THE REFUGE DEVOTIONAL
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Revelation 5:12 NASBS Beloved of God, If you are in Christ, then you are indeed a new creation. From the very moment faith was born in your heart, the Holy Spirit began to whisper divine truths into your soul. As a cold coal begins to glow when set among the flames, so your heart has been set alight by the Holy Spirit—igniting within you a holy yearning to know the Lord Jesus Christ, to walk in the power of His resurrection, and to be conformed to His death, so that by any means, you may one day stand in His presence with holy adoration and worship.
This burning desire draws you heavenward. You long to dwell in the courts of the Lord and sit in His glorious presence. The Bible is no longer a distant book, but your very lifeblood. Though a thousand voices long for your attention in this world, it is the gentle melody of Christ’s voice that silences every earthly craving. Your heart pants as the psalmist of old, ““Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Draw near to Him, dear one. Set your mind continually on the things above. Do not let the entanglements of sin or the distractions of this world pull you away from the One who loves your soul. He who never slumbers nor sleeps watches over you, rejoicing in you—for He purchased you with His own blood. You are His bride, His inheritance, and nothing can snatch you from His hand. Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, inscribed with His own blood. Worship Him, singing: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
Pause and reflect on the price He paid for you: See the thorncrowned brow, the sacred eyes filled with eternal love, the sweat mingled with blood, the hands and feet pierced by cruel nails, and the frail body torn asunder by the taskmaster’s lash. Hear the cries of agony, and listen closely to the voice that breaks through the suffering: “It is finished.”
See Him draw His final breath and commend His spirit into the hands of the Father. Meditate upon His death—behold His lifeless body hanging upon the tree, as He drank the full cup of God’s justice for your sin. But do not stop there. Visit the empty tomb, and see the stone rolled away—for it is empty! The grave could not hold Him. Cry aloud: “O death, where is your sting? O death, where is your victory?” — for death has been swallowed up in Christ.
And now, lift your eyes one more time. Go outside the gates of Jerusalem and behold Him as He ascends into heaven—rising in glory to the right hand of the Father, accompanied by the Old Testament saints who died in faith. There, He intercedes for you, and He has made this precious promise: “I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
Today, if by providence your eyes have fallen upon this devotion— and yet you know not the sweet lullaby of which I speak, and your heart feels cold, like a bitter winter night—numb and untouched by these words— then cry aloud: “O God, if You are God, reveal Yourself to me. Show me Your Son, bearing my sins upon the cross. Help me understand that I might be saved by the precious blood I have heard of. Give me grace to reach out and touch the nail-pierced hands of Jesus.
Let me not remain in this darkness. My heart is hard—I feel nothing—but if these words are true, then awaken me. Reveal Yourself. Save me.”
Do not delay, my friend. Come to Him now. Do not wait another moment. For no one but God Himself knows the day or the hour when your final breath shall be drawn. Run to Christ, His nail-pierced hands await you. May His grace grant you the strength to do so, today.