July 20

“…whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, … with the brightness of his coming:” 2 Thessalonians 2:8

This passage refers to the ‘man of sin’, ‘the wicked one’, the antichrist and all that is associated with him and his work. The end of the reign of antichrist and the destruction of his influence is prophesied here. There may be times as believers, when looking at the condition of the world around us, that we may think evil has triumphed and that perhaps the battle against evil has been lost. God through His word encourages us to lift our heads in faith towards heaven, and know with assurance that the future has been set and determined by His own hand, and that the end result is not the victory of evil, but its thorough and total destruction. Yahwah IS the winning side! All we need to do is remain faithfully on His side, and we will see the fulfilment of all that He has planned and promised. The wicked one will be slain, his influence made void and his kingdom destroyed and removed. This work, God will perform by the same power He has demonstrated in creating the universe. He spoke the worlds into existence, and it is by the same ‘spirit of His mouth’, that He is able to destroy or bring to nought. We should not think of a battle between God and the devil, as some sort of arm wrestle where the outcome is dubious or hanging on the balances of chance! The comparison would more be like God’s atomic bomb versus Satan’s bow and arrow! Yahwah will only need to speak the words of destruction and the enemy will be consumed. God’s own glory will render useless and hopeless any and all power which may be aligned against Him. This is a battle already won in eternity and simply waiting for its future fulfilment! God’s almighty power is not threatened by the workings of the wicked one, nor is it lessened because evil is allowed to rule for a while. There is purpose and reason in what God does and He is always ultimately in control of all! Like a dog on a chain, the devil is limited in the scope he is given and to how far God will allow him to go. The damage he can do is real, but again limited largely to those who allow him to rule in their lives and choose to stay close to him or support his agenda. God could have totally destroyed him before, but has in His wisdom elected to permit his influence, so we as humans can make our own choice of who we will serve. This way when we serve God, it must be by our personal choice and free will. This is the only way God really wants us to love, worship and serve Him! In the end however, there will be no more time for such choice. We will each have set our eternal destiny, and final judgment will fall both on the wicked one, and all who have followed him. Victory for those who stand on God’s side is guaranteed, the question is one for each of us to answer - where will we be standing when God comes in His brightness to judge the wicked?

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

June 27

“…Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her?...” Nahum 3:7

Nineveh again becomes the centre of God’s attention and the recipient of His judgment, because of its gross immorality and wickedness. Once before, God had sent the reluctant prophet Jonah to this same city, with a message of impending doom. In those days, this great city was so large that it took three days to walk it from one side to the other. It has been estimated that it had a population of around one million inhabitants, a particularly large city for those days. Only upon their swift repentance with sackcloth and ashes, did God avert the judgment which was about to be poured upon it. Now again under the ministry of the prophet Nahum, Nineveh’s sin, idolatry, witchcraft and immorality is brought into focus and its destruction is prophesied. With the accuracy of detail that can come only from the Omniscient Yahwah, Nahum tells of how its ruin will happen, and the manner of its fall. History shows the events took place in this very way, to the last minute detail! Nineveh had become such a scourge and pollution of many nations, and where in the past God’s mercy had covered, the time had come, where no such healing could be promoted any longer. Nineveh would be destroyed, laid waste and there would be no one to weep over her! No one that would not agree, this was a just and correct judgment upon her! The patience and longsuffering of God is remarkable and sets us in awe of His greatness, when we consider how much room He allows, and how long He deals with the human family, in an effort to bring us to repentance. There is however in God’s economy an end to His striving with man. There comes a time when for God to continue striving, would mean having to bend man’s will, or allow him to violate His holiness - and the Lord will not do either. He has allowed man a free will by which he can make his own choices, for or against God. Yet the Lord will also tenaciously defend His holiness and protect it from allowing man to go beyond his allowed scope. There is therefore a time limit which God sets for all men, nations and people. That time is known of the Lord alone, and when it comes, there is no holding back on the judgment of God! It is a time of reckoning, a time of judgment, destruction, cleansing and restoration of righteousness. Time then will have run out, it will be time ‘no more’, in regards to possible repentance and change. Nineveh and all the civilizations that have gone before, teach us the great lesson that there is a limit and boundary to the longsuffering and mercy of God. It is wise for us to repent quickly while there is yet time, and while God is near and calling. If we insist on remaining in sin, violating God’s law and repudiating His love, the time will come when the opportunity to make it right will no longer be available. Wise are the words of the prophet Isaiah when he exhorted the people saying “seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:”! 

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Mar 16

. “…that Wicked…whom the Lord shall consume…” 2 Thessalonians 2:8

The wicked one referred to in this verse, is the antichrist. The term wicked here means literally ‘lawless’, for he considers himself above and beyond the law of God, and urges all men to follow him, in this lawlessness. We are told that the essence and spirit of antichrist, is and has been in the world already, but soon will also become apparent and tangible, in and through the ‘man of sin’. In His wisdom and foreknowledge, God has already informed His people that these things will happen. We will be able to verify what God has revealed to us, and see this entity rise to a position of power and authority, abuse his station and set himself up as God to be worshipped. The world will fall for the deception of the man of sin, who will ultimately lead all humanity into rebellion and rejection, of the One True God and His law. There is no doubt we are seeing this same spirit at work in the world today, but it is only going to get worse! In light of this, how relevant and imperative that we develop and maintain a strong and intimate, personal relationship with Jesus! Nothing else is going to sustain us in the times we will soon face. When we relegate the importance of building our relationship with the Lord, to the lower levels of priority in our lives, we are already preparing ourselves, to fall prey to antichrist and his regime! For Christians this would be the most disconsolate condition, for having known in advance about the devil’s devices and plans, we should most certainly not become his victims! This is a time to stand strong in Jesus, fight and be counted on the Lord’s side! Ultimately the battle is the Lord’s and He will end this evil reign promptly, and with unquestioned superiority! The Lord will consume ‘by the spirit of His mouth’, the lawless one and all who choose to align themselves with him. This is an awesome and frightening concept! There is glorious and staggering creative power, in the words which are uttered by God’s mouth. All it took was for Him to ‘speak’ the universe and everything in it into existence, and it was so. There is however, also terrifying and indescribable destructive power, in the words God can speak! At His voice and command, the heavens can roll back like a scroll, and all matter, which consists and is held together by His power, can collapse and be abolished in a moment! The battle of the Lord against this ‘wicked’ one and his followers, is not going to be a lengthy or drawn out epic! The same eternal, omnipotent voice that created all, will utter the words that will consume and destroy, leaving nothing of the pride, realm and rebellion of the lawless one. Let us remain close to God, watchful and alert, making sure we stay on the ‘winning side’ with Jesus!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion