The AMI QT Devotionals from July 3-8 are written by Andy Kim. Andy, a graduate of Northwestern University, has recently completed his M.Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is currently serving as a staff at Radiance Christian Church in San Francisco (and also soon to be married 😊).
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY
Revelation 14:6
“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.”
I hate shopping—and certainly, growing up with an older sister and mom who enjoyed it did not help. While they scavenged the stores, my usual choice of activity was limited to sitting on the bench outside, looking lost and helpless as I waited—what seemed like seconds to them, felt like an eternity to me. But on this day, while waiting, I saw a middle school student and his pastor looking at me from the corner. At the time, I was serving as a youth pastor and already guessed what they were up to. The boy then awkwardly and nervously came and sat next to me. A part of me thought this could be a good teaching moment and could make it difficult by refusing to listen or ask difficult questions about his faith. However, I chose to be a good Samaritan and take in everything he had to say. With his legs shaking and his voice quivering, he began his small talk, asking how my day was going and then proceeded to the “talk.”
I mean, did I look that helpless and miserable? It was funny and a little offensive to think that this kid was trying to share the gospel with me—a youth pastor. He was so nervous that he accidentally started with “You’re going to hell.” After his cute attempt, I calmed his nerves and let him know that I was already a believer. Instantly, he gave a huge sigh of relief and smiled, telling me that much of his fear was that I wouldn’t accept his words. In that moment I felt the Lord convicting me and teaching me through this kid. First, He was asking me when was the last time I shared the gospel with someone (at least this kid tried). More importantly, He was revealing how my lack of sharing stems from the fear of being rejected and the hearer not believing. But in today’s passage, it reminds us of this: Whether literal or not, “the great task of spreading the gospel in the world will be finished by God Himself through his angels.” Yet how often do we elevate ourselves, thinking that Christ will not return unless every nation hears the gospel through our own evangelistic effort—or even to think that the conversion of the soul is up to us.
It is for this reason, Christ commands us to be a witness (Matthew 28)—which is the act of giving one’s testimony from you experiencing the event. Christ calls us to experience Him and simply testify the gospel work in your life to those around us. Although we do play a role in His work, we are not the main agents. May this truth release the pressure of sharing the gospel, and that we may trust in the full power of the gospel and let His Spirit move the heart. There are no barriers and people groups He cannot reach. May we—like this kid (hopefully with better words)—not be ashamed to share the gospel to those who are helpless and lost until Christ returns.
Prayer: Lord, I pray that You would give us a heart for the lost. May our experiences with You overflow into a testimony for others to see who You are. We confess that salvation will only come from you; may we just be good witnesses of Your truth. “O God, grant us to know you in such a way that the fire of our wonder becomes an unquenchable flame of witness to the world” (John Piper). Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Joshua 2
Lunch Break Study
Read James 2:17-26: So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Questions to Consider
- What is the relationship between faith and works?
- What is the difference between the two examples of people living by faith in the lives of Abraham and Rahab?
- What can we learn from Rahab?
Notes
- R.C. Sproul tells us that while both are distinct, they are both inseparable. Borrowing from the belief of the Reformed, “We are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.” This means that while it is our belief in Christ’s redemption that saves us, such a belief demands a response in our actions—that if we truly believe and have faith in Christ, it will inevitably lead to works of obedience.
- Abraham had the high honor of being known as the father of faith and a friend of God. Not much is known about Rahab, other than the fact she was a sinful woman and a harlot. More importantly Abraham was a Jew and Rahab was a Gentile. To think Gentiles could receive salvation was blasphemous. However, James writes that both exercised a saving faith, regardless of their background.
- As it was credited to Abraham, Rahab was credited with this “saving faith.” How? When the two spies approached Rahab and delivered what God had said about the city, she believed. She heard the Word and knew that her city was indeed condemned. She not only responded in her mind and emotions, she responded with her will; in other words, her belief led her to action. Spend some time applying this truth to your life.
Evening Reflection
In an interview with Pastors Timothy Keller and John Piper, a story is mentioned about a woman who had been struggling with this idea of faith and works. She explained that it was “scary” because “if you’re saved by works, there’s a limit to what God can ask of you. You’re like a taxpayer, you’ve paid your dues, and he can ask certain things of you, but not anything. But, if I’m really saved by grace, because of what Jesus has done, there’s no limit to what he can ask of me, and my obedience would have to be unconditional.” And here is the crux of their discussion: We are saved by faith alone, therefore our response is gratitude that manifests in wanting to do things for the One who saved us. (Taken from Church Leaders, “John Piper and Tim Keller Discuss: We Are Saved by Faith Alone, but What About Sanctification?” by Megan Briggs)
Spend some time reflecting on this truth. Think about your faith and belief in Him. Does it lead to some type of outward transformation? How is the goodness of the gospel revealed in your life? Remember, it’s not about a “we have to,” “but a get to” as we serve Him simply out of heart of overflowing thanksgiving and love.
We live in a world driven by branding. In fact, business experts show us that NIKE has taken the lead in the sports industry because of their branding strategy—spending over $1 billion a year in advertising alone. From the mundane, such as what we wear, to the more significant, such as where we work, it’s all about the name. It’s amazing how a small piece of accessory with the word NIKE on it can be priced 10x higher than a non-name brand, even though it is pretty much the same thing! Even more importantly, it’s so easy for us to tie our identity to the name of the school we graduate from or the company we work for. In fact, experts emphasize the importance of “finding your brand” and “selling/marketing yourself ” as the way to success. Now, striving for such things is not bad in and of itself; however, when we allow these things to claim our identity, we become subject to the very products of this world.
