Romans

Day 12/29 – Agreement, Submission and Cooperation

December 29, 2019 By Lyle Brennan Leave a Comment

His Spirit – 1 Corinthians 2:12 (ESV) “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” 1 Corinthians 2:12

+++

“Many people claim to have wonderful experiences with God, but not necessarily the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your experience, as important as it is, must be based on the Word of God. Otherwise you can easily end in idolatry, worshipping a god of your own creation.” Walter A. Henrichsen (“Walt H”)

——://///

A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: https://lylebrennan.com.

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man

by Walter Henrichsen

Agreement, Submission and Cooperation

Day Three Hundred Sixty-three

“That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:6

Agreement and submission are frequently confused in those relationships in life where one is under the authority of another. For example, a wife says, “I submit to my husband most of the time.” What she means is, most of the time they are in agreement, and the infrequent occasion when they are not in agreement she finds cause not to submit. You test submission by doing what you don’t want to do, not by doing what you agree needs to be done.

Many know how to pretend to submit when in fact they are only agreeing, and many know how to rebel; few know how to cooperate in a spirit of submission. You can easily yield to your authority in an act of submission without being willing to cooperate. When told you must do it, you obey in a perfunctory manner with

no heart to make it work properly. “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.”466

Submission is more than an act; it is an attitude of the heart. Only you and God know your heart, and He will judge you, in part, by the heart attitude you carry into the execution of the request. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”467

466 II Chronicles 25:2

467 Colossians 3:23-24

———/://///

Zechariah 9-12 Revelation 20 (New King James Version)

Zechariah 9-12

Israel Defended Against Enemies

The [a]burden of the word of the Lord

Against the land of Hadrach,

And Damascus its resting place

(For the eyes of men

And all the tribes of Israel

Are on the Lord);

Also against Hamath, which borders on it,

And against Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

For Tyre built herself a tower,

Heaped up silver like the dust,

And gold like the mire of the streets.

Behold, the Lord will cast her out;

He will destroy her power in the sea,

And she will be devoured by fire.

Ashkelon shall see it and fear;

Gaza also shall be very sorrowful;

And Ekron, for He dried up her expectation.

The king shall perish from Gaza,

And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

“A[b] mixed race shall settle in Ashdod,

And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

I will take away the blood from his mouth,

And the abominations from between his teeth.

But he who remains, even he shall be for our God,

And shall be like a leader in Judah,

And Ekron like a Jebusite.

I will camp around My house

Because of the army,

Because of him who passes by and him who returns.

No more shall an oppressor pass through them,

For now I have seen with My eyes.

The Coming King

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your King is coming to you;

He is just and having salvation,

Lowly and riding on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

And the horse from Jerusalem;

The battle bow shall be cut off.

He shall speak peace to the nations;

His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea,

And from the River to the ends of the earth.’

God Will Save His People

“As for you also,

Because of the blood of your covenant,

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Return to the stronghold,

You prisoners of hope.

Even today I declare

That I will restore double to you.

For I have bent Judah, My bow,

Fitted the bow with Ephraim,

And raised up your sons, O Zion,

Against your sons, O Greece,

And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”

Then the Lord will be seen over them,

And His arrow will go forth like lightning.

The Lord God will blow the trumpet,

And go with whirlwinds from the south.

The Lord of hosts will defend them;

They shall devour and subdue with slingstones.

They shall drink and roar as if with wine;

They shall be filled with blood like [c]basins,

Like the corners of the altar.

The Lord their God will save them in that day,

As the flock of His people.

For they shall be like the [d]jewels of a crown,

Lifted like a banner over His land—

For how great is [e]its goodness

And how great its beauty!

Grain shall make the young men thrive,

And new wine the young women.

Restoration of Judah and Israel

Ask the Lord for rain

In the time of the [f]latter rain.

The Lord will make [g]flashing clouds;

He will give them showers of rain,

Grass in the field for everyone.

For the idols[h] speak delusion;

The diviners envision lies,

And tell false dreams;

They comfort in vain.

Therefore the people wend their way like sheep;

They are [i]in trouble because there is no shepherd.

“My anger is kindled against the shepherds,

And I will punish the [j]goatherds.

For the Lord of hosts will visit His flock,

The house of Judah,

And will make them as His royal horse in the battle.

From him comes the cornerstone,

From him the tent peg,

From him the battle bow,

From him every [k]ruler together.

They shall be like mighty men,

Who tread down their enemies

In the mire of the streets in the battle.

They shall fight because the Lord is with them,

And the riders on horses shall be put to shame.

“I will strengthen the house of Judah,

And I will save the house of Joseph.

I will bring them back,

Because I have mercy on them.

They shall be as though I had not cast them aside;

For I am the Lord their God,

And I will hear them.

Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man,

And their heart shall rejoice as if with wine.

Yes, their children shall see it and be glad;

Their heart shall rejoice in the Lord.

I will whistle for them and gather them,

For I will redeem them;

And they shall increase as they once increased.

“I will [l]sow them among the peoples,

And they shall remember Me in far countries;

They shall live, together with their children,

And they shall return.

I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt,

And gather them from Assyria.

I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,

Until no more room is found for them.

He shall pass through the sea with affliction,

And strike the waves of the sea:

All the depths of [m]the River shall dry up.

Then the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,

And the scepter of Egypt shall depart.

“So I will strengthen them in the Lord,

And they shall walk up and down in His name,”

Says the Lord.

Desolation of Israel

Open your doors, O Lebanon,

That fire may devour your cedars.

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,

Because the mighty trees are ruined.

Wail, O oaks of Bashan,

For the thick forest has come down.

There is the sound of wailing shepherds!

For their glory is in ruins.

There is the sound of roaring lions!

For the [n]pride of the Jordan is in ruins.

Prophecy of the Shepherds

4 Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, 5 whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do not pity them. 6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. “But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall [o]attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”

7 So I fed the flock for slaughter, [p]in particular the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called [q]Beauty, and the other I called [r]Bonds; and I fed the flock. 8 I [s]dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff, [t]Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day. Thus the[u] poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it is [v]agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty piecesof silver.

13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. 14 Then I cut in two my other staff, [w]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. 16 For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land whowill not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.

“Woe to the worthless shepherd,

Who leaves the flock!

A sword shall be against his arm

And against his right eye;

His arm shall completely wither,

And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”

The Coming Deliverance of Judah

12 The [x]burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of [y]drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. 4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’ 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.

7 “The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Mourning for the Pierced One

10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for hisonly son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of [z]Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Footnotes:

Zechariah 9:1 oracle, prophecy
Zechariah 9:6 Lit. An illegitimate one
Zechariah 9:15 Sacrificial basins
Zechariah 9:16 Lit. stones
Zechariah 9:17 Lit. His
Zechariah 10:1 Spring rain
Zechariah 10:1 Or lightning flashes
Zechariah 10:2 Heb. teraphim
Zechariah 10:2 afflicted
Zechariah 10:3 Leaders
Zechariah 10:4 Or despot
Zechariah 10:9 Or scatter
Zechariah 10:11 The Nile
Zechariah 11:3 Or floodplain, thicket
Zechariah 11:6 Lit. strike
Zechariah 11:7 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX for the Canaanites
Zechariah 11:7 Or Grace
Zechariah 11:7 Or Unity
Zechariah 11:8 Or destroyed, lit. cut off
Zechariah 11:10 Or Grace
Zechariah 11:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX the Canaanites
Zechariah 11:12 good in your sight
Zechariah 11:14 Or Unity
Zechariah 12:1 oracle, prophecy
Zechariah 12:2 Lit. reeling
Zechariah 12:11 Heb. Megiddon

Revelation 20

Satan Bound 1,000 Years

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

The Saints Reign with Christ 1,000 Years

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for [a]a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Satanic Rebellion Crushed

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where[b] the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Great White Throne Judgment

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before [c]God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second [d]death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Footnotes:

Revelation 20:4 M the
Revelation 20:10 NU, M where also
Revelation 20:12 NU, M the throne
Revelation 20:14 NU, M death, the lake of fire.

———/://///

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please Pray for:

Conor, a college student, who is experiencing deep depression. Pray Conor would trust God and know He is in control. When we worry, the Bible calls it sin; and this sin, snowballs into depression. We have to give all of our concerns over to Him and trust that He wants what’s best for us. (Do you really believe what you say you believe is real?)

God to reveal any lukewarmness that may exist within us that we might repent and “be all-in with Him”.

Revelation‬ ‭3:14-16 “…These things says the‬ ‭ Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.””

Tyler Martin, Rod Martin’s son, who had a terrible freak accident … he went through a plate glass window and suffered multiple severe injuries.

Brother Walt’s granddaughter, Kale’a, and his prodigal son, Elijah.

Sister Kristen and her 2 young daughters.

God to wakeup Rodel who says he is a Christian, but has left his wife and 2 children to move in with another woman.

Miguel’s salvation, a confessed murderer and drug dealer, who lives in Mexico.

A Las Vegas woman that currently is working in an abortion clinic who is very discouraged with what she is doing and seeking counseling as to what to do. Pray God opens her eyes and saves her. Also, regarding the same abortion clinic, Pray God sends Godly women to that clinic daily to be available to minister to the women going in and out of that clinic daily.

The salvation of Brother David Frear’s parents.

Brad and Regena Mitton and their family. Regina has been diagnosed with cancer and Brad has put his landscape business on hold to be with his wife. Pray God will move in the Mittons lives and that He will be glorified.

Jeff from Oregon that has cirrhosis of the liver and has been given only five months to live. He is unsure of his faith and trying to fill in his remaining days traveling. Please Pray God awakens Jeff’s spirit to His Salvation. (Like Jeff, we are all terminal…“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalms‬ ‭90:12‬)

Larry who has leukemia. Pray God would bring Larry and his love ones closer to Him and His Blessed Hope of Glory.

Lisa Long and her family. Lisa has had for eye surgeries that have failed and she remains blind. Pray for God to direct her path for His glory.

Darrell Blalock who has Parkinson’s disease. Pray for Darrell to have a meaningful and closer walk with the Lord.

John LaPorte and other Brothers and Sisters who are doing ministry at UNLV. (Although they are off for the holidays, pray that they would stay in touch with the UNLV students that they have kindled relationships with. )

A UNLV student named Tyler who is propaganda machine for the enemy. Pray God will radically save Tyler and that our God will use Tyler to bring many to Christ.

Remington, another UNLV student, says he is a new catholic… not a Believer, yet, but says he is a seeker. Pray God reveals His Truth, His Salvation to Remington.

That our families and Brothers and Sisters in Christ will gather together to Pray… Jesus says in Matthew 18:20 (NKJV) “… For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Our unSaved family members and those around us that we have relationships with. Or, is that you? … Have questions &/or need Prayer?… If yes, please reply or call (702) 592-4098.

Family members and those relationships around you who say they are Saved, but their lives don’t show it. And, if that’s happens to be you, the Holy Spirit can change you into a New Creation, Christ in you… but, you must totally surrender everything to Him. (As long as you think you can do it on your own, He’ll let you; and, you will fail.) … Have questions &/or need Prayer?… If yes, please reply or call (702) 592-4098.

Our nation that God would open all our eyes to the sins that are drowning us. Lukewarmness, abortion, sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, hatred & divisiveness, greed, pride, rebellion, covetousness, etc. Please Pray and Fast for our nation to turn from this evil that is enveloping us.

II Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

… AND YET, God is Sovereign and has called us to live in such a time as this and to be His Light in the darkness… to give Hope to some. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

Sister Fabiola and her children in Mexico in our Prayers. This Sister and her family, in a short time period, have been hit with a more tragedies (persecutions) than most of us have in our entire life time… the murder of her husband, x-husband and one of her children. And, recently, her modest home (a shack by any American standard) was burnt to the ground. …Her neighbor’s house caught fire and due to the closeness of her home, it caught fire, too. Brothers & Sisters, please Pray for God’s Holy touch on Fabiola and her family.

Geo, a banker, who was deployed by the military to the Mideast. Pray God would keep him safe and that God would bring Geo closer to Him; and, that Geo would share God with all his company and those who come in contact with him.

+++

I’ve been told by one Geo’s co-workers, Lorraine Flores, who says she considers Geo a son, that the day Geo was deployed to the Mideast, his girlfriend delivered his new baby. Please Pray Geo would Walk in God’s Light and be a Godly husband and father. And, please Pray for Geo’s family. (Also, please Pray for both Lorraine Flores and her biological son that was deployed the same day as Geo, but to Africa.)

Brother Mark Pedder, a missionary in the Philippines. Please Pray for Mark, Mark’s wife for strength in their trials, tribulations and persecution.

Gemma that she be delivered from evil and receive Jesus as her Savior.

Pray for Brother John LaPorte’s roommate, Brother Freddy, whose commitment to Christ caused his wife to separate from him for 6 years. The couple have 2 daughters. Both parents has stayed single all this time of separation… Within the recent past, it appears his wife, Arlene, has been Saved and the couple are beginning their reconciliation process. They are planning to reunite the family again under one roof in the next few months. Please Pray for their total reconciliation with God at their helm.

Scott’s salvation and healing. Scott is a commercial real estate broker.

Our President and ALL our government leaders of both parties. Pray they would submit their authority to God’s Authority and ask for His Wisdom in directing the affairs of our nation. Please Pray that God would open their eyes and they would be obedient to His Will.

Brother Frank Sun, a Taiwanese, that owns several businesses in China and Taiwan. Please Pray Frank will be bold in his sharing Christ in his companies and that he will be faithful to disciple the new Believers.

AND, let each of us use Frank’s example and share the Love and Salvation of Jesus to our coworkers, employees, family, friends and acquaintances … Invest in the Eternal!

Women’s Pro-Life ministries in Las Vegas and throughout the world …that they would lead women to the Lord and continue to assist in saving babies’ lives.

Dave Ubank and his family. They are ministering and rescuing children and families in Syria directly affected by ISIS – Pray for their protection and their ministry. For a short 2 minute video about Ubanks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_htIgIvgDM[/embedyt

Brothers’ and Sisters’ struggling with various addictions. Pray that God would reveal Himself to them that all things are possible through Him… He can Cure any addiction … He is our Great Creator, He is our Savior, He is our Healer …He is our All and All!

Alejandro Corral, his son Alejandro Jr.

Brother Steve Venable dealing with ALS.

Persecuted Brothers and Sisters and their families that are suffering and giving their lives for our Faith.

+++

Please stand with your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer and Support. (See: The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com)

Biblical “headship” in families.

All the children.

That there would be a resurgence of Biblical “Fear of the Lord” in the church and in each of us… “to fear the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Brother Ron Brink’s son who had 3+ military tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and who is now suffering brain damage and PTSD. Pray for God’s Healing Power to fall upon Johnathon. (Ron is a 20 plus year missionary in Mexico and heads up Touch Baja.)

Touch Baja ministry. Touch Baja is a Christian ministry based in Mexico touching the saved and unsaved lives of the Mexican people focused on real discipleship; truly changing lives through Christ. From church planting discipleship ministries to half-way houses for the Mexican youth, Touch Baja needs our Prayers, support and physical involvement. One person can make a difference… whether an individual or a group, if you are interested in seeking an international missionary opportunity that’s not that far from home, here it is… you are needed and welcome. Please check out Touch Baja and consider becoming a real partner and getting involved: http://www.touchbaja.com. (I am personally available to share with you about the ministry… I have 20+ years of stories and history.)

Makers Way ministry feeds poor families in NLV. Check it out and if you are lead to help or give, contact Mike at (702) 596-9103 or give online at:

http://ccmeadowmesa.com

As it’s that time again when candidates for Congress and other government offices are making their rounds drumming up support to make a run to get elected. Please Pray for God to position Real Deal Christian men and women in those races that would honor Him above anyone or anything else. If those elected honor Him, they will honor us. (If you or someone you know is running for an office, please let us know so we can Pray for you or them. As the upcoming elections come closer, please Pray for the CANDIDATES:

///

Please Pray for Dan Rodimer who is running for the US Congress in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. Dan is a conservative. He is married with 5 children. Dan says he is a catholic. Please Pray for his salvation and that God would would be made known in Dan’s life in such a way that those that encounter Dan would see Jesus in his life. (https://danrodimer.com)

///

Please Pray for FL Congressman Ross Spano. Brother Ed Taney’s daughter Cameron is going to be interning for him starting in January. Pray for wisdom and clear direction from God for him and his staff, and for him to pursue and honor God.

Day 12/27 – Wrath or Repentance

December 27, 2019 By Lyle Brennan Leave a Comment

Assurance of Salvation – John 5:24 (ESV) “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24

+++

““We understood that Christianity is defined by obeying the Word of God,” Anderson says. “The idea that one could actually be a Christian but not obey the Great Commission was unthinkable. We would never count ourselves Christians if we didn’t share our faith with people.” Mark Anderson

——://///

A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: https://lylebrennan.com.

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man

by Walter Henrichsen

Wrath or Repentance

Day Three Hundred Sixty-one

“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11

People through the centuries have understood the wisdom of Solomon’s words. If a criminal’s punishment is postponed or drug out, both he and those familiar with the situation lose confidence in, and their fear of, justice. The criminal, for he believes that he can avoid punishment, and the people, for they believe there

is no justice.

Paul, when writing on the principles of justice says, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and atience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”461 God intentionally violates His own principle of speedily executing sentence against an evil work in order to allow people to repent. If He immediately judged you when you sin, you would be damned, having no opportunity to experience His grace.

You can easily misunderstand God’s strategy in holding back on His executing judgment, thinking that either He does not care, or that there will be no accountability. Such a mistake can prove to be fatal. “These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.”462 Paul continues his thought on the principles of justice with this warning: “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for rourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”463

461 Romans 2:4

462 Psalm 50:21

463 Romans 2:5

———/://///

Zechariah 1-4 Revelation 18 (New King James Version)

Zechariah 1-4

A Call to Repentance

1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. 4 “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not hear nor heed Me,” says the Lord.

“Your fathers, where are they?

And the prophets, do they live forever?

Yet surely My words and My statutes,

Which I commanded My servants the prophets,

Did they not overtake your fathers?

“So they returned and said:

‘Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us,

According to our ways and according to our deeds,

So He has dealt with us.’ ” ’ ”

Vision of the Horses

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: 8 I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were horses: red, sorrel, and white. 9 Then I said, “My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”

10 And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.”

11 So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is [a]resting quietly.”

The Lord Will Comfort Zion

12 Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?”

13 And the Lord answered the angel who talked to me, with good andcomforting words. 14 So the angel who spoke with me said to me, [b]“Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“I am zealous[c] for Jerusalem

And for Zion with great [d]zeal.

I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease;

For I was a little angry,

And they helped—but with evil intent.”

16 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord:

“I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy;

My house shall be built in it,” says the Lord of hosts,

“And a surveyor’s line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” ’

17 “Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“My cities shall again [e]spread out through prosperity;

The Lord will again comfort Zion,

And will again choose Jerusalem.” ’ ”

Vision of the Horns

18 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?”

So he answered me, “These are the [f]horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?”

So he said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but [g]the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

Vision of the Measuring Line

2 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 So I said, “Where are you going?”

And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

3 And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. 5 For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”

Future Joy of Zion and Many Nations

6 “Up, up! Flee from the land of the north,” says the Lord; “for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven,” says the Lord. 7 “Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.”

8 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the [h]apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become [i]spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.

10 “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” says the Lord. 11 “Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. 12 And the Lord will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!”

Vision of the High Priest

3 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan[j] standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.

4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”

5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.”

So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.

The Coming Branch

6 Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘If you will walk in My ways,

And if you will keep My command,

Then you shall also judge My house,

And likewise have charge of My courts;

I will give you places to walk

Among these who stand here.

‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest,

You and your companions who sit before you,

For they are a[k] wondrous sign;

For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.

For behold, the stone

That I have laid before Joshua:

Upon the stone are seven eyes.

Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’

Says the Lord of hosts,

‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts,

‘Everyone will invite his neighbor

Under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ”

Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees

4 Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”

So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”

5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?”

And I said, “No, my lord.”

6 So he answered and said to me:

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:

‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’

Says the Lord of hosts.

‘Who are you, O great mountain?

Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!

And he shall bring forth the capstone

With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”

8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

“The hands of Zerubbabel

Have laid the foundation of this [l]temple;

His hands shall also finish it.

Then you will know

That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.

For who has despised the day of small things?

For these seven rejoice to see

The [m]plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

They are the eyes of the Lord,

Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”

11 Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” 12 And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip [n]into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?”

13 Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?”

And I said, “No, my lord.”

14 So he said, “These are the two [o]anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”

Footnotes:

Zechariah 1:11 Lit. sitting and quiet
Zechariah 1:14 Lit. Cry out
Zechariah 1:14 Or jealous
Zechariah 1:14 Or jealousy
Zechariah 1:17 Or overflow with good
Zechariah 1:19 Kingdoms or powers
Zechariah 1:21 Lit. these
Zechariah 2:8 Lit. pupil
Zechariah 2:9 booty or plunder
Zechariah 3:1 Lit. the Adversary
Zechariah 3:8 Lit. men of a sign or wonder
Zechariah 4:9 Lit. house
Zechariah 4:10 Lit. plummet stone
Zechariah 4:12 Lit. into the hands of
Zechariah 4:14 Lit. sons of fresh oil

Revelation 18

The Fall of Babylon the Great

18 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 2 And he cried [a]mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the [b]abundance of her luxury.”

4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins [c]have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Render to her just as she rendered [d]to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived [e]luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ 8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who [f]judges her.

The World Mourns Babylon’s Fall

9 “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’

11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: 12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. 14 The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have [g]gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17 For in one hour such great riches [h]came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’

19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she [i]is made desolate.’

