Revelation 17:14 “’These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.’”

WIN, WIN, WIN

How do you separate out and pick one verse in this chapter. It is all about the Great Harlot and her defeat in the end times. The chapter is so descriptive that it is almost impossible for me to just pick one or two verses.

So what can we learn from this chapter. Simple – We Win!!! I believe the Word teaches that we believers will be out of here before the tribulation, but even if I’m wrong and we have to go through that horrible time, we win! There is no power on earth or heaven that can defeat our God.

TEACHING MOMENT

How many of you have children who play sports? Do they play soccer or basketball or (fill in the blank)? The next time you take them to the game why not use this verse as an encouragement to them? Do you think they would play harder if they knew they were going to win the game? How would they approach their teammates if they knew without a shadow of a doubt that they were going to win?

That is exactly what we need to be telling our children about the Christian life. We may face battles, but we know in the end we WIN!! There is nothing that can change the outcome of the “game” we are in with Christ. We may have setbacks or disappointments. We may feel at times that all hope is gone, but we have to remember this verse. We WIN! We are “the called and chosen and faithful.”

We have to trust and believe that WHATEVER comes our way is in His hands. Do you believe? Do you trust? Let Him have all your anxieties and stress. Let Him have complete control of your circumstances. He is more than able to handle it.   Just let go!

Best Verse: Micah 7:18 “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love.”

FORGIVENESS

Micah mentions four things God does in this verse. He pardons iniquity. He passes over our rebellious acts. He does not retain His anger. He delights in unchanging love. Let’s look at each of these.

PARDONS

He pardons iniquity. The word “pardon” means He carries or lifts. He bears the burden for our sin. Iniquity – Oh, I just love this Hebrew word. It’s the word “avon.” Yep! Avon! I just think that’s hilarious. No offense to all you Avon ladies out there. The word “avon” means our guilt or our punishment for our sins. It’s the same word used in Psalm 51:2 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

PASSES OVER

Then Micah says God passes over our rebellious acts. The same word is used in Proverbs 19:11 “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.” It does not mean God overlooks, as in ignores. It means He forgives. What are those “rebellious acts”? Our transgressions against a Holy God.

DOES NOT RETAIN

Micah goes on to say God does not retain His anger forever. Hallelujah! Aren’t you glad of that? He does not hold tight to His anger. That’s what that means. The word “retain” is the Hebrew word “chazaq” which is the same word used in Joshua when the Lord tells him to be “strong” and take courage. God does not hold on to His anger. He lets it go when He forgives us. What are you holding on to tightly? Who have you NOT forgiven? Why do you get “historical” every time you and your spouse have a “holy discussion”? Why do you keep bringing up your child’s past mistakes? Let it go! God has! Oh, and the word “anger” has the picture of nostrils flaring! I have seen people that mad.

DELIGHTS

And finally in this verse, Micah says, “He delights in unchanging love.”   Oh people, listen to this. God takes pleasure in unchanging love. Whose unchanging love? His, of course. His love never changes. He loves us always. He loves us fully. He loves us completely. Oh, and this “unchanging love” is His “checed.” It’s His loving-kindness. It’s His mercy shown to mankind. It’s His covenant keeping love.

TEACHING MOMENT

Now, if you can’t find a way to apply this to raising your children, I give up. Lol. We have the opportunity every day to pardon their sin, pass over their transgressions, not retain our anger over their disobedience and extend lovingkindness to them. When you find any of those four difficult, remember what God has done for you! Amen?

Revelation 16:15 “(‘Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.’)”

SUDDENLY

We have been reading a lot lately about the return of Christ. Of course, that topic has been a hot one for generations. It seems every generation thinks Christ will come during their lifetime. Hmmm, I guess no one really knows.

The point is not that He is coming. That fact is established in God’s Word. The question is “Are you ready for His coming?” This verse warns us that He will come like a thief. Not to rob or harm, but unexpectedly. He will just be there.

TEACHING MOMENT

Does your home have a security system? Many homes do. If you have one of those I am sure you have shown your children how it works. They need to know how to reset it if it goes off. And they need to know what it sounds like if it does. We set those systems to protect our family from thieves, robbers or someone who wants to do us harm.

This is a good verse to share with them the next time you are setting that alarm. Explain to them that just like we prepare for an intrusion in our house by setting the alarm system, we need to be preparing our hearts for Christ. He will come unexpectedly, suddenly, without warning. We won’t have time to get ready once that happens. We have to ready all the time.

But unlike someone who wants to harm us, He wants to come and take us home with Him to heaven. If we are believers, we have no fear of His return. In fact, it is welcomed. But, if we have not placed our trust in Jesus, then we will be caught totally unprepared and face eternal judgment.

Are you ready? Are you getting others ready? Are you preparing yourself and your family for that day? I am excited to see Him. Are you?

Jonah  3:5 “Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.”