I recently met a new believer who stayed for the praise portion of both of our services back to back. Her reasoning was quite simple: she said there was something tangible about God during the praise, and that seeing others worshipping together drew her into the room. For some this is still true, but for others the praise portion of the service can be sometimes a buffer time to find parking, as long as you’re in time for the message. But it’s true that worship can sometimes become mundane and even a little repetitive.
The AMI QT devotionals from June 26-July 2 are provided by Cami King. Cami, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, recently completed her M.Div. at Gordon Conwell Seminary. She is currently serving as a staff at Journey Community Church in Raleigh. 
A saying I heard often in my church culture growing up was, “Sometimes you just have to go through!”—meaning, there are times when you have to walk through a tough situation because there is no way around it. You have to go to through the wilderness to get to the Promised Land. It isn’t fun, but it’s a necessary part of the journey. But whenever this saying was offered, there was always an understanding behind it that God is still in control and is working things for good and for His ultimate end.
One of the many sermon podcasts to which I listen weekly is from a pastor in Chicago. Recently he talked about the reality of angelic protection over the people of God. He told stories from his youth that led him to believe firmly in angels and their active protection in his life. One story was of a time he was being bullied at school when, seemingly out of nowhere, the bully appeared terrified and began backing up, as though he were seeing something Charlie (the pastor) couldn’t see, then ran away. I guess only Charlie and God really know what happened in that movement (and also the bully, I suppose), but he is fully persuaded that there was a heavenly being (an angel) protecting and defending him that scared off his attacker.
In today’s passage, God fleshes out for John the activity of Satan against the Kingdom of God. There is a ton of symbolism in these verses and there are differing opinions about how to interpret some of the signs—particularly the woman mentioned in verse 1. The dragon represents Satan and if we take, as many do, the woman to represent Israel/the people of God (giving birth to the Messiah in verse 5), we get a glimpse of Satan’s very active efforts to destroy Christ Jesus during His earthly ministry—efforts that were obviously unsuccessful. (Not even the grave could hold Jesus down! Hallelujah!) But when unable to destroy Jesus Himself, Satan turns to the next best thing, God’s people, and seeks to destroy them.
Now is the perfect time to pause and really think about the glory to come when the Kingdom of God is here in its fullness. If you’ve been tracking with us through Revelation, by the time you’ve finished chapter 11, you may have let out a huge exhale after reading about the strife and painful anticipation in the chapters leading up to it. Furthermore, if you’ve been doing the Christian life long enough, you have likely experienced your own longing for what’s described in the verses above. The two words in these verses that strike me most are “has become” in verse 15. This idea that all of the things in this world, all our pain and suffering, all our faithfulness and obedience, all our ups and downs, all of it, every single part, are becoming something – something beautiful and abundant for those who fear God – really leaves me speechless.
I’ve spent much of my time studying Revelation in preparation for these quiet times in worship and adoration of God. His power and majesty are just so evident in John’s visions (even as I struggle to fully interpret the particulars of the events). Today’s passage is no different. God’s prophets, with all the power and authority that we talked about yesterday, complete the mission God has given them. But then something unexpected (to me at least) happens—they die. God allows their lives to be taken and the wicked to rejoice over them. It’s a terrible scene. But, as is always the case with God, death isn’t the end of the story. God breathes life back into them—just to show off, it seems, since their work is already done—and brings them up to heaven with Him while the world watches.
I took an exegesis class on Revelation in seminary because I wanted to understand the things that are to come—it was a great class! Yet, I left it with more questions than answers. But one thing I did learn, and of which I am reminded every time I read Revelation, is just how unstoppable are the plans of God. When God gives His authority to His servants and equips them with His power, they are literally unstoppable to accomplish what it is He has for them to do. There is debate among Bible scholars about exactly who these two witnesses are: some say they are prophets from long ago brought back to life (e.g. Moses, Elijah, or Enoch), or others say they are people unknown to us now who will be living at the time of the vision’s fulfillment. Regardless of where you stand in your interpretation, it is clear from these verses that with God’s authority and power, they are unstoppable to accomplish His purposes.
A couple weeks ago my pastor told a story about his youngest daughter and her new tricycle. She’s only one year old and not very tall or coordinated, so, yes, she can’t actually ride it. But she loves her trike and has, for some reason, become very territorial about it. So much so that she won’t allow anyone to touch it or go near it, even if it’s to help her by pushing her around so she can have the experience of riding it (seeing as she is not tall enough to reach the petals yet). After hearing him talk about this, I decided to test it out one day in their back yard. I tried pushing her when she was on the tricycle (pitifully immobilized) – she made it clear that she did NOT like that one bit. I tried just standing near her while she was on the tricycle – to which she responded with a death glare that screamed, “You better back it up, sister!” It was all quite amusing to me. I was most impressed by how aware she was of the tricycle at all times – even when she was off playing with something else, whenever I got near that tricycle, she somehow knew and bobbled back over, whining and snatching it away. That tricycle is her prized possession; she loves it and is meticulous about it!