20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you [j]holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”

Finality of Babylon’s Fall

21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw itinto the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. 22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”

Footnotes:

Revelation 18:2 NU, M omit mightily
Revelation 18:3 Lit. strengths
Revelation 18:5 NU, M have been heaped up
Revelation 18:6 NU, M omit to you
Revelation 18:7 sensually
Revelation 18:8 NU, M has judged
Revelation 18:14 NU, M been lost to you
Revelation 18:17 have been laid waste
Revelation 18:19 have been laid waste
Revelation 18:20 NU, M saints and apostles

———/://///

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please Pray for:

God to reveal any lukewarmness that may exist within us that we might repent and “be all-in with Him”.

Tyler Martin, Rod Martin’s son, who had a terrible freak accident … he went through a plate glass window and suffered multiple severe injuries.

Brother Walt’s granddaughter, Kale’a, and his prodigal son, Elijah.

Sister Kristen and her 2 young daughters.

God to wakeup Rodel who says he is a Christian, but has left his wife and 2 children to move in with another woman.

Miguel’s salvation, a confessed murderer and drug dealer, who lives in Mexico.

The salvation of Brother David Frear’s parents.

Larry who has leukemia. Pray God would bring Larry and his love ones closer to Him and His Blessed Hope of Glory.

Lisa Long and her family. Lisa has had for eye surgeries that have failed and she remains blind. Pray for God to direct her path for His glory.

Darrell Blalock who has Parkinson’s disease. Pray for Darrell to have a meaningful and closer walk with the Lord.

A UNLV student named Tyler who is propaganda machine for the enemy. Pray God will radically save Tyler and that our God will use Tyler to bring many to Christ.

Remington, another UNLV student, says he is a new catholic… not a Believer, yet, but says he is a seeker. Pray God reveals His Truth, His Salvation to Remington.

Our unSaved family members and those around us that we have relationships with. Or, is that you? … Have questions &/or need Prayer?… If yes, please reply or call (702) 592-4098.

II Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

+++

Brother Mark Pedder, a missionary in the Philippines. Please Pray for Mark, Mark’s wife for strength in their trials, tribulations and persecution.

Gemma that she be delivered from evil and receive Jesus as her Savior.

Scott’s salvation and healing. Scott is a commercial real estate broker.

AND, let each of us use Frank’s example and share the Love and Salvation of Jesus to our coworkers, employees, family, friends and acquaintances … Invest in the Eternal!

Women’s Pro-Life ministries in Las Vegas and throughout the world …that they would lead women to the Lord and continue to assist in saving babies’ lives.

Alejandro Corral, his son Alejandro Jr.

Brother Steve Venable dealing with ALS.

Persecuted Brothers and Sisters and their families that are suffering and giving their lives for our Faith.

+++

Please stand with your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer and Support. (See: The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com)

Biblical “headship” in families.

All the children.

That there would be a resurgence of Biblical “Fear of the Lord” in the church and in each of us… “to fear the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Makers Way ministry feeds poor families in NLV. Check it out and if you are lead to help or give, contact Mike at (702) 596-9103 or give online at:

http://ccmeadowmesa.com

///

Day 12/24 – Repentance

December 24, 2019 By Lyle Brennan Leave a Comment

Must Receive Christ – John 1:12 (ESV). “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God,” John 1:12

+++

“If you follow close to God, it is what others can gain from you that attracts them to you. You are the channel of blessing….Stay close to your Lord, not because you sense He wants you, but because with Him you find the blessing. And when you obtain the blessing, you are ready to give it to others that want it.” Walter A. Henrichsen (“Walt H”)

——://///

A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: https://lylebrennan.com.

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man

by Walter Henrichsen

Repentance

Day Three Hundred Fifty-eight

“Then He began to reproach the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.” Matthew 11:20

You must repent of your sin, not to restore your relationship with the one offended, but in order for you to have a relationship with God. Repentance and forgiveness are two separate, unlinked transactions. Also, others need not repent of their sin against you for you to forgive them. There are at least three reasons for this: First, all sin is ultimately against God. Therefore you must repent before God prior to asking others to forgive you. Second, true repentance comes from the heart and only God knows the heart. Third, you forgive others, irrespective of their repentance, for you believe, “vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”455

All people naturally want to be forgiven, but don’t want to forgive. When we do wrong we desire forgiveness from both God and the person transgressed. But when we are afflicted with extremely hurtful acts from others, we tend to be more interested in justice than forgiveness. A friend’s wife, through negligence, accidentally killed a Christian girl. The family, although professing faith in Christ, refused to forgive the wife. Jesus links forgiveness with repentance; He will not forgive if we do not forgive.456

Although He tells us that we must forgive in order to be forgiven, we can easily conclude that if we forgive we will be forgiven. For example, a man said, “I know God doesn’t want me to perjure myself, but I know He will forgive me.” When asked about the link between forgiveness and repentance, he said, “I forgive others without their repenting, so also God will forgive me.” Nothing could be further from the truth; God will not forgive without repentance, and as already noted, He knows the heart.

455 Romans 12:19

456 cf. Matthew 18:21-35

———/://///

Habakkuk 1-3 Revelation 15 (New King James Version)

Habakkuk 1-3

The Prophet Questions God’s Judgments

1 The [a]burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.

The Prophet’s Question

O Lord, how long shall I cry,

And You will not hear?

Even cry out to You, “Violence!”

And You will not save.

Why do You show me iniquity,

And cause me to see [b]trouble?

For plundering and violence are before me;

There is strife, and contention arises.

Therefore the law is powerless,

And justice never goes forth.

For the wicked surround the righteous;

Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

The Lord’s Reply

“Look among the nations and watch—

Be utterly astounded!

For I will work a work in your days

Which you would not believe, though it were told you.

For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans,

A bitter and hasty nation

Which marches through the breadth of the earth,

To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.

They are terrible and dreadful;

Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

Their horses also are swifter than leopards,

And more fierce than evening wolves.

Their [c]chargers [d]charge ahead;

Their cavalry comes from afar;

They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.

“They all come for violence;

Their faces are set like the east wind.

They gather captives like sand.

They scoff at kings,

And princes are scorned by them.

They deride every stronghold,

For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.

Then his [e]mind changes, and he transgresses;

He commits offense,

Ascribing this power to his god.”

The Prophet’s Second Question

Are You not from everlasting,

O Lord my God, my Holy One?

We shall not die.

O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment;

O Rock, You have marked them for correction.

You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,

And cannot look on wickedness.

Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,

And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours

A person more righteous than he?

Why do You make men like fish of the sea,

Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?

They take up all of them with a hook,

They catch them in their net,

And gather them in their dragnet.

Therefore they rejoice and are glad.

Therefore they sacrifice to their net,

And burn incense to their dragnet;

Because by them their share is [f]sumptuous

And their food plentiful.

Shall they therefore empty their net,

And continue to slay nations without pity?

The Just Shall Live by Faith

I will stand my watch

And set myself on the rampart,

And watch to see what He will say to me,

And what I will answer when I am corrected.

The Just Live by Faith

2 Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision

And make it plain on tablets,

That he may run who reads it.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time;

But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.

Though it tarries, wait for it;

Because it will surely come,

It will not tarry.

“Behold the proud,

His soul is not upright in him;

But the just shall live by his faith.

Woe to the Wicked

“Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,

He is a proud man,

And he does not stay at home.

Because he enlarges his desire as [g]hell,

And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,

He gathers to himself all nations

And heaps up for himself all peoples.

“Will not all these take up a proverb against him,

And a taunting riddle against him, and say,

‘Woe to him who increases

What is not his—how long?

And to him who loads himself with [h]many pledges’?

Will not [i]your creditors rise up suddenly?

Will they not awaken who oppress you?

And you will become their booty.

Because you have plundered many nations,

All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,

Because of men’s [j]blood

And the violence of the land and the city,

And of all who dwell in it.

“Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house,

That he may set his nest on high,

That he may be delivered from the [k]power of disaster!

You give shameful counsel to your house,

Cutting off many peoples,

And sin against your soul.

For the stone will cry out from the wall,

And the beam from the timbers will answer it.

“Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed,

Who establishes a city by iniquity!

Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts

That the peoples labor [l]to feed the fire,

And nations weary themselves in vain?

For the earth will be filled

With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,

As the waters cover the sea.

“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor,

[m]Pressing him to your bottle,

Even to make him drunk,

That you may look on [n]his nakedness!

You are filled with shame instead of glory.

You also—drink!

And [o]be exposed as uncircumcised!

The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you,

And utter shame will be on your glory.

For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you,

And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid,

Because of men’s blood

And the violence of the land and the city,

And of all who dwell in it.

“What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,

The molded image, a teacher of lies,

That the maker of its mold should trust in it,

To make mute idols?

Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’

To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,

Yet in it there is no breath at all.

“But the Lord is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

The Prophet’s Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on [p]Shigionoth.

O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;

O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!

In the midst of the years make it known;

In wrath remember mercy.

God came from Teman,

The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah

His glory covered the heavens,

And the earth was full of His praise.

His brightness was like the light;

He had rays flashing from His hand,

And there His power was hidden.

Before Him went pestilence,

And fever followed at His feet.

He stood and measured the earth;

He looked and startled the nations.

And the everlasting mountains were scattered,

The perpetual hills bowed.

His ways are everlasting.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;

The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

O Lord, were You displeased with the rivers,

Was Your anger against the rivers,

Was Your wrath against the sea,

That You rode on Your horses,

Your chariots of salvation?

Your bow was made quite ready;

Oaths were sworn over Your [q]arrows. Selah

You divided the earth with rivers.

The mountains saw You and trembled;

The overflowing of the water passed by.

The deep uttered its voice,

And lifted its hands on high.

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;

At the light of Your arrows they went,

At the shining of Your glittering spear.

You marched through the land in indignation;

You [r]trampled the nations in anger.

You went forth for the salvation of Your people,

For salvation with Your Anointed.

You struck the head from the house of the wicked,

By laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah

You thrust through with his own arrows

The head of his villages.

They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;

Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.

You walked through the sea with Your horses,

Through the heap of great waters.

When I heard, my body trembled;

My lips quivered at the voice;

Rottenness entered my bones;

And I trembled in myself,

That I might rest in the day of trouble.

When he comes up to the people,

He will invade them with his troops.

A Hymn of Faith

Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls—

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

[s]The Lord God is my strength;

He will make my feet like deer’s feet,

And He will make me walk on my high hills.

To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.

Footnotes:

Habakkuk 1:1 oracle, prophecy
Habakkuk 1:3 Or toil
Habakkuk 1:8 Lit. horsemen
Habakkuk 1:8 Lit. spring about
Habakkuk 1:11 Lit. spirit or wind
Habakkuk 1:16 Lit. fat
Habakkuk 2:5 Or Sheol
Habakkuk 2:6 Syr., Vg. thick clay
Habakkuk 2:7 Lit. those who bite you
Habakkuk 2:8 Or bloodshed
Habakkuk 2:9 Lit. hand of evil
Habakkuk 2:13 Lit. for what satisfies fire, for what is of no lasting value
Habakkuk 2:15 Lit. Attaching or Joining
Habakkuk 2:15 Lit. their
Habakkuk 2:16 DSS, LXX reel!; Syr., Vg. fall fast asleep!
Habakkuk 3:1 Exact meaning unknown
Habakkuk 3:9 Lit. tribes or rods, cf. v. 14
Habakkuk 3:12 Or threshed
Habakkuk 3:19 Heb. YHWH Adonai

Revelation 15

Prelude to the Bowl Judgments

15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.

