FBC Daily Devotions

By Mike Kurtz

Read Revelation 16:12-16.

The sixth bowl judgment is a very specific judgment not of a worldwide scale, but on a specific river – the Euphrates river. Its waters will dry up in order to allow “the kings of the East” to easily enter into the area where the final war will take place (i.e. Armageddon). This judgment is also unique in that it does not inflict damages on God’s enemies, but is preparatory for their soon fatal defeat. God is allowing the armies of the world to gather together like Custard’s last stand to face defeat.

This gathering of kings is accomplished by Satanic influence through miraculous signs of some sort. It is difficult to ascertain how those signs will appear, but they will be enough to entice the kings to go to war ultimately against God. They will fail to recognize that despite all earlier warnings of God’s power, they are being cattle-herded for destruction. What will appear to be an open door for victory (i.e. the dried up river), will be misinterpreted as something to their advantage. Like bait on a fishhook, God is guiding them to accomplish His purposes even though they may believe the contrary.

I would like to suggest that God can and does use people’s misguided aspirations and selfish motives to guide them in the accomplishment of His purposes. I’d like to suggest that God knows what people will do and why they will do something, and that He can move in a way that will accomplish His purposes for their life. What does that mean for us who may see someone living in a way that is not pleasing to God? What does that mean for the person whose direction in life is in opposition to God? It means that I can be confident that God can still work in that person’s life to guide and direct (might I even say manipulate) the situation to lead him or her to Himself. I can rest knowing that I don’t have to be the one who carries the weight of change in a person’s life (it never was ours to carry anyway). God can move in ways we are not aware of.

I met a young man a few months ago who was going through a miserable time in his life. He was out of work, lost his longtime girlfriend, and had recently started having seizures for a yet to be determined reason. He was homeless when I received an email from his friend’s father in Virginia, who was a pastor of a Bible church there. He alerted me to his situation and condition, and asked for our help. When I visited the man, I found him to be very turned off to God and the gospel. While he didn’t blame God for his situation, he also did not acknowledge his need of Him despite his desperate situation. He recognized there were many Christians who helped him lately (most notably his friend’s father), and he was very thankful. Still, there was not a sense of brokenness and desire to seek help from God. He was a self-determined survivor. How could I help the gospel get through to him? More recently he called wondering if I had a tv he could use. It just so happened that I had a small tv in the garage that I had no use of, so I gladly gave it to him (have you ever tried to dispose of a tv?). Now who knows what God might do with that tv in his life. He thinks the tv is for video games. God might have other plans. Maybe he’ll hear the gospel in a way he never has before. I don’t know, but I like to think that God uses our meager efforts of love to accomplish His purposes even when someone has a different idea.

My encouragement to you today is that if you know someone who looks like they are hopelessly walking away from God, trust that He can still accomplish His purposes even in their rebellious plight. They may think they are walking away from God, but they may be walking right into His hands. Ours is to continue to love and leave the results to God.

By Mike Kurtz

Read Revelation 16:8-11.

How do you respond to God when there is tragedy or difficulty in your life? One person can react to a tragic situation by turning to God in desperation; another can turn away from God with blame and anger. The latter seems to be the case for those who experience these final judgments in this chapter of Revelation. The worse the judgments become, the greater the anger and resentment.

Why do people react this way? Why do they refuse to change or repent of their ways? Simply put, some people (or should I say “most people”) are unwilling to change their ways no matter how bad things get. I can only figure it is stubborn pride or a greater desire to hold to the things that are ultimately unhealthy for them. I have heard of elderly gamblers who in the worst of health were unwilling to go to the hospital for treatment. Instead, they are carted out of the casino and taken to the emergency room simply because they would not pull themselves away from what they wanted most. Sometimes we are so afraid to loose the things we have or want that we will suffer terribly to keep them. In other ways, people can be like wolves protecting their food and become angry at God when they are threatened to loose what is so precious to them.

For the people who will suffer in the end times, for the beast whose kingdom will be plunged into darkness, there will be no turning to God no matter how bad it gets. The only turning to God (if we can really call it turning) will be in the form of curses.

How about you? Are there things in your life that if God threatened to take away you would turn away from Him in anger? Are there things you will not let go of no matter how miserable life gets? God’s greatest desire is for us to always turn to Him and bring glory to His name. But if we are holding too tightly to the things of this world, we might be just as guilty as the stubborn ones in this chapter!

By Mike Kurtz

We have been out of the book of Revelation for several weeks now, and this week we get back into the swing of things again. In review, we have been taken through a series of judgments called the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments. There were seven seal judgments and seven trumpet judgments, each judgment growing in severity over the previous judgment. In chapter 15, we reached the seventh and final trumpet judgment. The seventh trumpet will be described in the forthcoming chapters as seven bowl judgments (i.e. the seventh trumpet = seven bowl judgments). This seventh trumpet is the greatest of all the judgements and marks the beginning of the end. God’s wrath is peaking at this time; the end is very near.

