Hear. Heed. Hang on.

Daily Reading:  Revelation 12-13

Scripture Focus: If anyone has an ear, let him hear: If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. (Revelation 13.9-10)

Devotional Thought: In Revelation 13, there is a beast who has authority over the nations of the earth.  This beast will force all whose names are not written in the Book of Life to worship him.  John issued a threefold warning to the church:

Hear.  "If anyone has an ear, let him hear."  I watched with dismay as the confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh progressed.  Or, should I say did not progress?  Those who had made up their minds before the first hearing did everything in their power not to hear what he had to say.  And they wanted to prevent anyone else from hearing it, too.  Satan uses the same strategy - silence the truth.  The truth is available to us, if we would but hear.  Our culture has turned a deaf ear to God and we will pay the price for it.  Worse yet, I fear that there are those in the church who have tuned God out, not wanting to face the plain truth of Scripture.  They would rather be in the dark and do what they want!

Heed.  "With the sword must he be slain."  Those who refuse to heed what they hear from God and his Word, face a judgment.  Taken captive by their own lusts, these rejecters of God will receive the due consequences of their decisions.    We cannot be simply hearers of the Word, we must be doers of the Word! (James 1.22)

Hang on. "Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints."  You've heard the expression, "That's why they play the game."  The outcome of the sporting events is not predetermined.  They play to see who wins.  In the same way, the saints have to endure and believe to the end.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for giving me spiritual ears.  Help me to hear.  Thank you for giving me truth.  Help me to heed it.  Thank you for giving me the ability to hang on.  Help me to do so in your power and by your grace.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day:  10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, 11 for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. 13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. 15 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! 16 For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. (Psalms 107:10-16)