How do I measure up?

In the book of Revelation in the Bible, John, the author, has been exiled to the island, Patmos.  He was in exile there for speaking his testimony of Jesus Christ.  While worshipping/praying in the spirit, Jesus spoke to him the things that are recorded in the book of Revelation. Although it is a challenging book to understand, it is the only book in the Bible that says:  “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of prophecy, and keeps those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3 So by simply reading it and doing what it says, one will be blessed.  Sounds like a good thing to me!!

 

Jesus tells John to record what He is speaking to The Church.  There were seven different churches of John’s time that Jesus was speaking to:  The churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.  Revelation 2-3  These are Christian churches that had been under persecution and Jesus is evaluating them.  He let them know what they were doing correctly, but He also let them know what they were doing incorrectly, and how to correct their mistakes.  As I read these two chapters, I can see just how relevant these words of commendation, rebuke and needed action are to today’s church.

 

Below is a summary of the churches, their commendations, the rebukes of Jesus and the actions they needed to take to get back on track.

 

*The church of Ephesus had commendations of hard work and endurance, but the rebuke was that they had lost their first love.  Jesus called them to remember who their first love should be and repent.

*The church of Smyrna:  suffering persecution and poverty was their commendation.  Jesus found no reason to rebuke them.  Even in the persecution and poverty, they were faithful to Jesus.  The needed action he spoke to them was to fear not and to be faithful.

 

*The church of Pergamum remained loyal, but they were a compromising church; worshipping idols (idols of our time are:  money, cars, status, sex…anything put on the throne of our heart other than Jesus) and compromising in sexual immorality(adultery, homosexuality, etc.)  Jesus tells them to repent.

 

*The church of Thyatira’s commendations were love, faith, service and endurance, but they also were compromising and immoral.  Jesus tells them to repent.

 

*The church of Sardis was and effective church, however, they were a superficial church.  Jesus tells them to “wake up and repent.” (Whether in the church, or otherwise, we don’t have to look very far to see superficial people. Let’s choose to be authentic.)

 

*The church of Philadelphia was a faithful church.  Jesus had no rebuke for this church.  He called them to “hold on.”

 

*The church of Laodicea had NO commendation.  They were wealthy and “had need of nothing,” all the while not realizing that they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.  Jesus found them to be lukewarm and said because they were neither hot nor cold; he would vomit them from his mouth.  His call to action to them was to be diligent and to repent.  (It’s not difficult to see this in today’s church as well.)

 

Take the time to read chapters 2 and 3 in Revelation.  Ask God to show you what may or may not apply to yourself these passages and apply and changes that need to be made.

 

Out of the seven churches that Jesus critiqued two…yes, only two churches did not need to be corrected.  Only two out of seven churches were doing what Jesus wanted them to do.  What does that tell you about our churches today?  No wonder we see so much negativity going on within the Body of Christ.  We are human…we need Jesus…period!  We need to be humble and obedient to whom He’s calling us to be.  Galatians 2:20 says:  I have been crucified with Christ; it’s no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Let’s be obedient!

 

If we find ourselves in a church like one of the five listed in Revelation, we need to pray for them.  Pray for their eyes, ears and hearts to be opened.  Pray how the Holy Spirit leads us to pray for them.  Also, and more importantly, we need to be diligent to keep ourselves on task.  We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus.  He will not leave us or forsake us.        

...Look With A Different Perspective...

Today I accidentally knocked off the back of one of my earrings at the gym.  I must have spent 10 minutes or more crawling around on the floor looking for it and couldn’t find it.  First thing, I prayed that the Lord would open my eyes to see it.  I didn’t have my reading glasses to help me.  I pulled out my phone and used it as a flash light and still I couldn’t find it.  Finally, I just made the decision that I would go on with the task at hand and put fresh eyes on it a few minutes later.  So I stood up and all the sudden…BAM… my eyes were drawn directly to the back of my earring.  It had been right in front of me the entire time…I just didn’t see it.  Of course I wasn’t surprised!  Trust me, this isn’t the first time I’ve trusted the Lord to show me where I’ve lost something…He’s always faithful to help me find whatever I’ve lost. But what I found interesting is that I had to change my perspective or the angle to find what I was looking for.  It was there the entire time but I wasn’t in the right place to be able to see it. 

I think that’s how it is a lot of times when we’re looking for different things in life.  We can be looking high and low…searching very intently and still cannot find what it is we’re looking for.  Just like me looking for the earring back…I had asked God to help me, but my perspective or my angle was all wrong.  I wasn’t lined up properly.  God had full intentions of showing me where it was…and He waited patiently until I was finished doing it my way to show me exactly where it was.  Actually…His way was much easier than the way I was crawling around on the floor! 

If you find yourself in a situation where you seem to be getting nowhere, which we all do from time to time, look with a different perspective or at a different angle.  If you’ve asked God to help you, you can be sure He is there waiting patiently with you.  Sometimes I believe He’s just waiting for us to get lined up perfectly…waiting for us to get to the end of ourselves…so that He can do what needs to be done in our lives.  Also, there’s nothing too small to ask God for help with…even looking for the back of an earring is not too small for God!  He truly cares about every aspect of our lives.  J