Vigil

Candlelight Vigil - Photo: Pixabay.com

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 6:1-16

TO CHEW ON: “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.” Luke 6:12,13


Yesterday I mentioned the vigil that some churches hold on the evening before this day, All Saints Day (called an All Saints Vigil). Today we see Jesus keeping vigil.

[Vigil: wakefulness maintained for any reason during the normal hours for sleeping; a watch or period of watchful attention maintained at night or other time; a devotional watching or keeping awake, during the customary hours of sleep.]

The instances in the Bible of people keeping vigil illustrate some of the times we might be prompted to keep vigil ourselves.

• When we’re facing something we fear.

Jacob was awake and alone all night before he was going to meet Esau again. This was many years after Esau had threatened to kill him. Was he still holding murder in his heart? Then Jacob wasn’t alone any more - Genesis 32:24.

• When we’re spiritually troubled.

Samuel was “grieved” and “cried to the Lord all night” after God told him that He had rejected Saul (1 Samuel 15:11).

• Just because…

Maybe praise and prayer fills our minds all day and wakes us at night as it does the psalmist in Psalm 55:17 and Psalm 119:62. I like to think, too, that when we are wakeful for no particular reason—just can’t sleep— that can be interpreted as an invitation to prayer—a mini-vigil you might say.

• When we’re about to make an important decision.

Choosing twelve disciples from His larger number of followers seems to be what preoccupied Jesus during His vigil in our reading - Luke 6:2,13.

• When we’re in trouble.

Paul and Silas in jail in Philippi were still praying and singing at midnight when an earthquake set them free - Acts 16:25,26.

• When someone else is in trouble.

Jesus begged the disciples to keep vigil with Him on the night before His arrest. We all know that sad story of how the disciples couldn’t stay awake (Matthew 26:36-46).

So, next time we’re on the eve of something fearful, or a big decision, or  are burdened by our own or someone's problem, or just can’t sleep, let’s consider spending those wakeful night hours in prayerful vigil.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to see night wakefulness as an invitation to keep vigil. Amen.

MORE: All Saints' Day

Today the church celebrates All Saints' Day .

The Christian Almanac says about this day: "In the earliest years of the church, so many martyrs died for their faith, Christians set aside special days to honor them.  ... Originally celebrated on May 1, the festival in commemoration of all the saints was eventually moved to November by Pope Gregory IV as a time of remembrance of all those who had suffered persecution for their faith" - The Christian Almanac, p. 642.

The liturgy for this day begins with this prayer:

"Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen."

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Hatred? Terrorism? Fight back!

Twitter users respond to the Kenyan attack

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 15:11-16:4

TO CHEW ON: " ' If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.' " John 15:18


The slaughter by al-Shebaab terrorists of Christian students in a Kenyan university seemed far away with a limited effect on my life until I got this note from my nephew who works as a missionary in Uganda:

"We request that you lift up Christians in Kenya and Uganda as we have been warned of eminent terror attacks on Christians and western interests in the two countries…"

Our sense of security here in North America may be false and short-lived as world travel and communication homogenize beliefs. Whenever, wherever, and however this Jesus-hating force touches us, we shouldn't be surprised. For Jesus predicted it.

In fact, His description of its motivation: " ' … whoever kills you will think that he offers God service…' " seems to describe quite particularly the motivation of those who currently use sword, gun, and explosive with abandon around the world.

But we are not defenseless or powerless against this hatred of Christ and Christians. We defend with love (John 15:12) and fight back with prayer. In his book Love On Its Knees, Dick Eastman speaks of World Prayer Missionaries:

" … a World Prayer Missionary is any follower of Jesus who will go daily in prayer to a specific region of the world to engage in a carefully planned strategy of spiritual warfare."

 He goes on to describe the four-pronged function of such a prayer warrior:

1. He / she is a forerunner—a preparer of the way for missionaries on the ground - Isaiah 62:1,2.
2. He / she is a war club or weapon in God's hands - Isaiah 62:3
3. He / she is a threshing sledge, pulverizing what Satan would raise up to block God's plan - Isaiah 41:15.
4. He / she is a ruling authority - Jeremiah 1:10 -  Dick Eastman, Love On Its Knees, p. 176-8.

As we see the spread of Christ-hating and persecution of Christians let's not take it sitting down. Rather, let's fight it on our knees.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, You died for these people. They are my human brothers and sisters who you love. Please help me to view them through Your eyes and respond to news of such events of terrorism and persecution with increased prayer. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Know your God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Daniel 11:21-45

TO CHEW ON: "... but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits." - Daniel 11:32b

The angel Michael's prediction continues on from our reading of yesterday—a detailed prophecy of events yet to come. Here is how the writer of Eerdmans Handbook to the Bible continues with matching these predictions to history:

"... Verses 21-24 (Daniel 11:21-24) aptly portray his character and policies (talking about Antiochus IV here). Through the treachery of Ptolemy's own men, Antiochus briefly gained control of Egypt in 173.

On his return he attacked Jerusalem and slaughtered 80,000 Jews (Daniel 11:25-28). The next time he attacked Egypt he was thwarted by the Roman fleet (Daniel 11:29-30). He turned on Jerusalem again and desecrated the temple (Daniel 11:31).

He was aided and abetted by some Jews, but others reused to compromise their faith though they died for it (Daniel 11:32-33).

Judas Maccabaeus instigated a successful revolt, so helping the faithful (Daniel 11:34).

Daniel 11:36-45 does not describe actual events at the end of Antiochus' life. These verses may refer to the end of Syrian domination, at the hands of Rom, the new king from the north. Or they may anticipate events at the end of time, which the sufferings of God's people under Antiochus foreshadow" - Eerdmans Handbook p. 437.

I get a sense of inevitability as I read these predictions—the same feeling I get when I read Jesus' prophecy about end times (Matthew 24:4-31). And the question arises—What can a person do in the face of such acts of people and nature that the earth seems to be headed for?

Here is one answer.  Get to know God:

"...but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits."

In the angel's prophecy, the folks who did this stayed strong and more (though the next verse and the history imply that some of them were killed for their efforts - Daniel 11:33).

The Bible is full of pleas to "know the Lord."

• From the Old Testament prophets: Jeremiah 9:24; Ezekiel 35:11; Hosea 6:3.

• From Jesus, who intimated that obedience was the route to such knowledge (John 7:16,17), that it was the pathway to true freedom (John 8:31,32), and the means of eternal life (John 17:3).

In this vein I see the picture of the white-robed martyr overcomers from Revelation: Revelation 6:9-11 and 12:11:

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."

PRAYER: Dear God, help me not to be lulled into complacency by my relatively trouble-free life. Rather, help me to use this time to get to know You, so that when trouble comes, I can overcome (even if that overcoming is accomplished through death/martyrdom). Amen.

MORE: A heavenly scene:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
 Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:9-17