Focus

Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word.Slow your breathing and become aware of the taking in and letting out of your breath. Focus on putting things aside so you will be open to what God is saying to you today.

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Read

Revelation 14:12-20

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”

Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.

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Reflect

All was fine until suddenly it wasn’t. I was walking up our driveway to get the mail. Ice, like a thick sheet of plastic wrap, covered everything. The asphalt looked glossy, and I was making my way forward without lifting my feet. Then my feet decided to do their own thing. I discovered that while ice is slick, shiny and cold, it doesn’t have any shock-absorbing properties.

The world’s end will come even more suddenly. God’s judgment is unstoppable and unavoidable. Therefore, now is the time to get wise about our attitudes and behaviors. Now is the time to “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” If you are already doing so, then endure! And if not, get right with God this moment because there will be no delay between the command to reap and the swinging of the sickle.

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Pray

Lord of the harvest, we ask that You prepare us for it. Grant us opportunity, energy, and wisdom to tell of Your love and the salvation found in Jesus Christ. Let us hold fast to our faith and the ministry you have entrusted to us so that many, many others would also be ready to stand before You.

Go with God!