Hope on Judgment Day

Today’s Reading:

• Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-17; Matthew 11:1-19; Luke 7:18-35; Matthew 11:20-30; Luke 7:36-50

Verse(s) to Ponder:

• Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show remorse. I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you.” Matthew 11:20-22, New Living Translation

Thoughts:

Is God unfair?

Some people are born into Christian communities and hear God’s Word from a young age; others are born into communities that worship false gods. When Judgment Day comes, will God punish the people who had little to no chance to hear about Him just because of their circumstances?

All around the world, some people get to experience God’s miracles and some see visions sent from heaven; others feel like they would like to believe in God, but because they have never experienced this kind of evidence, they aren’t convinced that any of the stories about miracles and visions are true. No one they know has ever seen anything truly miraculous. When Judgment Day comes, will God judge the people who never saw a miracle on the same standards as those who did, as though they had the same opportunity to understand His wonderful nature?

No. Not according to what Jesus says in Matthew 11:20-22.

Jesus performed a number of miracles in some places, and yet many of the people who experienced His miracles did not renounce their sins and turn to God. I can’t even comprehend why they would not have responded to Jesus after seeing His miracles, but they didn’t (which is a sobering reminder that our hearts are more rebellious than we would like to admit, and that even those of us who claim that we would believe in Jesus if He would only give us more evidence may be deceiving ourselves). And Jesus compares them to others, essentially saying that they have been given an advantage and have done nothing with it.

But what about all the places where Jesus performed no miracles? Jesus says that they will be better off on Judgment Day. How much better off? I don’t know for sure. But this gives me a lot of hope for people who respond to whatever evidence God has placed in their lives and follow Jesus to the extent that they know about Him. Why does this give me hope for them? It gives me hope for them because Jesus didn’t have to perform miracles in other places to know how they would have responded. Jesus knows people’s hearts well enough for His knowledge of our hearts’ responses and their “would have responded if” responses to be taken into account on Judgment Day.

So how does this change anything for me? Actions-wise, it doesn’t. I need to be a faithful witness, no matter what. I can’t just sit back and avoid witnessing “because I know that Jesus is fair and trust that He knows who would have believed in Him if they had heard.” Too many passages in His Word remind us that our responsibility to introduce people to Jesus is a serious responsibility with serious consequences for the people around us. But on the other hand, I can walk through life with hope for the people who seem to be the most disadvantaged when it comes to opportunities to know Jesus. Jesus knows their circumstances, and He knows their hearts, and on Judgment Day, it’s going to make a difference for them.

And I can trust Him to do what’s right. I love hope.

Note: I have obviously been less than consistent about posting devotional thoughts for a while now, so I’m not going to claim that I’ll be consistent for the next few months, or that the blog will be centered around a certain theme (it was supposed to deal with faith-stretching verses this year). I just hope that these thoughts are still an encouragement to you, whenever they come your way.

Prayer-Fueled Wrath

ALL – Psalm 136:1-26
ALL – Proverbs 30:7-9
OT – Nahum 1:1-3:19
NT – Revelation 8:1-13

Interesting passage for the day: And the perfume of the incense mixed with prayers ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. Then the angel filled the censer with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed and rumbled, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake. – Revelation 8:4-5, The Living Bible

Thought: Often when I wake up in the morning, part of my prayers to God include these lines from the Lord’s (or disciples’) prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Those prayers are beginning to be answered. In the hearts, souls, minds and strength of thousands upon thousands and even millions upon millions of people, our Father’s name has begun to be reverenced, His kingdom has come, and His will is being done.

But when will these prayers be answered fully? Why are some of our prayers going unanswered? Why do men and women get away with wickedness and evil? Where are all our prayers (and I’m talking about the godly ones, not the foolish and selfish prayers) going?

In Revelation, we see that they are being stored up to be poured out before God’s throne, mixed with incense. Our prayers for God’s righteousness to overwhelm the wickedness around us and finally reign supreme will be brought before God and presented as an offering that pleases Him. And in imagery that cannot help but communicate the connection between our prayers and God’s wrath on our rebellious world, the very censer that was once the container of our prayers, now emptied before God, becomes the tool by which fire from heaven is poured down upon this sinful earth in wrath.

Our prayers matter. God hears them. He sees our suffering. He knows our misery. He hears our sobs. He hates the injustice, oppression and wickedness that we endure. As we cry out to Him through His pure and wonderful Son Jesus Christ, God is preparing to act. He will save us completely and finally from the pains of this life, and His answer to our prayers will be a wrath against sin that makes us wonder why we ever doubted that God cares about our troubles. He cares, and in His love for us, He will respond to our prayers in His wrath.

