When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. - Revelation 6:7-8
Dear Lord Jesus,
It's a horrible reality but it's true. Until the day you return there will be famine and plagues that kill people. You pin the entire planet to the mat and make us look up for the answers. Your answers have to do with rescue and not restoration of the earth. You came and died so that death could be the doorway to heaven. That alone gives us peace in the face of famine and plague. This ain't heaven and it never will be. Your word seals the deal. So, I will evermore put my hope in the perfect redemption you have won for me. Thank you for getting me out of here alive, forever. I will live in this hope and do my best to share it with others.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Death will prowl the earth until the end of time but because of Jesus it will lose it's grip on all believers.
Revelation 6:5-6
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” - Revelation 6:5-6
Dear Jesus,
Here in your word you promise that there will be run away inflation at different places on the earth throughout the ages and until the end of time. Some places on earth right now even food prices are rising astronomically. I know that in my country we haven't experienced inflation near as much as others. And yet when prices spike we chaff under the load. It makes us feel hopeless and worried. You use inflation to frustrate our lust for temporal wealth and to make us learn to depend on you for everything. How powerfully you bring us back home in concrete ways. Lord, take care of our needs and preserve us through our hard times. Give us what we need to get through it all and make us generous toward those who are experiencing your chastening through inflation so they will find your love coming from our hands.
AMEN
Pastor Don Patterson
The price for grace never goes up or down. It's free for us but cost God everything.
Revelation 6:3-4
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. - Revelation 6:3-4
Dear Jesus,
The rider on the fiery red horse brings a hard message. You are showing us that as long as we live this side of heaven, earth will be a violent place. People will be killing other people off and on until the end of time. You want us to know that this place will never be heaven. It will always be a war zone. It makes me long for you and the eternal peace and protection you will give us in heaven. I know you are with us now and protect us with your angels throughout our lives but you also use the chaos here to bring us to glory. I will live a life of honesty and love while staying around murderous people. I will not kid myself that somehow earth will become a place where there are no threats. Stay near me Lord Jesus and help me Lord Jesus and protect me from the dangers that lurk around me.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
We walk with God all day through dangers toward the peaceful fortress called heaven.
Revelation 6:1-2
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder,“Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. - Revelation 6:1-2
Dear Jesus,
Horses have always been the symbol of war and conquest. I see in this first seal that opens and reveals insights about future events - that while this world is at war spiritually, you and your word and your people are in the battle to conquer with the truth about your grace that leads many to righteousness. We are in a battle but we have your weapons. Souls are being saved and many who look defeated (like the thief who died next to you/ will be saved by the white horse at the very end. You are telling us that you and the good you bring will be with us in battle until the end. With your ever present help, we will fight on until your angel blows the trumpet for the end to come. It give us hope that helps us keep telling your story. Harden us in our resolve to saddle up and spread the word.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
We live in a war zone between God and Satan. By grace we have been adopted to the right team.
Revelation 5:7-10
The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[b] on the earth.” - Revelation 5:7-10
Dear Jesus,
Your worthiness to hold our future in your hands is because those hands are scared for us. You died for us to wash away our sins and give us the identity as kings and priests. We have value and heavenly purpose because you singlehandedly saved us all. Help me to live for my divine purpose from you no matter what challenges come my way today. Make me reflect love and truth to all whom I meet today.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
On Christ’s team everyone gets to play.
Revelation 5:1-5
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." - Revelation 5:1-5
Dear Jesus,
I wonder how many people realize that what you showed John in this vision is that only you have the right to see and tell the future. No palm reader, pendant, witch or warlock has that power or insight. No angel or demon, not false god or political self absorbed personality. Only you, the lion of the tribe of Judah, who was born of a real woman and yet is God himself, knows the future along with the Father and Holy Spirit and chooses to tell it. So, since you hold back so much detail so I will focus on the gospel themes about the future, I accept your comfort that you are with me and that you will unroll the scroll of my life before my eyes as you see fit. I am your Lord Jesus, drive my life into the future you have for me.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
The father who sits on the throne in heaven has given only Jesus the right to run things for him. So, don't try to run things yourself.
Revelation 4:7-11
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” - Revelation 4:7-11
Dear Jesus,
What a grand picture in heaven that shows that all creation and the church in heaven completely realize that you are worthy of praise and glory for your holiness and power. You created all things. In Romans 1, you tell us that your creation on earth shows your divine power and attributes. Here in this vision, your creation in heaven proclaims the same. All this makes me live in greater awe of your right to govern our lives and to judge them in the end. We are all a product of your mind and hand. Give me holy respect for your creative ownership of me and everything else around me. I know that you will judge all creatures at the end of their lives and if you had not come to save, I would be doomed. Because of your grace I can love and respect the beautiful natural world because I know that the awesome mind that invented it all, also invented redeeming grace for those of us who have fallen from your image. Oh Jesus, you are worthy of all the praise you exploit in heaven.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Everyone in heaven gets how wonderful Jesus is. Pray those on earth do too before it's too late for them.
