Revelation 8-10.31.22
Scripture
Revelation 8:13 ERV
“While I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air. The eagle said in a loud voice, “Terrible! Terrible! How terrible for those who live on the earth! The terrible trouble will begin after the sounds of the trumpets that the other three angels will blow.”
Observation-What does it say?
In this chapter, the seventh seal from John’s revelation is revealed. The opening of the seventh seal reveals the appearance of seven angels with seven trumpets. When the first angel sounds his trumpet, hail, fire, and blood come hurling down to earth, burning up a third of the earth’s trees and grass. When the second trumpet from the second angel sounds, something like a huge mountain gets thrown into the sea, killing a third of the living sea creatures and ships, and turning a third of the sea into blood. The third trumpet being sounded will cause a great star to fall from the sky and land on a third of the rivers, and contaminating a third of the earth's water supply. Then, when the fourth trumpet is sounded a third of the sun, moon, and stars are struck, turning them dark. This causes a third of the day and night to be without light. It’s then in John’s vision that he hears an eagle call out “Woe! Woe! Woe to the people of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”
Understanding-What does it mean?
Just when you think it can’t get any worse...
John’s vision from God is a pretty scary thought. With all those calamities just from the first four trumpets being sounded, and then an eagle flying by pretty much saying “you ain’t seen nothing yet folks!” I don’t want to imagine what it would be like living on earth during these times. I mean it sounds like the weather is going to be really cold and dark, and food and water are going to begin to be really scarce. It’s a really scary thought for anyone who is left behind during the rapture; something a person shouldn’t wish on anyone! But the good news is we still have time. We don’t know how much time we have left, but I think it’s best we better take advantage of what time we do have. Time to tell our family and friends the good news of the gospel of Christ. Time to share to anyone and everyone. The signs are upon us that time is counting down towards the end. We should take the Marine Corps attitude that we “leave no man behind.”
“And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” -Matthew 24:6-8 NLT
Life Application
Like a good boy scout, I must be prepared.
“A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” -Matthew 24:45-51 NLT
Not only do we need to be prepared, but we need to share His love with others too! Every Halloween, close to 1,000 people trick-or-treat at one of the neighborhoods closest to our church! Come join us tonight at Pastor Levi and Katie’s house at the entrance of the neighborhood from 5:30-9p. Let’s connect with and love on the families in our community and invite them to DSC where they can encounter God and hear the Gospel!
-Moses Gaddi
Psalm 104 - 10.28.22
Scripture - What stood out?
Psalm 104:33
I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Observation - What does it say?
This is a beautiful psalm that opens with praise for God by describing His majesty, splendor and greatness. The psalm goes on to widen our universal perspective of God by declaring what He is capable of and has already accomplished. The psalmist ends with this exclamation that they will continue to sing to God as long as they live, meditating on the Lord, and praying the wicked be vanquished.
Understanding - What does it mean?
I will sing to the Lord all my life.
I remember being in class reading a poem together and my teacher asking us, “The poem ends with the character saying they didn’t have a single regret. Can you imagine how amazing that is? To live your entire life…and not have a single regret?”
That is what reading this verse reminded me of Lord. The psalmist lived the rest of (possibly their entire) their life singing praise to you. It seems really hard to do, no offense but I am not necessarily a music person. As I seek to grow closer to you I wonder what did the psalmist do on days when they didn’t emotionally feel like praising you? Did the psalmist sing any non-Christian songs ever?? Did they sing to you every day without fail?
My heart and my spirit want to live like this psalmist, Lord! I am not totally sure what that means but I would like to see what this is like!
Life Application - How can I apply this to my life today?
Lord, for my life application today I will praise and worship you. I will praise you everyday this week. And I will sing! Help me Holy Spirit to please achieve this goal. In the name of Jesus do I pray, amen.
-kenneth lee
Psalm 103-10.27.22
SCRIPTURE
Psalm 103
OBSERVATION
David starts off this Psalm by saying that he wants to praise God with all that he is. With his whole heart he will praise God. He then continues to talk about how he never wants to forget the good things that God has done for him. Right after this statement, he lists off the many things God had done for him.
UNDERSTANDING
Lately I’ve been hit with how powerful it is to do what David is doing in this passage.
David is increasing his joy capacity.
I believe David understood the importance of joy in our lives.
In John 15, Jesus talks about how He is the vine and we are the branches, and that those who remain in Him and He in them will produce much fruit. Later in that passage Jesus says that if you remain in His love just as He remains in His father’s love, that we will be filled with joy that overflows.
God wants us to be overflowing with joy. I believe as we are overflowing with joy, we will impact our communities. I read a quote one time that said “People will forget what you say , but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
I believe David understood the importance of overflowing with God’s joy. Joy is the thing that will impact those around us. Joy is the thing that people are drawn to. Joy will also carry us through the tough times. When we go through hard times, we can still add the joy of the Lord to our situation, knowing He will never leave us or forsake us. We can grab hold of the joy that He will work all things for His good.
We see David doing exactly what we need to increase our joy. We see Him doing a couple things.
First, we see him showing his gratitude towards God by worshiping God and giving Him glory. Gratitude is the first step to building joy into our lives and it helps us experience a more consistent connection with God.
Second, we see David telling his story. He’s going over how good God is. There’s something that happens when we learn the practice of meditating on what God has done. You begin to realize how much God loves you; you start to remember what that felt like in that moment.
One of the greatest ways to increase joy is to put these two practices into our daily routine.
LIFE APPLICATION
I want to encourage you to start a journal and fill it with the stories of what God has done. If you already have one or are just starting, I want you to start to meditate on your stories every day.
It’s simple to do, but will increase your joy capacity.
Here’s how:
Take 5 minutes each day. You might need more than one story to fill the time.
Each memory should focus on two things.
1. Be aware of the sensation in your body as you relive it. (Maybe you felt butterflies, maybe it was heat, maybe excitement, etc… don’t just think of the words of how you felt, allow yourself to feel it again.)
2. What sort of connection did you feel with God in the memory? Maybe God was reminding you He loves you. He could have be letting you know you can trust him, etc…)
-Justin Eaves