Church

Wake Up!! {Revelations 3}

8:00 AM

 Today's Scripture Passage: Revelations 3

I was once very much like the church of Sardis; busy, busy, busy! I was teaching in a Christians school during the day, working in the Awana and Sunday School programs on Wednesday nights and Sundays, leading a women's study on Tuesdays, while trying to make time for my husband and children each week. I was looking good on the outside; doing all the right things, but I was dead spiritually and didn't even know it, until The Lord moved me thousands of miles away from everyone and thing, except my husband, and sat me down to have a talk.  It wasn't quite like the one He had with the Church of Sardis, but there are enough similarities:

“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.  Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. 

I'd be lying if I said that He hadn't gotten my undivided attention at that moment.  

Can you relate? Has there been a time in your life when you were kept so busy in ministering to others that it was adversely impacting your relationship with Him?

  • Your study time was to benefit others through your teaching.
  • Your prayer time had become mechanical. Running down a list of requests for others or your own personal needs you could foresee coming ahead for that day or week. 
  • Your date book was full with notations of phone calls to make and so forth, and when your phone did ring you feared you'd forgotten someone or something.
  • You fell into bed at night and were out as soon as your head hit the pillow. 
  • There was never anytime to sit silently before the Lord and listen even for five minutes. 

 Did you know that the way the Lord presents Himself to each of the churches is a clue as to what the underlining problem is within each of them? Here He calls Himself, "him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars." These symbols were identified for us in the first chapter of Revelation. The "seven spirits" are a symbol of the Holy Spirit in His fullness. 

Therefore, what the church at Sardis and I desperately needed was God's Spirit operating and back in charge.  

We need to be walking in the Spirit, and to remember that Jesus is Lord of His church. It is never left up to us to run the church, and minister in our own strength.

Somehow both the church at Sardis and I had forgotten that along the way. Which should lead us to wonder, what do we do when that happens? He tells us in the very next verses,

  Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

4 “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

Simple as that! Turn around and go back to The Lord, surrender once more and allow Him to take over.  Don't you just love how simple The Lord makes things?  Everything changes in one act of obedience. We can set it all back into His hands and find rest, refreshment and the renewal our soul had been longing for. 

One more thing I must tell you before I close, for this speaks volumes of our Lord's heart I believe. It's found in Revelation 3:5, 

Did you know that white garments are always a symbol of redemption in the Scriptures? In the seventh chapter of this book we'll read of a great multitude of people who will come out of the great tribulation and who have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," (Revelation 7:14).

White garments are a sign of being redeemed, being saved by the grace of God. Our Lord is so very rich in mercy and lovingkindness, beloved.  He promises us once more all will be forgiven and forgotten. When we fall short, whether by accident or on purpose we only need to turn (repent) to right our relationship with Him once more. 

Know wonder He is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.(Is 9:6)

Blessings, 


sue

Acts 14

The Secret to an Effectual Ministry- Revealed {Acts 14}

10:00 AM

Today's Passage: Acts 14


I ended last week's post on leaving a legacy by sharing my desire to one day hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master” (Matt25:21) and since, I’ve been reading each chapter with interests, trying to discover the qualities needed to have an effectual ministry in this day and age. After all, I know times have changed, but our Lord hasn’t, and neither has His call to all of us found in Matthew 28:18-20!

Paul was hands-down the greatest missionary in all of the New Testament church and I was determined to see if I could learn his secret, and O goodness girls, I believe I’ve found it!! It’s hidden within the chapter, but before the big reveal, I want to share a bit of how I found it!!

You see, I’m not always good at being, “intentional about my good intentions”. What I mean by that is, I may tell you I have this tremendous desire to hear the Lord say, “Well done…”, but when obstacles and opposition arise, I’ll be the first to rethink my goals, but not Paul! After he and Barnabas were run out of Antioch of Pisidia,they simply, “shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium.” - 13:51

Now I know, one could argue that they had seen and experienced great success in that city and that, “the Lord’s message spread throughout that region!” which only spurred them on. BUT, once more here in chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas see that with success comes great opposition and once more, “they fled to the region of Lycaonia—to the towns of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding area.”- Acts 14:6

There seems to be a pattern forming: Arrive -> Preach -> Witness Conversions -> Oppositions arises -> Move on to the next town…

That is until 14:19-20,“Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.”

