Encounter With God 20th May 2020 Devotional – He Is Risen
TODAY’S TOPIC: HE IS RISEN!
Opening Prayer: Lord, Your Jewish pedigree endures through eternity.
Read REVELATION 5 – The Scroll and the Lamb
5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth.
-
Encounter With God 20th May 2020 Devotional
7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[b] on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Footnotes:
a Revelation 5:6 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
b Revelation 5:10 Some manuscripts they reign
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate: Encounter With God 20th May 2020 Devotional
Lord, show me in a deeper, more challenging way the cost and the joy of my salvation, so that my words and actions today will reflect Your glorious name.
Think Further: A scroll was usually completed only on one side. To symbolize completeness, we see this scroll full on both sides with God’s redemption plan regarding all that must happen. Within it lies both hope and horror. Suffering believers, such as those in Smyrna or Philadelphia, would have hope in God’s sovereignty. By contrast, those serving other gods and authorities should fear challenge and accountability. The Lion (the Messiah) is here, and one of the elders points this out (5), but as John looks he doesn’t see the Lion but a Lamb—and, as if a lamb isn’t pathetic enough, a sacrificed lamb—yet alive.
I used to be an addict, involved with the occult and other forms of sin and ended up despised, broken, bound, and in the gutter because I thought money, sex and power brought fulfillment. Yet the people of God demonstrated Christ’s sacrificial love when I felt least deserving of it: they showed me the redemption plan now available to me. “Because none of subsequent history, including God’s judgments, could take place until the Lamb himself opens the seals” (Craig Keener, The NIV Application Commentary—Revelation, 193).
By showing how universally world-changing Calvary is, the sacrificed Lamb is central to everything we believe. Jesus did not triumph by the world’s selfish power and control. He overcame evil by dying and weakness. So often we look to others as biblical heroes, but they all have failings, for only one is able (5) and worthy (9,12) to make all things new.
As heaven worships, my priorities are challenged. Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matt. 20:28). Now, thousands upon thousands sing his praises. Jesus has shown us that victory comes through honor, sacrifice and obedience to God. That includes our action now, as his priests, taking the message of redemption into the whole world.
Apply: Encounter With God 20th May 2020 Devotional
Jesus died for you. What has Jesus done in your life? Take some time to say, “Thank you,” and pray for the opportunity and courage to share what he has done today.
Closing Prayer: Lord, there is only one person in the universe worthy to open any scroll pertaining to the plan of God, and You are that one person.
ONE YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: 1 Kings 8,9 / Psalms 58,59
Thanks for reading Scripture Union Encounter With God 20th May 2020 Devotional – He Is Risen. Please share this with other people.
Encounter With God 19th May 2020
Comments are closed.