Revelation 4:2-6
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the sevenfold Spirit of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. - Revelation 4:2-6
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for giving us visions of heaven that symbolize the glory and grandeur you, the Father and the Holy Spirit have. I see that all believers are represented by the twenty four elders in the vision, twelve for the Old Testament believers and twelve for the New. All of creation is represented in the four living creatures and the Holy Spirit is pictured as seven lamp-stands and the seven fold spirit. The beauty and power that surround you in heaven is thought provoking. It reminds me that you are far above all earthly rule and authority and you dwell in immeasurable splendor. To think that you left all that to be slain for my soul's rescue! Thank you for denying yourself all that splendor to welcome a poor soul like me to join you there. Help me do everything I can to give other people the same gift you have given me. And help me live in optimism today because by grace I will someday be there in the vision with you no matter how many dark alleys I must traverse to get there.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Words cannot describe the full glory where God dwells. In fact, they barely describe the magnitude of his love that made him leave heaven to save us.
Revelation 4:1
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” - Revelation 4:1
Dear Jesus,
From heaven you know everything that is going to happen in all of our lives. You see the struggles, the successes, the failures and the dreams come true. You see the good, the bad and ugly. You see the injustices we experience and the blessings. We see none of those. We have to take them as they come. Give us peace about not knowing how our lives will go. Help us to focus instead on faithfully using our gifts to bless others. Since I know you will be with me in the future, I can more easily take what comes. I will be okay with you being my leader.
Amen
God knows our future. Our job is to know God.
Revelation 3:14-22
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” - Revelation 3:14-22
Dear Jesus,
I have always felt that your church in America is most like the church in Laodicea. We live in peace and luxury. You have protected us from persecution that your people in other parts of the world experience. And we have reasoned that we are rich and need little. But we are just as much in need as anyone and everyone else. We fall prey to sin and we barely know how to suffer. And death spares no one. Please do not reject your complacent believers but fill us with your Holy Spirit who will make us serious and honest believers who value your grace, salvation and fellowship with you, more than the temporal blessings you have showered on us. Make us trust in you like Job who could not be bought and would not forsake you even though you let all his wealth, family and health drift away. Make us wealthy in true faith so we honor you before the old evil foe who wants to ruin us with our wealth.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
God wants us to value Jesus as much as he values us.
Revelation 3:7-13
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.- Revelation 3:7-13
Dear Jesus,
I know how much you love each church and each Christian and want them to endure through hard times. It's so easy to get discouraged by what we can see with our eyes in this world still influenced by Satan. We often get distracted by our own deep disappointments with how slow the gospel moves. But you promise that when we endure we will will ultimately see you in heaven and get the prize of eternal life. Help me by your Holy Spirit to continue my walk of faith through thick and thin because I know you are watching over my life to the very end.
AMEN
Pastor Don Patterson
Endurance is much easier when we stop trying to lift the past or the future while carrying the load called today.
Revelation 3:1-6
To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief,and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. - Revelation 3:1-6
Dear Jesus,
These words are a powerful reminder to make sure we don't mistake church activity and community involvement as the essence of true spirituality. True spirituality is a very clear faith in you as our personal Savior from sin. It leads us to live in hope and peace no matter what we are experiencing. It makes us unconsciously generous and Christ centered in our dealings with everyone. It makes us kind and gentle but strong and courageous at the same time. It makes us relentless in clinging to the true meaning of your word while patiently teaching those who have erroneous ideas about passages from the Bible. We wear the robe of your righteousness and are always trying to give it way to others. Oh Jesus, help us to stay deeply connected to your words so we have a well of living water springing up in our lives in every direction.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Focus more on being than doing when you are with Jesus and he will transform you.
Revelation 2:18-28
To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds,your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. - Revelation 2:18-28
Dear Jesus,
Oh how you hate people teaching lies and saying you told them to! You will not tolerate it forever. Help your churches everywhere to meditate deeply on your word so they see the truth and avoid the lies. Give them a greater desire to proclaim your whole counsel for the salvation for the salvation of souls and to raise up a godly generation that will glorify you in their everyday lives. Help your people to hold of to what they have already learned and to teach it to their children and grandchildren. And give me a stronger desire to speak your word to my friends and family in a gentle but convincing way.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Truth cannot go begging in the streets if we give it home on our tongues and through our lips.