2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and [a]over his mark andover the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. 3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

“Great and marvelous are Your works,

Lord God Almighty!

Just and true are Your ways,

O King of the [b]saints!

Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?

For You alone are holy.

For all nations shall come and worship before You,

For Your judgments have been manifested.”

5 After these things I looked, and [c]behold, the [d]temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. 6 And out of the [e]temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 8 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

Footnotes:

Revelation 15:2 NU, M omit over his mark
Revelation 15:3 NU, M nations
Revelation 15:5 NU, M omit behold
Revelation 15:5 sanctuary, the inner shrine
Revelation 15:6 sanctuary, the inner shrine

———/://///

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please Pray for:

God to reveal any lukewarmness that may exist within us that we might repent and “be all-in with Him”.

Tyler Martin, Rod Martin’s son, who had a terrible freak accident … he went through a plate glass window and suffered multiple severe injuries.

Brother Walt’s granddaughter, Kale’a, and his prodigal son, Elijah.

Tavia’s family. Tavia received a call from her mom letting her know her uncle didnt survive a heart attack in Wisconsin. Please keep her family in your Prayers. Her uncle’s name was Tony Nelson, his wife is Kerri, and his kids are Tera, Kerissa and Alex.

Sister Kristen and her 2 young daughters.

God to wakeup Rodel who says he is a Christian, but has left his wife and 2 children to move in with another woman.

Miguel’s salvation, a confessed murderer and drug dealer, who lives in Mexico.

The salvation of Brother David Frear’s parents.

Larry who has leukemia. Pray God would bring Larry and his love ones closer to Him and His Blessed Hope of Glory.

Lisa Long and her family. Lisa has had for eye surgeries that have failed and she remains blind. Pray for God to direct her path for His glory.

Darrell Blalock who has Parkinson’s disease. Pray for Darrell to have a meaningful and closer walk with the Lord.

John LaPorte and other Brothers and Sisters who are doing ministry at UNLV.

A UNLV student named Tyler who is propaganda machine for the enemy. Pray God will radically save Tyler and that our God will use Tyler to bring many to Christ.

Remington, another UNLV student, says he is a new catholic… not a Believer, yet, but says he is a seeker. Pray God reveals His Truth, His Salvation to Remington.

Our unSaved family members and those around us that we have relationships with. Or, is that you? … Have questions &/or need Prayer?… If yes, please reply or call (702) 592-4098.

II Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

+++

Brother Mark Pedder, a missionary in the Philippines. Please Pray for Mark, Mark’s wife for strength in their trials, tribulations and persecution.

Gemma that she be delivered from evil and receive Jesus as her Savior.

Scott’s salvation and healing. Scott is a commercial real estate broker.

AND, let each of us use Frank’s example and share the Love and Salvation of Jesus to our coworkers, employees, family, friends and acquaintances … Invest in the Eternal!

Women’s Pro-Life ministries in Las Vegas and throughout the world …that they would lead women to the Lord and continue to assist in saving babies’ lives.

Alejandro Corral, his son Alejandro Jr.

Brother Steve Venable dealing with ALS.

Persecuted Brothers and Sisters and their families that are suffering and giving their lives for our Faith.

+++

Please stand with your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer and Support. (See: The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com)

Biblical “headship” in families.

All the children.

That there would be a resurgence of Biblical “Fear of the Lord” in the church and in each of us… “to fear the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Makers Way ministry feeds poor families in NLV. Check it out and if you are lead to help or give, contact Mike at (702) 596-9103 or give online at:

http://ccmeadowmesa.com

///

Day 12/20 – Discouraged by Depravity

December 20, 2019 By Lyle Brennan Leave a Comment

Christ Paid the Penalty – Romans 5:8 (ESV). “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

+++

“As a shepherd, David understood the meaning of broken bones. You see, when a lamb would stubbornly and rebelliously continue to wander away from the flock, the shepherd would break its legs and place the lamb on his shoulder where it would remain until its bones were healed. When the lamb could walk again, so bonded was he with the shepherd, he would never stray again. …Like sheep, we all go astray (Isaiah 53:6). Therefore, in His love, the Good Shepherd breaks a bone or two and carries me while I whine and cry and wonder what He’s doing. But as the days and weeks and months go by, I find myself closer to Him than I had ever been previously, and all I can say is, ‘Thank You, Lord.’” Jon Courson

——://///

A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: https://lylebrennan.com.

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man

by Walter Henrichsen

Discouraged by Depravity

Day Three Hundred Fifty-four

“For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.” Romans 7:18

As you contemplate your own propensity to sin, you must carefully walk between two extremes. You can benefit greatly by an awareness of your own depravity, for it creates in the heart a longing for the return of Christ, it reminds you of the greatness of God’s salvation, and it motivates you to live a holy life. If you believe that you are good, then what is there to drive you to Christ in dependence?

On the other hand, you can easily become discouraged by the realization that “you will what is right, but cannot do it.” You must be careful, for a preoccupation with your propensity to sin may be an expression of pride; you believe you ought to live as holy as you think you are. You come to the Savior saying, “I am so sinful in my thoughts and motives,” and Jesus responds by saying, “Of course your are depraved; why do you think I died for you?” Remember, you cannot surprise God.

Never evaluate yourself from the perspective of where you are in your walk with God, but rather in light of where you are going. People tend to be product oriented while God is process oriented; sanctification is a process. If you take inventory of your holiness ou are apt to despair, for “the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked.”452. Your only reliable indicator in your walk with God is whether you are properly responding to the Holy Spirit as He leads you down the path of sanctification.

452 Jeremiah 17:9

———/://///

Micah 1-3 Revelation 11 (New King James Version)

Micah 1-3

Judgment on Israel and Judah

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

The Coming Judgment on Israel

Hear, all you peoples!

Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!

Let the Lord God be a witness against you,

The Lord from His holy temple.

For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place;

He will come down

And tread on the high places of the earth.

The mountains will melt under Him,

And the valleys will split

Like wax before the fire,

Like waters poured down a steep place.

All this is for the transgression of Jacob

And for the sins of the house of Israel.

What is the transgression of Jacob?

Is it not Samaria?

And what are the high places of Judah?

Are they not Jerusalem?

“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field,

Places for planting a vineyard;

I will pour down her stones into the valley,

And I will uncover her foundations.

All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,

And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire;

All her idols I will lay desolate,

For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot,

And they shall return to the pay of a harlot.”

Mourning for Israel and Judah

Therefore I will wail and howl,

I will go stripped and naked;

I will make a wailing like the jackals

And a mourning like the ostriches,

For her wounds are incurable.

For it has come to Judah;

It has come to the gate of My people—

To Jerusalem.

Tell it not in Gath,

Weep not at all;

In [a]Beth Aphrah

Roll yourself in the dust.

Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of [b]Shaphir;

The inhabitant of [c]Zaanan does not go out.

Beth Ezel mourns;

Its place to stand is taken away from you.

For the inhabitant of [d]Maroth [e]pined for good,

But disaster came down from the Lord

To the gate of Jerusalem.

O inhabitant of Lachish,

Harness the chariot to the swift steeds

(She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion),

For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

Therefore you shall give presents to [f]Moresheth Gath;

The houses of Achzib[g] shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah;[h]

The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.[i]

Make yourself bald and cut off your hair,

Because of your precious children;

Enlarge your baldness like an eagle,

For they shall go from you into captivity.

Woe to Evildoers

Woe to those who devise iniquity,

And [j]work out evil on their beds!

At morning light they practice it,

Because it is in the power of their hand.

They covet fields and take them by violence,

Also houses, and seize them.

So they oppress a man and his house,

A man and his inheritance.

3 Therefore thus says the Lord:

“Behold, against this family I am devising disaster,

From which you cannot remove your necks;

Nor shall you walk haughtily,

For this is an evil time.

In that day one shall take up a proverb against you,

And lament with a bitter lamentation, saying:

‘We are utterly destroyed!

He has changed the [k]heritage of my people;

How He has removed it from me!

To [l]a turncoat He has divided our fields.’ ”

Therefore you will have no [m]one to determine boundaries by lot

In the assembly of the Lord.

Lying Prophets

“Do not prattle,” you say to those who [n]prophesy.

So they shall not prophesy [o]to you;

[p]They shall not return insult for insult.

You who are named the house of Jacob:

“Is the Spirit of the Lord restricted?

Are these His doings?

Do not My words do good

To him who walks uprightly?

“Lately My people have risen up as an enemy—

You pull off the robe with the garment

From those who trust you, as they pass by,

Like men returned from war.

The women of My people you cast out

From their pleasant houses;

From their children

You have taken away My glory forever.

“Arise and depart,

For this is not your rest;

Because it is defiled, it shall destroy,

Yes, with utter destruction.

If a man should walk in a false spirit

And speak a lie, saying,

‘I will [q]prophesy to you [r]of wine and drink,’

Even he would be the prattler of this people.

Israel Restored

“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob,

I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;

I will put them together like sheep of [s]the fold,

Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;

They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.

The one who breaks open will come up before them;

They will break out,

Pass through the gate,

And go out by it;

Their king will pass before them,

With the Lord at their head.”

Wicked Rulers and Prophets

3 And I said:

“Hear now, O heads of Jacob,

And you rulers of the house of Israel:

Is it not for you to know justice?

You who hate good and love evil;

Who strip the skin from [t]My people,

And the flesh from their bones;

Who also eat the flesh of My people,

Flay their skin from them,

Break their bones,

And chop them in pieces

Like meat for the pot,

Like flesh in the caldron.”

Then they will cry to the Lord,

But He will not hear them;

He will even hide His face from them at that time,

Because they have been evil in their deeds.

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets

Who make my people stray;

Who chant [u]“Peace”

[v]While they chew with their teeth,

But who prepare war against him

Who puts nothing into their mouths:

“Therefore you shall have night without [w]vision,

And you shall have darkness without divination;

The sun shall go down on the prophets,

And the day shall be dark for them.

So the seers shall be ashamed,

And the diviners abashed;

Indeed they shall all cover their lips;

For there is no answer from God.”

But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,

And of justice and might,

To declare to Jacob his transgression

And to Israel his sin.

Now hear this,

You heads of the house of Jacob

And rulers of the house of Israel,

Who abhor justice

And [x]pervert all equity,

Who build up Zion with bloodshed

And Jerusalem with iniquity:

Her heads judge for a bribe,

Her priests teach for pay,

And her prophets divine for [y]money.

Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,

“Is not the Lord among us?

No harm can come upon us.”

Therefore because of you

Zion shall be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,

And the mountain of the [z]temple

Like the bare hills of the forest.

