Author: Dwight Clough

But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. — Revelation 11:11The #1 evil man on earth kills God’s two witnesses and refuses them burial. The whole world celebrates, but nobody counted on the power of God. God makes it abundantly clear that life and death belong to God, not to the beast. God could have let them lie and resurrected them along with everyone else later on. But He doesn’t. He sends a clear message: Even though the world…

[The elders] were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. — Revelation 5:8How are our prayers treated? With special honor in heaven. I often feel like my prayers are little more than babble, yet here they are in heaven, treated as treasure. If you study the prayers of the saints in Revelation, you discover two things: (1) they are always sweet to God, and (2) they usually are bad news for the evildoers left on earth.God remembers the slander and persecution His children endure. He has heard their cry, and He treats that cry…

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have lerned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. — Philippians 4:12-13The deeper you get into situations you don’t like, the more you discover that Jesus is already there. Where did I find joy? When I was grieving the death of someone I loved. Where did I find peace? At the center of my anxieties. Where am I finding contentment? As…

The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. — Judges 20:18Today I want to take on the myth that if you do God’s will, everything will go smoothly. Sorry, folks, it just doesn’t always happen that way.Judges 19-21 tells the sad story of a violent crime and a quest for justice. Evil men were shielded by the tribe of Benjamin, and the rest of the Israelites went to war with them.Is this a good time to seek the Lord? You bet. Why do you inquire of God before a battle? Because you want to make sure you’re doing…

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in … Revelation 3:20We human beings really have only one power: to say "yes" or "no" to God. If we are righteous, why are we righteous? Not because we did righteous things, but because we said "yes" to God. If we are unrighteous, look around inside. Somewhere we closed the door in God’s face. Somewhere we said "no." We like to use Revelation 3:20 as a salvation verse. Open the door of your heart and let Jesus in. But it is also a Christian life verse. Once Jesus…

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 5:5What happens when you open the scroll? Judgment comes. History ends. Eternity begins.Why can’t anybody open the scroll? Because too much is at stake. Every precious person that God loves has no defense against judgment until he or she is hidden in Christ. What is the message? God is protecting His children from judgment. We may have troubles, but the judgment of…

… even though we may seem to have failed. — 2 Corinthians 13:7bI’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about image and credibility. In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about his image and his credibility with the Corinthian church. He explains that he and we have treasure (Jesus) in jars of clay (4:7), that as Christians we don’t want to measure people from a worldly point of view (5:16), that the Corinthians were looking at the surface of things (10:7), but that we cannot compare ourselves to others (10:12). He relates his sufferings and his heavenly visions, and explains that…

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. — Philippians 4:13"I can’t get away. Things are out of control. I can’t stop this." When I was a boy, the kids at my school practiced a ritual they called initiation. I won’t bother with the details other than to say this: If you were male, you didn’t want to be initiated. I did my best to avoid being caught, but one day I found myself in the clutches of one of the initiators.I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do. I sat there, helpless, too scared to even…

… you were bought at a price. … — 1 Corinthians 6:20 NIVThere is a voice inside us that says, "I’m not important. I don’t matter." This cuts deep because we want to be important. We want to matter. Why is that? Is it because we are selfish, self-centered, sinful, fallen human beings?I don’t think so. I think God put it inside us. We need to matter. We need to be important. We need to have significance. Our lives need to have meaning. We are God’s children. We are created in God’s image. We are purchased by the blood of…

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. — Hebrews 6:19 NIV"There are no options for me. I just want to die. There’s no hope."Every year 15 million people worldwide attempt to end their own lives, and every 40 seconds someone who has lost all hope passes into eternity.There is a reason that Jesus stumbled up the hill to the place called Golgotha. There is a reason He died abandoned with darkness covering the land. There is a reason that a great stone was rolled over the mouth of His grave and a detachment of…