Reinhardt Bonnke Crusade in Nigeria with over 1 million attending

Scripture

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah!” Revelation 19:1

Observation

Dark was the night but the the humidity was visible in the steamy room. I was squeezed in an tin shed with nearly 1,000 boisterous people sharing sweat and praises in Papua New Guinea. I had seen missionary slides as a kid but none of them were scratch and sniff so they didn’t prepare me for the worship fragrance of a congregation without deodorant.

The smell faded as I listened to one chorus they belted out with special gusto. I recognized the word “USA” and “Australia” so I leaned over to the Caucasian standing next to me and asked for a translation. The words went something like this:

The USA, Australia and PNG will all be destroyed,
But the kingdom of God will last forever.

Something told me this song wouldn’t make it from PNG to the charts in America. The people exalting around me obviously meant what they were singing and didn’t seem bothered by the implication. They seemed at ease with the thought of the collapse of everything I knew and held dear because they loved Christ that much.

I knew my heart needed help. I wasn’t sure I could sing that song with such abandon. But when I read Revelation 19 that’s exactly what the survivors of the end will do. From heaven rings a great “Hallelujah!” We cannot imagine how deafening that will be. We’ve all heard Handel’s “Halleujah Chorus”. What exactly is all of heaven hallejuahing about anyways? The context says it is the destruction of the world economic, political and religious system that stands opposed to Christ. These people are obviously not addicted life. They hold things loosely so they can grasp Christ tightly and so they sing “Hallelujah” while the shopping malls I know and hold dear burn in the last inferno of history.

Application When I read this prayer of Revelation I wonder if all of my life I should be trying somehow to harmonize with this future hallelujah from heaven? One day it will come my turn to sing. Will I be able to triumph in God over the destruction of what grieves him or will I be fishing out burning valuables from the fire?

Now is my turn in life to live detached. There are many things in this life that can detract me from being loved by Christ alone. My call is to separate myself from them and to attach myself completely to Christ.

Prayer Father, I know that today I’m tuning up to audition for the choir of heaven. Help me to be ready to sing “Hallelujah” about the things that cause you to rejoice. Amen.

Scripture
Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:4-5

Observation
It is odd to think of someone crying because they could not understand the Bible, but that is exactly what is taking place in this scripture. John has seen a locked book of God’s revelation. He wants so much to know what is on God’s heart that he bursts into tears because it cannot be understood. It is not just that the book is encrypted in bizzare symbols. There is more. No one is worthy to touch the book so significant is its message. So John weeps before unread paragraphs wanting to know what is on God’s mind.

I met Mrs. Smith in her 79th year. Her daughter had come to know Christ in our church and soon her mother followed. With her thick Scottish accent rolling like fog over Edinburgh, Catherlien Smith soon followed her daughter in discovering the grace and mercy of Christ. But about the same time Jesus found Catherlein, macular degeneration caught up with her eyesight. Her daughter was able to find a Bible with print the size of headlines. Armed with a magnifying glass befitting Sherlock Holmes, Catherlien would struggle word by word to read the scriptures. In my mind is an exposed image of her laborious Bible reading as she hunched with her magnifying glass and brilliant lamp over the book. She prayed regularly for sight that never came. But somehow I think the encroaching blindness opened her eyes, for she savored every word and took them deeply to heart. Our conversations together were exclusively about her discoveries in the Bible and her endless questions. She always wanted to know more and wished she had started learning sooner. She died with such peace in her 88th year.

Application
I want the kind of Bible hunger that brings tears to my eyes for more revelation. There is so much to understand that a first read will never reveal. In fact multiple readings will not unlock the secrets either. It is only when I read the Bible with him who is worthy to unlock the seals that I have any hope of discovering what is sealed in the pages of the book. Never read the Bible without Jesus, for this book stands alone among volumes as the only book we do not read because the Bible reads us.

Prayer
Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, I stand on the verge of a new year of again reading the Bible through. I know so little. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, this will be the 20th year of reading the Bible completely through. But I’ve only just started at the edges. Though my initial curiosity is satiated, take me deeper into soul hunger that will bring your gracious hand to turn the page and highlight words that only my spirit can read. Jesus, read the Bible to me. Amen.

Video Title: Merry Christmas Jesus 

Scripture
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. 1 John 2:15-17

Observation
Hop onto the internet and pull up Google images. Insert the word “London” and look at a few pages of pics. In 30 seconds you will have seen more images than any of your ancestors from a century ago. Prior to the invention of the camera people saw only what was in front of them. Only the wealthy had paintings, and few of those. Catalogs of pretty things to purchase from mail order companies did not come out until later in the 19th century. The furthest vision anyone had was the front window. What a difference that would have made in the contentment level of living!

Even though our ancestors could see so little and desire even less, nevertheless John felt it important to warn them not to get so preoccupied with things that they missed the Father’s love for them. If those words were needed 2,000 years ago, how much more for us who have Amazon.com, YouTube.com and Google.com! And even more so on Christmas Day!

What does the world offer to us? Is it possessions and achievements? No, John summed it up perfectly, “For the world offers only a craving….” The world does not satisfy a need, it just creates a desire for more that is insatiable.

Application
Why is it that God calls us not to love the world? Is it because he wants us to be careful not to enjoy life too much? Not at all. In fact he gave all things “for our enjoyment.” What the Father wants us to avoid is the hollowness of having a craving-filled life rather than one filled with a fullness of love. He doesn’t want us to enjoy anything without him any more than children should open Christmas presents without having their parents to watch.

When we love the things that the world makes we make no room for satisfaction with God’s love. Instead we push it aside with cravings. When Laurel my daughter was just four years old she gave me the greatest reward a parent can ever have, “Dad, you are more interesting than TV!” Can we say the same of the Lord? If we have the love of the Father in us that is exactly what we should be saying.

Prayer
Father, I want to be satisfied today in having just Jesus. That is enough. Amen.

Scripture
Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” John 12:7-8

“I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:3-4

Observation
The last week of Jesus life was book ended with two very different gifts. One was unimaginably extravagant; the other was forgettable. Both gifts were totally misunderstood by those who saw them given. But Jesus understood the gifts because he looked into the heart of the givers.

The first gift came in two copper coins. In Australia kids used to call one cent copper coins “brown money.” That suggests how worthless we think such loose change is. The lady on social security looked to be the smallest giver that day, but Jesus saw she was the greatest. While others tipped God, she signed over her whole pension check. Jesus rightly saw that her gift was the greatest because he viewed her giving not by what she gave but by what she had left. She gave the most because she gave all.

The second gift was the kind saved for when after a person had died. It was worth the total of W2 form. Again this gift was misunderstood by those who saw it. They measured the gift by the price tag, while again Jesus looked under the wrapping and saw the heart.

Application
There is a lesson here for us. What matters most to the Lord is not what is giving but the heart that gives it. Preparation of our heart is when we give is more significant to God than what we write the check out for. There needs to be a motive in giving that somehow is reflected in what we give. Jesus loves gifts with depth of meaning.

If Jesus looks for the heart of the giver, then people will always look at the gift wrapper and misjudge. Neither the brown money nor the designer perfume were understood by those who watched the gift being given. Both in their own way were sized up and criticized. When we give gifts from the heart we cannot expect others to understand them, but Jesus does and that is all that matters. Long after the criticism decrescendos, our gift will live on because it was given with heart.

Prayer
Father, I give you my gifts today out of a heart of deep love for Christ. Those gifts are not always understood, but I know they are appreciated by you. Look beyond the box and bow and see my heart that gives. Amen.