Footnotes:

Micah 1:10 Lit. House of Dust
Micah 1:11 Lit. Beautiful
Micah 1:11 Lit. Going Out
Micah 1:12 Lit. Bitterness
Micah 1:12 Lit. was sick
Micah 1:14 Lit. Possession of Gath
Micah 1:14 Lit. Lie
Micah 1:15 Lit. Inheritance
Micah 1:15 Lit. Refuge
Micah 2:1 Plan
Micah 2:4 Lit. portion
Micah 2:4 Lit. one turning back, an apostate
Micah 2:5 Lit. one casting a surveyor’s line
Micah 2:6 Or preach, lit. drip words
Micah 2:6 Lit. to these
Micah 2:6 Vg. He shall not take shame
Micah 2:11 Or preach, lit. drip
Micah 2:11 concerning
Micah 2:12 Heb. Bozrah
Micah 3:2 Lit. them
Micah 3:5 All is well
Micah 3:5 For those who feed them
Micah 3:6 Prophetic revelation
Micah 3:9 Lit. twist
Micah 3:11 Lit. silver
Micah 3:12 Lit. house

Revelation 11

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. [a]And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the [b]God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

The Witnesses Killed

7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also [c]our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations [d]will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

The Witnesses Resurrected

11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And [e]they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Seventh Trumpet: The Kingdom Proclaimed

15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The [f]kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:

“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,

The One who is and who was [g]and who is to come,

Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

The nations were angry, and Your [h]wrath has come,

And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,

And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,

And those who fear Your name, small and great,

And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of [i]His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Footnotes:

Revelation 11:1 NU, M omit And the angel stood
Revelation 11:4 NU, M Lord
Revelation 11:8 NU, M their
Revelation 11:9 NU, M see . . . and will not allow
Revelation 11:12 M I
Revelation 11:15 NU, M kingdom . . . has become the kingdom
Revelation 11:17 NU, M omit and who is to come
Revelation 11:18 anger
Revelation 11:19 M the covenant of the Lord

———/://///

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please Pray for:

Tyler Martin, Rod Martin’s son who had a terrible freak accident … he went through a plate glass window and suffered multiple severe injuries.

Please Pray for Brother Walt’s granddaughter, Kale’a, and his prodigal son, Elijah.

Please Pray for Tavia’s family. Tavia received a call fro

Her mom letting her know her uncle didnt survive a heart attack in Wisconsin. Please keep her family in your Prayers. Her uncle’s name was Tony Nelson, his wife is Kerri, and his kids are Tera, Kerissa and Alex.

Sister Kristen and husband for God to intervene and heal their marriage. Additionally, please Pray for their 2 young daughters.

Miguel’s salvation, a confessed murderer and drug dealer, who lives in Mexico.

The salvation of Brother David Frear’s parents.

Larry who has leukemia. Pray God would bring Larry and his love ones closer to Him and His Blessed Hope of Glory.

Lisa Long and her family. Lisa has had for eye surgeries that have failed and she remains blind. Pray for God to direct her path for His glory.

Darrell Blalock who has Parkinson’s disease. Pray for Darrell to have a meaningful and closer walk with the Lord.

John LaPorte and other Brothers and Sisters who are doing ministry at UNLV.

A UNLV student named Tyler who is propaganda machine for the enemy. Pray God will radically save Tyler and that our God will use Tyler to bring many to Christ.

Remington, another UNLV student, says he is a new catholic… not a Believer, yet, but says he is a seeker. Pray God reveals His Truth, His Salvation to Remington.

Our unSaved family members and those around us that we have relationships with. Or, is that you? … Have questions &/or need Prayer?… If yes, please reply or call (702) 592-4098.

II Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

+++

Brother Mark Pedder, a missionary in the Philippines. Please Pray for Mark, Mark’s wife for strength in their trials, tribulations and persecution.

Gemma that she be delivered from evil and receive Jesus as her Savior.

Scott’s salvation and healing. Scott is a commercial real estate broker.

AND, let each of us use Frank’s example and share the Love and Salvation of Jesus to our coworkers, employees, family, friends and acquaintances … Invest in the Eternal!

Women’s Pro-Life ministries in Las Vegas and throughout the world …that they would lead women to the Lord and continue to assist in saving babies’ lives.

Alejandro Corral, his son Alejandro Jr.

Brother Steve Venable dealing with ALS.

Persecuted Brothers and Sisters and their families that are suffering and giving their lives for our Faith.

+++

Please stand with your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer and Support. (See: The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com)

Biblical “headship” in families.

All the children.

That there would be a resurgence of Biblical “Fear of the Lord” in the church and in each of us… “to fear the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Makers Way ministry feeds poor families in NLV. Check it out and if you are lead to help or give, contact Mike at (702) 596-9103 or give online at:

http://ccmeadowmesa.com

///

Day 12/18 – The Value of Affliction

December 18, 2019 By Lyle Brennan Leave a Comment

Sin’s Penalty – Romans 6:23 (ESV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

+++

“When God presents you with an opportunity to participate in what He is doing, you can either be cooperative or passive. In either case, God will execute His will. You cannot alter the plan of God, either by your opposition or inattention. …. The only person that can be hurt by disobedience is you, and who knows, our Father may have brought you “to the kingdom for such a time as this.”” Walter A. Henrichsen (“Walt H”)

——://///

A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: https://lylebrennan.com.

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man

by Walter Henrichsen

The Value of Affliction

Day Three Hundred Fifty-two

‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” Psalm 119:71

People more easily believe in God when afflicted than when well. Tribulation drives regenerate people to God. As a follower of Christ you can see this correlation discussed again and again in Scripture. Paul says that God brings tribulation to produce hope, and for this reason we should rejoice in times of affliction; tribulation conspires with God to develop in us a biblical hope. 449

The unbeliever also more easily manifests a belief in God during adversity than during times of prosperity. When things go well, he is apt to conclude that either God does not exist or if He does, He is irrelevant. When calamity strikes, however, he often blames God. You hear him say such things as, “You believe

in a God who brings pain and affliction into our lives; I could never worship Him.” God becomes a convenient scapegoat, someone to blame when things don’t meet his expectations.

Tribulation probably affords you a better opportunity than anything else in life to evaluate your concept of God. You can easily conclude that He is good when things are going well, but to suffer and call Him good requires an understanding of God’s character that not all believer’s develop. When tribulation enters your life, spend less time trying to understand why and more time giving God thanks.450 View times when circumstances seem to indicate that God has

abandoned you as an opportunity to affirm His goodness.

449 cf. Romans 5:1-4

450 cf. Philippians 4:6-7

———/://///

Obadiah 1 Revelation 9 (New King James Version)

Obadiah

The Coming Judgment on Edom

1 The vision of Obadiah.

Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom

(We have heard a report from the Lord,

And a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,

“Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle”):

“Behold, I will make you small among the nations;

You shall be greatly despised.

The pride of your heart has deceived you,

You who dwell in the clefts of the rock,

Whose habitation is high;

You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’

Though you ascend as high as the eagle,

And though you set your nest among the stars,

From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord.

“If thieves had come to you,

If robbers by night—

Oh, how you will be cut off!—

Would they not have stolen till they had enough?

If grape-gatherers had come to you,

Would they not have left some gleanings?

“Oh, how Esau shall be searched out!

How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!

All the men in your confederacy

Shall force you to the border;

The men at peace with you

Shall deceive you and prevail against you.

Those who eat your bread shall lay a [a]trap for you.

No[b] one is aware of it.

“Will I not in that day,” says the Lord,

“Even destroy the wise men from Edom,

And understanding from the mountains of Esau?

Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed,

To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau

May be cut off by slaughter.

Edom Mistreated His Brother

“For violence against your brother Jacob,

Shame shall cover you,

And you shall be cut off forever.

In the day that you stood on the other side—

In the day that strangers carried captive his forces,

When foreigners entered his gates

And cast lots for Jerusalem—

Even you were as one of them.

“But you should not have gazed[c] on the day of your brother

[d]In the day of his captivity;

Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah

In the day of their destruction;

Nor should you have spoken proudly

In the day of distress.

You should not have entered the gate of My people

In the day of their calamity.

Indeed, you should not have [e]gazed on their affliction

In the day of their calamity,

Nor laid hands on their substance

In the day of their calamity.

You should not have stood at the crossroads

To cut off those among them who escaped;

Nor should you have [f]delivered up those among them who remained

In the day of distress.

“For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;

As you have done, it shall be done to you;

Your [g]reprisal shall return upon your own head.

For as you drank on My holy mountain,

So shall all the nations drink continually;

Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,

And they shall be as though they had never been.

Israel’s Final Triumph

“But on Mount Zion there shall be [h]deliverance,

And there shall be holiness;

The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

The house of Jacob shall be a fire,

And the house of Joseph a flame;

But the house of Esau shall be stubble;

They shall kindle them and devour them,

And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”

For the Lord has spoken.

The [i]South shall possess the mountains of Esau,

And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.

They shall possess the fields of Ephraim

And the fields of Samaria.

Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

And the captives of this host of the children of Israel

Shall possess the land of the Canaanites

As far as Zarephath.

The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

Shall possess the cities of the [j]South.

Then saviors[k] shall come to Mount Zion

To judge the mountains of Esau,

And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Footnotes:

Obadiah 1:7 Or wound or plot
Obadiah 1:7 Or There is no understanding in him
Obadiah 1:12 Gloated over
Obadiah 1:12 Lit. On the day he became a foreigner
Obadiah 1:13 Gloated over
Obadiah 1:14 Handed over to the enemy
Obadiah 1:15 Or reward
Obadiah 1:17 Or salvation
Obadiah 1:19 Heb. Negev
Obadiah 1:20 Heb. Negev
Obadiah 1:21 deliverers

Revelation 9

Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

9 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the [a]bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And [b]they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is[c]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name [d]Apollyon.

12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates

13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For [e]their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their [f]sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Footnotes:

Revelation 9:1 Lit. shaft of the abyss
Revelation 9:5 The locusts
Revelation 9:11 Lit. Destruction
Revelation 9:11 Lit. Destroyer
Revelation 9:19 NU, M the power of the horses
Revelation 9:21 NU, M drugs

———/://///

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please Pray for:

Tyler Martin, Rod Martin’s son who had a terrible freak accident … he went through a plate glass window and suffered multiple severe injuries.

Please Pray for Brother Walt’s granddaughter, Kale’a, and his prodigal son, Elijah.

Please Pray for Tavia’s family. Tavia received a call fro

Sister Kristen and husband for God to intervene and heal their marriage. Additionally, please Pray for their 2 young daughters.

Miguel’s salvation, a confessed murderer and drug dealer, who lives in Mexico.

The salvation of Brother David Frear’s parents.

Larry who has leukemia. Pray God would bring Larry and his love ones closer to Him and His Blessed Hope of Glory.

Lisa Long and her family. Lisa has had for eye surgeries that have failed and she remains blind. Pray for God to direct her path for His glory.

Darrell Blalock who has Parkinson’s disease. Pray for Darrell to have a meaningful and closer walk with the Lord.

John LaPorte and other Brothers and Sisters who are doing ministry at UNLV.

A UNLV student named Tyler who is propaganda machine for the enemy. Pray God will radically save Tyler and that our God will use Tyler to bring many to Christ.

Remington, another UNLV student, says he is a new catholic… not a Believer, yet, but says he is a seeker. Pray God reveals His Truth, His Salvation to Remington.

Our unSaved family members and those around us that we have relationships with. Or, is that you? … Have questions &/or need Prayer?… If yes, please reply or call (702) 592-4098.

II Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

+++

Brother Mark Pedder, a missionary in the Philippines. Please Pray for Mark, Mark’s wife for strength in their trials, tribulations and persecution.

Gemma that she be delivered from evil and receive Jesus as her Savior.

Scott’s salvation and healing. Scott is a commercial real estate broker.

AND, let each of us use Frank’s example and share the Love and Salvation of Jesus to our coworkers, employees, family, friends and acquaintances … Invest in the Eternal!

Women’s Pro-Life ministries in Las Vegas and throughout the world …that they would lead women to the Lord and continue to assist in saving babies’ lives.

Alejandro Corral, his son Alejandro Jr.

Brother Steve Venable dealing with ALS.

Persecuted Brothers and Sisters and their families that are suffering and giving their lives for our Faith.

+++

Please stand with your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer and Support. (See: The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com)

Biblical “headship” in families.

All the children.

That there would be a resurgence of Biblical “Fear of the Lord” in the church and in each of us… “to fear the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Makers Way ministry feeds poor families in NLV. Check it out and if you are lead to help or give, contact Mike at (702) 596-9103 or give online at:

http://ccmeadowmesa.com

///

Day 12/17 – Chaos from God 2

December 17, 2019 By Lyle Brennan Leave a Comment

All Have Sinned – Isaiah 53:6 (ESV). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6

+++

“Certain things you believe you can do, God cautions you not to do. God does not want you to try to become rich.(I Timothy 6:9-10) But in those areas where God has not established prohibitions, and you are competent to act, He expects you to perform. Your dependence upon God cannot be an excuse for passivity. Certain things only He can do, and certain things He wants you to do. Your task, as His follower, is to know the difference.” Walter A. Henrichsen (“Walt H”)

——://///

A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: https://lylebrennan.com.

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man

by Walter Henrichsen

Chaos from God 2

Day Three Hundred Fifty-one

“On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.” Hebrews 7:18-19

The New Testament writers had to show that the Old Testament was incomplete without the further revelation they had to offer. To accomplish this, they had to prove that the Old Testament taught its own inadequacy. Hebrews teaches that a perfect God perfectly created an imperfect system; the Mosaic Law was “weak and useless.” God created an imperfect system so that His people would develop a perfect hope. Paul says that God brings tribulation into your life to help you move toward a biblical hope.448

I don’t know about you, but I abhor disorder of every kind. I dislike dirt, things not working, and my body falling apart. So I constantly work at cleaning the dirt, fixing things when they break, and caring for my body. God follows creating dirt, causing things to break, and my body to disintegrate with old age. Still, I can’t stop stewarding the resources God has entrusted to me. I am ashamed to admit it, but I feel more dependent upon God when things aren’t going well than when they are.

Some friends have an autistic child. They said that the child is oblivious of their efforts to teach unless his world is disrupted and he is made to feel insecure. These moments in which he senses chaos are teachable moments. Most, if not all of us, are spiritually autistic.

448 cf. Romans 5:3-4

———/://///

Amos 7-9 Revelation 8 (New King James Version)

Amos 7-9

Vision of the Locusts

7 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the [a]beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings. 2 And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said:

“O Lord God, forgive, I pray!

Oh,[b] that Jacob may stand,

For he is small!”

So the Lord relented concerning this.

“It shall not be,” said the Lord.

Vision of the Fire

4 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called [c]for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the [d]territory. 5 Then I said:

“O Lord God, cease, I pray!

Oh, that Jacob may stand,

For he is small!”

So the Lord relented concerning this.

“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

Vision of the Plumb Line

7 Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

And I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said:

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line

In the midst of My people Israel;

I will not pass by them anymore.

The [e]high places of Isaac shall be desolate,

And the [f]sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.

I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”

Amaziah’s Complaint

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to [g]bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said:

‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,

And Israel shall surely be led away captive

From their own land.’ ”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos:

“Go, you seer!

Flee to the land of Judah.

There eat bread,

And there prophesy.

But never again prophesy at Bethel,

For it is the king’s [h]sanctuary,

And it is the royal [i]residence.”

14 Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:

“I was no prophet,

Nor was I a son of a prophet,

But I was a sheepbreeder

And a tender of sycamore fruit.

Then the Lord took me [j]as I followed the flock,

And the Lord said to me,

‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’

Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord:

You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,

And do not [k]spout against the house of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore thus says the Lord:

‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city;

Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;

Your land shall be divided by survey line;

You shall die in a defiled land;

And Israel shall surely be led away captive

From his own land.’ ”

Vision of the Summer Fruit

8 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And He said, “Amos, what do you see?”

So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”

Then the Lord said to me:

“The end has come upon My people Israel;

I will not pass by them anymore.

And the songs of the temple

Shall be wailing in that day,”

Says the Lord God—

“Many dead bodies everywhere,

They shall be thrown out in silence.”

Hear this, you who [l]swallow up the needy,

And make the poor of the land fail,

5 Saying:

“When will the New Moon be past,

That we may sell grain?

And the Sabbath,

That we may [m]trade wheat?

Making the ephah small and the shekel large,

Falsifying the scales by deceit,

That we may buy the poor for silver,

And the needy for a pair of sandals—

Even sell the bad wheat?”

The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:

“Surely I will never forget any of their works.

Shall the land not tremble for this,

And everyone mourn who dwells in it?

All of it shall swell like [n]the River,

Heave and subside

Like the River of Egypt.

“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God,

“That I will make the sun go down at noon,

And I will darken the earth in [o]broad daylight;

I will turn your feasts into mourning,

And all your songs into lamentation;

I will bring sackcloth on every waist,

And baldness on every head;

I will make it like mourning for an only son,

And its end like a bitter day.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,

“That I will send a famine on the land,

Not a famine of bread,

Nor a thirst for water,

But of hearing the words of the Lord.

They shall wander from sea to sea,

And from north to east;

They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,

But shall not find it.

“In that day the fair virgins

And strong young men

Shall faint from thirst.

Those who swear by the [p]sin of Samaria,

Who say,

‘As your god lives, O Dan!’

And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’

They shall fall and never rise again.”

The Destruction of Israel

9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said:

“Strike the [q]doorposts, that the thresholds may shake,

And break them on the heads of them all.

I will slay the last of them with the sword.

He who flees from them shall not get away,

And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.

“Though they dig into [r]hell,

From there My hand shall take them;

Though they climb up to heaven,

From there I will bring them down;

And though they hide themselves on top of Carmel,

From there I will search and take them;

Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea,

From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them;

Though they go into captivity before their enemies,

From there I will command the sword,

And it shall slay them.

I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good.”

The Lord God of hosts,

He who touches the earth and it melts,

And all who dwell there mourn;

All of it shall swell like [s]the River,

And subside like the River of Egypt.

He who builds His layers[t] in the sky,

And has founded His strata in the earth;

Who calls for the waters of the sea,

And pours them out on the face of the earth—

The Lord is His name.

“Are you not like the [u]people of Ethiopia to Me,

O children of Israel?” says the Lord.

“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,

The Philistines from Caphtor,[v]

And the Syrians from Kir?

“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,

And I will destroy it from the face of the earth;

Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”

Says the Lord.

“For surely I will command,

And will [w]sift the house of Israel among all nations,

As grain is sifted in a sieve;

Yet not the smallest [x]grain shall fall to the ground.

All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,

Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

Israel Will Be Restored

“On that day I will raise up

The [y]tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,

And [z]repair its damages;

I will raise up its ruins,

And rebuild it as in the days of old;

That they may possess the remnant of Edom,[aa]

And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”

Says the Lord who does this thing.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,

“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,

And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;

The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,

And all the hills shall flow with it.

I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;

They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;

They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;

They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.

I will plant them in their land,

And no longer shall they be pulled up

From the land I have given them,”

Says the Lord your God.

Footnotes:

Amos 7:1 Lit. beginning of the sprouting of
Amos 7:2 Or How shall Jacob stand
Amos 7:4 to contend
Amos 7:4 Lit. portion
Amos 7:9 Places of pagan worship
Amos 7:9 Or holy places
Amos 7:10 Or endure
Amos 7:13 Or holy place
Amos 7:13 Lit. house
Amos 7:15 Lit. from behind
Amos 7:16 Lit. drip
Amos 8:4 Or trample on, Amos 2:7
Amos 8:5 Lit. open
Amos 8:8 The Nile; some Heb. mss., LXX, Tg., Syr., Vg. River (cf. 9:5); MT the light
Amos 8:9 Lit. a day of light
Amos 8:14 Or Ashima, a Syrian goddess
Amos 9:1 Capitals of the pillars
Amos 9:2 Or Sheol
Amos 9:5 The Nile
Amos 9:6 Or stairs
Amos 9:7 Lit. sons of the Ethiopians
Amos 9:7 Crete
Amos 9:9 shake
Amos 9:9 Lit. pebble
Amos 9:11 Lit. booth; a figure of a deposed dynasty
Amos 9:11 Lit. wall up its breaches
Amos 9:12 LXX mankind

Revelation 8

Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets

8 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck

7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the [a]earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck

8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck

10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck

12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day [b]did not shine, and likewise the night.

13 And I looked, and I heard an [c]angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Footnotes:

Revelation 8:7 NU, M add and a third of the earth was burned up
Revelation 8:12 had no light
Revelation 8:13 NU, M eagle

———/://///

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please Pray for:

Tyler Martin, Rod Martin’s son who had a terrible freak accident … he went through a plate glass window and suffered multiple severe injuries.

Please Pray for Brother Walt’s granddaughter, Kale’a, and his prodigal son, Elijah.

Please Pray for Tavia’s family. Tavia received a call fro

Sister Kristen and husband for God to intervene and heal their marriage. Additionally, please Pray for their 2 young daughters.

Miguel’s salvation, a confessed murderer and drug dealer, who lives in Mexico.

The salvation of Brother David Frear’s parents.

Larry who has leukemia. Pray God would bring Larry and his love ones closer to Him and His Blessed Hope of Glory.

Lisa Long and her family. Lisa has had for eye surgeries that have failed and she remains blind. Pray for God to direct her path for His glory.

Darrell Blalock who has Parkinson’s disease. Pray for Darrell to have a meaningful and closer walk with the Lord.

John LaPorte and other Brothers and Sisters who are doing ministry at UNLV.

A UNLV student named Tyler who is propaganda machine for the enemy. Pray God will radically save Tyler and that our God will use Tyler to bring many to Christ.

Remington, another UNLV student, says he is a new catholic… not a Believer, yet, but says he is a seeker. Pray God reveals His Truth, His Salvation to Remington.

Our unSaved family members and those around us that we have relationships with. Or, is that you? … Have questions &/or need Prayer?… If yes, please reply or call (702) 592-4098.

II Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

+++

Brother Mark Pedder, a missionary in the Philippines. Please Pray for Mark, Mark’s wife for strength in their trials, tribulations and persecution.

Gemma that she be delivered from evil and receive Jesus as her Savior.

Scott’s salvation and healing. Scott is a commercial real estate broker.

AND, let each of us use Frank’s example and share the Love and Salvation of Jesus to our coworkers, employees, family, friends and acquaintances … Invest in the Eternal!

Women’s Pro-Life ministries in Las Vegas and throughout the world …that they would lead women to the Lord and continue to assist in saving babies’ lives.

Alejandro Corral, his son Alejandro Jr.

Brother Steve Venable dealing with ALS.

Persecuted Brothers and Sisters and their families that are suffering and giving their lives for our Faith.

+++

Please stand with your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer and Support. (See: The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com)

Biblical “headship” in families.

All the children.

That there would be a resurgence of Biblical “Fear of the Lord” in the church and in each of us… “to fear the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Makers Way ministry feeds poor families in NLV. Check it out and if you are lead to help or give, contact Mike at (702) 596-9103 or give online at:

http://ccmeadowmesa.com

///

Day 12/16 – Chaos from God

December 16, 2019 By Lyle Brennan Leave a Comment

All Have Sinned – Romans 3:23 (ESV) “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23

+++

“God insists on your looking to Him alone for the meeting of your needs. You covet when you seek to meet your own needs, or look to any other person than God for the meeting of your need. When you covet you commit idolatry.” Ref: Colossians 3:5 Walter A. Henrichsen (“Walt H”)

——://///

A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: https://lylebrennan.com.

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man

by Walter Henrichsen

Chaos from God

Day Three Hundred Fifty

“And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”‘ Genesis 11:6

The whole earth spoke one language, and united the people built the Tower of Babel. I have never been sure what this tower looked like, or how the people thought it would accomplish their objective, but God responded to them with this startling comment: “If we don’t stop them, there is nothing that they won’t be able to do.” You may want to qualify this comment; there are many things mankind will never be able to do. But God does not qualify His assertion, and thus scatters the people by confounding them with a multiplicity of languages.

This scattering produced at least the following: a diversity of cultures and religions- the inability to understand one another, not only because of language, but also culture – and war. Diversity breeds divisiveness. There is no

indication of war prior to the Tower of Babel. You find instances of violence, such as Cain killing his brother, but no organized group warfare. God instigated much of the chaos you find in the world.

People have always worked toward solving the problems of the world through unity and union. We formed the League of Nations, the United Nations, and some look to the union of European nations as the another step towards one world government. We sign nuclear proliferation treaties, seek to eliminate poverty and injustice, etc. If God were to allow success, it would seal the eternal damnation of the world, for the path from God is independence; the path to God is dependence. God uses chaos to teach people their need of Him. Never cease thanking God for chaos.

———/://///

Amos 4-6 Revelation 7 (New King James Version)

Amos 4-6

God’s Punishments Have Not Reformed Israel

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria,

Who oppress the poor,

Who crush the needy,

Who say to [a]your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!”

The Lord God has sworn by His holiness:

“Behold, the days shall come upon you

When He will take you away with fishhooks,

And your posterity with fishhooks.

You will go out through broken walls,

Each one straight ahead of her,

And you will [b]be cast into Harmon,”

Says the Lord.

“Come to Bethel and transgress,

At Gilgal multiply transgression;

Bring your sacrifices every morning,

Your tithes every three [c]days.

Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,

Proclaim and announce the freewill offerings;

For this you love,

You children of Israel!”

Says the Lord God.

Israel Did Not Accept Correction

“Also I gave you [d]cleanness of teeth in all your cities,

And lack of bread in all your places;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

“I also withheld rain from you,

When there were still three months to the harvest.

I made it rain on one city,

I withheld rain from another city.

One part was rained upon,

And where it did not rain the part withered.

So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water,

But they were not satisfied;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

“I blasted you with blight and mildew.

When your gardens increased,

Your vineyards,

Your fig trees,

And your olive trees,

The locust devoured them;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

“I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt;

Your young men I killed with a sword,

Along with your captive horses;

I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

“I overthrew some of you,

As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,

And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

“Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;

Because I will do this to you,

Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

For behold,

He who forms mountains,

And creates the [e]wind,

Who declares to man what [f]his thought is,

And makes the morning darkness,

Who treads the high places of the earth—

The Lord God of hosts is His name.

A Lament for Israel

5 Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:

The virgin of Israel has fallen;

She will rise no more.

She lies forsaken on her land;

There is no one to raise her up.

3 For thus says the Lord God:

“The city that goes out by a thousand

Shall have a hundred left,

And that which goes out by a hundred

Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”

A Call to Repentance

4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

“Seek Me and live;

But do not seek Bethel,

Nor enter Gilgal,

Nor pass over to Beersheba;

For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,

And Bethel shall come to nothing.

Seek the Lord and live,

Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,

And devour it,

With no one to quench it in Bethel—

You who turn justice to wormwood,

And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”

He made the Pleiades and Orion;

He turns the shadow of death into morning

And makes the day dark as night;

He calls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the face of the earth;

The Lord is His name.

He [g]rains ruin upon the strong,

So that fury comes upon the fortress.

They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,

And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly.

Therefore, because you [h]tread down the poor

And take grain [i]taxes from him,

Though you have built houses of hewn stone,

Yet you shall not dwell in them;

You have planted [j]pleasant vineyards,

But you shall not drink wine from them.

For I know your manifold transgressions

And your mighty sins:

Afflicting the just and taking bribes;

Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.

Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time,

For it is an evil time.

Seek good and not evil,

That you may live;

So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,

As you have spoken.

Hate evil, love good;

Establish justice in the gate.

It may be that the Lord God of hosts

Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

The Day of the Lord

16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this:

“There shall be wailing in all streets,

And they shall say in all the highways,

‘Alas! Alas!’

They shall call the farmer to mourning,

And skillful lamenters to wailing.

In all vineyards there shall be wailing,

For I will pass through you,”

Says the Lord.

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!

For what good is the day of the Lord to you?

It will be darkness, and not light.

It will be as though a man fled from a lion,

And a bear met him!

Or as though he went into the house,

Leaned his hand on the wall,

And a serpent bit him!

Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?

Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

“I hate, I despise your feast days,

And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.

Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,

I will not accept them,

Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.

Take away from Me the noise of your songs,

For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.

But let justice run down like water,

And righteousness like a mighty stream.

“Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings

In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

You also carried [k]Sikkuth[l] your king

And Chiun, your idols,

The star of your gods,

Which you made for yourselves.

Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,”

Says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

Warnings to Zion and Samaria

Woe to you who are at ease in Zion,

And trust in Mount Samaria,

Notable persons in the chief nation,

To whom the house of Israel comes!

Go over to Calneh and see;

And from there go to Hamath the great;

Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.

Are you better than these kingdoms?

Or is their territory greater than your territory?

Woe to you who put far off the day of doom,

Who cause the seat of violence to come near;

Who lie on beds of ivory,

Stretch out on your couches,

Eat lambs from the flock

And calves from the midst of the stall;

Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,

And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;

Who drink wine from bowls,

And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,

But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives,

And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.

The Lord God has sworn by Himself,

The Lord God of hosts says:

“I abhor the pride of Jacob,

And hate his palaces;

Therefore I will deliver up the city

And all that is in it.”

9 Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when [m]a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the [n]bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with you?”

Then someone will say, “None.”

And he will say, “Hold your tongue! For we dare not mention the name of the Lord.”

For behold, the Lord gives a command:

He will break the great house into bits,

And the little house into pieces.

Do horses run on rocks?

Does one plow there with oxen?

Yet you have turned justice into gall,

And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,

You who rejoice over [o]Lo Debar,

Who say, “Have we not taken [p]Karnaim for ourselves

By our own strength?”

“But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you,

O house of Israel,”

Says the Lord God of hosts;

“And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath

To the Valley of the Arabah.”

Footnotes:

Amos 4:1 Lit. their masters or lords
Amos 4:3 Or cast them
Amos 4:4 Or years, Deut. 14:28
Amos 4:6 Hunger
Amos 4:13 Or spirit
Amos 4:13 Or His
Amos 5:9 Or flashes forth destruction
Amos 5:11 trample
Amos 5:11 Or tribute
Amos 5:11 desirable
Amos 5:26 LXX, Vg. tabernacle of Moloch
Amos 5:26 A pagan deity
Amos 6:10 Lit. his loved one or uncle
Amos 6:10 Lit. bones
Amos 6:13 Lit. Nothing
Amos 6:13 Lit. Horns, a symbol of strength

Revelation 7

The Sealed of Israel

7 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were [a]sealed;

of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,

Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,

Be to our God forever and ever.

Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

14 And I said to him, [b]“Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to [c]living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Footnotes:

Revelation 7:5 NU, M omit sealed in vv. 5b–8b.
Revelation 7:14 NU, M My lord
Revelation 7:17 NU, M fountains of the waters of life.

———/://///

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please Pray for:

Sister Kristen and husband for God to intervene and heal their marriage. Additionally, please Pray for their 2 young daughters.

Miguel’s salvation, a confessed murderer and drug dealer, who lives in Mexico.

The salvation of Brother David Frear’s parents.

Larry who has leukemia. Pray God would bring Larry and his love ones closer to Him and His Blessed Hope of Glory.

Lisa Long and her family. Lisa has had for eye surgeries that have failed and she remains blind. Pray for God to direct her path for His glory.

Darrell Blalock who has Parkinson’s disease. Pray for Darrell to have a meaningful and closer walk with the Lord.

John LaPorte and other Brothers and Sisters who are doing ministry at UNLV.

A UNLV student named Tyler who is propaganda machine for the enemy. Pray God will radically save Tyler and that our God will use Tyler to bring many to Christ.

Remington, another UNLV student, says he is a new catholic… not a Believer, yet, but says he is a seeker. Pray God reveals His Truth, His Salvation to Remington.

Our unSaved family members and those around us that we have relationships with. Or, is that you? … Have questions &/or need Prayer?… If yes, please reply or call (702) 592-4098.

II Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

+++

Brother Mark Pedder, a missionary in the Philippines. Please Pray for Mark, Mark’s wife for strength in their trials, tribulations and persecution.

Gemma that she be delivered from evil and receive Jesus as her Savior.

Scott’s salvation and healing. Scott is a commercial real estate broker.

AND, let each of us use Frank’s example and share the Love and Salvation of Jesus to our coworkers, employees, family, friends and acquaintances … Invest in the Eternal!

Women’s Pro-Life ministries in Las Vegas and throughout the world …that they would lead women to the Lord and continue to assist in saving babies’ lives.

Alejandro Corral, his son Alejandro Jr.

Brother Steve Venable dealing with ALS.

Persecuted Brothers and Sisters and their families that are suffering and giving their lives for our Faith.

+++

Please stand with your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer and Support. (See: The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com)

Biblical “headship” in families.

All the children.

