Letters from

Home

David Snyder

SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS FROM THE AUTHORIZED (KING JAMES) VERSION. RIGHTS IN THE AUTHORIZED VERSION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM ARE VESTED IN THE CROWN. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF THE CROWN’S PATENTEE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

"SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS FROM THE MESSAGE. COPYRIGHT © BY EUGENE H. PETERSON 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. USED BY PERMISSION OF NAVPRESS PUBLISHING GROUP."

‘SCRIPTURES AND ADDITIONAL MATERIALS QUOTED ARE FROM THE GOOD NEWS BIBLE © 1994 PUBLISHED BY THE BIBLE SOCIETIES/HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD UK, GOOD NEWS BIBLE© AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992. USED WITH PERMISSION.’

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Copyright © 2012 David Snyder

All rights reserved.

ISBN:

978-1490973517

I want to dedicate this book to my wonderful wife Tara. Thank you for all your encouragement, support and love.

CONTENTS

1

Letters from Home

10

2

Going Down with the Ship

21

3

The Best Game Ever

32

4

Blessings & Curses

42

5

Don’t Feed the Bears

55

6

Attack of the Christian Zombies

69

7

An Open Door

82

8

Perspective

95

“The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.”

Augustine

If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!                                                                                           Jesus (Revelation 2:7 GNT)

INTRODUCTION

It has become famous as one of the worst restorations in history; a painting done in the 19th century was hung in a church for over 100 years. The painting was starting to look dingy, and the paint was peeling off. A woman in the congregation offered to take it home and restore it. She had been working as an artist for years and claimed to be capable. This woman took the old painting of Jesus home but what she brought back shocked the church. Suddenly this woman found herself the center of worldwide media attention. One reporter described her restoration as resembling, “a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic.” She had made a mess of the work of art, and a painting of Jesus at that.[1]

Has your life ever felt like that? Sometimes we just make a mess of things. We have good intentions but somewhere life goes wrong and we just keep going. We are called to be light to this world, to be representatives of Jesus. That means we should be living like Jesus, but somewhere down the line our “image” of Jesus has been distorted. We’ve tried to things the best we know how but we just mess it up. The world should be seeing something beautiful in us but all they see is a big, hairy mess. We need the original artist to come and restore our image.

This is what Jesus was trying to do as He sent letters to the churches through John. He was trying to bring correction and encouragement. Longing to bring them to a place where they get their focus back on Him and what He was calling them to do.

So He sends them a letter.

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”

C.S. Lewis

Chapter One

Letters from Home

What would it be like to get a letter from God?

Imagine, one day you go to your mailbox, open it up and pull out a letter with your name on it. The return address only says, God. You rip it open and there in your hands is a letter, written by God, the creator of the universe, directly to you.

What would be going through your mind at that moment?

What would it say? That’s the question. What would God write to you?

Even though you probably agree that God is concerned with your life, interested in you as a person and has an incredible love for you, you might find it hard to imagine that the Creator of the universe would take time to speak to you in such a personal way. Maybe you just don’t think you’re that important. Maybe it seems too prideful to think God would want to communicate with you like that.

This is the problem with many Christians today. They have no trouble believing God loves them. They agree that He cares about them and has a plan for their life, but most cannot imagine that God would want to communicate with them on a personal level.

I want you to know that not only does God love you but He desires to speak to you in a real way. In fact it’s His great love that drives Him to want to be with you. Somewhere, in the course time, we got a funny idea of what prayer should look like. Most Christians seem to think that prayer is telling God what we need and hoping that He has time in His schedule to do something about it. Now there is nothing wrong with praying for God to do something in our lives but I want to tell you this is not all there is to prayer and that is not all there is to our relationship with God. It is a real relationship with a real person. His desire is for us to want to be with Him. He wants to be wanted. He is looking for hungry people, people who want His presence more than anything.

I’ve had the chance to travel with a ministry team to the Dominican Republic a couple of times. On one of these trips we were asked to come and speak at a local high school. Over the years I have been to many schools overseas and seen God move in awesome ways. I will never forget this particular school though. Our team did what they normally do in schools on mission trips, and it was going really well, the school was very receptive to the Gospel. But something was different this time. It is not unusual to see many students saved and touched by the Lord, but this time something broke in that school. As students stood around the open courtyard, we began to pray. Suddenly students all over began weeping and crying out as the Lord began to touch them. Remember this is not a church service, it is not a scheduled “revival” meeting, this is a high school and students are encountering the Living God in their school. We began to minister to individual students praying for different needs and situations. So many of these students had completely given their lives to the Lord at this moment and now were believing for miracles in their lives.

As soon as we would finish praying for one student or a group of students more students would come with tears in their eyes asking for prayer. A true revival was breaking out. I glanced at my watch and realized it was past time for school to be dismissed! After praying for so long I was I afraid we were offending the principal who had given us permission for all of this. I walked up to him and apologized for the time. He looked at me with tears streaming down his face and said, “Please stay as long as you can. God is changing our school. We needed this. Please stay.”

So we did. It was an incredible moment but the point is our Father is looking for an excuse to break out in our lives. He found a group of hungry students in the Dominican Republic and poured out His Spirit. He wants hungry people. He wants to speak to us but He is looking for people who will listen.

Friends of God

Abraham was called God’s friend. I’ve wondered why, he wasn’t perfect; he made his share of mistakes. So why was he God’s friend? It says in Exodus that God spoke to Moses like someone speaks to his friend. Why? Moses must have been perfect; except he killed a man once. Ok so Moses wasn’t perfect and Abraham wasn’t perfect, they were both flawed people. Something made them stand out. The story of Abraham begins with God speaking to him and Abraham actually listens. I wonder how many other men God was trying to speak to at that time; maybe hundreds, maybe thousands, maybe all of them. How many listened? God spoke to Moses through the burning bush and Moses listened. Both men built patterns of listening to the voice of God in their lives. Has God been trying to speak to you?

Genesis chapter five mentions a man named Enoch. His entire life takes up just three verses in the Bible, but they are three powerful verses. Let me tell you about Enoch. A little over 600 years had passed since Adam had left the garden. But since Adam lived to be 930 years old that means he would have still been alive during the time of Enoch. Enoch would have been able to hear the firsthand account of the Garden of Eden. He would have heard how Adam walked with God in the cool of the day. Imagine what that would be like, to be able to hear stories from the beginning of time, first hand. Maybe he heard stories of the things that God told him, how he created the world, how he created each animal, maybe he told him about things that happen in heavenly realms. During that time God would have communicated that Adam was the crown of His creation and that in fact he was created to bring God pleasure and to fellowship with him.

Something happened to Enoch one day. All the Bible says is that when Enoch is 65 years old he has a son. After his son is born, the Bible says he “walked with God.” Something drove him into the presence of God and he had the same experience with God that Adam did so may years before. He began to walk with God and fellowship with Him.

Enoch was walking in the presence of Almighty God. He was praying, but it wasn’t just a monologue of Enoch telling God what he wanted or needed. It was about fellowship. It was as if he was literally taking a walk with God. I don’t know about you, but when I take a walk with someone I don’t do all the talking, I have to listen too. This is a little thing called communication. When we communicate with someone we listen and respond to what they are saying and then they listen and respond to us.

So Enoch starts taking walks with God and then the Bible says he disappeared. He vanished. No one could find him. Where did he go? God grabbed him and took him home. Maybe one day as they were walking Enoch asked, “What is it like in heaven?” and God began to tell him all about the streets of gold and the gates formed from a giant pearl and the throne room. Then God began to describe the way He looked.

And Enoch said, “Can I see you. I’ve been walking with you for 300 years. I’ve heard you speaking to me and I can feel your presence. But I want to see you.”

And God, his friend, said, “One day you will see me.”

“But could I see you now.”

“If you see me you will die.”

“That’s ok. I just want to see you.”

So then God decided to take His friend Enoch to heaven and let him see His face. And he never came back.

I want you to know that you can have that kind of relationship with God. That is what God desires for His people is that they would walk with Him. Enoch wasn’t special. In fact this story took place thousands of years before Jesus walked on the Earth. Man’s sin hadn’t been dealt with. There was a separation between God and man. But despite all that one man pressed through. Before the words were ever written Enoch learned, “the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him,” (Hebrews 11:6). If Enoch can have that kind of relationship with God then how much more can we, through Jesus. That is why Jesus came to earth. Yes, He came to save us, but also to reestablish the connection between man and God that was lost in the garden. He wants to be your friend and have an open line of communication with you.

I hope that inspires you to press in to the presence of Jesus today. Seek His face. Walk with Him and know that He longs to speak to you.  Now that you know that God desires to speak to you, go back to that image of a letter in the mailbox from God. As you open it you look at the words. What do they say?

Heavenly Minded or Earthly Good?

This is exactly what happened in the book of Revelation. John, the disciple of Jesus, was on an island called Patmos. His life had been changed forever one day when he met a man called Jesus. It was the defining moment in his life. A life changing moment. In that moment John must have known he would never be the same. This God encounter changed him forever as much as Moses was changed with his encounter at the burning bush, as much as Abraham when he heard the voice of God calling him out of Ur, as much Saul on the road to Damascus, moments that shape lives. God encounters. Now years after his encounter with the Son of God, John finds himself on a penal colony in the middle of the Aegean Sea. That sounds bad enough but he was only put there after being boiled in oil didn’t kill him, all because of an encounter with Jesus. He was willing to lay his life down for Him. The few other prisoners who were there probably wanted nothing to do with him. So he sat there on that rocky, prison, island alone.

Some of us would give up, or at least whine about it. But John is no whiner. He writes that He was “In the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” So here he is all by himself and he decides to have church. It’s Sunday and so he does what he always does, he gets himself cleaned up and goes to church, but today he seems to be by himself. Only he is not alone and he knows it. He is in the Spirit. There on that rocky, desolate, island he gets into communion with the Spirit. There is a lesson there. It doesn’t matter how tough a place you’re in, get in the Spirit. Don’t start whining or complaining about your situation, get in the Spirit. That quiet island was exactly where Jesus wanted to move John so he would be in a position to receive the greatest revelation on end times that had ever been given. Maybe you are where you are today so you can receive from Father but you won’t know until you get in the Spirit.

So John decides to get in the Spirit and suddenly he hears a voice. He turns to see who is speaking to him and literally, passes out at the sight of Him.

I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe and with a gold sash wrapped around His chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool — white as snow — and His eyes like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of cascading waters. 16 He had seven stars in His right hand; a sharp double- edged sword came from His mouth, and His face was shining like the sun at midday.

Revelation 1:12-16

When he gets up Jesus shows him in the spirit what is going to happen in the last days. But before this He tells him to write some letters to people, seven letters to the seven churches.

What would it be like to get one of those letters? What would Jesus say to us? Imagine reading one of those letters and then reading about the end of time. It would have scared the pants off of me. But Jesus wasn’t concerned with making people feel comfortable, He wanted them to be ready.

I am convinced that we are living in the last days and now more than ever before we need to be ready for the return of Jesus. Have you ever been around a bride preparing for her wedding? There are so many preparations that go into that big day. There are flowers to be bought, months in advance. There are invitations to go out to every single person she has ever known and some people she has never met. There are gowns to be tried on, food to be selected, a photographer to be lined up and on the list goes. In the same way we need to prepare ourselves for the return of Jesus.

This is what Jesus is telling His church in the letters. GET READY!

He wants a church that is ready for His return. Now more than ever we need the messages sent to the churches. We are closer today to the return of Jesus than ever. We are truly living in the last days. I have heard some Christians lately criticize those who are looking for the return of Jesus, claiming they are too focused on being “rapture ready” and are not concerned with influencing the world around them for Jesus. That is just not the case. Those who are most conscience of Jesus’ return will be the people who are influencing the world the most. Others have said that you can become so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good. This is a lie that the enemy wants you to believe. There may be some who seem to have their heads in the clouds but this is not heavenly minded. To be heavenly minded means you are concerned about the things of the kingdom of heaven. It says in the book of Hebrews, that Abraham was looking for a city whose builder was God. He was looking for a different kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s not forget that we are just “aliens and strangers” in this world. We are just passing through. I would argue that the more heavenly minded someone is the more earthly good they are. Was there ever anyone more heavenly minded than Jesus? He did more earthly good than anyone ever has.

Jesus said told His disciples in Matthew 24 what to expect before He returns. He compares it to the days of Noah. Remember the story of Noah. For 100 years Noah was building an ark, preparing for the day the flood would come. During those 100 years we’re told he preached righteousness in the wicked world he lived in. The people laughed and mocked him, but then the rain started. Right up until that moment people were going on with life as usual. They didn’t understand the times. They were going to work as usual, going to the market, eating, drinking, partying, but they didn’t know the times. If they had only known they only had a few days left maybe they would have joined Noah. If they had known what time the rain would start they would have run to the ark, but they didn’t understand the times.

Jesus said His coming would be just like the days of Noah.

We live in a world where people seem to think their lives will go on the same way they always have. They go to their jobs, schools, games, and think this is all there is or ever will be, but they don’t understand the times. We are at the threshold of the coming of Jesus.

Jesus wants a church that’s ready for His return. Jesus asked this haunting question in Luke 18:8, “will the Son of Man find faith on the earth when he comes?” (GNT)

It is time now more than ever for the church to be ready. This was why Jesus told John to write letters to the churches. He wanted them ready. He wanted to awaken something within them. He wanted to change their lives. I can only imagine what was happening in the hearts of the people as the letters were read. Maybe some of them had their own life changing moments. It is my prayer that, as you read through this book, you would have your own life changing moment. I pray that Father would speak to you through these words and that you would be blessed.

Questions for Reflection

1.       If God were to write you a letter what do you think it might say?

2.       Do you believe God wants to speak to you? Why, or why not?

3.       Why was Abraham called God’s friend? How are you sowing into your friendship with God?

4.       Jesus came to reestablish the connection between God and man that was lost in garden.

What does that tell you about your relationship with God?

How will that affect your prayer life?

5.       Read Luke 18:8. What thoughts come to your mind as you read this verse?

Challenge. Write your own letter to Jesus:

“The way to life – to God! – is vigorous and requires total attention.”

Jesus (Matthew 7:14 MSG)

Chapter Two

GOING DOWN WITH THE SHIP

I have always been fascinated by shipwrecks. It has always been a dream of mine to put on some scuba gear and explore a shipwreck. Just to be able to swim around some ship that was once fully operational. To imagine people walking around the deck, performing their duties. I wonder about what it would have been like in those moments just before the ship went down. Is there a quiet calm or widespread panic? And I wonder what the captain is doing? The captain is responsible for all the lives on board his ship. The captain of the famous Titanic was at the helm as the monster ship sank. But there are rumors that he was seen drinking just hours before the ship struck an iceberg. It is the captain’s duty to keep everyone safe. Once a ship has begun to sink there comes a deciding moment for the captain, can they keep the ship afloat or should they abandon ship? The captain has to make the call. Once he gives the call to abandon ship, he must make sure all the passengers get off safely. Only when everyone is safely off the ship does the captain exit.

Now no shipwreck is ever good, but there was a shipwreck, in the news recently, where things went very bad. A cruise ship sailed a little too close to land and ran aground. It was a tragedy. Several people died in that wreck. The scene was absolute chaos as people scrambled to get off the ship. It was discovered later that the captain was one of the first off the ship, and in fact he caused the shipwreck by being reckless.

It’s amazing that the captain would abandon his duties, and in doing so abandon everyone on that ship to fend for themselves. He lost sight of his purpose and role on that ship. Just after the wreck he was jailed, charged with causing the deaths of those people on board.

This story illustrates the message Jesus gave to the church in Ephesus, he tells them they have abandoned their love for Him. These people had walked away from what should have been the most important thing in their lives. Just like that captain abandoned his duties, he left his crew and passengers, he walked away from the one thing that should have been the most important in his life at that time. Jesus tells the church, they have walked away from what is most important.

Imagine the looks on the faces of the people, as the pastor opened the letter before the entire church and read the words. He begins the letter by saying, “I know your works.” How would you like to hear those words from Jesus? “I know what you’ve been up to!” That could be a scary thought or an encouraging word, it just depends on what you’ve been up to. Have you been using you time being obedient to what God has called you to do or thinking, “God won’t see or care what I’m doing.” Some people act like this. They honestly think God won’t care what they do or how they live, but God says He knows our works. Look at what He says in Ecclesiastes 12:14, “For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.” Not only does God know what we have been up to but we will be judged according to what we have done and even for every word we have spoken.

“What’s all this about works!” you might ask. “I thought it was all about grace and faith and the love of God. It shouldn’t matter what I do as long as I believe in Jesus.”

It matters to God. In fact you can’t even separate faith from the things that you do. In the book of James, James says he shows his faith by the things he does. What he means is if you say you have faith and you believe God then you will live like you do, because if you don’t live like it then it is not really faith! He goes on to say that even demons believe in God and they tremble when they think about him. Chills run down the back of every demon at the very thought of how awesome our God is. They know He exists but they are not saved. I bet they are even in church most every Sunday, some might sing in the choir, but they are not on their way to heaven.

Demons used to follow Paul around. One time for several days a woman with a demon followed him and kept shouting that He was a man sent from God. The whole town knew this woman because she was a fortuneteller. He finally had enough, he turned around and told the spirit to leave and the woman was set free. The demons were obviously watching Jesus, they all knew who He was. It’s interesting demons knew who He was when the leaders of the church didn’t. The Pharisees didn’t know who He was but every demon in hell knew. People may not know your name or who you are but when you are operating under the power of the Spirit every demon will know you. Our faith is connected to the things we do. You cannot separate the two. If I say I believe in Jesus but I don’t live like it then what do I believe? My life must line up with my faith.

So Jesus tells them they have lost their first love. They have no fruit of the love of God in their lives. They have lost their love, because they are not doing the things a person in love does. We might get confused here because we think of love as an emotion but it is more than that. Love is an action it is what we do, it is more than how we feel. Just like you cannot separate your actions from your faith, you also cannot separate love from your actions. Love should be evident in every area of our lives. Love is the driving force of everything we do.

I heard a story about a woman who wanted to divorce her husband. When her lawyer asked her why she wanted to divorce him she told him she had stopped loving her husband years ago, there was no longer any love left. Not only that but she also felt hurt by him. She told her lawyer that she wanted to make him suffer and hurt him the way he hurt her.

The lawyer gave her some advice, “Go home and act like you really love your husband. Fix his favorite meals, do as many kind things for him that you can think of. Act like you really love him, then at the end of a month call me and we will serve him the divorce papers. He will never see it coming.”

The woman thought that was a great idea. She went home and did all that the lawyer suggested. At the end of the month the lawyer never heard from the woman. Two and then three months went by. Finally the lawyer called the woman and asked why she hadn’t called him.

The woman said, “It’s funny, I started acting like I loved my husband and realized I do love him. I won’t be divorcing him after all.”

The point is our emotions follow our actions. It’s not about following your heart, if you give love with your actions your heart will follow.

Remember – Repent - Return

Jesus tells the people that He knows their works and all they have been doing and he encourages them and commends them that they don’t have a tolerance for evil and that they have tested people who came to them to try and deceive them. It all sounds pretty good until the “but” comes. You know the “but…”

“You have done a good job, but…”

“Nice effort, but…”

“You sure tried hard, but…”

Well this church got a big but…

“But… you have left your first love.”

They walked away from where they started, like the woman who fell out of love with her husband. Maybe they became consumed with the things of this world or just in the busyness of life forgot they were once in love with someone called Jesus. But Jesus calls them to do three things:

Remember

Repent

Return

He calls them to remember how far they have fallen. Its like one day they fell in a hole, and instead of climbing out of the hole they built a life for themselves down in the bottom. They were meant to live on top but became content on the bottom. Jesus says, “Remember!” “Shake off the amnesia.” They just became used to living where they were. The human body can get used to so many things. We enjoy so many amenities in our society; things that for thousands of years people did without, like hot showers or even cold showers, or bathing in general. I am very thankful for hot showers but I have been in places where they are just not available. It is amazing how quickly you can get used to bathing with cold water from a five-gallon bucket. I remember watching a movie called “Castaway.” In the movie Tom Hanks character is stranded on an island for many years, until he is finally rescued and brought back to civilization. He is taken to a hotel room with a nice soft comfortable bed, but instead he sleeps on the floor. It is what he has become used to. This is what Jesus is telling the church. “Remember,” you were called to something better. Come back up.

Next He calls the church to repent. Repent for putting other things before Him, repent for sin and for not walking in obedience. Repentance is not something most people like to talk about anymore. There seems to be an attitude in some churches that if someone comes to church long enough they will just change little by little with no need for repentance. Repentance is something Jesus told the church to do. John the Baptist came preaching repentance to prepare the way for Jesus. You need repentance in order to find your way to Jesus. The word we translate “repent” in the original language means, “to think differently.”[2] It is a change in your thinking. You have to first be sorry for your sins and then come to a place where you say, “I will not go back there again.” You become “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” So the church was called to remember where they were and then change their minds, or decide they want to go back to where they were and finally to return.

It is not just enough to change your mind or repent, but now your actions have to line up with your decision. You can repent of your sins all day long but until you move into a place of change you haven’t really changed.

I remember one morning in Ocean City, Maryland, I was with a team doing some missions work. We had spent our days ministering to masses of people on the crowded boardwalk. On this morning I took my Bible and went out to sit on a bench and spend some time reading and praying before the busyness of a day of ministry overtook me. As I walked toward an open bench, briefly distracted by the smell of the caramel corn and French fries, I noticed a man coming toward me.

I kept walking toward my bench wondering why this guy was staring at me and making a bee line towards me. The man looked anxious. He walked up to me and without any small talk blurted out, “Can you help me, I need to get my life right with God.”

I was floored. How did this guy know who I was? I tried to think if I had seen him earlier in the week as our team ministered but he didn’t look familiar. I sat down and talked with this man for a while. He shared his story with me, how he had walked away from God but wanted to come home. I prayed with him there on that bench. Then with tears in his eyes he pulled out a phone and called his family to tell them the news.

He was sincere and desperate. He had walked away from his first love but wanted to run back. This is the heart of God, to see His creation running back to Him. To have the hearts of the children turned back to the Father. He remembered where he used to be and made up his mind to get back, and finally he returned to the Father. I never thought to ask the man why he decided to come talk to me, maybe it was because I was carrying a Bible or maybe it was something else, but it was amazing experience to be a part of.

This is what Jesus was calling for this church to do in His letter. It doesn’t matter how many things you have right in your life, if this one thing is not right nothing else matters. This is ground zero, where it all begins. Today I believe we are facing the same situation, so many have lost that first love. It’s time to run. Run back to God. Return to your first love, nothing else matters. Jesus goes so far to tell the church in Ephesus that unless they repent and return to their first love they will be removed from His presence. God is calling us back into His presence, back into fellowship with Him.

He’s Never Giving up on You

The book of Hosea illustrates God’s great love for His people like no other story. God comes to Hosea, a prophet and tells him to marry an adulterous wife. Can you imagine poor Hosea bringing this girl home to meet mom and dad?

I can just imagine what that looked like.

“Mom and Dad, I’d like you to meet my wife, Gomer.”

“Hi Gomer, you look familiar. Have we met?”

“I’m not sure, Mrs. Hosea.”

“You probably don’t know her, Mom”

“Your mom is right son, she does look familiar.”

“No, I’m sure you don’t know her.”

“WAIT A MINUTE! I KNOW HER!”

“Mom, I can explain.”

“SHE’S THAT PROSTITUTE!”

“YOU MARRIED A PROSTITUE?!”

“Mom, Dad, God made me do it.”

Wow. Did you ever notice God doesn’t care what people think? He wasn’t worried about Hosea’s reputation. Hosea probably didn’t get many preaching invitations after that. His monthly support might have dried up, but he would rather obey God than fear people. So Hosea and Gomer are married. They have children, some people believe she had these children by other men but told Hosea they were his children. Then she runs off and sells her body. Now at this point I bet Hosea has had it! He has every right to divorce her. It’s over!

But then God speaks again. “Go get her back!”

I imagine this didn’t sit well with poor Hosea either.

“But God! I’ve had it with this woman. She doesn’t love me. She’s taken the love I have shown her and spit on it! I don’t even want to see her again! Ever!”

“You done?”

“Yeah.”

“Go get her back.”

“Ok, but I’m still mad.”

“Ok. Go get her and show her the same love you did when you first married her.”

“What! No way! How could I love her like that? That’s impossible!”

“Do it.”

“Ok.”

So Hosea searches for Gomer and finds her living the life of a slave. He has to buy her from a “pimp.” He takes her home and tells her to live with him again. This is an incredible story, not because Hosea took his wife back, but because God was using Hosea as an illustration of His great love for His people. No matter how far His people got from Him, He was still there calling them home.

Maybe you have been away from the presence of God. Don’t give up. Leave everything else behind and return to your first love. It doesn’t matter how far you have run as long as you leave it behind and come home with all your heart. If someone close to you is away from the Father pray that He would draw him back. Pray that they would remember, repent and return.

Just like the hope that the story of Hosea and Gomer inspires, Jesus ends His letter with hope to fill the hearts of those who hear the word and do it. He closes with this:

“I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.”

What a promise. Remember the Tree of Life? Adam and Eve fell because they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had to throw them out of the garden because He said if they ate from the Tree of Life they would live forever.

So fellowship was broken. Adam and Eve walked away from their first love, their creator. But now the promise of God to the Church in Ephesus and by extension to all of us is if we repent of our sins and return to our first love then He will give us the right to eat from the tree that was kept from us.

That is God’s intent, His original plan, for us to eat from that tree. But because of our sin it was kept from us. But now the promise of God is eternal life, the fruit of the Tree of Life, if we keep Him as the first love of our lives.

Questions for Reflection

Jesus says the church in Ephesus had abandoned their first love, they had lost sight of what truly mattered.

1.     Take a moment and examine your heart. What has first priority in your heart? What do you spend the most time thinking about?

2.     How is the fruit of love evident in your life?

3.     Think back to when you were first saved. What was your relationship with Jesus like? Would you say your relationship with Him is better today than it was then?

4.     Ask the Lord to reveal to you any areas of your life that are not pleasing to Him. Repent of those things.

5.     As you read the story of Hosea and Gomer, what does that teach you about the love of God? How does that make you feel?

Challenge. Take a moment and write out a prayer to Jesus, recommitting yourself to your fist love.

“We must meet the uncertainties of this world with the certainty of the world to come.”

A.W. Tozer

Chapter Three

THE BEST GAME EVER

Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will have affliction for 10 days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.                                                        Revelation 2:10

In World War II the Nazi’s captured many British soldiers and put them in camps. These camps were awful places, but it is in this setting that an incredible story emerges. The Nazis were not known for taking care of their prisoners, but in some of the camps they did allow them to have access to board games, in order to pass the time. They even allowed the British government to send the men some games. One of the games they sent was Monopoly. Something was a little different about this monopoly game, however. Inside mixed in with all the little pieces were a few objects meant to help the soldiers escape. When the prisoners opened the game and searched carefully they found metal files to help them escape, a small compass, a map, and even some real money mixed in with the play money. Had their captors been looking closely they would have found the items, but the game was never carefully searched. The good news is the POW’s escaped. I bet they were all Monopoly fans for life.

Why didn’t the Nazi’s find the hidden items? Had they gotten lazy, or were they judging by outward appearances. You’ve heard to never judge a book by it’s cover, maybe they just looked at the outside of the box and judged it’s inside. It looks like a game on the outside. If they shook the box it sounded like a game, but inside it was more than a game. There was more to the game than meet the eye.

Jesus sent another letter, this time to the church in Smyrna. He starts off the letter with these words, “I know your affliction and poverty, yet you are rich.” What He is saying is that even though the world might have looked at them and said they had nothing; Jesus looks at them and calls them rich. Their wealth wasn’t tied up in the things of this world but they were storing up treasure in heaven. In heaven there were treasure troves with their names on it. The world didn’t see it that way. They looked at them and saw just a bunch of poor people.

Now let me say, poverty does not always equal wealth in heaven and wealth on earth does not equal poverty in heaven. Let’s get this straight you can have nothing on earth and still not be right with God! And you can have all kinds of wealth on earth and be rich in heaven too! Jesus came so you could have life and have it in abundance. Look at the life of Abraham. He was obedient when God spoke to him, so God blessed him. In fact he was one of the wealthiest people living at that time, but he had his priorities in order. God was first. He showed that when he was willing to offer his son on the altar.

Some people have brought up the rich man who came to Jesus. He asked Jesus what he needed to do to be saved. Jesus told him to go sell everything and follow him. Jesus was literally inviting him to be one of His disciples. But the man went away sad because he had a lot of wealth. But the thing is he didn’t have wealth, wealth had him. Money was his God. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It never says money is evil, it says the love of money. This is what was wrong with that man, he loved money more than he loved God and Jesus knew it. What God wants from us is to put him first in our lives. For some of us that might mean selling everything. For some of us it might mean turning off the football game. The point is God will not take a backseat in your life.

The church in Smyrna was concerned about the things of God. They were storing up treasure in heaven. How do you store up treasure in heaven? If I want to store up treasure on earth then I will do everything in my power to gain wealth. I will investigate and find out where to invest my money so I can receive the most return. In the kingdom of God it’s the same thing. We need to investigate, seek the face of God and find out what He wants us to be doing. When Jesus was only 12 years old he knew this. His parents didn’t understand Kingdom principals but Jesus sure did. His family had been in Jerusalem and was making the long journey home when they realized Jesus was not with them. They turned around and went back to Jerusalem. It took them three days to find Jesus. They finally found him in the temple, asking questions. His parents were not too happy with him. I am positive he was the perfect child up until this point. So his parents were probably confused and angry.

Jesus asked his parents, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father?” (Luke 2:49 MSG) Jesus knew how to find out what His Father wanted of Him and do those things. In fact Jesus said, “The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does.” (John 5:19-20 MSG) Jesus was so in tune with Father that He knew exactly what Father wanted of Him and those were the things He did.