Did you catch it? I reached this point in the chapter and had to stop reading, and admit to myself and to the Lord that, I think had this been me at this point, The Lord and I would have had to have a talk, for I’m not certain I could have taken much more of the fierce persecution Paul and Barnabas were experiencing! And this was when the Lord showed me something I’ve never noticed before!

- Paul Got Up!

Paul was
  • Stoned
  • Dragged out of town
  • Believed to be dead
  • BUT he got up!
  • AND walked back into the same town!
  • AND then started on a 60 mile journey the next morning!!

How can a person stoned and believed dead, get up and go on a sixty mile journey the next day!?

That’s when Paul’s own words came flooding into my mind…

“I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Phil 4:13

“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good pleasure.” Phil 2:13

I can see now Paul knew exactly what he was talking about. No man can get up and keep going after being stoned and left for dead without God’s help, but Jesus has promised us that, “with God ALL things are possible”. Matthew 19:26 (Emphasis mine)

I also understand now why Paul often referred to himself as the Lord’s “doulos” or bond-servant. A “doulos” is often defined as a slave, but it’s much more than that, in that the person volunteers to serve wholeheartedly, claiming to have no rights of their own. I looked up the definition once more in the Stong’s Greek Dictionary and here’s some of what I found: A Doulos is
  • one who worships God and submits to him
  • the true worshippers of Christ, whose agency God employs in executing His purposes
  • So devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests,
  • strenuously laboring for another's salvation,

I can clearly see Paul fitting this description, what I wonder most is, do I? How about you?

Blessings!
sue

Acts 9

Leaving a Legacy {Acts 9}

9:00 AM

Today's Passage: Acts 9

What is the legacy you’re leaving for those who come after you? Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever wondered how you’ll be remembered after The Lord calls you home? I think of that every time I read about Tabitha/Dorcus in Acts 9:36-39,

“In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.  About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.  Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.” (Emphasis mine)

Here is a woman who used what she had to help others, especially widows who once were solely dependent on their husbands to survive, and now found themselves at the mercy of their children or others to care for them. I discovered that there are over 50 verses in the Bible that speak, or refer to caring for the poor, widow, orphan and stranger or refugee. I was surprised to see how often these groups of people were lumped together, but that’s for another day. It’s safe to say today, that looking after the widows was very important to the Lord and Tabitha took God’s command very seriously.

Seeing these widows weeping; holding up the articles of clothing Tabitha had made for them always makes me wonder what others would say or hold up that would testify to how I had faithfully followed the Lord’s command. And this time I didn’t just stop at Tabitha, but decided to look at the legacy of all those listed in chapter nine.

There was Ananias, who the Lord called on to go to Paul, and I wondered why The Lord choose Ananias from all those living in the area? I suppose it was because He knew He could count on Ananias to go and do exactly what He commanded him to do. Ananias is only mentioned once more in the Bible and that’s in Paul's speech in Acts 22. Paul describes Ananias as "a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews" that dwelt in Damascus (Acts 22:12). I’d be honored if I could be described in the same way one day! Wouldn't you?

We know Paul, according to Ananias he had caused tremendous harm to God’s people and, had come there with authority from the chief priests to arrest all believers. Yet, Paul went onto be probably the greatest missionary in all of history, and write most of the New Testament!

Aeneas lived in Lydda, and had been crippled for eight years. When Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat," he was healed immediately and got up and went onto praise God. God used him and his illness as a light to others to cause others to place their  faith in Christ Jesus.

Finally, there’s Peter, who at one time seemed to be famous for saying or doing the wrong things, yet after being filled with God spirit at the Day of Pentecost, went onto to be used tremendously by God as we can see right here in this chapter alone!

There is something I think fascinating in how Peter brought Tabitha back to life. Notice both these scenes from Scripture. The first was Jesus bringing Jarius’ daughter back to life:

“After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.  He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).  Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.” Mark 5:40-42 (emphasis mine)

The second is Peter bringing Tabitha back to life:

“Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.  He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.” - Acts 9:40-41 (Emphasis mine)

Did you notice only one letter is changed in what both commanded? I think this proves Peter was definitely paying attention to the Master while he walked with Him on earth! Don't you?

In this one chapter we have some amazing example of people of great faith! ALL used by God, though some more so than others. YET, each possessed an equal opportunity to one day hear their Master say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your Master!' - Matthew 25:21

Our God is an equal opportunity God and I pray each of us will hear those very words one day, and leave a legacy that others will desire to follow.

Blessings!
sue