That there would be a resurgence of Biblical “Fear of the Lord” in the church and in each of us… “to fear the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Brother Mike Welte, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Meadow Mesa (“CCMM”) located in North Las Vegas requested Prayer for both his church and their mission, Makers Way, that feeds some 200 individuals and families each week. As you may know, national statistics show church attendance is down and consequently so are donations. This has directly affected Mike’s church and Makers Way. At the bottom of this email is an open letter from Mike to Believers and his church members. Check it out and if you are lead to help or give, contact Mike at (702) 596-9103 or give online at:

http://ccmeadowmesa.com

CANDIDATES:

———/://///

CCMM Open Letter:

November 22, 2019

Greetings to you, fellow believers and church members Calvary Chapel Meadow Mesa (CCMM).

I wanted to send you this letter to inform you of “possible changes” being considered for the weekly ministry activities of CCMM and the church as a whole.

As pastor of CCMM I endeavor to conduct daily ministry and business activity in a manner that is biblically and economically sound and have done so for 16 years. I was mentored and trained in the ministry method that was used by Pastor Chuck Smith and the original Calvary Chapel established in Costa Mesa, California. As every Calvary Chapel Pastor knows, we trust in the LORD and simply ask the LORD to guide us and help us to adhere to the faith based principle, where GOD guides, GOD provides.

We have been blessed at how the LORD has helped us through these 16 years and as a church we have never taken out one single loan and we will intend to continue this pattern as long as this church continues to exist. It is a beautiful feeling to know that we as a church do not have to experience the pressure or stress of having financial debt of any kind.

At this time, the pastors and the advisory council of CCMM realize that our fellowship doesn’t have the number of people attending that it once did. We are not sure why this is the case but we know that attendance is significantly less. We all are doing a massive amount of prayerful reflection and consideration of why this may be the case. The decline in attendance and resulting decline in financial gifts reduced the funds we have available to maintain ministry activities at their present levels. In view of this fact, we need to consider all areas of ministry and whether adjustments need to be made to reduce expenses. GOD calls us to be faithful and ready to respond or adjust to life’s challenges whether we are in abundance or in want.

At this time we are considering a number of changes that we hope will ride through this decline as we pray and hope for a return to better attendance and financial support.

In order to endure these present challenges, we are considering the following steps:

1- reducing the number of Sunday services to two, one at 9:00 service and another at 11:00. If we truly believe we can save on utilities or any other expenses by taking this action, we hope that our church family will be willing to make the adjustment with us.

2- reducing the number of paid staff members. This area appears to be one area that will have to be addressed.

The estimated pay period which repeats twice a month is $7,000 and that is covering 9 workers –

Pastor Mike, (I-myself) am the only one of the 9 workers who receives a full salary. All other workers receive what could only be considered a “part time” worker salary.

3- reducing the number of days we conduct the Maker’s Way food distribution to one day or entirely. To take an action of this kind would be heartbreaking, over 200 individuals and families are assisted every week through this ministry and, truly, it is one of the most important works of service that flows from CCMM but in order to address our challenges, we must be willing to have all things on the table.

It is possible that keeping the doors closed would reduce the amount of electricity that the church uses on a monthly basis.

While considering all possible cost savings areas, we are also looking at revenue producing possibilities such as seeking financial grants to assist in our food distribution ministry as well as a number of other creative means to not only support but grow the work and ministry of CCMM.

In summary:

I and the ministry team of CCMM wanted to send this letter as a means to inform you of possible changes. We don’t want to “spring any surprises” upon any of you. I believe the best way to inform you all of possible changes is to list them one by one.

Our request of you at this time is this:

1) pray for the strength of CCMM that we can overcome the challenges before us.

2) pray that individuals and organizations will learn of the work and ministry CCMM and believe that our work and ministry is worthy of support.

3) pray for your pastors as well as the ministry team and volunteers that, through the blessing of the LORD, have helped maintain the ministry of CCMM for 16 years.

4) pray for your friends, co-workers and family members and invite them to visit CCMM.

5) pray for inspired ideas that GOD may give you as to how you or we can contribute to the CCMM.

Sincerely,

Michael Welte

Day 12/15 – The Pride of Piety

December 15, 2019 By Lyle Brennan Leave a Comment

Witnessing – Romans 1:16 (ESV) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16

+++

“Jesus summarized the Law in two commands: love God and your neighbor. You will never be able to adequately do this if you look to any source other than God for the meeting of your needs.” Walter A. Henrichsen (“Walt H”)

——://///

A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: https://lylebrennan.com.

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man

by Walter Henrichsen

The Pride of Piety

Day Three Hundred Forty-nine

“Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.” Isaiah 7:11-12

“Signs” play an important role in Scripture. They are expressions of God’s grace to aid the sinner in the task of believing. Under the pretence of reverence, King Ahaz declined God’s offer of a sign, exhausting the patience of the Almighty. The hardness of the king’s heart was cloaked in piety. Ahaz did not say that he didn’t believe in God. Rather his response showed an attempt to be more spiritual than Isaiah. We cannot know for sure why Ahaz did this, but he may have been afraid of being committed to a policy in which he had no confidence. If he had asked for a sign and received it, he would then be committed to whatever God told him.

In a way analogous to God’s offer to King Ahaz, He promises us that if we will devote ourselves to His cause, He will greatly reward us in heaven. I frequently hear believers say that they could never be motivated by so base a thing as eternal profit; such motivation smacks of selfishness. This kind of piety may be a cloak covering a fear of God holding them accountable for how they invested their lives, an accounting that appreciably influences their standard of living in eternity. Not wanting such accountability, they hide behind piety.

You will always have difficulty understanding your own motives; they are at best murky and suspect. But when you find yourself resisting a clear offer from God, as did Ahaz, you had better have good cause and a pure motive, lest you exhaust the patience of the Almighty.

———/://///

Amos 1-3 Revelation 6 (New King James Version)

Amos 1-3

Judgments on Israel’s Neighbors

1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

2 And he said:

“The Lord roars from Zion,

And utters His voice from Jerusalem;

The pastures of the shepherds mourn,

And the top of Carmel withers.”

Judgment on the Nations

3 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron.

But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,

Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.

I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,

And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,

And the one who [a]holds the scepter from [b]Beth Eden.

The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,”

Says the Lord.

6 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they took captive the whole captivity

To deliver them up to Edom.

But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,

Which shall devour its palaces.

I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,

And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;

I will turn My hand against Ekron,

And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”

Says the Lord God.

9 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom,

And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.

But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,

Which shall devour its palaces.”

11 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of Edom, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because he pursued his brother with the sword,

And cast off all pity;

His anger tore perpetually,

And he kept his wrath forever.

But I will send a fire upon Teman,

Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.”

13 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead,

That they might enlarge their territory.

But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,

And it shall devour its palaces,

Amid shouting in the day of battle,

And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.

Their king shall go into captivity,

He and his princes together,”

Says the Lord.

Judgment on Israel

2 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of Moab, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.

But I will send a fire upon Moab,

And it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth;

Moab shall die with tumult,

With shouting and trumpet sound.

And I will cut off the judge from its midst,

And slay all its princes with him,”

Says the Lord.

Judgment on Judah

4 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of Judah, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they have despised the law of the Lord,

And have not kept His commandments.

Their lies lead them astray,

Lies which their fathers followed.

But I will send a fire upon Judah,

And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”

Judgment on Israel

6 Thus says the Lord:

“For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they sell the righteous for silver,

And the poor for a pair of sandals.

They [c]pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor,

And pervert the way of the humble.

A man and his father go in to the same girl,

To defile My holy name.

They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge,

And drink the wine of [d]the condemned in the house of their god.

“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,

Whose height was like the height of the cedars,

And he was as strong as the oaks;

Yet I destroyed his fruit above

And his roots beneath.

Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,

And led you forty years through the wilderness,

To possess the land of the Amorite.

I raised up some of your sons as prophets,

And some of your young men as Nazirites.

Is it not so, O you children of Israel?”

Says the Lord.

“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,

And commanded the prophets saying,

‘Do not prophesy!’

“Behold, I am [e]weighed down by you,

As a cart full of sheaves [f]is weighed down.

Therefore [g]flight shall perish from the swift,

The strong shall not strengthen his power,

Nor shall the mighty [h]deliver himself;

He shall not stand who handles the bow,

The swift of foot shall not [i]escape,

Nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself.

The most [j]courageous men of might

Shall flee naked in that day,”

Says the Lord.

Authority of the Prophet’s Message

3 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:

“You only have I known of all the families of the earth;

Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?

Will a young lion [k]cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?

Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no [l]trap for it?

Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?

If a [m]trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?

If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?

Surely the Lord God does nothing,

Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

A lion has roared!

Who will not fear?

The Lord God has spoken!

Who can but prophesy?

Punishment of Israel’s Sins

“Proclaim in the palaces at [n]Ashdod,

And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say:

‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;

See great tumults in her midst,

And the [o]oppressed within her.

For they do not know to do right,’

Says the Lord,

‘Who store up violence and [p]robbery in their palaces.’ ”

11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“An adversary shall be all around the land;

He shall sap your strength from you,

And your palaces shall be plundered.”

12 Thus says the Lord:

“As a shepherd [q]takes from the mouth of a lion

Two legs or a piece of an ear,

So shall the children of Israel be taken out

Who dwell in Samaria—

In the corner of a bed and [r]on the edge of a couch!

Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”

Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,

“That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,

I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel;

And the horns of the altar shall be cut off

And fall to the ground.

I will [s]destroy the winter house along with the summer house;

The houses of ivory shall perish,

And the great houses shall have an end,”

Says the Lord.

Footnotes:

Amos 1:5 Rules
Amos 1:5 Lit. House of Eden
Amos 2:7 Or trample on
Amos 2:8 Or those punished by fines
Amos 2:13 Or tottering under
Amos 2:13 Or totters
Amos 2:14 Or the place of refuge
Amos 2:14 Lit. save his soul or life
Amos 2:15 Or save
Amos 2:16 Lit. strong of his heart among the mighty
Amos 3:4 Lit. give his voice
Amos 3:5 Or bait or lure
Amos 3:6 ram’s horn
Amos 3:9 So with MT; LXX Assyria
Amos 3:9 Or oppression
Amos 3:10 Or devastation
Amos 3:12 Or snatches
Amos 3:12 Heb. uncertain, possibly on the cover
Amos 3:15 Lit. strike

Revelation 6

First Seal: The Conqueror

6 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the [a]seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

Second Seal: Conflict on Earth

3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come [b]and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales[c] in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A [d]quart of wheat for a [e]denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”

Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And [f]power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

Fifth Seal: The Cry of the Martyrs

9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances

12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and [g]behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the [h]moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky [i]receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, [j]the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

Footnotes:

Revelation 6:1 NU, M seven seals
Revelation 6:3 NU, M omit and see
Revelation 6:5 balances
Revelation 6:6 Gr. choinix, about 1 quart
Revelation 6:6 About 1 day’s wage for a worker
Revelation 6:8 authority
Revelation 6:12 NU, M omit behold
Revelation 6:12 NU, M whole moon
Revelation 6:14 Or split apart
Revelation 6:15 NU, M the commanders, the rich men,