So first find out what Father wants from you, specifically and generally. What I mean is this. God wants us all to be doing what He has called us to generally. We are all given The Great Commission. “Go and make disciples.” We are all called to worship God. We all have a general call. But also specifically, what is God calling me to do today? Find out what you are called to do and sow into those things. Sow into things of the Kingdom of God. When you sow you will reap. The more a farmer sows the more harvest he reaps. If I want to reap a harvest one day in heaven I will sow the Word of God. I will be obedient to the Word of God in my life. The more I obey the more He can trust me with more. But first I have to learn to be faithful in the small things.

Obedience brings the blessing

There is a story about Elijah in I Kings 17. Elijah is obedient to the word of God and delivers a message to the wicked, King Ahab. He tells him it will not rain unless he gives the word. That’s a bold statement. Can you imagine walking up to some wicked terrible king, who could easily have your head cut off and telling him it’s not going to rain unless you say so? That’s bold! But he was being obedient to the word God had given him.

As soon as he spoke the word God gave him direction and told him to go to hide out, because He had already given instructions to the ravens to feed him. I’ve heard this story before and I always picture these birds dropping bits of breadcrumbs for poor old Elijah. That’s not what happened though. They brought him bread and meat. Now bread by itself isn’t much of a meal. That’s what they fed prisoners years ago, bread and water. But you add meat and now you’re talking about a proper meal! He wasn’t just scrapping by on bread; he had meat too! This was the Old Testament version of the Olive Garden. I guarantee those birds weren’t bringing road kill. God was providing them with prime rib and New York strip steak. Elijah had probably never eaten so good in all his life. But you see, the provision only came when he was walking in obedience. Had Elijah skipped the part about speaking to the king and gone into hiding, waiting for the ravens, he would have starved to death. Obedience brings the blessing. If Elijah had gone and hid in some other place he would have missed the food the ravens were bringing. He had to go where God had sent him.

There is a pattern that begins to develop here of revelation, obedience and revelation. Once Elijah receives a revelation of what he is supposed to be doing and obeys a new revelation comes. The new revelation is pointless until the first revelation has been followed. Sometimes we wonder why God is not speaking to us, giving us a fresh vision and direction; maybe He is still waiting on us to act on what He told us last time. Some people are waiting on the blessing and provision without the obedience. We have to step out in faith and obedience first. An interesting thing happens, after a while the creek dries up, and the Lord sends Elijah to the next source of provision. He says, “Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there.”

So Elijah obeys. He goes to Zarephath to find this widow because God said He had commanded her to provide for him. The only thing was the widow didn’t act like she knew it. She had no idea, or at least seemed like she had no idea, that God had spoken to her. Now that’s a tough spot. God said go, He said it was all going to work out, but it doesn’t look that way. This lady is ready to die. Elijah asks her to make him a biscuit. He doesn’t ask for anything fancy, just an old biscuit, not fried chicken, not a steak dinner, just a biscuit. This lady basically says to him, “Look, I don’t have any food left. I’ve got just enough to make two lousy biscuits, one for my son and one for me. Then I am going to lay down and die.” How do you like that? God has spoken to this woman, told her to feed the prophet, but all she has the faith to do is die. That sounds like some people I’ve met.

“I know what God’s Word says, but I just want to die.”

“There’s no sense praying for me. I’m in a real bad situation. I might as well just lay down and die.”

We are not called to lay down and die but to stand up and fight the good fight of faith. To stand and having done all to stand. There is no quitting or giving up in Him. All of His promises are yes and amen. But this woman is a sad picture of some Christians today. The would have no idea if God was trying to speak to them or if they did hear from God they would argue and say, there is no way. They might look at their finances and say, “There is no way we can afford to tithe.” But they don’t know if they would just step out in faith and obey the Word of God they would be blessed beyond what they can even imagine. What are you called to do? Walk in obedience to that calling and He will bless you.

Faithful unto death

The next thing Jesus tells John to write in His letter to the church is this, “[I know] the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation 2:9b) There was a group of people that Jesus said, claim to be Jews who were slandering the church. These were probably Jewish people who, claimed to be Christian, and told the church they had to follow the Jewish customs and obey the law or they would not be saved. These people went so far in their belief as to come against the church and slander their name all over town. Jesus says he knows all about it.

These people probably thought they were above everyone else. They believed they had a “special revelation” and knew something no one else did. They didn’t answer to anyone. They went so far as to slander the church for not following their teachings. These people might have been sincere in what they were doing. I want you to know you can be sincere and still be 100% wrong.

Have you ever been slandered or persecuted, because of the Word of God? I think it’s interesting that it is typically at times when I am speaking the Word of God that persecution comes. When it comes down to it I am not the target of the slander but God is. These people have no problem with me specifically but they have a problem with the Word of God. When we stand up and declare the Word of God it will bring opposition, Jesus taught about this many times, but the good news is He is watching and knows all about what we are dealing with. In fact Paul says we are blessed when people say all kinds of evil about us for the sake of the Gospel. It may not be a blessing most of us would want, but we have to get our eyes off the things of this world and on the things to come.

I’d rather be slandered a little now and gain a reward for eternity, than let fear of man stop me. We are not called to please man but to please God. This might be offensive to some, that’s ok. Jesus was the most controversial, offensive person who ever lived. When He spoke people got worked up. The Pharisees hated Him. The teachers of the law wanted to kill him. Even His own followers left Him at times, because they were offended at His teachings. When people are confronted with the truth they either embrace it or are offended by it, and when you are offended you will not hear the truth. Now I am not endorsing going around and stirring up trouble and just doing things to upset people. I believe in preaching the Gospel and some people will always be offended by that. But others believe and are saved!

Now He gives the church some news that’s really hard to swallow. “Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you in prison to test you, and you will have affliction for 10 days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)

That’s tough news, if you don’t understand. Look at how the Message Bible words this passage:

“Fear nothing in the things you’re about to suffer-but stay on guard! Fear nothing! The Devil is about to throw you in jail for a time of testing-ten days. It won’t last forever. Don’t quit, even if it costs you your life. Stay there believing. I have a Life-Crown sized and ready for you.” (MSG)

Look at that again. “Fear nothing.” If we believe in Jesus there is no fear in this world. All fear is gone. The love of God drives out fear. In the book of Hebrews it says,

“Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death-that is, the Devil-and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)

We have been set free from death! If there is no death there is no fear! Think about it, most things people fear in this world have their roots in the fear of death. Some people are afraid of heights. Why? It’s not the height and it’s not the fall, it’s the sudden stop at the bottom that could result in DEATH! Some people are afraid of water. It’s not the water that frightens them; it’s the drowning. Spiders terrify some people. I was at a Japanese restaurant one night. It was the kind of place where they cook in front of you and put on a show. The guy was flipping things into his chef hat and doing all kinds of tricks. Then he pulled out some matches and was going to light some oil on fire when one of the guys at the table with me jumped up and asked the chef not to light anything on fire. Now this was a big guy, but he was terrified. He told us he had been burned once pretty badly and is afraid of fire. To see that fire would bring back the memories of his terrifying experience. Most of what we fear, if not everything, is tied to the fear of death. It’s like a giant tree with many different branches. Each branch might represent a different fear but they are all connected to the trunk of the tree and the trunk is death.

But Jesus came to set us free. Notice in Hebrews 2 it says the people were held in slavery by the FEAR of death. It wasn’t death that held them prisoner, but fear. Jesus has set us free from all fear! There is no more fear, because only those who can die have anything to fear. But if we trust in Jesus, we will never die. Death has no power over us. So there is nothing to fear, and that is what Jesus wanted the church to understand.

Here is what Jesus was saying in a nutshell, “Don’t be afraid of anyone. The devil is powerless and already defeated. People may come and throw you in prison, but it will only last a short while compared to eternity. Even if they kill you, don’t be afraid, because even death is defeated!”

Questions for Reflection

1.       List some ways you can focus on the unseen (eternal) things.

2.       What things are you doing to sow into your eternal reward, or to “store up treasure in heaven?”

3.       What are some things you feel God is calling you to do? (Generally and specifically)

4.       Do you feel you are walking in obedience to your call? How?

5.       Have you been offended by someone or something lately? Be specific

6.       You have been set free from fear. What does that knowledge do for you?

Challenge. Determine today, not to walk in fear, but in faith. Speak faith over your fear. Write down some things that have been holding you back from doing what you are called to do.

Now write a faith declaration for your life. Declare freedom from the things that have held you back, and declare the things God has called you to. Be conscious of the words you speak this week. Learn to release faith and squash doubt.

Pray. Pray about offenses. Release forgiveness to anyone you might be holding something against. Bless them in the name of Jesus. Ask the Lord to help you as you learn to focus on the things that really matter in life, the eternal things.

“Enter into the promises of God. It is your inheritance. You will do more in one year if you are really filled with the Holy Ghost than you could do in fifty years apart from Him.”

Smith Wigglesworth

Chapter Four

BLESSINGS AND CURSES

You have been blessed. If you have received Jesus as your Savior then your life has the blessing of the Most High God upon it. When you gave your life to Jesus then a spiritual exchange took place. You went from living under the curse to living under the blessing of God. The only problem is a lot of Christians don’t understand that concept. They think that salvation only means that one day they get to go to heaven. Well that is absolutely part of it, but not all of it. We have been blessed and have become heirs to all the promises of God. Your life can only be blessed. Just like God spoke to Abraham, “Those who bless you are blessed and those who curse you are cursed.”

I was part of a team that traveled to Uganda a few years back. While we were there we were involved in a variety of ministries to some wonderful people. It was a wonderful time. Each evening we held an open-air crusade service. This particular night my friend, had just finished preaching. He encouraged the people if they were holding on to things in their lives that were not pleasing to God, bring them to the service the next night and we were going to have a bonfire to burn them. He emphasized especially to bring items related to witchcraft. This seemed to make a lot of the people nervous. After speaking with some of the local men helping with the crusade I learned that most Christians were afraid of witchcraft. In fact they told me a witchdoctor lived just a few doors from where we were staying. Most people, even the Christians, would not walk by the door of a witchdoctor. They told me, “The witchdoctor could put a curse on you and you will die.” There was a spirit of fear all over the people.

Well the next night out of a crowd of about 15,000 people a handful brought items of witchcraft. We had our bonfire and you could feel a shift in the atmosphere. The fear was gone! That night we called for those who were in bondage to demonic oppression to come forward and hundreds flooded the altar. They were no longer in fear of the demonic, but wanted to walk in victory. I saw those people delivered that night. At the mention of the name of Jesus, across the entire altar area, people began to fall to the ground and roll in the dirt, some screamed, some vomited as the demons left. I tell you that to tell you that the enemy has no control over your life. He cannot curse what God has blessed. Those Christians in Africa had no reason to fear a witchdoctor putting a curse on them. They are uncurseable and so are you if Jesus is your Savior. But you can bring yourself under a curse.

Jesus essentially tells the Church in Pergamum that they are bringing themselves under a curse.

“You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolations. Therefore repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.” (Revelation 2:14-16)

When Israel was on their journey through the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt they stopped and camped in a place called the plains of Moab. Everyone in the entire known world had heard about what had happened in Egypt. At the time Egypt was the most powerful country that had ever existed. They had more wealth and a larger army than had ever been seen. But in one night they were overthrown by the power of God and people who had been their slaves marched out in victory. Israel had become the most feared people on the planet; they marched out of Egypt and through the middle of the sea, no one could stop them.

A king named Balak was terrified as he watched Israel camp at his backdoor. He hired Balaam, a fortune-teller of sorts, to come and put a curse on Israel. Balaam was famous for cursing and blessing people. He was operating under a power, but not the power of God. The Lord appeared to this heathen fortune-teller and commanded him not to go and speak a curse over Israel. Finally he was allowed to go but was told by God only to speak what God speaks to him. God can use anyone He chooses. We like to make “Christian celebrities” out of people. We look for those who God is using in some way and hold them up as heroes; but God can use an ungodly fortune-teller or even a donkey to speak His Word. We need to be careful of putting to much importance on people and give all glory to God.

Balaam is brought to a place where he can view all of Israel, camped before him. The king again asks him to speak a curse but instead Balaam speaks blessing. It is impossible to curse what God has blessed. After repeatedly blessing the people Balaam sees he cannot pronounce a blessing. So instead he gives the king instructions on how Israel can bring a curse on themselves. He instructs the king to have the women of Moab go down to the camp and have sex with the men of Israel. There is a union that takes place during the act of sex. God says it this way, “They become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) There is now a bond between the people. Once that bond was established the women of Moab introduced idol worship to Israel. Israel fell for the trap. They brought a curse upon themselves and 24,000 were killed in a plague. (See Numbers 22-25)

We bring a curse upon our lives when we don’t follow the Word of God. See it’s up to us if we are blessed or if we are cursed. Jesus calls us blessed, the devil wants us to believe we’re cursed. Man was blessed in the garden but traded his blessing for the curse. Jesus came to set us free from the curse so now when we come to Jesus we step back into the garden, into the blessing of God. But far too many Christians are not walking in the blessing. They can’t believe God wants them blessed. I heard a saying once, “God said it, I believe it, that makes it so.” And I heard a lot of people arguing over this. They would say, “It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, if God said it then it is so.” But I want to tell you that’s not true, that is not what the Bible teaches us. If God speaks a word to me and I disagree with it and ignore that word then I will not receive what God has spoken. It is conditional upon my agreement. God brought Israel out of Egypt and told them He would bring them to the promised land. But because of their unbelief they were not allowed to enter. God said it, but they didn’t believe it, so it was not so. Had they believed the word they would have walked into the land of promise, the place of blessing, only their children were allowed to enter.

Agreeing with God

We have to come into a place of agreement with God. There is power when we walk in agreement. Agreement is defined as: harmony of opinion, action or character.[3] Agreement is more than just saying amen but it means our words, our actions and our character reflect either our agreement or our disagreement. Let’s say I find a man living on the streets in a cardboard box. I immediately feel sorry for this homeless man. I take out my checkbook and write out a check for one million dollars (now we’re speaking by faith here!) I hand this man a check and tell him he is now a millionaire, he doesn’t have to live in this box anymore. He now has the power to go purchase a very nice home, a nice car and will still have plenty to live on for a long time. The man tells me thank you, and he says he can’t wait to go cash the check. He tells me he is going to go right away and cash it.

Now lets say a few weeks go by and as I walk down the street I see the same man, in the same box, in the same old clothes. I stop and ask what he is doing in the box. He is after all a millionaire. The man pulls out his check and shows it to me.

“I’ve got it right here,” he says, and puts it back in his pocket.

He never cashed it. He never bought the house or a car or groceries. He just held it in his pocket. His words were not in agreement with his actions. That is how a lot of Christians are! We’ve been given power, we’ve been given blessings, and we shout amen but then go and wonder how we are going to survive. We are not in agreement with God.

Here is the power of agreement spelled out for us,

“As God is faithful, our message to you is not ‘Yes and no.’ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us-by me and Silvanus and Timothy-did not become "Yes and no"; on the contrary, [a final] "Yes" has come in Him.  For every one of God's promises is "Yes" in Him. Therefore, the "Amen" is also [spoken] through Him by us for God's glory. (2 Corinthians 1:18-20)

Did you catch that? Look again. Who speaks the amen? We speak it THROUGH Jesus. That is incredible! If you can get a hold of that it will change your life. When you come into agreement with God and you speak the “amen,” which means, let it be, then Jesus speaks the amen too. Here it is again in the Message Bible:

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. (2 Corinthians 1:20 MSG)

When we agree with God’s Word, then things happen. The very Word of God, that creative force that formed the universe will back up the promises and blessings of God in your life! That means your needs are met, if you will just speak the amen and believe it. That means you have your healing, if you will agree with the Word. That means all of His promises are yours. But you have to come into agreement with it. God’s original design was to work together with you, the power of agreement. So determine today to come into agreement with God that you are blessed. You are no longer under the curse. The curse brought disease, sickness, death and endless, fruitless labor. The blessing that Jesus offers to you brings life and life more abundant.

Look at the power of agreement at work in Matthew 18:18, “I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.”

We hear this verse a lot but I don’t think we truly grasp what is being said here. It is speaking of agreement. Here is the verse in the Amplified Bible.

Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven.  (Matthew 18:18 AMP)

God has given us power to allow things to happen on this earth but it has to line up with what He has already permitted in heaven. James and his brother John were called the “Sons of Thunder.” They were known to be passionate guys. Once they were in a town with Jesus and the town didn’t receive Him. James and John ask Jesus if they can call down fire from heaven and destroy the town. But Jesus rebukes them. They were not asking things that were in line with what the Father wanted.

This is the kind of agreement Jesus was talking about when He said, “the Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.” (John 5:20 HCSB)

This is the power of agreement at work. When our words and actions match the actions of Jesus. Look at the rest of this passage.

“Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass  and  be done for them by My Father in heaven.”(Matthew 18:18, 19 AMP)

There is an even greater power released when we are in agreement with each other and Father. It’s a little thing called unity. The Word of God says when we are walking in unity there is a blessing. It’s the blessing of God released in power when we are in agreement with the Word and will of God in our lives along with other people.

It’s sad that this has become one of the biggest areas of struggle in churches not only across the United States but also around the world. There are so many petty things people argue over. We have to come to a place of unity with other believers, not just to access the full power of God in our lives but also just to come to that place where God is pleased with us. A place where we not only love God, but love others too! So how do we do that? I like what A.W. Tozer said in his book, “The Pursuit of God”:

"Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship."[4]

The Enemies of God

The next word Jesus gives to this church is an in-your-face warning to repent. “Therefore repent! Otherwise, I will come to you and quickly fight against them with the sword of My mouth. (Revelation 2:16) We talked about repentance in chapter 2 but take another moment and look at these words! Jesus is telling them if they don’t repent then they will become His enemy. We have an obligation to obey the Word of God. Thank God for His mercy and grace because all of us have fallen short, but there comes a time when He expects us to start listening to Him. Willful disobedience to the Word of God will bring a curse upon our lives as surely as obedience will bring blessing. When you are walking in direct disobedience you are in rebellion to God Himself and that is a dangerous place to be in. But again, thank God for His mercy and grace. He corrected the people in Pergamum and He will correct us if we need it. If a parent sees their child doing something dangerous and doesn’t take the steps to correct the behavior then they are considered negligent. No one would hand their seven-year-old child a bag of fireworks and some matches and tell them to have a good time while they are out. Instead they warn them, “You better not go near those fireworks! If I catch you with the matches you’re in big trouble!” That parent knows the danger involved. If that child thinks he’s going to have his own four of July display he will get hurt. That parent wants to keep their child safe. If their little boy picks up the matches and mom punishes him it is only because of her love for the boy. That is how our Father loves us! He doesn’t want us to die in our sin, but He corrects us because of His great love!

Finally Jesus closes the letter with these words, “I will give the victor some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17)

This says so much to me. We all know what it feels like to feel branded by the world. The world puts labels on everyone and everything and at some point you have felt it. Friends and family have labeled you. People you meet label you. Some of the labels might be good some might not. You have probably heard negative words spoken over you at some point in your life; maybe those words have even stuck with you over the years. This is from the enemy.

I want you to understand, the enemy has tried to label you. He has spoken lies over your life. He knows if you believe the lies you will be powerless. There was a study conducted recently where students were put into two separate groups. The first group was told their IQ was much higher than the other group. The second group was told their IQ was much lower than the other. They were given a test and all of those in the group with the highest IQ scored much higher than the group with the lower IQ. The only problem was, it was a total lie. The students were all of similar IQ, but they performed according to the label they had been given. The enemy knows that labels are powerful. This is why he wants you to think you are just a weak powerless Christian that he can walk all over.

This is the biggest lie the enemy uses to keep you powerless. If he can convince you that you are a nobody, that no one cares for you, that everyone else is better than you, then he knows you will never reach your full potential for the kingdom of God. But I want you to know that when you come to Jesus He writes a new name on you, you are no longer the person you used to be. Your very destiny has been changed. Your old self may have been a week and powerless person headed down a path with a terrible destiny. But now when you come to Jesus you have a new destiny the old is gone all things become new.

That’s what God did for a man named Saul. Saul was throwing Christians in jail, and even murdered some. Then one day he had an encounter with the living God and his life was never the same. His destiny changed. He was no longer burdened by his past; he had become who God called him to be. His name was changed to Paul as an illustration that he was a new person. When God changes us, we are changed. In the Jewish culture a name meant something. It wasn’t just picked because it sounded good, but it defined that person. Jacob lived up to his name. It means “deceiver” and that is what he was. He deceived everyone in his life, until one day he got tired of being a deceiver. He took hold of God one night and said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me!” So God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. He was no longer the deceiver but now he was one who takes hold of God.

This is what Jesus does for each of us when we come to Him. He gives us a new name. There was a small story in the news a couple years ago. Most people missed it. As far as news goes it was an insignificant event, but when I heard it the Holy Spirit prompted me to take notice. The story took place at an orphanage in India. Children, who were dropped off at this orphanage, and probably most orphanages across the country, were given names by the orphanage. Most of the children were given names that meant things like, “unwanted.” Can you imagine growing up with that kind of label on your life? For the rest of your life you would have to introduce yourself as, Unwanted. Maybe that’s a label you’re familiar with because you have felt that way in your life. Maybe “Unloved,” has been your label. Because of some circumstance you’ve felt that no one cares. I want you to know that is a lie.

And on one day in India 285 girls at an orphanage recognized they had been lied to. An official ceremony was held and these girls made themselves look as beautiful as they could. They wore the best dresses they had, they put flowers up in their braided hair and on one day these girls all declared they were no longer “Unwanted,” instead they declared their new names. They chose names like, “Beautiful,” “Good,” “Prosperous,” maybe some chose “Love,” or “Peace.” The point is they refused to be the label they had been given.[5]

That is exactly what Jesus has already done for us. No matter what our past is, or what labels have been placed on us, when we come to Him He erases all the labels, all the hurt and all the pain and He writes “I Love You” on our hearts. You are not who you have been told you are. In fact He says there is a stone with a name on it that only He knows. He doesn’t even call you by your name. That is a name your parents gave you, but your Father in Heaven has named you too. What does He call you? What name does your Father speak over you? God has so much in store for your life, just receive His love today and know that He has a new name in store for you.

Questions for Reflection

1.       Are you walking in obedience, submitted to God in every area of your life?

2.       What promises in His Word do you need to believe Him for (come into agreement over)?

3.       Are you praying with others on a regular basis, agreeing with them and they with you as you pray? If not, with whom will you begin to do this?

4.       The orphans in India gave themselves new names. Have you struggled with “labels” people have put on you? What does the Word of God say about you?

5.       What are some “new names” (or character traits) you would like to declare over yourself?  (e.g. Bold, fearless, loving, etc.)

Challenge. Write out a declaration of who you are in Christ. Look in the mirror and speak those things over your life. Decide today, to come into agreement with God, for who you are and what your life is going to look like.

“We must learn to live on the heavenly side and look at things from above. To contemplate all things as God sees them, as Christ beholds them, overcomes sin, defies Satan, dissolves perplexities, lifts us above trials, separates us from the world and conquers fear of death.”

A.B. Simpson

Chapter Five

DON’T FEED THE BEARS

It is dangerous to become too comfortable in our Christian lives. There are certain things people do in life where it is not good idea to become too comfortable. You don’t want to get so comfortable doing something that you lose focus on what should be doing. For example, flying a plane. No one wants a pilot so comfortable that he decides to take a nap or play a game of solitaire when he should be flying you safely across the horizon. A zookeeper shouldn’t get so comfortable with the crocodiles that she decides to go into the exhibit and pet them. There is a story about a woman who became comfortable with the local wildlife. I’m not sure exactly how it all developed, but I do know how it ended. I imagine it happened something like this:

Early one morning a woman stepped out of her home in Colorado to enjoy the scenery while she drank her coffee. She was rewarded with an incredible sight, a huge black bear was wandering around near the edge of her property. It was far enough away that she didn’t need to be scared, so she watched it with interest. That night she grabbed a raw salmon she had in her fridge and walked down to the area where she had seen the bear. She placed the fish on the other side of the fence then returned home. She knew she shouldn’t feed bears but it looked hungry, and what could it hurt.

The next day she hurried outside to look for signs of the bear. As she got close to the fence she could see the fish was gone and there were fresh bear tracks all over. That day she stocked up on fish at the market and that night she laid some out by the fence. In the morning she saw the bear wandering around. She felt a flood of excitement wash over her. She quickly ran inside, got some more fish, and raced down toward the fence. The bear noticed her approach and stood up on its hind legs, ready to attack. The woman stopped short and hesitated, could the bear get over the fence? She didn’t think so. She tossed the fish toward the bear. He dropped down to all fours and started to move toward her, but stopped at the wooden fence. After a few moments he took the fish and left.

Over the next several months the elderly woman continued to feed her bear a steady diet of fish. More bears began to show up and before long she found herself in charge of feeding nine bears. The authorities were alerted and came repeatedly to speak to the woman. They warned her to stop feeding the bears, they claimed she was putting herself in danger, but she would not listen. She felt safe behind the fence and she enjoyed watching the bears eat. She felt a special bond with them. After that first encounter they never seemed aggressive toward her again.

Until one day. The woman had become very comfortable around the animals. She felt it was safe to get closer to the bears as they ate. She walked right up to the fence to get a better look at the beautiful animals. One of the bears reached through an opening in the fence, in a moment her life was over. She had forgotten she was dealing with wild animals. She had simply become too comfortable.[6]

Being comfortable is a dangerous position for people at war. We must remember we are in a war with a very real enemy who wants nothing less than total destruction. On top of that we are also in a battle between our flesh and our spirits. Paul talks about this in Galatians. Soldiers in a battle can’t get comfortable, but many Christians have become comfortable. I’m not saying we have to live every moment of every day at high alert and we can never take a break. What I am saying is that we have to guard our lives. We must guard against the enemy, especially when it comes to sin. One of the tactics of the enemy is to get Christians comfortable with their sins. He wants them to think they are not really a big deal. It’s just a little thing, just a “small” sin. He wants you to think its ok just “feed” that little sin. After all we have a fence protecting us called the grace of God, right. We do have the grace of God but not so we can participate in sin. We have to become intolerant of sin in our lives because if we don’t that thing that seems so small will one day kill us. That is the goal of the enemy. He comes to “steal and to kill and to destroy.” (John 10:10) Jesus wanted the church to become intolerant of sin in their lives.

Be Intolerant

In His letter to the church at Thyatira, Jesus commends them for their love, for their faithfulness, for their service and for the endurance. Then He tells them, “But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives My slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols.” (Revelation 2:20)

He criticizes them for their tolerance, specifically for their tolerance of sin. He mentions a woman named Jezebel and rebukes the church for putting up with her. Jezebel was a woman who lived during the time of Elijah. She was married to King Ahab of Israel. She was responsible for leading the nation of Israel into a deeper level of idolatry and sin than had ever been known before. It’s not clear specifically who or what Jesus is talking about here, but most commentators agree, He is probably speaking about one person or a group of people who were claiming to be prophetic but were really teaching things obviously contrary to the Word. But no one seemed to mind. Not only did they not mind but they had joined themselves to this person, identified themselves with her. Just like Ahab joined himself to Jezebel the church had become one with this person who was leading them away from their foundation in Jesus and into idolatry and promiscuity.

What an incredible reflection of where we are as a society. We live in an age of so called, “tolerance.” We are looked down upon if we do not accept everyone and everything. We are labeled as “intolerant,” if we don’t agree that every religion is good and ultimately points to God. We are told, as long as people are sincere, God will accept them. While that sounds nice, it is not truth. The truth always wins. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me.” There is only one way to Father. Now I am not saying we should be rude to those who disagree with us or be mean spirited toward those who believe differently. But we need to stand up for the Truth.

Sin has worked its way in to so many churches around the world. We have people in our churches who have been living in sin, and been in the church for years; at some point they just became comfortable with their sin. We have people coming to churches actively engaged in pornography, drunkenness, homosexuality, adultery, drugs, sex outside of marriage, and a whole list of other things; with no desire to change. The Word of God is very clear that homosexuality is a sin and those who live that kind of lifestyle will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But you would never know that by attending some churches. Not only have those who engage in the homosexual lifestyle been welcomed and told God approves of their sin, but in some fellowships they are welcomed to be pastors, teachers and leaders. I can only imagine what God thinks of this. When did it become ok for people to come to Jesus and keep their sin! Is this what the Word of God teaches? Making statements like this might get some people upset. I believe there is coming a time when believers will be locked up for standing up for the truth. There are some people, even now, who are calling this kind of talk, hate speech! There is no hate involved in this. Instead it is love. Love motivates us to warn people to turn the Father and run from sin. We cannot speak in a hateful way but in love.

It’s interesting that people can be intolerant toward believers, even though we are not speaking any hateful words. We are only standing up for what the Word of God says. Now let me be clear, I have nothing against people who are involved in homosexuality, drugs, pornography or any other sin. Jesus died for them the same as He died for me, but unless they turn from their sin they cannot be saved. I want them to come to God and be changed just as people for the last two thousand years came and left their old lifestyles of sin. I do not mean to imply that you have to be sin free to come to Jesus, but when you come to Him your life will change. We cannot be tolerant of sin in the church or in our lives.

Again we cannot become comfortable with our sin. When we find ourselves in a place where sin no longer bothers us we cannot assume our lives are right before God. We need to examine ourselves. Ask the Holy Spirit to search us and reveal to us what needs to change in our lives.

There is a story in I Samuel chapter three. The boy Samuel was lying down in the Tabernacle. He would literally sleep in the presence of God each night. One night, God calls to him. He heard the voice of God in such an audible way that he thought Eli, the priest, was calling him. He jumped up and ran into Eli’s room, where the old man was sleeping. He woke him up and asked why he called him. I can’t imagine Eli enjoys being woken up in the middle of the night by a little boy. We read it in the Bible and Eli seems to calmly send Samuel back to bed, but it probably got a little more animated than that. But Samuel again is sent back to his room. Once more, Samuel hears the voice of God calling his name. Now this little boy has to work up the courage to go wake the old guy again. He probably tiptoed into Eli’s room this time, “What do you need, Eli?”

Eli tells him to go back to bed, but it was probably more like, “I didn’t call you, kid, go back to bed and quit waking me up!”

There’s an interesting note at this point, “Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” (I Samuel 3:7) I think this applies to a lot of people. They come to church and genuinely spend time in the presence of God but have never had an experience with God. Your presence in church doesn’t equal His presence in your life.

So the scene plays out a third time, poor Samuel has to go wake up Eli again. He could have ignored it and went back to sleep but instead he chose to pursue the call. There is a lesson there. It doesn’t matter what you have to do, if God has called you then run after that call. This time Eli realizes God was calling him. The old priest gives Samuel these instructions, “The next time you hear that voice, say ‘I’m listening God! Speak to me!” So that is what Samuel did, and did God ever speak to him. He gave him a difficult word to deliver to Eli. The Lord told Samuel He was about to bring judgment on Eli’s family because of their sin. Eli’s sons are called, “wicked men.” They acted sinfully and treated their responsibility as priests with contempt. They Lord was angry with them and with Eli for TOLERATING their sin. He could have put a stop to it. He could have stood up for what was right but instead he chose to sit back and do nothing. In one day the Lord brought judgment, both of Eli’s sons were put to death and the Ark of the Covenant was captured. The Ark represented the presence of God in Israel. This was the hardest news for Eli to hear, it was overwhelming to think the presence of God had been taken away from Israel. When Eli heard about the Ark being captured he fell over backward, landed on his head and broke his neck. The sin of tolerance brought a terrible judgment on him and his family, but also to the nation of Israel.

Here is the application for us. We must become intolerant of sin first of all in our lives. We cannot allow sin in any area of our lives. We must try to live holy lives that are pleasing to our God. When we begin to tolerate just a “little” sin in our lives we open the door for the enemy to bring the whirlwind. To quote Barney Fife, “You need to nip it in the bud.”

Eli’s sin brought judgment on all of Israel. In the Old Testament, Israel is always a representation of the church. When we tolerate sin in our churches and don’t say anything we are giving our approval as much as Eli was with his sons. Eli was the priest and responsible for the spiritual leadership of the nation. He represents the pastor of the church. As pastors and leaders we must be intolerant. If we allow sin to go unchecked there will be consequences in our lives but also in the entire church. There are pastors who know there is sin going on in their congregations, but they don’t do anything because they might offend someone. If they say something that person could leave their church. But an even worse scenario is that person dies in their sin and their spiritual leadership never warned them! We will not be guiltless before God. It is our duty to stand up and be the leaders God has called us to be. In the story the manifest presence of God was removed from the nation. Let that not happen to us.

Let me be clear, I don’t mean to say that we need to go around correcting everyone in the world, if someone doesn’t claim to know God of course they are in sin! But those who claim to know God, and are living lives of sin need to be warned. Look at what the Apostle Paul says to the church in Corinth,

Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.                                          1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Paul gives us a list and says the people who do these things will not inherit the kingdom! In other words, if you live your life according to the flesh you will not enter heaven. If you live as a drunkard you will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Now that doesn’t mean if you make a mistake and fall to sin there is no hope for you. God’s grace is bigger than we can imagine, so stop beating yourself up, but you need to quit living that way. That’s why Paul says, “And some of you used to be like this.” They used to live ungodly lives, but Jesus changed them, He forgave them and took their sins as far as the east is from the west. That’s pretty far.

Have God’s Memory

I was thinking about this one night. As far as our past sin is concerned it no longer exists to Him. The Lord showed me this, when we bring up past sin, He literally has no idea what we’re talking about. Our sin has already been erased. Again, our sin is as far as the east is from the west. Imagine you are traveling east, and your sin starts traveling west at the same time, it sounds like an algebra problem. East and west never meet, you might pass each other on your way around the world but you will never both start moving east, or both start moving west. So if you are moving east, you will eventually pass your sin but you are still clocking mileage. The circumference of the earth around the equator is about 25,000 miles. So every time you pass your sin you are now another 25,000 miles further away from it. So if you move for eternity imagine how far removed you are from that sin. That thing is long forgotten. It is blotted out.

You need to have God’s memory. When the enemy tries to bring things up from your past, and he does that to all of us at times, then get God’s memory! You are no longer that old person. That person is dead, now you are alive in Christ. So the real warning is not for your past, it involves your present and future. If you continue in sin, if you are living a continual lifestyle of drunkenness, or sexual immorality, fill in the blank, if you are in a lifestyle of sin… Knock it off and start living right. If you don’t like it that’s too bad, I didn’t think it up or write the words, God did. The problem with some people is they enjoy their sin. You could warn them and warn them but they will never change. They want the world and Jesus but they don’t understand, they can’t have Him if they don’t want to change.

Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.” (Jude 1:23 MSG)

The key to everything in our lives is love. If we have to warn someone about some destructive sin they have in their lives then we have to do it in love. That is why it says in Jude to be “tender” with sinners. No one wants to be hit over the head with your Bible so please don’t do that. But we need to operate in love. If you love the person you are confronting then the way you speak to them will change. You are not trying to win an argument but save that person’s soul so if you can’t do it in love then go pray about it and try again.

We have to take the same approach with our lives. We have to search our own hearts and lives, daily. David says in the Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.”

We should have that kind of attitude in our lives. We should be asking God to search us. He will reveal things we didn’t even know were there. Things that might be “offensive” to Him but we didn’t even realize we were doing them. These might not always be things that would keep us out of heaven, and I’m not trying to say you are saved one day and the next day you are not. But if there is anything in my life that is offensive to God, I don’t want any part of it. It may not be something that would keep me out of heaven, but why would I want to live offensively toward God? All I have to do is ask Him to search me and reveal anything to me that He wants to change. If I do that then my conscience is clear before God. Now if I don’t have any concern for what pleases God or what offends God then I can get myself in trouble.

Let’s say God reveals to me that I’m doing something that is offensive to Him. Maybe He shows me something I’m watching or listening to, or some conversation I’ve been a part of is not right. Guess what, I want to change. I have had people ask if certain shows, or movies are ok to watch. The answer is, what is the Lord telling you? If there are obviously immoral things in our entertainment we need to put an end to it. But there seem to be so many middle of the road things. So ask the Lord to show you if you need to change something. If you watch something or listen to something, and it’s offensive you will know and you already know what to do about it. The thing is you are not subject to my conscience and I am not subject to yours. It might be a sin for me to watch a certain program because God told me not to watch it, and another person might feel it is a sin to have a TV in their home. Who’s right? We are all accountable to our own conscience.

Paul addresses this when he writes to the church in Corinth about meat that has been sacrificed to idols. They lived in a city of extreme idolatry, so most of the meat that was for sale in the market had been part of an animal sacrifice to an idol. Some people in the church were so offended by this that they thought it was a sin to eat any meat, because they didn’t know for sure where it came from. Others weren’t bothered by it at all, it was just part of life. Paul basically tells them an idol is nothing because there is only one God, but not everyone knows this. So he tells them this in I Corinthians 8:7-13,

However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not make us acceptable to God. We are not inferior if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat. 9 But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, the one who has this knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? 11 Then the weak person, the brother for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. 12 Now when you sin like this against the brothers and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother to fall.

So what does all this mean? You have a responsibility before God for your own life. If the Lord has convicted you about something you had better listen to Him, but don’t impose your convictions on others. There are things that go beyond convictions though, they fall into the realm of “sins that lead to death.” We need to be aware of what we allow in our lives and if we see someone who calls himself a Christian falling into this arena, we have an obligation to warn him, with love.

He’s Bragging on You

Jesus begins the letter to the church in Thyatira by encouraging them and commending them for their love, faithfulness, service and endurance. I love that in these letters, even though Jesus wants to bring correction to most of the churches, He also wants to bring encouragement. He is not trying to break them down into a pit of despair, but He is drawing them to His heart. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a correction sandwiched between encouragements, you may have focused on the correction. Maybe it bothered you a little, maybe it bothered you a lot. It probably bothered the churches a lot too, but the important thing is change. God doesn’t want us to stay the way we are, He wants us to change. If He is dealing with you about something in your life, and it’s bothering you, that’s good, because it’s when we’re bothered that we do something about it.

Did you know they put a tiny piece of metal on your brake pads? After you’ve had those brakes a while the pads begin to wear down until there is just a little left. When that happens the tiny piece of metal is exposed. It starts to make a squeaking sound when you use your brakes. This is a warning. It is supposed to annoy you so you will go to the mechanic and get your brakes fixed. Some of you maybe had no idea. You’ve been driving around with no brakes, just the grace of God! Get your brakes fixed or eventually you’ll have none and you’ll drive into a tree. It’s the same with God. He wants us to be annoyed at our sin so we’ll change and not die. In the midst of all that He wants us to know His great love for us, and just like the Father He is, He wants us to know that He loves us and He’s proud of us. So He tells the church some encouraging words, they’re not just made up because He feels bad, they are genuine words from the heart of God. After a time hopefully the church got themselves fixed up, and went back to that letter. Now all they hear are the encouraging words, the old bad stuff is gone. Some guy in the back of the room might have shouted, “Read that part again! I want to hear Jesus bragging on me again!”

It’s true! He brags on you. He was bragging on these churches. All of these letters went to all of the churches, so they all read all of the letters. They read the rebukes so they were warned of the same things you are being warned of when you read them today. But they were also reading Jesus bragging on His church. They could hear the love dripping from each word. And finally they read the words Jesus gave to each of the churches, the promises for the over-comers.

“The one who is victorious and keeps My works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations —and he will shepherd them with an iron scepter; he will shatter them like pottery —just as I have received this from My Father. I will also give him the morning star.”                                                         Revelation 2:26-28

Questions for Reflection

1.       We are called to be intolerant of sin in our lives. Reflect on your life. Is there anything dangerous in your life that you have become comfortable with?

2.       Our society demands tolerance in every area. How has this influenced the church?

3.       Because of Eli’s sin of tolerance, an entire nation faced judgment. What does this tell you about the seriousness sin?

4.       What should be our role in the lives of fellow Christians we see involved in sin?

5.       What is God’s memory like in regard to our past sins? Do you tend to live in the past, reviewing your sin, or are you trying to have God’s memory?

Pray. Ask the Lord to give you His memory when it comes to your past. If you have anything you need to repent of, repent and move on. Determine today to live intolerant of sin in your life. Ask the Lord to search your heart.

“We fear men so much, because we fear God so little.”

William Gurnall

Chapter Six

ATTACK OF THE CHRISTIAN ZOMBIES

“You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.”

Jesus

Things are not always as they appear, like card tricks or slight of hand. Things can be manipulated to look like you are seeing something impossible. That guy didn’t really just pull your card out of thin air and the guy on TV did not just make the Statue of Liberty disappear. It’s an illusion. People are like this too, they are not always as they seem. They know how to act to fool you into thinking they are something or someone that they’re really not. This type of person is called a con man.

One of the most notorious con men who ever lived was named Victor Lustig. He didn’t make the Statue of Liberty disappear but he did almost make the Eiffel Tower disappear, twice. The year was 1925 and the Eiffel Tower was about thirty-six years old. It was built for the Paris Exposition and most people thought it would be torn down at some point. The city was split over keeping the then crumbling tower or just scrapping it. In walks Victor Lustig. Victor assembles a group of scrap dealers and passes himself off as a government official. He claims to be responsible for selling the Eiffel Tower but tells the dealers it needs to be kept secret until negotiations are finalized. Victor manages to sell the rights to scraping the monument for $70,000. When the man who bought the rights finds out he’s been swindled he’s too embarrassed to contact the police, so Victor is never caught. He returns to Paris shortly after this and tries the same con again, but this time the police are contacted and Victor has to make a run for it.[7]

Victor was not what he seemed to be. People only saw what he wanted them to see. He was a con man, he had lived a life of deception. He knew how to act like something he was not, and he was convincing in the roles he played. He was so convincing he even conned Al Capone out of $5,000. But he was just an actor playing a role. He was a fraud.

There are some people like this today. And this is what Jesus was addressing in His letter to the Church in Sardis. These people were more concerned about their reputation than they were with the reality of who they were before God. They only cared how others saw them, not how Jesus saw them. Jesus tells them they have a good reputation, people think they are alive and on fire, sold out and living the life, but it’s all a lie. They are dead on the inside. They are essentially, “Christian Zombies.” They look alive, but they are dead. Just like Victor Lustig they are pretending to be something they are not. They know how to raise their hands in church at the right time. They know what to say and when to say it. In fact some only go to church in the first place because if they didn’t people might think bad of them. If they go to the wrong church people will think they are some kind of radical.  But they have the act down pat. They are wonderful performers. Ask anyone and they will tell you that those people are alive and on fire, but the problem is, it’s a con. They have fooled everyone. Their reputation is the most important to them. But God is not fooled, and His opinion is the only one that matters.

That is what the Pharisees were concerned about. Jesus was constantly telling the people, “don’t be like those Pharisees.” They loved to stand and pray on street corners loudly for everyone to hear them. They wanted people to say, “Wow, look at that man’s devotion to God.” They really weren’t interested in having any kind of relationship with Father. All they cared about was having a reputation, and having good standing in their community. Sounds familiar. Zombies. When they fasted they would make a show of that too, making themselves look half-dead. We could go on and on but the point is why were they doing the things they did? Because they loved their reputation more than they loved Father. And it wasn’t just the Pharisees. In the book of John he writes that many believed on Jesus but wouldn’t confess Him because if they did they would be kicked out of the synagogue. In John 12:43, he writes this about them, “For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.”

This is what happened to King Saul. He cared more what people thought of him than what God thought of him. In 1 Samuel 15, Saul is given a specific instruction from the Lord through the prophet Samuel. He is told to completely destroy the Amalekites, to wipe them off the face of the earth. He is commanded to destroy every man, woman and animal and all of their possessions. Now some want to make an argument here that God is somehow evil in bringing this kind of judgment. All I can say is God is just and there is a penalty for sin. You can see throughout the Word of God examples of His mercy and examples of His wrath. He sent the prophet Jonah to Nineveh to warn them of their impending judgment and they repented. It is God’s heart that no one would go to hell. (see 2 Peter 3:9) So the Amalekites were facing God’s judgment at the hands of His servant King Saul.

The only problem is Saul feared men more than he feared God. He must have heard the people complaining about killing all the livestock and wasting all the food, so Saul decides to listen to men rather than God. He spares the “best” of the cattle and sheep. It is then that God speaks this word to Samuel, “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” (I Samuel 14:11) The next day Samuel confronts Saul. He pulls no punches with the king but boldly addresses his disobedience,

Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.                                                        (I Samuel 14:22-23)

There could be another whole book about this subject, but let me just point this out. If we are walking in disobedience to the Word of God it is rebellion. No matter how we justify it, no matter how we rationalize it in our minds, if we are in disobedience we are in rebellion. Rebellion and witchcraft or divination is the same thing. Once again I am treading on politically incorrect ground but you have to love the Word of God, it doesn’t care about hurting your feelings or stepping on your toes, truth is truth.

Now look at Saul’s response, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the Lord’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them.” (I Samuel 15:24) I heard someone say once, “You will serve whatever you fear.” I believe that is the truth. If you fear God you will serve Him, if you fear man more, then you will serve him. I am not talking about being afraid of God but that deep reverence and honor. If we don’t have a proper reverence and respect for God as holy then we open the door for fear in our lives. If we understand who He is we won’t have a fear of man. We won’t care what they think and we won’t try to please them.

What Will People Think?

We have probably all struggled with this at some point in our lives, worrying what people think. It’s as if you’re standing in front of the Queen of England and a court jester and you begin to do everything you can to make the court jester happy. The Queen is going to think you’ve lost your mind and leave you and the jester alone. It is a state of confusion to the point of madness to think it is more important to please the jester than the Queen but that is how so many have lived their lives. They have been concerned with what everyone thinks, except the only One who matters for anything. Far too often we let what people think of us make the decisions in our lives.

“I wouldn’t want to be seen in that outfit!”

“I couldn’t drive that car! What would the neighbors think?!”

“I wouldn’t want to be seen talking to that person.”

The list goes on and on. This is the world’s kind of thinking. The world cares about things like this and wants people to believe these sorts of things because that’s all they have to measure themselves. All they can do is look at their friends, neighbors and co-workers and evaluate themselves. That’s where phrases like, “keeping up with the Joneses,” come from.

This is what Jesus was dealing with in John 7.

After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee, since He did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to kill Him. The Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, so His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea so Your disciples can see Your works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” (For not even His brothers believed in Him.)

Jesus told them, “My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. The world cannot hate you, but it does hate Me because I testify about it — that its deeds are evil. Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to the festival yet, because My time has not yet fully come.” (John 7:1-8)

Did you catch that? Even Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in Him! Can you imagine how that would feel? But they are essentially mocking Him here in this passage. They can’t understand why He is not operating like the rest of the world. The world has a system and an order to it. If you want to advance yourself you do things a certain way. You have to climb the corporate ladder. You have to be assertive. You need to attend lectures on leadership. You need to earn an AA, a BA, then an MA, an MDiv toss in a PhD for good measure, then the world will listen to you!

Jesus tells them that stuff might work for them because they are part of the world and part of the world’s system, but He is not. In fact He is so contrary to the system of this world that the world hates Him. We have to be careful not to follow the pattern of this world or the system of this world. If you turn on the news sometime you will probably hear about how bad things are. You’ll probably hear that there are no jobs. You might hear about the further decline of the currency. You might hear about another country that is failing financially or in some kind of government upheaval. Ultimately you will hear despair and lack of hope. Now those things might be true for this world and this world’s system. Father is bringing this world’s system to a close and fast. All these things must happen before Jesus returns. There are certain things that have to be set in motion and we are seeing that happen in every corner of the world. I have some good news for you.

First of all we are not part of this world’s system. Second, Jesus is coming soon.

Most Christians don’t act like they believe either one of those statements. If they did they wouldn’t be so shook up when they see things falling apart. We might use the same money as the rest of the country but our security doesn’t rest in the dollar sign, it rests in Jesus. He is our provider, and our source for everything. If we lose our job, that’s ok because He is still our provider. He doesn’t need a job to provide for you. One of my friends and former students told me about times when she and her family had nothing, no money or food. But people would turn up and leave groceries at their door and they didn’t know who left them or where they came from. I have heard of stories where people in similar situations went to their empty fridge, laid hands on it and opened the door to find it full of food. Now that might seem impossible or laughable to the world, because this world doesn’t operate by faith they only believe what they can see. But isn’t that how Father provided for Elijah and the widow? Her oil and flour never ran out, they had all the biscuits they could eat. Elijah ate by ravens feeding him. In the same way, He will provide for His people. Be looking for the miraculous even more in these last days. When there is lack everywhere we will be provided for in supernatural ways because that will be all there is.

So don’t think like this world and don’t participate in their system. I’m not saying don’t work, we are supposed to work, but don’t view your job as your source. Don’t do the things this world does to get ahead, but rather ask your Father what the right thing to do is. And whatever you do, don’t ever care what people think or seek their approval. Seek the approval of Father. Then He won’t look at you and see a zombie, but someone who is alive on the inside and outside.

Stones of Remembrance

In chapter two we talked about the call Jesus gave to the church in Ephesus to “remember, repent, and return.” Jesus emphasizes again a call to “remember, and repent” this time to the church in Sardis. “Remember, therefore what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent.” (Revelation 3:3)This is the second time in the letter that Jesus brings up the word, “remember.” Sometimes what we all need to do is remember. Remember where you were. Remember where you started on your walk with God. Some need to remember how far they’ve fallen. Remember. Would you say you’ve become a zombie? Remember a time before you became a zombie. Remember what it was like to be in love with Jesus.

Time changes things. It’s just the nature of this world. Time brings death. God told Adam if he ate from the tree he would die, and he did. Only not right away, it took 930 years for him to die. It was a slow death. In the same way under the system of this world everyone is dying. It just takes time. From the moment a baby is born, it begins to die. It might take many years but time brings death. It’s the same with every area of life. Time brings death to relationships, careers, or dreams. If it’s alive then time will eventually kill it according to the world’s system. But we are not under the world’s system. We do not live like the world does. The things that are natural for the world are not natural for us. We do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit of God who is at work inside us if we believe. He never brings death. Death has been overcome.

All we have to do is remember. Remember where we started. Remember the Word of God. Put Him first again in our lives.

In this world time even kills memories. Try to think back to things that happened when you were young. The things that you can remember probably seem fuzzy. Have you ever had a conversation with someone you hadn’t seen in years, you begin talking about old times and they bring something up you had completely forgotten about? It suddenly comes flooding back to you and you wonder how you could have forgotten that! We forget things, even things Jesus has done for us, things that were life changing at the time. We forget that we were saved from a life of sin and death. We begin to think things were always like they are now, but that is not the truth, we have just forgotten. We have to remember.

God sent Joseph to Egypt and used him to save not only that nation, but all the surrounding peoples affected by a famine that lasted for seven years. He was elevated to second in command over the entire nation. His family was brought to Egypt and given a parcel of land and there they lived for many years until that generation died. Then the Bible records these words, “A new king, who had not known Joseph, came to power in Egypt.” (Exodus 1:8) We don’t know exactly how long, but it didn’t take much time before Joseph and all he did to save Egypt was forgotten. You know the rest of the story. The people of Israel were put into slavery for the next four hundred years until God brought them out.

How could this king have forgotten? I can remember watching old movies with my parents when I was younger. They would see a certain actor come into the scene and begin to talk about how famous he was and what a big star he was. I had never heard of any of them. In one generation they went from ultimate stardom to forgotten. That is how it was with Joseph and that is how it is in our own lives so often. We forget things. The older you get the more you forget.

“Where are my keys?”

“Who is that guy? I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

“What did I have for breakfast?”

It is just in our nature to forget. I saw a man in a store the other day. He came up to me and called me by name and asked how I was doing. I knew he looked familiar but I had no idea who he was. I stood and talked to him for a few minutes feeling so awkward that I had no idea who he was. Then we said goodbye and I left the store. As I was driving home it hit me. I had known the man fairly well but hadn’t seen him in about four years. Maybe you have had that same thing happen to you. We forget things. Please don’t ask me what I had for breakfast.

Joshua understood this. As the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River, into the land of promise, the river parted before them. Joshua wanted the people to never forget the day the Lord brought them into the Promised Land. He wanted them to never forget the slavery they had come from, the wilderness they had traveled or the miracles they had witnessed all along the way. As the people crossed the normally flooded river, on dry ground, Joshua had twelve men find large stones. These men were instructed to carry their stones and pile them in a heap. Then the men also stacked twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan River. These two piles of stones became memorials of the day they entered Canaan. Joshua told them one day their children would see these stones and ask about them. Future generations would see them and remember the stories from long ago, how God chosen a people from all the nations on the earth to call them His own. He brought them out of slavery with power and gave them a good land.

We have our own stones of remembrance in our culture. We call them memorials. I love to visit Washington D.C. and see all of the memorials, it’s like a link to the past. We see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial or the Jefferson Memorial and remember the presidents from our past. We see engraved on their memorials what they believed, mostly the Word of God, and we see how that belief shaped their decisions and the destiny of our country. I remember visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier a few years back. It is a sobering place to visit, knowing that within that tomb rests soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom, soldiers who were unable to be identified. They paid the ultimate price and we don’t even know who they are, but we remember their sacrifice. It is such a solemn thing to become a guard at the tomb of this memorial that only a few are ever chosen. These guards march in front of the tomb twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year. A soldier who commits himself to guard the tomb is required to serve for two years. At the end of two years he is awarded a pin, representing his service to the memorial. He is never allowed for the rest of his life to taste a drink of alcohol or speak a word of profanity. If he does either of those things he must return his pin. This service these men commit to is taken seriously. They know what they represent. They are the protectors of a memory. They serve so we will never forget.

So we should never forget. Never forget what God has done for you. Never forget how He brought you out of sin and set you free. Never forget all the good things He has done for you. There is a song that says, “Hasn’t He always come through for you? Just take a look at where you are now and where you have been, and He’ll do it again!” Never forget. Now I’m not saying we should live in the past, but we need to give credit to Father for bringing us through difficult times for providing for us, for healing us and remember the times He has done those things for us. If He did it before, He will do it again. He doesn’t change.

Jesus closes the letter to Sardis with these words,

In the same way, the victor will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels.

What an encouraging word for us today. We are the overcomers! We will be dressed in white clothes, He will not erase our name from the Book of Life and He is going to acknowledge us by name before all of heaven. I can imagine Jesus standing there next to Father as one day we stand before Him. Jesus will say, “I know him. I know his name.” He is going to point in His book and say, “Here’s his name right here. Get all the angels together I want them to meet him.”

Questions for Reflection

1.     The church at Sardis had a reputation for being alive, but they were dead on the inside. What are some reasons this might have happened?

2.     How God sees us is so much more important than how others perceive us. What can you do to stay more attentive to God than man.

3.     What are some ways that this world’s system is contrary to the Kingdom of God.

4.     How can you start to think more like a citizen of the Kingdom of God?

5.     Read Romans 12:1-2. How does this tie in with the previous question.

Challenge. Israel piled up stones to remember what God had done for them. Write down as many things as you can think of in the next five minutes that God has done in your life.

“Jesus has done more in you, than life has done to you.”

John Holt

Chapter Seven

AN OPEN DOOR

The Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens says: I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close.                                                                                     Revelation 3:7-8

“An open door,” those words bring up an incredible picture. I can remember years ago I tried being a door-to-door salesman, to earn a little extra money. I knocked on a lot of doors and had a lot of doors slammed in my face. It was frustrating to spend my entire day knocking on doors and not sell a single thing. But there were times when I knocked on the right door at the right time and was rewarded with an “open door,” an invitation to come in and sell my product. An open door means access. Jesus is telling the church, He has opened the door for them. They have access to everything the need. All of heaven is at their disposal. I came across this story that beautifully illustrates what an open door to heaven must look like.

During the war between the states, a young soldier in the Union Army lost his older brother and his father in the battle of Gettysburg. The soldier decided to go to Washington, D.C. to see President Lincoln to ask for an exemption from military service so that he could go back and help his siter and mothe with the spring planting on the farm. When he arrived in Washington, after having received a furlough from the military to go and plead his case, he went to the White House, approached the front gate and asked to see the president.

The guard on duty told him, “You can’t see the president, young man! Don’t you know there’s a war going on? The president is a very busy man! Now go away, son! Get back out there on the battle lines where you belong!”

So the young soldier left, very disheartened, and was sitting on a little park bench not far from the White House when a little boy came up to him. The lad said, “Soldier, you look unhappy. What’s wrong?” The soldier looked at the little boy and began to spill his heart to him. He told of his father and brother being killed in the war, and of the desperate situation at home. He explained that his other and sister had no one to help them with the farm. The ittle boy listened and said, “I can help you, soldier.” He took the solderi by the hand and led him back to the front gate of the White House. Apparently, the guard didn’t notice them, because they weren’t stopped. They walked straight to the front door of the White House and walked right in. After they got inside, they walked right past generals and high-ranking officials, and on one said a word. The soldier couldn’t understand this. Why didn’t anyone try to stop them?

Finally, they reached the Oval Office- where the president was working- and the little boy didn’t even knock on the door. He just walked right in and led the soldier in with him. There behind the desk was Abraham Lincoln and his Secretary of State, looking over battle plans that were laid out on his desk. The president looked at the boy and then at the soldier and said, “Good afternoon, Todd. Can you introduce me to your friend?”

And Todd Lincoln, the son of the president, said, “Daddy, this soldier needs to talk to you.”

The soldier pled his case before Mr. Lincoln, and right then and there he received the exemption that he desired.[8]

This is what an open door looks like. You have been given access to the throne room, but the great thing is you haven’t come by yourself. You enter the presence of the Creator of the universe holding the hand of His Son. As you approach the Father, Jesus is there with you. I can imagine Jesus saying, “Dad, you really need to listen to this request.”

What a picture! As a parent I always want to do good things for my children. Just to see them smile. How much more does our Father in heaven care for us. It doesn’t matter how big your need might seem, we serve a God who is bigger, and by the way you have an open door to heaven. You have access to anything you need. You have access to all of heaven’s resources. You have an open door from God Himself.

Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)

When we come to the Father we do not come on our own, we are coming in the name of His son. In fact we are in Christ. You and I are not like some poor beggar who wandered up to the pearly gates and is pleading with God to do something for him. He says we can have whatever we ask for! In fact it says in Hebrews 4:16, “Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness.” We are to come boldly before God. Not in arrogance, not demanding things from our Father, but boldly. There is a difference between arrogance and boldness. An arrogant person is proud in themselves the bold person is confident in what God has said.

In all this Father wants to demonstrate His great love for us. He wants to bless us. He wants to make provision for us. In fact He already has done it. All we have to do is receive it. Do you understand that? The provision is already made. The healing is already done. The miracle is already given to you. All you have to do is receive it. The door has been open to you. This is what Jesus wants to communicate to His church. It is already done.

The door is open to you. What do you need? He is the one who meets our needs. Some people say, “Oh, you can’t believe that. God doesn’t want to meet all your needs. God wants you to suffer a while to teach you some things. He wants you to be sick, or in debt or worn out so you can learn how rough it is serving Him. Then ‘Some glad morning when this life is over’ you’ll fly away, brother.”

