Truth and consequences

Saturday, December 22, 2012
Devotions: Ps 55, 138, 139; Zech 8:9-17; Rev 6:1-17; Mt 25:31-46

Lord, hear my prayer; please answer, God!  The enemy's noise distracts me, and I need to focus.  My heart is in tumult; I tremble, and I'd like to run and hide.  Confuse and destroy the plans of all enemies.  And sustain me from the tension with others among Your community.  Only God will save me, and I focus my attention on Your grace, Lord!  Let everyone cast your burdens on YHWH; He won't let His righteous ones be moved or shaken.  I will trust, my God, in You and You alone! 

Lord, I thank You with my whole heart; I praise You openly, in the sight of the idols and idolaters.  Thanks for Your steadfast love; great is YHWH's glory!  I walk by Your grace through the troubles the life brings upon me.  Do not forsake Your handiwork!  You have searched me; You know me completely--past, present and future.  I cannot escape You, and that gives me great comfort.  Your thoughts amaze and thrill me, God.  So I cast myself on Your mercy, and look for Your deliverance at every moment.

YHWH Sabaoth says this: Let your hands be strong, all who have heard the words of My prophets.  When humans began to consider building a temple to Me, wage labor emerged; social conflict flared high, and I set every man against his neighbors.  But now I will deal with the surviving remnant differently.  Peace will be sown; there will be bountiful harvests in vineyard and field; and the remnant of My people will be safe and prosperous.  You will be a blessing to all; but let your hands be strong!  Again, YHWH Sabaoth says:  When your ancestors provoked Me to wrath, I did not let up on them; now I Am again intended to do good to My people.  So speak truth to one another; render fair judgments; determine to do good, not evil; love no false oath--for I hate all these things, says YHWH.  And God's word came to Zechariah, who prophesied:  All the annual feasts--in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months, will be times of joy and gladness, feasted cheerfully.  So love truth and peace!

In his apocalyptic vision, John saw the Lamb begin to open the seven seals on God's scroll.  As He did this, one of the four living creatures spoke with a voice like thunder: 'Come!'  And there appeared a white horse and rider with bow and crown, and he was sent forth to conquer.  At the second seal, the second creature proclaimed, 'Come!' And out came a red horse; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that mortals would kill one another; he was given a great sword.  At the third seal, the third creature cried, 'Come!'  And forth came a black horse; its rider held a balance in his hand.  A voice spoke as if from the midst of the four living creatures: 'A quart of wheat for a day's wage, and three quarts of barley; but do not harm the oil and wine!'  When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, the fourth creature said, 'Come!'  And there appealed a ghastly pale horse, ridden by Death, and Hades followed him, and they were given power to kill a fourth of the earth with sword and famine and pestilence and by wild beasts.  At the opening of the fifth seal, John noticed under the heavenly altar the souls of all who had been martyred for God's word and the witness they bore; and these cried out to God: 'O Sovereign Lord, holy and true: how long before You judge and avenge our blood on those living on the earth?'  Each then received a white robe; they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their fellowship should be completed, who were to die as martyrs, as they had done.  When the Lamb opened the sixth seal, a great earthquake came, and the sun turned black as sackcloth, and the full moon became like blood, and starts fell to earth like figs shaken by a gale.  The sky vanished like a scroll rolled up, and every mountain and islad were displaced. And the mighty of earth--great men, kings, generals, the rich and strong--and all others, slave and free--hid in caves and among the mountain crags, calling on the mountains and rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the face of Him Who Is seated on the throne and from the wrath of othe Lamb: 'For who can withstand the day of their wrath, which now has come?' 

Jesus taught: When the Son of man comes in His glory, with all the angels with Him, He will sit upon His glorious throne.  Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats--with the sheep at His right hand, and the goats to His left.  And the King will say to those at His right, 'Come, you whom My Father has blessed: inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'  They asked, 'When did we do all these things, Lord?' And He told them, 'Whenever you did these things to one of the least of My brothers and sisters, you did it to Me.'  And then He spoke to those on His left: 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you did not feed Me; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  The cursed answered, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we did not minister to You?'  And He will answer them:  'Truly I tell you, as you did not minister to one of the least of these, you did not minister to Me.'  And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.