This week, we look at chapter 16. it is a chapter that describes all seven bowl judgments in a single chapter. The brevity of the description of these judgments in quick succession seems to indicate that these final judgments will be quick and severe. Take a moment now to read the entire chapter to gain a greater sense of these judgments.

The first four verses of chapter 16 take us through the first 3 bowl judgments. The first bowl inflicts judgment on the land and those on the land. The inhabitants of the earth that have the mark of the beast will be afflicted with a terrible and painful sore. Reading carefully, they will not receive sores (plural) all over their bodies, but it will be a single painful sore on each person. The second judgment is upon the seas which will kill everything living in them. And the third judgment is on the rivers & springs, which will make them unfit for consumption.

The severity of the judgments is comprehensive, unlike the earlier judgments which only affected portions of the earth, sea, and rivers. it is at this point that the earlier judgments appear to be more acts of mercy than of wrath because God surely could have done away with His enemies with one word at any time.

The question must be raised: Is God just in these actions?

The answer is “yes” according to one of the angels who declares, “You are just in your judgments… because you have so judged.” (v. 4) Think about that for a moment. Why is God declared just? It is because He judges. If I understand that correctly, that means without judgment, God would not be just. We look around the world today, and we hear the cries for justice. The world is filled with injustices. Who would God be if He did not judge the injustices of the world? And yet, people complain that God is not loving who judges sin. Why doesn’t He just forgive everyone? But if He was to do that, if He chose not to judge injustices, what kind of God would He really be? Can’t have it both ways – a God who turns a blind eye to injustices and a God who judges. And so because God is just, He must judge the world. It is something worth remembering when we think God is too harsh. In reality, we would not want it any other way.

Yesterday’s message by Bob Kennell asked the very difficult, soul-searching question: What are you really living for?

Have you taken some time to reflect on that question? If your daily activities and attitudes could be recorded for a day or a week, what would the tape reveal? Take some time to really consider Bob’s question, and if you find a need for changes, consider what small step you could take right now to adjust to living for Christ.

By Mike Kurtz

After last Friday night’s Fall Conference session on pride, I was left to wonder what to do with all this pride we had inside. The list of symptoms of pride were nearly exhaustive, and I doubt there was a soul in that session who didn’t feel the weight of sin that night. I couldn’t wait to hear what Jim (the speaker) would say Saturday morning…

We read in Col. 3:12 that we are to clothe ourselves with humility among other things. What is humility? A good answer is found in Phil. 2:3 where Paul writes:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but to the interests of others. (Phil. 2:3-4)

The implication here is clear and sharply difficult – to consider others better than ourselves, and to look to the interests of others first (that is the implication in the Greek). So when Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with these virtues, this is like trying to put on heavy armor. It is no easy task.

How do we consider others actually better than ourselves? The NAS translates it to say that we are to regard others as more important than ourselves, and perhaps that gets to the point a little better. It is more important what they think than what I think. It means listening and valuing others’ thoughts rather than trying to get mine out there. The attitude is to look to others’ interests first before mine. That is a hard road to walk.

Yesterday on my drive in to work, I was stopped at an intersection waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so I could make a left turn. In front of me was another car doing the same. Well, unfortunately for me, though the oncoming traffic had “openings” to turn, the car in front was very cautious and never turned. So I was thinking to myself, “please turn before the light turns red!” Why? Because I happened to know that there was a traffic ticket camera installed at that intersection, and I had seen it on other days flash a picture when people were stuck in the turn lane. Sure enough, the light turned yellow, and there was time… but she (the driver was a woman, no offense intended) waited until the light turned red and the oncoming traffic was completely stopped before turning. I’ll be expecting something in the mail soon…

During that incident (and I confess this is not godly at all), I wanted to honk my horn during the yellow light to get the woman to turn since it seemed clear to me that the traffic was slowing to a stop. To be honest, it was extremely frustrating. I didn’t want a ticket on my record (even if I could fight it).

Friends, that was not an attitude of humility. That was not seeing the needs of the person in front of me as more important than my own needs. If I was humble, I would have realized that her need was to feel confident and secure in an uncomfortable driving situation. If I was humble, I would have done whatever I could to help her in that need (maybe back off) because hers was more important than mine. I may not have honked at her, but my attitude was not one of humility.

What are the needs and desires of others? Humility regards them as more important than our own needs and desires. It doesn’t mean we become passive to our own needs. Some of our needs really are important. But if we can create a community of humility, then our needs will be met as well as the needs of others. But it must begin with me and you. So for the days ahead, work on putting on humility. Have the mind that puts others first. Go to work with helpful eyes. Live at home with helpful hands. Drive and shop with a helpful attitude. Clothe yourself with humility… wear it wherever you go.