What?! Where is that in the Word of God? The Word of God says, “with His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5 KJV) In the book of Matthew, he writes that in one town where Jesus was ministering, they brought the demon possessed and the sick to Jesus and he, “drove out the demons with a word and healed all who were sick.” Did you notice how many Jesus healed? It wasn’t half of the people. It wasn’t those who had been pleading with God the longest or only those who were deaf, it was ALL. He didn’t tell some of the people to go home and suffer a little more. The provision has been made for us. The door has been opened; all you have to do is walk through it.

I was in the Dominican Republic recently with a team of anointed young men and women. One evening during a crusade service we were holding a woman came forward for prayer. She said she had been having serious problems in her body caused by a worm in her stomach. When she ate, the worm would eat the food, and she would get sick and vomit the rest of the food. It struck me as I was standing there with the woman. The issue was who was greater God or a worm. She probably thought I was crazy but I asked her, “Is God greater than a worm?”

I think she got it, because her expression changed and she seemed more joyful. That was really the issue. It wasn’t a case of wondering if God wanted to heal her. I knew He did. It just truly came down to this question, “who is greater?” So we prayed a simple prayer for the woman and told that worm to die. The next night she came back to the meeting and shared how she had gone home and for the first time in a long time enjoyed a good meal without getting sick. She said she even had fried chicken! Now I knew she was healed. You don’t want to waste good fried chicken on a worm. She told us she no longer felt movement in her stomach because the worm was dead!

I think this is the question for the church today. Do we believe God is able to do what He said He would do? There are some Christians out there today who can’t seem to believe that their God is greater than a worm. Maybe the worm takes different forms, like cancer. Just the word “cancer” seems so big to some people you can tell they fear it. Some people just can’t believe that God is truly bigger than cancer. They would never say it that way, but it is obvious they believe it. For some the worm might take the form of heart disease. “Well,” they say, “it just runs in my family. There’s no getting around it.” Yes there is. Is our God greater than heart disease or not? For some the worm is family problems, for some it’s finances. “I just don’t see how I can ever get caught up with my bills…” Well you never will as long as you look at it from that perspective. But when you are looking at it from the perspective of faith, believing God to provide for all of your needs, then how can your bills not line up with the Word of God.

Your problems always look big when you stand there and look up at them, but that should not be our perspective. Think of how God looks at our problems, do they seem big to Him? Does He worry about them? Does He ever say things like, “Oh no, looks like that guy down there is in for it! There’s nothing I can do!” Of course not! We need to have His perspective. The Word of God says that, “He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens.” (Ephesians 2:6) You are already seated in the heavens with Jesus. You might be going through life on this earth day in and day out but you have a heavenly connection. See your life from that heavenly perspective. Your problems will become much smaller. You will gain a new outlook on life when you start to think of things the way Jesus thinks of them.

I think when it comes down to it some people just can’t get their minds around the fact that God wants to be active in their lives. They think, “He can heal me if He wants to, but if He doesn’t then that’s ok.” Well that’s not faith. God rewards faith! We must have faith when we come to God. We don’t let our past experiences shape our faith; we stand on the Word of God alone. We are saved by faith, but we are also called to live by faith. We live in a society that is in direct opposition to a faith lifestyle. This world lives by insurance. We insure everything. I am not against insurance and I thank God for it but we have an attitude related to insurance. Insure your house, your car, your health, even your life! If something happens your covered. We have a plan for everything. The world even plans for their death, they buy plots of land, pay for caskets ahead of time. I don’t know about you but I have no interest in buying a casket. But in all of our planning do we leave out faith. This world runs from faith. Even some in the church want security, not faith. They have faith for salvation, but nothing else. We are called to LIVE by faith. But Jesus knew all these things were coming and He asked this haunting question: “when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 KJV) When Jesus returns to take us home will He find any faith?

The Synagogue of Satan

“I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying – note this – I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.” (Revelation 3:8-9)

The Church in Philadelphia was suffering from persecution. Again we hear about the “synagogue of Satan.” More than likely it was similar to what was happening to the church in Smyrna. What was happening was the church was under attack from a group that was claiming to be Christian. Instead of preaching Christ this group was, most likely, preaching the law and traditions. Maybe they were telling the church they couldn’t be saved unless they followed the law, kept the feast, and circumcised themselves. In spite of whatever hardship the church was facing they did not back down. The most comforting thing of all was that Jesus knew all about it. He sees our hardships and persecution. The Word of God assures us that His eyes are on the righteous. (I Peter 3:12) But in all this listen to what Jesus tells the church. He doesn’t say tell them to go attack these people. That is what we would like to hear sometimes. It’s easy to read a story in the Bible like this and think, “Oh, sure that church just needs to forgive them.” But when it happens to us we don’t want to hear about forgiveness, we want vengeance! Have you ever had someone mistreat you, speak untrue words about you, or attack you in some way because of what you believe? Most of us aren’t thinking about forgiveness! But Jesus never tells the church to get even. He tells them, He is going to handle it.

I remember hearing a story about a man who killed a group of young children in an Amish community years ago. The community was understandably shaken to its core, but in spite of the tragedy of this senseless killing the message that came out of that group of people was one of forgiveness. They forgave the outsider who came in and killed their children. What a horrible thing to have to go through but those people understand forgiveness. If we can’t learn to walk in forgiveness toward others then we cannot receive forgiveness from God.

Some people might argue, “But you don’t know what I’ve been through.”

They might be right, but it doesn’t matter. God has given us forgiveness when we did not deserve it, we have to have that same attitude. Jesus told a story about a man who owed millions of dollars. He was brought before a wealthy man who held his debt, the man demanded he pay it all in full or face prison and beatings until it was paid. The man begged for mercy, and it was granted. All of his debt was forgiven. The man immediately left and saw a man who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed the man by the throat and demanded he pay his debt. This man also begged for mercy, but none was given. He had the man thrown in prison. When the wealthy man who had forgiven the man was told what happened he had the man brought to him. “I forgave your large debt,” the man stated, “how could you not forgive a small debt?” He had the man thrown in prison. Jesus made this statement, “if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing.” (Mark 11:26)

Jesus tells the church that He will make those people from the “Synagogue of Satan” come and bow before them. He was the one who would handle the situation. If we could just get into our hearts that God is for us, not against us it would change our lives. If we could understand that He is looking out for us, He sees when we are wronged, to Him it is as if He was wronged. All we have to do is learn to walk in forgiveness and love and let Him deal about it. No matter where you go in the world there is fighting, jealousy and discord, even in the church. I can remember being in Africa and in spite of all the wonderful things I experienced there I saw arguing and bitterness among a few pastors and leaders. I have seen similar things in other places around the world and especially here at home. This is not how Father wants us to act toward one another. There are times when someone wrongs us. We have to get over it. Someone may persecute us. We are obligated by the Word of God to forgive. God doesn’t want us to live in bitterness but walk in forgiveness.

When we look at someone and don’t have love in our hearts toward them then how can we have love toward God? The answer is simply, we cannot. That is what the Word of God says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen.” (I John 4:20) This might seem impossible and it probably is in the natural, but we are not natural people. The natural man cannot receive the things of God. To our natural man the things of God seem to defy logic. How can I forgive someone who has wronged me? That is incomprehensible. But to the man who is born-again, all things are possible. We should not be controlled by what our hearts want to do, but by the Spirit of God. He desires that we walk in forgiveness so He gives us the ability to do that.

The natural man wants to repay, blow for blow, punch for punch, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. But we are commanded, “do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath.” (Romans 12:19) When we try to take things into our own hands we tie God’s hands. If a man is being prosecuted in court and jumps up to defend himself, he has tied the hands of his lawyer. His attorney will not be able to defend him because he has become his own defense. So often we tie God’s hands in areas of our lives where He desires to move but we won’t allow Him room. Throughout the Word of God He promises to bless His people financially, but if we withhold our tithes and offerings we have tied His hands, He will not move on our behalf.

We are like the man who invited Jesus into his home and prepared a room for him. He told Jesus, “You can have this room, Jesus. It is a nice room and you will be very comfortable here.” Later that night there was a knock at the door, the man opened it and there stood the devil. The devil punched the man right in the nose. The man slammed the door and ran up to Jesus’ room, furious. “Jesus! The devil just punched me in the nose! Why didn’t you do something?”

Jesus calmly replied, “You never gave me that part of the house.”

When we try to manage a part of our lives on our own we shut Jesus out and prevent Him from moving on our behalf. If we avenge ourselves, defend ourselves or fight for ourselves we prevent Jesus from moving in the situation and leave no room for Him. Instead here is how we are supposed to act toward those who mistreat us, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.” (Romans 12:20) We are called to serve our enemies, to bless them. Father wants to draw all men to Himself and He wants to use you to do it.

There Will Be A Test

“Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come over the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” (Revelation 3:10)

Essentially Jesus is telling them, “Because you have already learned how to endure trials, and persecution. I am going to help you pass the even bigger trials that are coming.” They had already learned the lessons. They had passed the test. I have read this in the past and thought of teachers I had in school. Some would let you be exempt from the final exam if you scored high enough on the other test. Somehow I never seemed to fall into that category. But that’s not what Jesus is saying here. He is not telling them they will never have to face another test. Most commentators agree Jesus is saying He will keep them during the trials. He will be with them. A better translation would be, “I will keep you in the hour of testing…”

They still had to live in the world. I want you to know we live in a messed up world and sometimes that mess tries to get us all messed up too. But the good news Jesus was telling them and us is that the mess isn’t going to mess you up. There might be things that happen that you don’t like, things that come against your family, things that affect your life, your job or your finances. The good news is that Jesus was with them. His authority was now theirs and, by extension, is our authority. We don’t have to get messed up by the mess, all we have to do is tell the mess to get out of our house because Jesus is the keeper of our lives. He keeps us when the mess comes.

This reminds me of those three Jewish boys who wouldn’t bow down to the idol that King Nebuchadnezzar had put up. He got so mad he threw them in the fire. The fire was so hot it killed the men who carried them up to it. And then the king stood up. He started to look into the fire and he didn’t like what he saw. He could see those three boys walking around and someone else was in there with them. He turned to someone next to him, “How many boys did we throw in there again?”

“Three.”

I imagine him looking down and counting on his fingers, “One, two, three, four?” Then he looked up again at the fire and back down at his fingers and back at the fire. “There’s four people in there! The fourth man looks like the son of the gods! Who is that fourth man?”

And the fear of God overwhelmed him. He called out for those three boys to come out of the fire. They stepped out and their clothes weren’t burned and they didn’t even smell like smoke. The king looked around some more. Where was that fourth man? He was gone, but He was with them in the fire.

He’ll be with you too. He will keep you in the hour of trial.

“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” (Isa. 59:19 KJV)

That word “standard” is the Hebrew word: “noos” and it literally means to make something disappear or to make something flee. In other words, there will be times when the enemy tries to attack you, he will sneak in to rob, kill and bring destruction to your life. In that time the Spirit of God, who lives in you, who keeps you in every trial will stand up and the old devil will run away. But you have to learn to let Him do it and quit getting all worked up and anxious. All that is, is doubt and fear manifesting in your life. Sometimes we wonder why we’re not experiencing the blessings of God in our lives. It’s because we are walking in doubt and fear instead of faith. We are allowing fear and anxiety to rule in our hearts instead of the Word of God. We need to quit looking at our situations and put our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith. The Word of God says that the children of Israel died in the desert instead of entering the land of promise because of their unbelief. Doubt will kill you. Don’t walk in doubt today but walk in faith!

Jesus closes the letter with an encouragement to overcome. He says the one who is victorious will be made a “pillar in the sanctuary of My God. And he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God – the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God – and My new name.” (Revelation 3:12)

What a great promise for us. We will be in the very presence of God and we’ll never have to leave. Also He will inscribe His name on us. We will be branded as belonging to Him.

Questions for Reflection

1.       You have been given an open door, access to the Kingdom of God. What does this mean to you?

2.       Read John 14:13-14. What are you able to ask for? What does it say is the reason He will do this for you?

3.       What do you think the church was feeling as they dealt with persecution?

4.       What did Jesus tell them as an encouragement in the face of persecution? How does that encourage you today?

Challenge. Research the “Persecuted Church.” Pray for your brothers and sisters around the world who are facing persecution daily.

“The Bible is either absolute or it’s obsolete.”

Leonard Ravenhill

Chapter Eight

PERSPECTIVE

Imagine for a moment that you are a very wealthy person. You have everything you need, you can buy anything you want and never lack finances. There is nothing you need from anyone. You have always provided for yourself, you are completely self-sufficient. The only catch is that you live in a very small, remote island and have never, even once, traveled outside the small island where you were born and raised. In fact no one you know has ever left the island. One day you decide you are going off to see the world. You sell everything you have, gather all your money, put it in a large box and jump on the first ship leaving the island. After a long voyage you arrive in a large city. Everything is exciting and new and you cannot wait to explore. You ask around and find out where the nicest hotel in town is. When you enter the lobby it is breathtaking. You have never seen anything like this place before.

You step right up to the counter and ask the price of the room for one night. The man tells you it is $300. You proudly open the box of money you have been carrying everywhere, you have more than enough to stay at this hotel every night for the rest of your life. You take out the money and place it on the counter, but the man doesn’t reach for it; he just stands there looking confused. He looks back up at you in silence. Maybe he is looking for a tip? You put more money on the table, still the same reaction. Finally you ask, “What seems to be the problem?”

“Sir,” the man replies a little rudely, “we only accept money. I don’t even know what this is.” he says picking up some of your money.

“What do you mean? This is money.”

“It looks like some kind of sea shell.”

“It is a sea shell. It is a very unique kind of clam shell actually.”

“Sorry sir, we don’t take clamshell.”

“Maybe I just need to find a place to exchange my currency?”

“No one is going to exchange for clamshell,” the man laughs and walks away.

You collect your worthless shells and walk out the door, suddenly penniless. You can’t rent a room, or even buy food. You can’t even get a ticket home. You thought you were rich but you were wrong.

Perspective changes everything. You thought you were rich but only within the perspective of a society that accepts clamshells for currency. [9] Jesus told the church in Laodicea, “you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked,” (Revelation 3:17). Their perspective didn’t match that of Father. They thought they were doing great, but they couldn’t see how things really were. Their perspective was skewed. It’s the opposite situation that the church in Smyrna was in.

It’s like looking out the window of an airplane. New York City looks one way when you are walking through it and completely different when you are above it. One of my least favorite things to do is drive through New York City. It is a frustrating and expensive thing. I would rather have a root canal than try to find parking. But when you are elevated above the city your perspective changes. You can look down out your window at all the cars lined up down the street, but now the situation is completely different. The noise of the city is gone. The feeling of frustration is removed. It is a quiet and peaceful experience, beautiful and breathtaking. Your perspective has been changed because you have risen above the problem.

This is what Jesus wanted the church to learn and I believe this is what He would have us learn. We need to change our perspective. The church thought they were rich because they were looking at their lives from a worldly perspective. They had become so caught up in the material things that they had that they didn’t stop to look at their lives from a heavenly perspective. They had money, so much that they claimed they were rich. If they needed something they would buy it. If they had a problem they would take care of it. They had become seemingly self-sufficient, but Jesus tells them things are not as they seem to be. His perspective is not the same as theirs. They think they are rich, but He tells them they are poor. They enjoy parading around in their expensive clothes, but He tells them they’re naked.

