Daily Reading: Revelation 20
Scripture Focus: Blessed and holy... (Revelation 20.6)
Devotional Thought: Often when I greet one of my friends and ask him how he is doing, he says, "I'm living the dream!" That's good! I want to live the dream, don't you?
In Revelation 20, we read about a group of people who are living the dream: "Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." Though I don't want to get bogged down with the various interpretations of the millennium, we can find some things in this verse that will help us all live the dream!
The word for blessed is makarios, and it means "blessed, happy." The word for holy is hagios, and it means "set apart for the Lord." From these two words in this verse, we can ask ourselves, "Why are God's people blessed? What makes holy people happy people? Like the resurrected saints in Revelation 20, we are happy and holy because...
We anticipate the resurrection of Christ. This present life is passing away, but we have our hope set on heaven. We live with happiness now - in spite of the trials and troubles of this world - because we know a brighter day awaits.
Speaking of power, we are happy because death has no power over us. Death has lost its sting. Whether our own death or that of one we love, Christ has defeated the last enemy!
We are priests of God and Christ. We serve God and his cause with joy!
We will reign with him. Forever. With Christ.
Happy, indeed, are we, for we are living the dream!
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for making me happy and holy. It is only by your grace that this is so. Help me to live the dream with confidence and overflowing joy, and with love for all those around me. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. 3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; 4 he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. 5 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. 8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. 9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. (Psalms 104:1-9)
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