Question: Instead of asking what you pray for, I’d like to ask: What do you pray against? Have you grown impatient because God hasn’t dealt with it the way you wanted Him to deal with it yet? When you read Revelation 8 and see the results of your prayers, are you willing to wait for God’s timing?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Nothing Changes?

ALL – Psalm 119:129-152
ALL – Proverbs 28:21-22
OT – Daniel 6:1-28
NT – 2 Peter 3:1-18

Interesting passage for the day: This will be their line of argument: “So Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he ? He’ll never come! Why, as far back as anyone can remember everything has remained exactly as it was since the first day of creation.” – 2 Peter 3:4, The Living Bible

Thought: We’re on the brink of 2011. And Jesus still hasn’t returned. Our expectation for His return is getting laughed at more and more in this modern/post-modern world, especially as the news highlights various “prophetic” claims to know the date of Jesus’ return. Of course, each date flies right by with no fulfillment.

Generations of Christians have passed away, waiting for our Lord’s return. It can be easy to question His promises, and it’s certainly tempting to believe scientists, philosophers and other scholars who announce to us that everything has simply followed the earth’s natural processes pretty much forever—since whenever the world was formed, anyways (and not by God, they say).

I love how the next verse begins in 2 Peter: “They deliberately forget this fact…” Peter mentions one unnatural change the world went through: the flood. When God sent His flood on the earth to cover the whole globe, that was a supernatural act of judgment. Secular people don’t want to believe it ever happened.

Here’s another event they deny: the Son of God’s incarnation, life, death and resurrection. The way that God entered human history certainly didn’t seem to change the world on the outside. Jesus looked like any other man, and His death looked like any other crucifixion. But His death was a history-changer, another of God’s acts of judgment against sin. The flood destroyed all humanity with our sins, except for Noah and his seven family members. But it could not conquer sin, because Noah himself was not pure. But Jesus’ death destroyed and judged all sin while leaving men and women around the world untouched—except for Jesus Himself, who died for us. Yes, we still experience sin today, but the cross was Part 1 of God’s judgment on sin, removing sin from everyone who trusts in Jesus without removing us from life. That’s a pretty significant historical change that those without faith deliberately forget.

And why do they forget it? Because they want to continue in their sins without remember Part 2 of God’s judgment on sin, when Jesus comes back. On that day, it will again be like the flood. God will send a flood of fire as a judgment to finally exterminate sin from among all the living. The fire will consume all sinners. Men and women will survive, but not sinners. The only survivors will be those whose sins were judged when Jesus died on the cross, those who will be transformed when Jesus returns so that not even a trace of sin remains in them. There will be no one to carry sin forward into the new creation at all.

Jesus is coming back. For sure. History has changed. All is not the same as it has always been. God has interacted with men. God has judged our sins before, and He’s planning one more major act of earthly judgment. Let’s not deliberately forget anything God tells us. Let’s listen. And let’s live accordingly.

Question: Does Jesus’ promised return scare you? Delight you? Trouble you? Bore you? How is your life different because Jesus has promised to return? If your life’s not different, why not?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

A Dying Man’s Last Hope

ALL – Psalm 104:1-24
ALL – Proverbs 14:20-21
OT – Judges 17:1-18:31
NT – John 3:1-21

Interesting passage for the day: There is no eternal doom awaiting those who trust him to save them. But those who don’t trust him have already been tried and condemned for not believing in the only Son of God. – John 3:18, The Living Bible

Thought: People think they have time to spare before Judgment Day arrives, but John writes that Judgment Day has already arrived. People are already moving toward death. If any unbeliever thinks that he has not yet chosen to walk the path of death, he fools himself—but not God. Jesus is not one of a living man’s options; Jesus is a dying man’s last hope. Thank God that Jesus is our true hope!

Question: Whether you believe this verse or not, would this verse classify you as condemned, or as someone who faces “no eternal doom”? What do you like or dislike about your classification?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz. The readings for the rest of the week are:

May 4, 2010

ALL – Psalm 104:24-35
ALL – Proverbs 14:22-24
OT – Judges 19:1-20:48
NT – John 3:22-4:3

May 5, 2010

ALL – Psalm 105:1-15
ALL – Proverbs 14:24
OT – Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22
NT – John 4:4-42

May 6, 2010

ALL – Psalm 105:16-36
ALL – Proverbs 14:26-27
OT – Ruth 2:1-4:22
NT – John 4:43-54

May 7, 2010

ALL – Psalm 105:37-45
ALL – Proverbs 14:28-29
OT – 1 Samuel 1:1-2:21
NT – John 5:1-23

May 8, 2010

ALL – Psalm 106:1-12
ALL – Proverbs 14:30-31
OT – 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22
NT – John 5:24-47

May 9, 2010

ALL – Psalm 106:13-31
ALL – Proverbs 14:32-33
OT – 1 Samuel 5:1-7:17
NT – John 6:1-21