Revelation 2:12-17
To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. - Revelation 2:12-17
Dear Lord Jesus,
You don't fool around. You watch us ever so closely. You see when we stand tall under pressure to act against our faith you see when we fall. The ancient church in Pergamum had some members who thought that grace meant they could live however they wanted. You won't stand for that. Grace teaches us to say "no" to ungodliness for the right reasons. Help our pastors teach your word fiercely and faithfully so they lead your sheep away from sin and into a life of purity and peace. Use your word to make their tongues sharp two edged swords that cut people to the heart who need to repent and who cut out guilt from those who have. Help your messengers say what you would say to the flock. And when you have gathered your sheep into your grace again, give us that white stone with the new name written on it, "Forgiven" and "Admit One" into heaven.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
True spirituality reveals itself in honest and humble faith that wrestles with sin until the finish line.
Revelations 2:8-11
To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful,even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. - Revelations 2:8-11
Dear Jesus,
You don't pull any punches. You allowed your church in Smyrna to be persecuted and they were already poor by our standards. But you made them rich in faith. They trusted that you were with them and that heaven was their home. It keep them from caving in to the pressure of unbelieving persecutors. Please strengthen my faith in you and your promises so when I endure suffering. Don't let me question your love of direction simply because I am hurting or perplexed. And place your hand on y life. Don't give me more than I can handle and when I don't handle what you give please don't reject me. Instead, hold me up in your love and restore me to the strength your Spirit brings. Give me the light of your hope even in the darkest place.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Our goal is not to avoid death. It's to ignore it's threats because we have Christ's rescue.
Revelation 2:1-7
To the angel (pastor) of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands. I know your deeds,your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.- Revelation 2:1-7
Dear Jesus,
In your words to the ancient church in Ephesus, I hear you speaking to me and my church. You are pleased that we stand up for good, watch out that we teach truth and endure hardships for the gospel, but you never want us to think that the things we do replace just living in the love you have shared with us. It was your love that melted my hard heart and made me deal with my selfishness. It was your love that catapulted me into service into your kingdom. It is your love that saved and made me what I was always supposed to be. Don't ever let me lose sight of your love that makes me a person of love. Otherwise I will be an empty shell and clanging tin can.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Truth and love are two sides of the same coin. We never really have one without the other.
Revelation 1:17-20
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. - Revelation 1:17-20
Dear Lord Jesus,
If I were to see you in all of your glory I would fall down in fear just like John did. You are the ultimate superhero, the God over all things, the One with whom we all have to reckon. Thank you for placing your right hand on John and telling him not to be afraid. It comforts me to know that you love your church. And to know that you passed through death and are alive again gives me hope. And to know you hold the keys to hell makes me feel safe. And then to know you walk among the churches and live with the angels of those churches, that is; the pastors, helps me trust you are guiding each congregation even when we struggle. Jesus you are with us and we can struggle on as future conquerors no matter how small and insignificant we feel. Today will be a good day because you are with me. Help me to stop feeling so alone when I face any challenge by reminding me that you, the almighty, loving, Savior God, are with me.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
God is with us, how can anything in our lives ultimately turn out badly.
Revelation 1:12-15
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp stands and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the chest with a golden girdle. And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters.”
Revelation 1:12-15
Dear Jesus,
John saw you in all of your glory standing among the lamp stands that represented your beloved churches at that time. The way you revealed yourself was both a comfort and a confrontation. It comforts me to know you are the almighty God filled with power and splendor. That reminds me that you have all it takes to take care of your churches. But it also confronts me that my church answer to you and not to the world we serve. Only what you want matters and many times we have followed the whims of the world and our own desires. I’m glad you are among us in your power. Help us to live before you in godly reverence. Lead us on your mission and not our own. Make us into what you want us to be.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
When we remember that Jesus lives among us it changes everything we think, say, and do.
Revelation 1:9
“I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” - Revelation 1:9
Dear Jesus,
Your apostle John is rather nonchalant in saying that he was on an island because of the word of God and having testified about you. He also said he was our companion in the suffering of those in your kingdom and the patient endurance that are ours as Christians. He speaks to us as one who was in the trenches with us who knew what it was like to suffer and to wonder how things would turn out. I know that I have not suffered like John but in my troubles I see him as a forceful teacher reminding me that we are pilgrims here and that heaven is our home. Thank you for making the writers of your book men who understood our travail and committed themselves to leading us through it.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
As pilgrims we can never plant our roots deep on earth.
Revelation 1:5-6
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loves us, and looses us from our sins by his blood; and made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; - to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. - Revelation 1:5-6
Dear Jesus,
You have loosened me up from every negative feeling I might have about myself because of my sins and failures. You have restored to me my own personal identity that I am part of your kingdom as a royal member of your family and a priest that represents you in the world. You have made all of my Christian family and friends into the same new creation. Help me to live in the optimism that remembering I am your chosen royalty brings. Help me also to view all my fellow Christians as the same loyal citizens treating them with dignity and respect. And since you rose from the dead I live in the hope that I too will beat whatever it is that threatens my life now and always.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
We are members of God’s royalty with his angels as secrets service protectors.