Take refuge now!

Thursday, November 8, 2012


Devotions: Ps 71, 74; Sir 44:1-15; Rev 16:12-21; Lk 13:18-30

Lord, I take my refuge in You; don't let me be put to shame Be my Rock of refuge and rescue me from the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. I have been depending on You all my life, and my heart and mouth are filled with praise for Your holy love and perfect goodness. Glory to You, Lord God. Keep me in my old age, and augment my flagging strength, for I am the target of many darts. Put my accusers and enemies to flight and to shame, I pray. You Are great, and You do great things, YHWH! You have let me encounter many sore troubles; revive me yet again, Father, and I will sing Your praises with all my might; my voice will speak of your righteous help all day long, as You put to disgrace those who seek to hurt me. Do not cast me aside; consider the dishonor those do who burn Your sanctuaries and assault Your people. How long will You allow the foes to scoff? Crush all enemies, Lord; vengeance is Yours alone; You alone are Judge. Have regard for Your covenant, and drive out the darkness and evil from our land. Lift up the downtrodden, and help the poor and needy to praise Your holy name. Amen!

Let us now praise famous men, to whom YHWH has apportioned responsibility and success—rulers, people of power, the wise, great teachers, skilled musicians and writers, the greatly compassionate, those entrusted with wealth as benefactors of the community. Some have had worldly renown, and some died in obscurity—yet all have done God's will and each has uniquely benefited God's people. YHWH will not forget their righteous deeds, and will visit prosperity on their posterity and will bestow honor in eternal life. People will yet declare their wisdom, and the assembly will proclaim their praise and worthy servants of the all-worthy God.

The seven angels pour out on earth the seven bowls of God's wrath: Foul and evil sores on all who bear the mark of the beast and who worship its image; stagnant blood that kills all life in the seas; blood that pollutes the rivers and fountains on the earth—in payment for the shed blood of God's prophets and saints; scorching radiation that burns the wicked; cruel darkness over the dominions of the best, where mortals gnaw their tongues, curse God for their pain, and will not repent and glorify the Holy One. The sixth angel pours out his bowl on the Euphrates, and dries it up, clearing the way for rulers from the east; and three wicked frog spirits emerge from the maws of the dragon and the beast and the false prophet—the unholy triad of the apocalypse; these are demonic spirits that assemble secular rulers from across the planet to assemble for battle on the great Day of God the Almighty—and they will be gathered at Armageddon—the Hill of Megiddo in Galilee. Finally, the seventh angel pours out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice from the heavenly temple declares: 'It is done!' Then come flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a mighty earthquake, greater than any before. And the great city falls into three fragments, and the cities of the nations fall, and God ponders Babylon, and forces her to drain the cup of the fury of His wrath. And every body of land flees away; no mountain could be found; hundred-weight hailstones crush mortals, until they curse God for the plague of hail, so awesome and terrifying.

Jesus was teaching: 'What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed; a man takes it and sows it in his garden; and it grows to be a great shrub, and the birds of the air next in its branches. And it is like leaven which a woman kneaded into three measures of flour until all was leavened' And He went His way through the towns and villages, teaching as He journeyed toward Jerusalem Someone asked Jesus, 'Lord will those who are saved be few?' And He replied, 'Strive to enter by the narrow door; I tell you the truth: many will seek to enter, but will fail. Once the householder has closed the door, no others will go in. They may cry out and beg admission, but He will answer, “I don't know where you come from; depart from Me, workers of iniquity!” Those excluded will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in God's kingdom, but you who deny or delay will be thrust out. Mortals will come form east and west and north and south to sit at table in God's kingdom. Notice this: some now last will then be first, and some who are first will then be last.'