STOP RUNNING

Can you just picture Jonah? He ran from God after being told to go to Nineveh. He got thrown overboard from a sinking ship (that miraculously survived afterwards), got swallowed by a large fish, spent three days in the belly of that fish, got vomited up on shore, went to Nineveh, preached one of the shortest repentance messages ever, the whole city repents, he gets mad, runs away to “die,” sits under a vine, it dies and then God speaks to him. Wow! He could have saved himself a whole of lot trouble if he had just gone the first time God told him to go.

But aren’t we just the same? How many times have we “run” from God? How many times has He told us to do something, and we decide to ignore it or do the exact opposite? How many of you would like to spend three days inside a fish?

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children are going to disobey us. They will outright rebel sometimes. What a perfect story to read to them when they are rebelling. Do you think Jonah ever thought he would repent inside a fish’s stomach? I bet not. Our children might not like what God uses to get their attention. But they have got to decide to obey. You can’t obey for them.

Jonah had no idea how God would one day use the Assyrians, which included Nineveh, to judge the nation of Israel. And Jonah had no idea at the time how their knowledge of a forgiving God would shape how they treated Israel. You see, our children need to know that God sees the WHOLE picture, not just the immediate. He sees years, decades, even centuries down the road.

What are you running from? What has God asked you to do for Him? Why are you running to Tarshish instead of Nineveh? Stop and turn around. It is so much easier doing it His way!

Best Verse: Revelation 15:3b “’Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!’”

BRAVE ONES

Do you know who is singing this in heaven? Take a look at verse 2. “Those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name” are the ones singing. It doesn’t say how many are singing. It only says what it says. So just who are these singers?

Well, could it include us? Will we be victorious over the beast and his image and the number? Will we face these temptations to succumb to his lures? Will we have to make the decision to compromise or die?

TEACHING MOMENT

I know we all pray that our children would never have to face such decisions. But listen to me Moms and Dads! We might possibly be living in the last days. We don’t know when Christ is going to come, but we do know that the world is getting darker and darker. Christianity is under attack. Are you preparing your children to defend their faith? Are you getting your children ready to take a stand for Christ?

Teaching our children to be faithful is one of those things that they will learn by watching us. Every time you are faced with a faith decision let them know what is going on. Now, I mean within reason. Children should NOT be privy to our every adult decision. But letting them in on our faith growing and faith trusting decisions prepares them for the day when they will be faced with similar challenges.

The problem many parents today have is trying to make EVERY decision for their child in order to shield them for getting hurt. Pain is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s life’s way of letting us know that something is wrong. Allow your child to experience those “growing pains” in a safe way, but let them experience them. Just read James 1, if you need further proof.

Take courage my brothers and sisters! God rewards the faithful. Won’t you stay true? Won’t you trust Him to see you through to the other side – no matter what? He will, you know. He will.

Obadiah 15 “’For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.’”

JUDGMENT

If you have ever done any study on prophecy, then you are familiar with this term, “the day of the Lord.” It is a day of judgment. Those who do not worship our Lord and Savior will face judgment that day. But all of us who are in Christ will have no fear of judgment on this day. Our fate was sealed once we bowed before the Lord and acknowledged Him as Lord and Savior. Our sins are forgiven and covered with the blood! Hallelujah!

Our children can understand judgment, can’t they? They feel “judged” every time you have to correct them or discipline them. No one likes being judged, and no one likes be punished. But that’s life here. We cannot possibly keep all the laws that are contained in the Old Testament. And if we fail to keep just one, we are guilty of them all. How defeating! How depressing! How hopeless.

TEACHING MOMENT

You can drive this point home with your kids sometime by making a list of rules for them to follow for a day. Get them to even help make the list. But make sure you put one in there that will be impossible for them to keep. At the end of the day, go over how they did. Make sure you point out how they failed to keep the impossible one.

Then forgive them. Wipe the slate clean. Tell them all is forgiven. Now, you can show them how that is the same (but much better) in Christ. We can try and try to be good. We may even do well for a while, but sooner or later we are going to fall flat on our face. The beauty of being in Jesus is that He knows we are going to fail and is ready to pick us up. He wants us to live holy lives, but also loves to extend grace and mercy to us.

How are feeling today? Do you feel defeated? Or do you know your security lies in Christ and not in keeping a set of rules and laws that are impossible? You can live free of fear of coming judgment. Trust Him!

Revelation 14:6 “And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;”

EVEN ANGELS

The eternal gospel! It exists in the heavenlies! It exists to be preached to everyone, everywhere, anytime, anyplace!

How are you doing with that? I know what you are thinking. That doesn’t apply to me since I am not a preacher. Wrong! It is our duty, our command from our Commander in Chief Jesus, to take His gospel to every nook and crevice of this world.

