Daily Reading: Matthew 24
And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24.12-13)
Devotional Thought: In Matthew 24, Jesus is asked about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (historically fulfilled in AD 70) and his coming again (yet to be fulfilled). The disciples thought they were asking one and the same question, but Jesus answers by treating them as two separate things: 1) the time when the temple would be destroyed and 2) the events surrounding his return.
As he spoke of his return and the end of the age, Jesus issued a warning: “because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24.12-13).
We see so much evidence of the increase of wickedness, don’t we? Satan has become emboldened in America and around the world, attacking the truth of God on many fronts. Therefore, we need to pay close attention to what Jesus said next: “The love of many will grow cold.” In the day of blurred moral and spiritual boundaries, we have a tendency to lose our fervor for God. We begin to accept the things of this world as commonplace, and then we begin to allow ourselves to be attracted by the very thing that caused Jesus to die on the cross – sin! When that happens, our love for Jesus grows cold.
Stand firm, dear child of God! Check your temperature! Is it on the rise? Is your love for Christ increasing? Do you love God more today than you did a year ago? Fall in love with Christ once again! Cherish the Bible! Spend time reading its words of life. Make time for prayer in your busy schedules! Love others compassionately! Luke-warmness is of the devil, but rejoice in this truth: when you resist the devil he will flee from you!
Prayer: Lord, around me I see lawlessness on the increase. Help my love to remain fervent that I may endure to the end. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 91:9-16
9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
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