Agape Devotions

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...

TEXT TO REFLECT ON And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” REVELATIONS 21:3-4 REFLECT At the end of all the tribulations, the Apostle John writes that there will be a good end, an end far better than what we can imagine. But what is so good about this end, we ask. What would excite me for all eternity? What would be so captivating that I will never be bored, not for one day, but for years and years and years without end? Streets of gold might excite me for a couple of days; I just received my year-end bonus and it got me exited for a couple of hours; so everything gold might catch my interest for a couple of days. A room with a view? Well that might be ...

Read Revelation 19:11-20:15 No devotional today (Sunday) 

Read Rev 18-19 Verses chosen for reflection: Rev 18:9-10 "And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city,     you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” Reflect Rev 18 speaks of the fall of Babylon and is symbolic of the future fall of a world system. A world system which subscribes to economic corruption, the abuse of power and sexual immorality. The verbs used in this chapter were in the past tense, as if something had already happened. Such is the wonder of a vision given by the word of God. It is the prophesied word of God and it will come to past.  The interesting thing to note is how those who are in league with the corruption and immorality mourn for the loss of such a system. They "weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burn...

READ : Rev. 17 (focusing on v.14) “They will make war on the Lamb and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is lord of lords and king of kings and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” – Revelation 17:14 REFLECT/RELATE :  I love this verse. When you read  v.14,  you know instinctively that judgment is coming upon Satan,   with all of his demons  for  all the havoc they wreak on the Earth to deceive and to destroy. It talks about them waging war against the Lamb and against the chosen and faithful followers of Jesus. However, the Lamb will triumph over them. The church must remember that the devil is the loser. When Satan is coming after you, be strong and courageous, the victory has already been won by Jesus. For all who trust in Jesus, He identifies Himself with you. War against the church is war against Christ and I would like to encourage you - remember that when you are tempted, that you have Jesus in you. You are on the winning team. When yo...

READ : Revelations 15-16 Verses chosen for meditation: Revelations 15:1 15  Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. REFLECT This chapter marks the beginning of the “bowl” plagues, and though it is the “last” of the sequence of visions given to John (after seals and trumpets), it does not mean it would happen chronologically that way. In what order it happens, we are not sure, but all three fulfil the wrath of God. After the three terrible signs happen, “the wrath of God is finished” (v1). When Jesus died on the cross, he fulfilled the wrath of God to bring salvation to the world. After a time of grace since Jesus’ death, the seals, trumpets and bowls must happen to fulfil the wrath of God on those continuing their evil, unrepentant ways despite the Gospel. These three signs are judgement of human sin after Jesus’ death. As the visions contin...

  READ Revelation 14 Verses chosen for devotion -  Revelation‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬ The Messages of the Three Angels 6  Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.  7  And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” 8  Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” 9  And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,  10  he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the...

Read Read Revelations 13 Meditate on the whole passage. Reflect What do you think the 2 beasts in the passage represent (from the descriptions given for each)? What do they do, or what are their roles?  How does the world respond to the beasts? How do they secure their following?  What do you think is the significance of the marking on the forehead or hand? What do you think is the significance of the number 666? How should we respond to them? Relate This passage, the 10th last chapter of the bible, introduces the villainous characters of the end times, if they have not already been introduced in other chapters of the bible, for example Daniel 7.  The first beast, arising from the sea, is largely known as the anti - Christ. The sea has always had a foreboding air to it in biblical times (see Psalm 74: 12 -13, 89: 8 - 9, Isaiah 57: 20). This sense of foreboding rightfully attends the coming of the first beast, which is the same beast as mentioned in Daniel 7:7. Although th...

  TEXT TO REFLECT ON  Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” REVE...

Read: Revelation 10-11 No devotional today (Sunday)

Read: Revelation 8:6-9:21 Verses chosen for reflection 20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. Reflect Some parts of Revelation is difficult to read. Chapter 8 and 9 talked about the destruction and plagues that humans will suffer if they do not submit their lives to Christ. That sounded high-handed. However, considering the time God is giving to us now and not sure until when; I think He is already being very merciful. And even when God gives extended time for all mankind to turn to the Lord Jesus verses 20 and 21 tell us that there will be some who will insist on their depravity.  Relate These two chapters of Revelation are not mere warnings for those who do not believe. They are as much of a ...

READ : Rev 7:1 to 8:5 with focus on 7:9-10 REFLECT/RELATE : As John is in heaven, he sees these things from an eternal point of view; there is no sequence or time limitations, no past or future in heaven. From our standpoint of time, John sees things that are happening at the close of the seven-year week. He sees ahead to the end of the seven years, and sees this great multitude that have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, and they have palm branches in their hands. When did we last find a crowd of people with palm branches in their hands, welcoming Jesus as a King? It was when he rode down the mountainside into Jerusalem. The prophet is linking that event with this. Then, Israel had the opportunity to receive their King, but the leaders of the nation rejected him. At this event, in the end times, they are welcoming and worshipping their King, still with palm branches in their hands. So this great multitude of J...

READ : Revelations 6 Verses chosen for meditation: Revelations 6:15-17 15  Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,  16  calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,  17  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” REFLECT In this chapter, we see a grim picture of what’s to come, and the imagery becomes more and more elaborate. It’d be good to note that not all descriptions in Revelations are meant to be understood literally, and not all are meant to be understood symbolically too. Sometimes, John describes literal events, while using dramatic and poetic language. We must then exercise caution when interpreting. Here, there are seven seals. Seals 1 – 5 portra...

READ : Revelation 4 - 5. Verses chosen for meditation: Rev 5: 9 -13 . 9  They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, 10  and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.” 11  I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands;  12  saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!” 13  I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!”   ...