Scripture
In a loud voice they sang:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelation 5:12-14

Observation
Some think Revelation is a book about the future. It isn’t.

Others think Revelation is a book about mega disasters. It isn’t.

Most think Revelation is too confusing and should be left alone. They are missing out.

Revelation is a musical and it is filled with more singing than a Rogers and Hammerstein show. When events become grim, angels, elders and mega crowds burst into song.

All this singing would all seem heartless unless we fall in love with the purpose of the book of Revelation. Revelation is not about the future or disasters; revelation is about Jesus.

And there is more. Revelation is a book of instruction of how to worship Jesus in the blackest times of history. Anyone can sing in the sunshine, but Revelation is about singing in the rain. It requires me to pry my fingers that clutch the things produced by this world free enough to be lifted up toward heaven toward he who is coming.

Application
This last book asks me the question: will my song become softer or louder as the world falls apart? The cast of “Revelation: The Musical” seem so focused on God, heaven, and his longterm purposes. Even bad news inspires them to worship him more. What sets them apart from my generation, is that this world had no interest to them. Their hearts were so set on God’s plan of bringing Jesus back to planet earth, that if God had to take things apart to put Jesus in the right place then they would rejoice.

Revelation is an album for robust, hearty all-weather, all-terrain worshippers who have a determination to sing louder the darker life becomes. It is time for the church to turn up the volume. For the message of this book is that understanding end times is simple. The world will be the worst it has ever been while the church of Jesus Christ will become the best it has ever been. It is time to show our colors and join the song that will never end.

Prayer
Father, I find the news more than distressing; I’m becoming indifferent to it because it is always worst than the last time I read it. I find I’m embracing this book of Revelation more and being encouraged to let go of what doesn’t last and to grasp tightly to what is eternal. The song of heaven described in this book surrounds me. Help me to tune into the worship that has already begun and to singing with unseen friends, glory to the Lamb who was slain. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to David Crowder’s “You Make Everything Glorious” while reading today’s devotion about praise.

Scripture
“…Praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.” Psalm 147:1

Observation
We praise for two reasons: God is good and praise is good for us.

Praise is as natural a response to seeing the Lord as is a gasp at first sight of Pikes Peak at sunrise. Praise is the reflex of our relationship with God.

But there is more to praise than the obvious. We are called to praise because it is good for us. Without praise humans become self-focused absorbed. What will matter most are our problems, our pride, our perspective, our needs, our anxieties, our selfishness and more. A person without a praise-life is someone who looks down at his scuffed shoes absorbed in self.

A person with a praise-life is looking at the feet of Jesus resting on the footstool of his enemies. Praise takes the focus off from self and puts it squarely on the Lord. The face radiates with love and grace beyond ourselves. Praise is becoming on us. We are lifted out from despair, elevated above our problems to see things from God’s point of view. Praise brings peace to the heart because our world is put into order.

Application
The first sentence of Psalm 147 could very well be paraphrased like this: “praise looks good on you.” Praise is what sets us apart from cows, dogs and cats. To us is given the privilege of looking up at a sunrise and knowing whom to thank. Praise not only declares that God is God and we are not, but it also airbrushes our lives with the residue of the Lord’s passing.

Prayer
Father, so often I get immersed in detail and forget that there is someone who holds it all together. Help me to be as mindful of praise in the middle and the end of the day as I am at the start, and on Monday as much as on Sunday. Amen.

Press the arrow and listen to worship music while reading today’s devotion.

Jeremy Camp Let it Fade

Scripture
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
…Unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!
Psalm 32:8-11, selected

Observation
In my file drawer I keep a thick folder of stick figures drawn by my daughter, finger paints of my son and every encouraging note and email I’ve ever received. In fact that folder has turned into many volumes of scrapbooks I keep in storage for days when smiles come with more difficulty. The label on the top of the file reads “Joy File”. On sullen days I pull it out and chuckle again.

If we should recycle our garbage, should we not also recycle good things as well? Rejoicing is another word for recycling our joy, for this is a choice to re-joy life by smiling again over old things.

Rejoicing is more than something that gives me pleasure, it’s also something that gives God flexibility to improve my life. When I don’t rejoice I take my negative opinion too seriously. Without joy I listen only to my own narrow point of view. My neck becomes stiff and my heart becomes stubborn. The Bible word to describe me is something close to donkey, but not as pleasant. When I have not pursued the pleasure of re-joying I become like a stubborn mule. God can only lead me with the two-by-four of consequences. The best he can do with my life is to keep me under control. There is no willing following of him.

