This week, we were called to worship with the poetry of Isaiah. As you read the following lines, let your heart be encouraged about the permanence and invincibility of Jesus’ kingly reign over all things:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this (9:6-7).
Jesus has done it! He has defeated death and Satan. He is ruling and reigning right now. Evil and darkness are limited and put in their proper place. Too often, though, we form our plans in reaction to how we see evil advancing in the world.
What might it look like to grow in becoming more proactive, excited, and hopeful about the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church?
When we feel threatened by changes, instability or cultural shifting, how can we examine that feeling and see what it might reveal to us about our love of comfort? How can we press forward into confidence in Jesus’ victory?
Especially for children: What is something that has changed about your life recently? What was the hardest part of adjusting to that change? How does it help you to remember that Jesus is with you and that his good purposes will never fail?
Pray: Christ, our king, we look to you on your throne and we worship you here on earth, joining with your angels and your people who have gone ahead of us into your presence. Help us to take courage in the reality that the peace, justice, and righteousness of your kingdom are increasing now and will never stop increasing. Help us to love justice and mercy more than we love our own comfort.
We heard the good news preached from Revelation chapter 12 that God always finishes what he has started. As you read the following passage think about how the blood of Jesus is the source confidence and of blessing for God’s people:
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!” (verses 10-12).
Sometimes we lack confidence because we forget that Christ’s blood is stronger and greater than our struggles and our shame.
When you experience a “shame attack” over not being good enough or not accomplishing what you think you should be able to accomplish, how can you cling to the blood of Jesus for your identity in that moment?
Especially for children: How do you feel when you think about how Jesus made you just the way you are and that he delights in all the things that make you “you?”
Sometimes we lack humility because we forget that we don’t deserve and haven’t earned any of the blessings that have come to us by the work of Christ.
When the Holy Spirit gives you the grace to see an area of your life where you have been operating out of pride, how can you speak the gospel to your heart in that moment?
Especially for children: The Bible says that every good thing is a gift of God and that we receive every gift through Jesus. Try to name as many of God’s good gifts as you can think of. Then see if you parents can help you name several more.
Pray: Holy Spirit, you are so kind to us, leading us to repentance and turning us again and again toward dependance on the finished work of Jesus. The blessings that flow to us from his life poured out are so many and so diverse that we don’t even name or recognize them most of the time. Open our eyes, Lord, to see that everything is your gift. Help us to receive the good news that the power to grow, or understand or obey has never come from us but from Christ’s blood.
In the following passage, the wilderness is identified with growth and nurturing. God is protecting and providing daily for his people. Though we are not home yet, God is at work bringing home to us:
She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days (Revelation 12:5-6).
How does remembering this help us keep instability and opposition in perspective?
How does remembering this help us grow in dependence on Jesus?
Especially for children: Do you remember a time when you’ve walked a very long way? Did you get hot and thirsty? Did your feet start to hurt? Did someone help you by giving you water and a snack and encouragement to keep going? What are some ways that God helps us every day?
Pray: Gracious Father, we are amazed by your tenderness toward your people. You have made us for yourself, and your word says that you encircle us, care for us and keep us “like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions” (Deuteronomy 32:9-11). Help us to remember that we are on a journey with you.
Next week, we will continue reading and thinking about the book of Revelation, remembering that there are some things we know and some things we don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus has done it! He has defeated sin and death and has saved his people by his death and resurrection. Finish this time of reflection by prayerfully reading over the following verses, asking that Jesus will be glorified as his people hear and live according to his word:
But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him (Hebrews 9:26, 28).