Conqueror's Grants

Rev. 2-3

In the letters to the 7 churches John records an indictment against each church, something that they were missing in their relationship to Jesus. Even though these  assessments were a prominent focus of the letter, He gave a gift to those who conquered or were faithful in each of the churches.  To the church at Ephesus, a church known for its endurance yet one who had lost their first love, Jesus gave the ability to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Eternal life was theirs and nothing could take that away.

To the church at Smyrma a church known for their tribulation and poverty. Even though they were rich in Jesus, their lives were ones of tribulation and even imprisonment. To these faithful ones, Jesus gave the crown of life. They would not be hurt by the second death. Their destiny was sealed. 

To the church at Pergamum one known for holding fast the name of Jesus during persecution yet at the same time one that taught the teaching of Baalam and the Nicolaitans, Jesus gave some of the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knew except the one who received it. Their entrance into heaven was guaranteed with their new name. 

To the church in Thyatira, one known for their works yet at the same time one who tolerated Jezebel enticing people into gross immortality, eating food sacrificed to idols, and learning the deep things of Satan. Yikes! Sounds pretty bad. Still to those who held fast until Jesus comes He gave authority over the nations and the morning star, which is Christ Himself. 

To the church at Sardis one known for being alive and yet dead, one who was exhorted to wake up and strengthen what remained and was about to die. Their works were not complete in the sight of God. But for the one who conquered, the one who walked in white without soiled garments, their names would never be blotted out of the book of life. Jesus will confess their names to the Father. 

To the church at Philadelphia, one known for keeping Jesus' words and not denying His name even though they had but little power. Because they had kept the words of patient endurance, they would be kept from the worldwide hour of trial. If they held fast and were conquerors, they would be made pillars in the temple of God, and on them would be written the name of God, the name of the city of God, the new Jerusalem, and the name of Jesus. 

To the church at Laodicea one known for being lukewarm and nauseating to Jesus. Without repentance, they would be spewed out of His mouth. They thought they had need of nothing yet were blind, and naked. They did not have the white garments needed for eternal life. He rebuked and disciplined them that they might open their eyes and see. Jesus knocked at their door. To the one who did let Him in and who conquered, Jesus granted him to sit on His throne with Him. 

Whether or not these churches are in the past [past tense], I think what they are saying applies to our time and our lives. We must examine our hearts and see if we are holding fast until He comes. For each of the churches and for each of the conquerors, there is a guarantee of eternal life, of salvation, and of being with Jesus for eternity. That is exactly the same for us!

Father,

Thank You for Jesus, the one that I adore and am learning to adore more every day. Thank You for my salvation and for guaranteeing me eternal life with You. Strengthen me to hold fast, to be faithful, and to resist false teaching.

In the name of the grant-giver,

Amen

My Heart

Hosea 6:6

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

God does not want people who merely go through the motions, who come and do what is expected externally but yet have their hearts in a far different place. Israel and Judah were doing just such things, and in fact even worse. They had forsaken the Lord and were cherishing whoredom and wine which had altered their understanding. Consequently they were destroyed for lack of knowledge. How sad!

1 Sam. 16:7 says, But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.": God has always been concerned about the heart. Ps. 51:16-17 says, For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Such an important thing to remember! It is so easy to reduce our faith to the motions of church and even of service. We equate doing things with favor with God when it is not that way at all. The same idea is found in 2 Cor. 5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 

What is in my heart? Am I satisfied with motions even the motions of daily Bible reading or of doing women's Bible study? Shouldn't it be more? My heart needs to long for the presence of the Lord. Like David said in Ps. 27:4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of he Lord and to inquire in His temple. And again in Ps. 84:1-2, How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for he courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. And Ps. 42:1 says, As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. David understood what made him right before God, his heart. His heart panted for God. God was his life, his necessity for existence. Such fervor and emotion! Perhaps that is it. I reduce too much to head knowledge, to facts without involving my emotions. My whole being must be in love with God, must pant for Him and desire above all else to gaze upon the beauty of His holiness. 

Father,

In Your grace and strength grow my love and devotion. Match my emotions match my study. I confess that I do go through  the motions at times instead of seeking You with a heart of love and desire. Forgive me. 

In Jesus name,

Amen

High Priestly Prayer

Jn. 17

John has transcribed the prayer of Jesus, the prayer that Jesus prayed for all His followers, for all who believed during that time and who have believed in the time that has followed. and for all who believe in His name and obey His words. His prayer is specific asking for certain things for the Father to do. He asked for the Father...

• To keep us in the Father's name, that is to keep us to the end. While Jesus was on earth, He kept us not losing any except for Judas who had to be lost because he was never found at all. All those that the Father had given to the Son from before the foundation of the world. v. 11
• To keep us from the evil one but not to take us out of the world. His followers must be in the world to share the message and suffer as He did. v. 15
• To sanctify us in the truth, God's word is truth. God sanctifies believers through their time in the word, their exposure to the word, and their obedience to the word. Jesus is the logos, the living word. In essence steeping ourselves in the word is steeping ourselves in Jesus. v. 17
• To make us one as Jesus and the Father are one [not just for those alive at that time but for all those that were yet to believe] What is the purpose of such unity? That the world may know that the Father sent the Son, Jesus Christ. Our lives are a proclamation of the great act of love of the Father. v. 21
• To have us be where He is so that we can see His glory that the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world. Yes! We will be in heaven, with Him eternally relishing and worshiping Him in all His radiant glory.v. 24

Jesus was that emissary sent from the Father to give those who believe eternal life, to make known to man the Father's name, and to offer us the same love the Father had for Jesus. Jesus did all that the Father had sent Him to do and now His time was drawing near. He must know do the most humbling act, dying on a cross like a common criminal.  He must take upon Himself the sins of the world alienating Himself from the Father for a time, but meeting the legal requirement of the law so that sin could be dealt with judiciously. How horrendous to know what was to come down and how horrendous it would be!