The technology age has allowed us to do that. We can send the gospel to every point on the globe through satellites. Nomads in the desert can hear the gospel through solar powered audio Bibles. Missionaries in the jungles or savannahs of Africa can receive a signal allowing them to show the nationals there how to teach the Word.

TEACHING MOMENT

Why not get out your smartphone or IPad and show your children how one Bible App can change the world? Why not spend some Christmas money to help buy some Gospel thumb drives to send to some missionaries to use in their ministry? How about purchasing some of those thumb drives for our men and women who are serving in the military overseas? There are all kinds of ways to get your children involved in “preaching” the Gospel other than standing behind a pulpit.

If your children get a glimpse of how much they can do right from their homes, perhaps the Lord will burden their heart to take the next step and surrender to fulltime Christian ministry. You never know how God will work in their lives when you help light that fire in them.

There is literally nowhere we can’t take or send the gospel. Will you?

Revelation 13:18 “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

ITS REAL

666! That’s a number you have seen in countless horror films. Hollywood throws it around like some symbol that doesn’t mean anything. They have no idea the “fire” they are playing with.

The Antichrist is real and will come (he may already be here) to destroy all that is good. Contrast this reign with the one we talked about on December 11. One wants to reign to destroy while the other to build. One wants to reign to control while the other to free. One wants to reign to hate while the other to love.

TEACHING MOMENT

So what do we tell our children about this number? Two things: It is real and we have no fear if we are in Christ. Satan wants us to fear him, but there is no need to fear Satan. He cannot touch us unless the Lord allows. And if He is allowed, then we must trust that it is for our good, to make us more like Jesus.

666 is one of those things in the Bible that we must tell our children about. They must hear it from us that it is true. It is one of those things that the world will twist and turn and try to make them not believe. And we know if that foot gets in the door then that puts doubt on everything in Scripture including Creation, the Flood, Crossing the Red Sea, manna from heaven, Jonah and the big fish, the Virgin Birth, etc., etc. You see, you can start down a very slippery slope.

Don’t let anyone tell you that 666 isn’t important or real. It is. Those who have to deal with him will not enjoy it. But good news, we believers are already being built up, freed and loved. Thank you Jesus.

Joel 2:28-29 “’28 It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.’”

SIGNS OF HIS RETURN

If you have ever read anything about prophecy or heard a half dozen sermons on the topic then you are probably familiar with this passage we read today. Joel prophesies that in the end times the people will see the Spirit poured out on all mankind. They will prophesy, have dreams and see visions. The bottom line – He is returning, and mankind will know it.

The real issue is not that He is returning. The real issue is “Are you ready?” Well, are you? You know it could be any day. There are stories all over the world of Jesus appearing to non-believers in dreams and visions and hundreds coming to Christ. In many Muslim dominated countries Jesus is at work revealing Himself to them.

TEACHING MOMENT

Are your children ready for His return? Our main job as Christian parents is to prepare our children for eternity, not the job market. Our main task is to lead them to Jesus, not to church. Our main concern should be to share Jesus with them every day, not make sure they do their homework. Now, all those other things are important, but in the light of eternity they mean nothing.

As we prepare our children for a lifetime of service to our King, He may just choose one of them to go into fulltime ministry. The Lord may call them to serve Him in a remote part of the earth to reach an unreached people group. He may choose them to lead a company or testify for Him in the workplace or even become President of the United States. Whatever the Lord chooses to do with our children will be good. But we have been entrusted with these precious spirits to prepare them to hear Him.

Will your child be one of those whom Joel speaks of here in today’s passage? Will God speak to and through them? Get them ready to hear Him.

Hosea 14:9 “Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them.”

MISDIRECTION

Isn’t it amazing how the world says the wrong things are right and the right things are wrong? It is because they don’t know or understand this verse. It simply says the ways of the Lord are right. Period! Exclamation mark! That settles it, right? And if that is true (which it is) then we, the righteous, should walk in them.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children need to learn early in life that the Lord’s way is ALWAYS right. It might not be the easiest path, but it is the right path. It may not be the most direct route, but it is the correct one. It may take them on some dangerous roads, but in Him they are safe. It may be dark and scary at times, but with Him by their side, there is no need to fear.

I am sure you are probably planning some kind of road trip soon, maybe over the holidays. If you are like me, I use a GPS to map my route. Why not take the opportunity as you are programming that route to talk about this verse? Explain how we have many choices in the route to our destination, but we will trust the GPS to map out the fastest route there. In the same way, we must trust the Lord to direct us in the safest route to Him.

You see, the world loves to throw up roadblocks. Satan loves to get us off course or cause us to doubt God’s wisdom concerning the path He has us on. But don’t fall for that. Trust God to lead. Trust God to guide. Trust God – Period! He will never fail you or forsake you. He will never abandon you. He will never let you get out of His sight. But you must stay on His path. You must walk in His ways. Otherwise, like the transgressors in the verse, you will stumble. And nobody likes to stumble, right?

Safe travels!