Tag: gospel good news

The Eternal Good News

Revelation 14

Tuesday, November 29, 2022


There is a lot happening in Chapter 14 – including the introduction to the 144,000 – the 3 angels and their messages – and the harvest. 

The 144,000 with God’s and Christ’s names on their forehead – coming after the beast’s mark in the last chapter – we see a group of the faithful that have remained pure to God and taken His mark. 

Before we get to the messages of the angels, this stuck out to me:

6 And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

We see the eternal gospel (good news) – the message of love, hope and salvation all found in the promise of God’s kingdom. This angel has the responsibility to make sure that everyone hears this truth. No one is forced to accept this gospel but everyone gets the opportunity to hear it and make a choice. 

It sounds like the commission that Christ left his disciples and then they have passed this responsibility down through the church and us. It will ultimately be fulfilled through our preaching and teaching and in entirety by one of God’s messengers. 

We have a role in this. Those that have received this truth are charged to proclaim it. Through what we say and do, our life is a proclamation to those who may not know the truth that Christ taught, lived and promised. 

The message of the angels was really for those that have not accepted this truth – fear God, evil has lost and those of you that joined the beast have picked the wrong team. Times up!

After these messages we see another small note added by John for the faithful before God’s wrath:

12 This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus.

The chapter ends with a gruesome depiction of God’s wrath through a harvest.

Further motivation to choose the right team. If you have been following these devotions, you have heard the eternal Gospel – have you accepted and further began proclaiming it?

-John Wincapaw

Reflection Questions

  1. What evidence do you have of what team is the right team?
  2. What motivates you most to be actively choosing the right team?
  3. How can you share the eternal good news this week?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Rejoice in the Lord, Always

Philippians 4 – Friday 

“TGIF”. Most people in our culture seem to only be happy when they are NOT working, when their weekend has started, or it is their day off. They long for the precious moments where they are not bound to the clock. It’s in our pop culture. Whether it is some teen-idol that is singing about what happened last Friday or whether we are all working for the weekend, many people think happiness is a 3-day-a-week affair. As Christians, maybe we think life is pretty dull until Sunday rolls around. That is the day where I get to be happy. 

However, that’s not what Paul wants for the Philippians. He says “Rejoice in the Lord, always!” It is a command. “REJOICE!” Maybe we think it’s a little strange for Paul to give a command to rejoice. “You better rejoice or else!” But that is not his point at all. Paul knows that if we truly understand the gospel we would see it for what it is… good news! 

Look at what is said in the following verses. 

The Lord is near.(4:5) Christ is coming soon to reward those whom he has saved. That is cause to rejoice!

God hears your prayers and supplications. (4:6) God is near and cares for our needs. That is cause to rejoice!

God will give us peace to protect our hearts and mind in the middle of trouble. (4:7) That is cause to rejoice!

The peace of God will be with us because the God of peace will be with us (4:9). That is cause to rejoice!

When you focus on the true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, reputably good, excellent, and praiseworthy, you are dwelling on good things that come from a good God. Every one of them is a cause to rejoice!

God is not a God of sorrow and somberness at all times. It is true he is a serious God. We should never take him flippantly or lightly, and he calls sins out when and where he sees them. But he is a God of joy, gladness, drinking deeply in the good things of this world. He rests in a world that he called very good. (Genesis 1). Therefore, God wants his creatures to rejoice to the praise of his glory. 

May this shorter devotion push you to praise God today, my brothers and sisters. 

May you focus on the true and good things, and may they cause you to rejoice. 

May you rejoice in the God of peace. 

May you rejoice that the Lord is near. 

May you rejoice, always. Again I will say it, rejoice!

-Jake Ballard

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading passages at BibleGateway.com here – Isaiah 15-16 and Colossians 1 (Devotions are focusing on joy/Philippians this week, but charge on with your reading.)

2021-seekgrowlove-bible-reading-plan-1Download

“Philemon: Itty Bitty Book…Phenomenal Cosmic Message”

Daily Reading: Colossians 1-4; Philemon

The best movies are more than a fun way to spend a couple of hours, they leave us with something. And a film doesn’t have to be deep and dramatic to be able to find lessons in it. Analogies are everywhere. Learning can come from many places.

Our devotional trailer opens on a fleeing man, Onesimus, with the voiceover telling us, “Under Roman law, there were no limits to the punishment a slave master could inflict on a runaway slave….but sometimes redemption comes when we least expect it. ”

Onesimus somehow found Paul, and over time he grew a faith…and a friend, it seems. At some point, Paul sent a letter to Onesimus’ former owner, telling him he was sending the slave back to his previous master.

“ I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you… If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.”

Charge it to me.

Do you see how Paul is mirroring the story of the cross here?

In this story we are Onesimus. Like him, each of us deserves punishment. We owe a debt. And like him, someone offered to take the punishment on our behalf, to pay our debt.

Someone has given us a second chance.

Maybe you’ve never really been in the position of needing a true second chance. Or maybe you have and you’ve just forgotten how demeaning and low it can feel. The graciousness of Paul, to speak of Onesimus as ‘my son’, ‘my very heart’, and ‘a dear brother’ must have allowed Onesimus to hold his head high as he returned to his former home.

The account of Onesimus and Philemon may be a short one, but the way that Paul used this opportunity to illustrate the gospel story is pure genius.

Maybe, in Onesimus, Paul wanted each of us to know that we are beloved. That we are worth saving. We are worth sacrificing for.

Maybe he’s telling us that knowing our true value allows us to hold our heads high as we live in our ‘former home’ until our forever home is ready for us. We are Abba’s children. We are Christ’s dear brothers and sisters.

This would be one movie that would pack an emotional punch, and you could be sure you’d leave the theater changed…if you were really paying attention.

And speaking of paying attention—the next time you are unsure of your standing, remember that you have a letter in your pocket that says, “Charge it to me,” and lift your head a little.

-Susan Landry

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to here at BibleGateway – Colossians 1-4 and the itty bitty book of Philemon

Tomorrow we will read the book of Ephesians.

2020 Chronological Bible Reading PlanDownload
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