Nobody wants to hear they’re naked. People have nightmares about that kind of stuff. It’s like the old children’s story “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The Emperor thinks he is wearing some very nice, new clothing and doesn’t even realize he is naked until a child points it out. It is only then he realizes he has been swindled.

I want to say that the western world has been largely swindled over the years. We have been sold a Christianity that says, “We are all ok. Don’t worry about your sin. You don’t have to pray, just be a good person and God will bless you.” And we’ve gotten so caught up in the things of this world that we don’t even know we’re naked and blind. We have been swindled and it’s time to wake up and get our lives right with God. We need to change our perspective and see ourselves like Father does.

So what do you do when you find out your naked? Run and cover, right. Find something quick, even if it doesn’t look good, you don’t care. Grab grandma’s old dress and bonnet, it doesn’t matter that you’re a man, you just need clothing. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, they used fig leaves for clothes. In fact the Bible says they sewed fig leaves together. Now they’ve never seen clothes before so I imagine their sewing skills were about as good as mine, which is not saying much. They were just figuring it out as they went along, but what did they use for a needle and thread? It probably turned out like a third grade science project. Then God comes down and shakes His head and has to go and make some proper clothes for them. So get this, God has to show man how to make clothes for himself. We need Him. Man would probably still be wearing leaves if God hadn’t helped him out.

Trusting God

We have to understand that without Him we have nothing. Our tendency as humans is to want to do things on our own. We want to show our independence and prove that we have what it takes. But the problem with this kind of thinking is it cuts Father out of the equation. If it is all about what we can do in our own strength, then where does He fit in? We offend Him when we try to become self-sufficient. It really comes down to trusting God.

So many wrestle with this concept. It’s one of those things that are easy to understand but so hard to put into practice. Trusting God requires faith in God and a belief that God wants what is best for me. For some people they just cannot understand this. Maybe they have grown up with parents or other authority figures in their lives who have let them down or have hurt them in some way. There are some who have never understood the love of a parent and so they struggle to truly believe that God loves them.

Maybe that’s you or someone close to you. With your mind you understand that God loves you but in you heart you wonder if that’s true. I’ve heard people say things like, “Be careful not to say you would never go to China or Africa, because God will hear it and send you there.” Maybe you’ve heard, or thought, similar things. So our view of God is that He is waiting to find out what would make you most miserable in your life and then make you do that.

We have to understand that God is good and has the best in mind for you. In fact look at what Jesus says in John 16:24, Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

He loves you so much, He says ask Him anything and He will give it to you. In fact if you look at the original language the word complete can also be translated, “crammed in.” He doesn’t just want you happy but so happy that it is crammed into your life and spilling out of you onto others. Crammed in is like what I do to my suitcase when I travel. It might already be full but I am going to get some more stuff in there. I’m going to cram it in. I will step on it if I need to. I will close it with duct tape if need be, but one thing is sure, it will be crammed in. This is how our Father wants our lives, crammed full of His joy. So many Christians have a hard time believing God wants them happy. They think God put them on this earth to make them miserable and everyone else miserable too. In fact they’ll lie to you and tell you this verse doesn’t even have anything to do with being happy. They’ll tell you it’s about an inner joy that doesn’t necessarily make you happy. I’ve heard this kind of thing before. If you look up this word “joy” you know what you find out? It means “cheerfulness.” Now I have never seen a grouchy Christian crammed full of cheerfulness and joy. But I’ve seen some who don’t have one drop of joy and that’s because they quit believing the Word and they just listen to what other grouchy Christians are telling them. I want you to know today that you can trust Father. You honor Him when you trust Him with your whole life and He will bless those who trust in Him.

The life of Jehoshaphat is an excellent illustration for where many of God’s people are. We are all walking down this path called the Christian life and some of us are farther down the path than others, but we all at some point in our journey have to wrestle with similar struggles as Jehoshaphat. The major theme of his life was learning to trust God fully. (See 2 Chronicles 18 and 1 Kings 22)

Jehoshaphat was a king over Judah at the same time as the wicked Ahab, and his evil bride Jezebel, ruled over Israel. In comparison to Israel, Judah was just a small territory a speck of land inside a slightly larger speck of land. Jehoshaphat was king of a small place and he knew it. Now even though it was a small place it was also a very important place, a place close to the heart of God, and still is. If only Jehoshaphat would depend on God he would find safety, but to him it didn’t make sense. How could a small people survive in such a large, hostile world, a world that constantly wants to destroy you? Jehoshaphat thought about this and did the logical thing, he found an ally.

No let me say there are times when trusting God doesn’t make sense. We can’t figure it out. We as humans like to be able to figure things out. Even as children we like to connect the dots and see the picture the dots make, but trusting God means sometimes the dots don’t connect. You have to draw freehand a bit and just believe that He will work it out. I have seen it time and again. When the finances aren’t there and there is no logical way for them to come in, He makes a way. When doctors have said it’s impossible, He makes a way. We like to sit in our meetings and committees and plan and connect the dots, we like to budget and see what is possible for us to do. Those things are fine and have a place but when God is in the picture He is so much bigger than our plans and our budgets and does things beyond what we can even imagine, With God all things are possible.

So Jehoshaphat decides to make an ally and he chooses his evil neighbors Ahab and Jezebel. After all there is strength in numbers. It is the only thing that makes sense. Then Ahab asks Jehoshaphat to go to war with him against a nearby country and Jehoshaphat makes this profound statement: “I am as you are, my people as your people; we will be with you in battle.” (2 Chronicles 18:3b)

Be careful with whom and what you align yourself to. When you put your trust in this world and this world system you are binding yourself to a wicked and corrupt thing that is bound to fail. We have seen it over and over again in recent years. This world is bound for failure but if you put your trust in the Lord you will never fail! I am not trying to pretend to be a financial expert but I know this, if you want a return on your money, give. The Word of God teaches us whatever we sow we will reap. If we sow a little we will reap a little. If we sow generously we will reap generously. Give and it will be given back to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over. If we would start to believe that word and put it into action in our lives we will see an increase. It is guaranteed.

But back to the point, you become like those you come into agreement with. So again be careful about whom you enter in to business or other close personal relationships with. Jehoshaphat said, “I am as you are,” and this will become a reality in our lives. Ahab was a wicked evil man, and this man Jehoshaphat who was a believer in the one true God by his own mouth committed to be one with Ahab. Jehoshaphat even asks for a prophet of the Lord to come speak to them to tell them if they should go to war, the man comes and eventually tells the two kings that it will end in disaster. By this time Jehoshaphat is so twisted in his thinking that he agrees to go with Ahab anyway, he is becoming what he spoke over his own life, like Ahab. He had become so determined to please his evil partner that he could not discern or did not care to discern the will of God.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever been in a place where you are asking God to reveal His will for a situation but you have already made up your mind? You have made up your mind, and now you are seeking God’s approval. This is what Jehoshaphat is doing. Here is the Word of the Lord coming to him with a gigantic, “NO!” But he goes ahead and does it anyway, because he is really not trusting God. He has a “form of godliness.” He is the king of a “godly” nation but at this point it is not true godliness because he is not submitted to God. You cannot serve two masters.

The first thing Ahab asks Jehoshaphat to do is disguise himself as Ahab and ride into battle. Now of all the stupid things to do, this has to be the worst idea ever. There is no way anyone in his right mind would agree to this! The first thing every enemy soldier would want to do is kill the king! Ahab was setting him up! Of course Jehoshaphat could see right through this and refused, right? Wrong. He goes along with it! He has lost his mind. This is what trusting in the world will do to you. You put yourself in a position to listen to their every word. You have already come into agreement with them so you just continue to agree. The thing is you are either all in or all out. You can’t believe God part time. You can’t agree to trust in Him halfway. Get in or get out. So he rides out, dressed to the nines. He looks like the king and of course draws the attention of every soldier. Arrows start flying at him; guys are chasing him on horses, running with swords screaming profanity at him. All Jehoshaphat can do is run for his life, and the Bible points out one thing here. As he is running for his life, he “cries out.” What words came out of his mouth? We can only guess, but I bet it was something along the lines of, “GOD, HELP ME!”

Look what happens next, “and the Lord helped him.” Wow. God still reaches out in spite of everything Jehoshaphat had done, even though he had made an alignment with evil incarnate, even though he had completely ignored God’s direct word to him, God still helped him! That says so much about our Father. He isn’t waiting to punish us. He’s waiting for us to call out to Him. Even if it is only in our time of deepest need, He doesn’t care. He longs for us and maybe those times of need are Him drawing us back to complete reliance upon Him and His Word. At that moment of need Jehoshaphat cried out and God helped him. God actually turned those chasing him away and sent them toward a different part of the battle and saved his life. It didn’t work out so well for Ahab though. That wicked king caught a random arrow, that wasn’t even aimed at him, and died. Isn’t it ironic the man who didn’t stand a chance was saved but the man who should have been safe died? When God is in your situation the odds mean nothing.

From this moment forward you begin to see a change in the life of Jehoshaphat. God moves him into a place of deeper trust, and reliance upon Him. He begins to bring reformation to the land. But once again Jehoshaphat finds himself facing war. Several armies had aligned and were marching against the tiny nation of Judah. It was a million to one, a long shot. The odds were stacked against him, but again when God is in a situation the odds mean nothing. This time the Bible says, “Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek the Lord. Then he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah” (2 Chron. 20:3) He was afraid, but he resolved. He had made up his mind no matter what He was going to seek the Lord.

We honor God when we seek Him. When we admit that we can do nothing else but trust him. So Jehoshaphat stands up in the middle of all the people and essentially tells the people, “It’s time to pray, don’t eat anything, don’t do anything else, just pray. We need some help here.” Have you ever been there? A moment in time when you are so desperate, if God doesn’t show up then you’re toast. I like times like that. Not at the moment but looking back those were times when I grew the most, they were the times I felt closest to God. My wife and I have three wonderful children. Our youngest is teething at the moment. It is apparently very painful. Sometimes my normally laid-back son will just begin to scream in the middle of the night, his hand shoved into his mouth. You can see the pain all over his face. It is not a nice experience for him (or for us), but it is necessary. If he didn’t have the painful times of teeth coming into his mouth he would be eating pureed happy meals for his entire childhood. The painful times do something to us, they change us. We either grow closer or sometimes farther from God. They either cause us to run to Him or away from Him. They reveal what is deep inside us.

In this moment Jehoshaphat had resolved to seek the Lord. That is what he did. The people cried out to God and He answered them. The Lord sent a prophetic word and told the people, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not ours, but God’s… You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 15-17)

I love that. The battle is His, just stand still. Stand still. For some of us that is a hard word. How do I stand still? I have to try to fix my problem.

No you don’t. It’s not your problem and it’s not your battle, it belongs to Him.

Stand still doesn’t mean you don’t do anything, it means you are standing upon the Word of God and trusting Him to do what He said He would do. In fact if you look at that story in 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat doesn’t go home and sit on his hands, he does something. But he doesn’t get ready for war, because the battle is not his. Instead he gets a worship team together and they go out towards the enemy singing. The Bible says here, “The moment they began their shouts and praises, the Lord set an ambush.” (verse 22)

It happened the moment they began their shouts and praise. The victory happens when we praise. It doesn’t come from analyzing the situation or praying till you pass out, it’s in the praise. Praise says, “I believe you God and I am trusting in Your word that this is all going to work out, and so I am going to give You thanks for Your deliverance even when I can’t see it.” In fact that word “praise” is almost always tied to giving thanks. Praise is the key to victory and breakthrough in your life. It comes from a heart that recognizes God is the source and is thankful for what He has done and will do.

Praise and giving thanks is all throughout the Bible. In Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Thankfulness is the key.

In Psalm 100:4 it says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”

I Thessalonians 5:16:18, says,

Rejoice always!

Pray constantly.

Give thanks in everything,

For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

God’s will for you is to rejoice, pray and give thanks for everything. That sums it up. When we are thankful it pleases God and shows our dependence upon Him. It worked well for Jehoshaphat. When they went to look for the army they found everyone dead. It took them three days to take all the loot home. So the biggest threat they faced turned into their greatest blessing. God wants to turn your problems into blessings that will be talked about for years to come. An impossible situation can become your biggest blessing if you will just trust in the Lord.

Jesus closes the final letter with these words in Revelation 3:20-22,

Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me. The victor: I will give him the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also won the victory and sat down with My Father on His throne. Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Jesus is knocking at your door today. We always apply this verse to those who are not saved, but this is not a letter to the unsaved. This is a letter to the church. Jesus says He is at the door knocking, and He must be calling too because He says, “If anyone hears My voice.” He is calling to you today for a deeper walk with Him than you have ever had before. He longs to come in and have a meal with you, it’s fellowship He’s after.

If you have never made Jesus your Lord and Savior now is the time. Simply pray and invite Him into your life, in your own words.

If you are longing for a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him, He is at the door knocking. Open the door. Let Him in.

Questions for Reflection

1.       Read Revelation 3:17. What do you think the church was thinking as they read these words?

2.       Jehoshaphat wrestled with trusting God. But even in his rebellion when He calls out to God, He helps him. What does that tell you about His faithfulness.

3.       We honor God when we seek Him. How have you made seeking Him a priority in your life?

4.       God tells Jehoshaphat to stand still. God was going to fight for him. Why is standing still so hard? What did God want Jehoshaphat to learn by standing still?

5.       Jesus told the church He was at their door, knocking. What does this mean?

Challenge. Read over Revelation 2 and 3. List all the promises Jesus gives the churches who “overcome.” Make a faith statement and claim these promises.

Endnotes:

[1]BBC News, “Spanish Fresco Restoration Botched by

Amateur,” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19349921

[2] James Strong, Strong’s Concordance, (Holeman Bible Publishers), Nashville, TN.

[3] "agreement." Merriam-Webster.com. 2011. http://www.merriam-webster.com (7 August, 2013).

[4] A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

[5] Chaya Babu, “285 Indian girls shed 'unwanted' names”

http://news.yahoo.com/285-indian-girls-shed-unwanted-names-122551876.html

[6] Sarah Gilman, “Don’t Feed the Animals,”

http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/dont-feed-the-animals

[7] Gilbert King, “The Smoothest Con Man that ever

Lived,”

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/08/the-smoothest-con-man-that-ever-lived/

[8] Wayne Rice, “More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks,” Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI (page 140 “The President and the Little Boy”)

[9] An interesting note: Some people groups used shells for currency many years ago, but there are some who still use them today. According to www.moneymuseum.com the Abelam people in East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea still use a clam shell called the Pal Yua as their currency.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Introduction

Chapter One Letters from Home

Chapter Two Going down with the ship

Chapter Three The Best game ever

Chapter Four Blessings and Curses

Chapter Five Don’t Feed the bears

Chapter Six Attack of the christian zombies

Chapter Seven An Open Door

Chapter Eight Perspective

Endnotes