Him to fight their battles.

Many people, mistakenly believe that becoming a child of God automatically takes you to into the Promised Land...that they will never fight battles! but that's not the case! After the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and went in to possess the land of promise, they fought one battle after another.

But it's only when they learned to fight in God's strength and under His direction that they won their battles!



Life will get tough from time to time, please do not back down just because "it gets hard", instead spend more time with Him, lean more on Him and receive more grace from Him.

Receive His grace today, which is the power of God working in you and through you to do the things you cannot do on your own.

Do not allow satan to defeat you in your mind. Do not let your mind give up! Do not lose heart and do not grow weary nor faint! Rest assured that wherever God may lead you,  He is able to keep you. He'll never allow more to come to you than you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).

You do not have to live in constant struggle if you learn to continually lean on Him for the strength you need!




End of Times

The Preliminaries before the Last Seven Plagues {Revelations 15}

12:00 AM






As I researched these last few chapters I thought back to my days of childbirth and thought it all seemed very similar, though I couldn’t find any “male” theologian to admit to this! But then the Lord reminded me that He, Himself likened the time of tribulation to labor pains in Matthew 24:8, "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”

During the time I was having my children, natural childbirth was very popular and I had decided early on that I wanted to be awake and alert to witness my children first come into the world! My labors were longer than most women, but through breathing techniques and such, I was able to sail through much of it until the final stage of “transition” began. In transition the contractions begin coming one on top of the other with really no break in between and they are far more intense; preparing my body to deliver some of the most precious gifts I’ve ever been given! Fortunately, for women enduring natural childbirth, this part of labor is shortened, and just when I thought I couldn’t endure anymore, it was time for my children to be born!

What is about to take place in chapter 16 with the seven angels spilling the seven last plagues from the golden bowls onto the world will be exactly like the transition stage of a women’s labor; the plagues will come quicker, be more intense, but the duration will be shorten, and just when there seems no one will be able to endure it any longer, Jesus will come to the rescue for the final battle!

Chapter 15 gives a glimpse of heaven and God’s glory and wrath just prior to the final stage of the tribulation.

First, the Period of Waiting (15:1-4):
Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3 And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the nations!
4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”


            1.  Seven angels carrying seven bowls full of judgment. I found it interesting that the only other time we see seven golden bowls was in Revelations chapter 5 that I wrote on a few weeks ago. In that chapter the seven golden bowls were, “full of fragrant incense, which are the prayers of the saints”. (5:8). I haven’t been able to read anything about the significance of both sets of bowls yet, but I thought it was worth noting.

            2.  A gracious God whose wrath is about to be poured out on the world. His patience and mercy has come to an end.

            3.  The tribulation saints; those who did not bow down to the beast are standing on a sea of glass (God’s Word) and fire (judgment) and they begin to sing the Song of Moses in Ex. 15 - A Song of Physical Redemption and The Song of The Lamb - A Song of Spiritual  Redemption.  They’re singing of God's greatness, goodness and His glory!

Second, A Place of Worship (15:5-8):

 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.



1.  The angels come from the very presence of God! They are dresses in linen which speaks of holiness, purity and divine righteousness. They are also girded with a gold sash, which speaks of divine restraint.  I found it so interesting that they stepped from the place of absolute holiness to execute judgment upon the place of absolute wickedness and rebellion.
           
2. One of the Four Beasts; the cherubim who guarded the holiness of God, and because they’ve represented the totality of God's creation, it seems fitting that one should be involved in the redemption of God’s creation (Rom. 8:19-21) 

3. I found it very interesting that the way into God is barred during this time as His wrath is poured out against a world that has rejected Him and His Son Jesus.  I can’t say for sure why this occurs, but I did think of several times in the Old Testament when God’s presence is described as a cloud filling the temple. (2 Chron 5:14; 7:1; 1 Kings 8:11; Ezekiel 43)

I remember while in the transition period of labor actually asking my husband if we could just forget about all this and go home, as if that were possible! (You tend to say things you don’t mean during the transitional period J) And just as it was too late to turn back then, it’s too late to stop the outcome of all God has planned, though we can make sure we will be spared from God’s wrath now through the sacrifice Jesus has already made on our behalf. His blood has opened a way for us into the very presence and heart of God. 

And one day all who have accepted the gift of His sacrifice for us, will celebrate forever!