Father,

Thank You for the gift of Your Son.  I know that You will do as Jesus asked you to do in this prayer. I ask that You make me a reflection of Jesus so that the world can know Your love. 

In Jesus name,

Amen

Final Words

Jude 24-25

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

What a glorious God I serve! He can keep me from stumbling. He can present me blameless before Him  and His glory with joy. What else do I need? Praise be! Earlier Jude has exhorted his beloved believers to build themselves up in the faith and pray in the Spirit. Building up in the faith speaks of time spent in the word, studying, memorizing, and meditating. It speaks of Christian fellowship and worshiping with other believers. It speaks of so much that is essential for the Christian walk. Praying any other way than in the Spirit is like speaking to the air. It's not going to get an answer! Then Jude exhorts them to keep themselves in the love of God and to wait for the mercy of Jesus that leads to eternal life. Keeping ourselves in God's love would mean loving others as Jesus loved others. As we wait for the mercy of Jesus, the completion of our salvation and our calling home to heaven, we can love others, reaching out to them, meeting their needs. Finally, the beloved believers should have mercy on doubters, and if necessary save some by snatching them out of the fire, some by showing mercy with fear, yet even hating the garment stained by the flesh. 

What does that mean? It is clear about showing mercy to doubters. Don't give up. Keep sharing even going so far as snatching them from the immediate fire of God's judgment. Maybe a death bed confession of Jesus. To the ones we show mercy with fear, could it mean we fear because the situation we are in might be a temptation for us? We are there for the unsaved one, but must also keep ourselves unspotted from the world. We hate the sin, but not the sinner. We hate the ungodly lifestyle, but not the sinner. 

And after this instruction, Jude prays to Him who able to do all this, to Him to whom belongs glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all times and now and forever. Amen.

Father,

Only You can do these things in my life. You are the power and the strength. Make your power perfect in my weakness. Build me up in my faith. Teach me always to pray in the Spirit. Keep me in Your love and strengthen me to wait for Jesus to call me home. Help me reach out to others sharing Your message with them.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Contend for the Faith

Jude 3

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 

Contend, stand strong, be a good soldier! These are just a few of the commands concerning our faith. In this passage Jude reiterates these ideas and expresses his concern about false teachers, people who have crept in unnoticed and have firmly established themselves in the body, but yet are ungodly and are designated for condemnation. Their charge: perverting the grace of God into sensuality and denying Jesus our Lord and Master. These false teachers can expect a similar fate as Cain [murder], Balaam [religion for hire, money], and Sodom and Gomorrah [sexual immorality and unnatural desire]. They blaspheme what they don't understand and are destroyed by the things they do understand, the things that are instinctively known. They want perversity and that perversity ends up destroying them through disease or dissatisfaction. Soon all that they do is not enough, and they are on a life-long [or should I say life-short] quest for the next high. So what is their final fate? Condemnation, death, destruction, eternity apart from the presence of God. 

But for the believer, it is simple. Contend, stand strong. Recognize your enemy. And how do we do that? By knowing the truth so well that anything that smacks of evil is readily discernible. Jude also warns them using the example of the chosen people on the wilderness walk. They were delivered by God but their repeated sins were so great that they were destroyed before ever entering the promised land. Our times and our culture is evil to the max. It is smart for us as Christians to heed these same warnings. My best defense is Jesus Christ my righteousness! Knowing Him and His words will keep me safe as long as I don't waver and engage in what the world has to offer. I must stay strong until the end. 

Father,

Keep my eyes open wide not just to see my own sin but to see when false teaching is present. 

In Jesus name,

Amen

Love One Another

2 Jn. 5-6

And now I ask you, dear lady--not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning--that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

Just a simple message--love one another--but oh, how difficult! You would think that with the love of God reaching out to us in the person of Jesus Christ, the love of Christ constraining and infilling us, and with the Holy Spirit growing His fruit in us, we would be black-belt love-masters. But no! How strong is the selfish nature of man! But it is not a new problem. It has been around since the beginning of time. But with Christ things changed for man. He offered salvation, a new nature, and the indwelling Holy Spirit. He gave deliverance from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son. He allowed them to become partakers of the divine nature having escaped from the corruption that is in the world. And now some years after Christ's death, John addresses believers reminding them of His commandment [And don't we need continual reminding!] 

And this is love that we walk according to His commandment. His commandment, His word must constantly guide our lives. It is in His word and in our realationship with Him that we find greatest fulfillment and happiness. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. Those without are not! Pretty black and white! Love one another!

Father,

Fill my heart with Your love each day so that I may share it with others. Help me to know Your words and then obey them.  

In Jesus name,

Amen

Loving Overcomers

1 Jn. 5: 5

Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

If we believe Jesus is the Christ and that He was born of God, then we must also believe that everyone who is born of Him is loved by the Father and must be loved by us as well. We know that we love our fellow believers when we love God and obey His commandments. The entire thing is tied up in one neat package! Loving God means loving Jesus. Loving Jesus means loving fellow believers. Loving God, Jesus, and fellow believers means obedience to the word. Obeying His word is not a heavy burden but it is the outworking of the Spirit of God within our lives. It is how we know God and Jesus, how we understand the heart of God and the resurrection power of Jesus. It is this same power that was in Jesus and that is in us that allows us to be overcomers of the world. 

Father,

Keep my heart close to Your heart. Help me to seek only to please You in all that I do. Thank You for Jesus, His great sacrifice, and His great love to give His all. Conform me to His image.

In Jesus name,

Amen