Revelations 22:12-21

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Read Revelations 22:12-21 Verses for meditation: Revelations 22:12-13, 16, 20-21 ESV: 12 "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Reflect How does it feel to be reading the very last few verses of the bible? What do the proclamations, the last few of them, say about Christ? Come, Lord Jesus! Does this really express our desire? How does the greatest book end, and on what note? But is this really the end? Relate With mixed feelings, I'm writing this last devotion based on the final ten verses of the greatest book, the bible. What a journe...
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Lamentations 3 "Is God my portion before I say I hope in Him?"

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Read: Lamentations 3


Verses chosen for reflection


Lamentations 3:21-26  21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.


Reflect


Lamentations captured the years when Judah fell to Babylon and how the once mighty nation of God lost everything. Not only did Judah lost everything to her sins, she had to endure once again, the yoke of slavery. In that period of slavery under Babylon, Judah did not have it easy going. It was cruel. They went through relentless persecution and pain. To the extent where God even lamented that the people suffered more than what was intended. At Jerusalem, the desolated nation suffered tremendously. Children begging for food from their mothers and children eventually being slaughtered for food. It was a most dismal scene of abject poverty, depression and human evil. A world gone mad. Totally wrecked by depravity.


Yet through all of these laments, Jeremiah found hope. He found hope in the Lord. Already a faithful servant of God, these depressing realities brought the prophet closer to God. For he realised, that only God can give mercy, steadfast love and any strand of hope in such a reality. The key to such a strand of hope in the midst of almost total darkness are two things: (1) God is my portion (2) Wait for God. 


Relate


Jeremiah taught me that God must be my portion even before I can have any hope in Him. I must have the conviction that God is in my life before I can have any hope in Him. Having God in my life is not a mere look back at the time when I received Christ. Having God in my life is the reality of how I have grown (or not) in my faith journey with Christ whom I said I have embraced. 


Sometimes, we get it wrong. We try to find hope even before we hold the conviction that God is our portion. We say we hope in God, but God is far away from our broken heart. And so we hope in the wrong things or the wrong people. We try to find God in others. We even try to find God in ungodly pursuits. Then we blame God that He cannot be found. We blame God and say that there is no hope. There is no hope because God is not our portion. How then can we hope when the object of our hope is not there in the first place? 


Even if we have God as our portion, it might not be the end. Sometimes, we need to go through a much longer journey with God before certain pain and suffering will cease. Just like how Judah was called to endure for 70 years before the time of restoration will come.  Such a journey calls for "waiting". Waiting upon God. 


Now how do we wait? Like Jeremiah, waiting is hoping in God even with a most broken heart. It is to be honest with God and lament to Him and ask a thousand questions "how" or "why" even if He does not answer. It is to wait with the confidence that some day, some how, things can be renewed. In the meantime, we repent if need be. We seek God even if our heart aches. We learn humility and persevere in the ways of God. We cry out to God but we do not falter. We feel the disappointment but we do not stumble. We crawl towards the light at the end of a long long tunnel. But we will get there just because, God is my portion. 


Rest

My friends, if we have anything weighing in our hearts right now, let us take this time to lament and cry out to God. Let it out and declare that God is indeed my portion. And so we commit these things to Him and no one else. Amen. 


Jason








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