When I rejoice I become flexible to God’s direction and life becomes fluid as I move through his grace to his next plan for me. The question is: how can we rejoice when there is nothing fresh to take joy in? The answer is: recycle past joys and be happy again about them. Joy never wears out, it can always be used again.

Lilly Bailey was the most optimistic human being I’ve ever known, best of all she was my aunt. There were many downbeat moments in her life. She lost a son to a fever and a grandson was tragically run over by his own mother’s car. She outlived three husbands, becoming a widow three times. Yet at 96 she was as chipper as ever. She could always find the positive in anything. We were once driving through a depressing part of town with dilapidated houses. Of course, Aunt Lilly didn’t see all of that, instead she pointed to an upper window and exclaimed, “See those pretty flowers!” In the midst of the slum was a vase filled with red roses. When asked the source of her jubilant spirit she explained that her father was something of an ogre, a negative man. She made a choice as a child to say something positive or nothing at all. Joy is a choice, and with that joy God can move anything forward in our lives.

Application
The psalm writer said, “Unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.” There is much joy along the road of my journey if I will look for it and use it to speed my way. The world’s largest royal palace is the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. There I saw a slab of stone probably 90 feet long intricately carved with dragons and phoenixes. The sign explained that the slab came from a quarry miles away, yet without modern transport, the stone was delivered in one piece on the building site. The workers moved the stone in the frigid winter. Along the roadway wells were dug at intervals. Water was drawn and poured over the dry roadbed. Allowed to freeze overnight, the mud became like a luge and the stone like a bobsled shuttling toward Beijing. There is much joy along our journey, no matter how heavy the load may be, for we are surrounded by the unfailing love of the LOrd. Our joy and the choice to rejoice and recycle our joy makes it possible for the Lord to move things that no one else can budge. What is in my joy file today. It is time to rejoice.

Prayer
Father, through out this day let my mind reflect over the thousands of happy moments you have invested into my life. Let me live on the reruns of joy this day. Amen.

Here I am with my sons Levi and Jon. We had climbed Mt Warning all night long in the dark to see the first sunrise to touch Australia.

Scripture

The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. John 4:23

Observation

IIs God an egotist? One blogger on a news story I read this week thinks so. I was scanning an online report about intercity youth on a government program being taught how to sing gospel style music. The bloggers after the story were caught up in a vortex of argument between Christians and skeptics about worship. One nonbeliever suggested that God was egostical because he enjoys the praises of his people.

What’s the truth? Anyone who suggests that God is egostical is making the Lord out to be something like an inflated human being, subject to the self-centeredness of that affects us all. I wouldn’t want to worship a God that small. Let’s lift the lid on that petty shoebox thinking. God is beyond his creation and before anything thing he has created. We are not dealing with some Greek deity who is just an inflated human with magnified faults. God is totally other than all he has made. He is in fact the only one outside of our world that we can rightly look up to. We praise him simply because it is right to do so. We wouldn’t want him to be anything less otherwise he would not be God.

God is not only outside of the world he has chosen to become part of it. He is not aloof, but concerned enough to become involved in human life through Jesus. Because of his great compassion he is a help for those who call on him. This means that our worship is more than a duty to a higher power, but a heart-felt appreciation for all that he is and has done.

But what about this insinuation that God is egotistical? Is God stuck on himself by urging us to praise him? No, that’s impossible. Consider the most concise definition of God: God is love . (1 John 4:7-8). God is the only being who uses all at his disposal for the benefit of others. The Lord is totally other-focused. It is impossible for God to be selfish with our praises. The praise we give to him is transformed into waves of love that he showers back on us. In fact as we praise the Lord we are doing ourselves a favor because what little we give to him is magnified and returned to us in abundance.

We are so honored be able to praise the Lord. The human being is the only creature that can lift its head to heaven and praise the Lord. All other animals look downward except humans. We are created to look and reach upward toward heaven. God is totally self-sufficient, yet he includes our words of praise as something he values. So in fact it is the Lord who does us a favor by allowing us to praise him. He is giving us permission to step beyond our world and into his own.

Application

“The Father is looking.” Those are probing words. He is looking for me to worship him.

Prayer

Father, thank you for the gift of praise and stir our hearts to worship you throughout the day and to make our daily living an act of worship. Amen.