Dave's Diary

Prayer

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 56:10-11.

Lord,  I praise You for Your Word
I trust in You and am not afraid.
Do not let the fear of people control me,.
but empower me to live by Your Word today.
Amen.

Reading

Matthew 24:9-13

As you’ll remember from yesterday’s devotion, in Matthew 24 Jesus gave His disciples a broad description of what the Age of Grace (the time between His resurrection and the End of the Age) will be like. He warned that in this Age, painful realities like wars, famines and natural disasters will be like birthpains – i.e. growing more intense and more frequent as His return approaches.

Now, in verses 9-13, Jesus warns us that in addition to these painful realities affecting all humanity, there will also be sufferings that will specifically be brought upon His followers. He warns that His disciples (that’s us too) should expect to be hated and even persecuted when we remain faithful to Jesus and His Word. He warns that this intense pressure will cause some to abandon their commitment to Christ and to turn on His remaining disciples with hatred and betrayal. The hearts of others will be lured away from Christ by the allure of the world’s wickedness, He says. So, although they may not overtly abandon the faith, they will abandon their love for Jesus and live in a state of compromise with the world’s morals.

To those who live through this Age – and that includes us of course – Jesus gives a very clear command in the shape of a promise:

“…the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.“

Sometimes, in the Christian life, the greatest victory is won by refusing to lose heart, lose faith, or lose our love for Jesus. To cling tenaciously to Jesus Christ in good times and bad, and to remain steadfast in obeying His Word to the best of our ability in the power of the Holy Spirit, despite the wickedness and peer pressure all around us – this is victory!

May the Lord grant us this victory today, and may His glorious love for us and His powerful Holy Spirit keep us steadfast in loving Him faithfully, even to the end of the Age.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn one or more of these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ:

• I will refuse to love the world and its wickedness..
• I will not be controlled by fear of people or of pain.
• I will turn my heart to Jesus Christ and strive to love Him as He has first loved me.

Lord Jesus, I love You. Help me to love You more and more each day. Fill me with Your Spirit, and keep me steadfast and faitfhul to the end. Amen.