Revelation 3:14-22 – “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” Every parent disciplines their child. It is not a matter of if they discipline their child, it is only a matter of application and degree. They are some things that even those who discipline their children the least expect a child to learn and obey. Things such as potty-training, hygiene, communicating, eating habits, etc. Take potty-training, some may say that a child should be potty-trained before two years of age, some may before three, or five years. It is not a matter of if the child should be trained, but rather, when and how. It is unimaginable that a parent would allow a child to wear no clothes and use the floors, furniture and beds as a place to urinate or defecate. These examples are extreme, but show that every parent disciplines their child in some way. The parent, according to their beliefs, and other factors such as love for the child versus love for themselves, decides where, when and how to apply discipline. Sometimes a child is disciplined not out of love for the child, but out of the parents own love for themselves. All parents discipline their children. Family, I don’t have time to speak of abuse, we are talking about genuine discipline.
God disciplines His children and He is perfect in how He disciplines. God disciplines out of love. The child of God need not always understand the method of discipline. What the child of God must know, must be completely convinced of, is the innate goodness of God, and His absolute, complete and eternal love for each of His children. Knowing that God knows everything, that would mean that He knows when His child needs correction and what is the perfect correction that should be applied for that individual child. The ease of accepting correction from God comes from the depth and conviction of the knowledge of God. To know God, really know Him as Truth beyond everything else, one must grasp who He is. Yes, that He is, but importantly who He is. That understanding brings acceptance, confidence, and even security that one’s life is being guarded and loved. The discipline of our perfect God is perfect. Do we know, and, truly believe in, who God is? Do we believe that He knows, in every circumstance, more that we do? Do we really? If so, then we will not only accept His discipline, but desire it. This is absolutely true. If we believe that God is greater than we are, that He knows more than we do, is innately, purely and absolutely good, and that He loves us with an undefiled purity that is ever present and eternal, than we want His discipline. Whether His discipline is a gentle holding of the hand and leading, or something much stronger, the discipline of God should not be understood as something we endure, but something we embrace. Though discipline can be difficult, we should desire it because He knows best and that if He is disciplining us, He is loving us. Family, discipline from God is love from God! Absolutely! Praise God!
From a very young age I heard from my Dad what most of us have heard, “I discipline you because I love you.” I believed Him, truly I did. I clearly remember a time when I had again done something worthy of spanking. After spanking me my Dad sat on the bed next to me and cried. I was shocked. My Dad was not a crier. I asked why He was crying and He told me that He hates to spank me. He wished He never had to, but He must because He loved me and wanted the best for me. I was deeply impressed. From then on I knew, I was certain, that He disciplined me not because he wanted to, but because he loved me, and his love for me demands that discipline me. And, here is the thing. I benefited from His discipline. He used discipline to teach me life lessons that remain to this day. The discipline he gave me, with the knowledge that His discipline came from His love, in fact was evidence of it, helped me to understand the discipline that comes from God. In fact, though sometimes very difficult, I can praise God through the discipline because I know that His discipline is not from an anger toward me, but from His absolute love for me.
Family, to accept God’s discipline, and to even desire it, we must, must, must, know God personally and deeply. We must know God, not only that He exists, but who He is. If we know who He is we know that He is good and that He loves us. We accepted discipline from our earthly fathers, and know that sometimes they got it wrong. Still we know that they disciplined us as loving fathers. Since we know that God knows everything we think, say and do, and since we know that God is perfectly good and loves perfectly, we can have confidence in His discipline. In fact, we can desire His discipline, because we absolutely know it is for our benefit. Amen! I believe! Lord God, have Your way with us. Have Your way with me! Thank You for Your love and care of me. I know that because of who I am, I require discipline. Lord God, thank You for Your disciplining of me and may it never stop. Mold me and make me as is best. Thank you for loving me. I absolutely trust you! Glory and praise to you! Glory, praise and honor to our perfect, good, and loving God! Praise God!
Psalm 139:23-24 – Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Revelation 3:14-22 – “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
“I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” V17 reveals that the church at Laodicea thought they were rich, but Jesus says that they were poor. This city that had no natural defenses learned to survive by compromise and keeping their faith to themselves. The believers at Laodicea held on to what they thought kept them safe in the world. Since they stood for nothing, no-one ever got mad at them. This is how they survived in business. They did not explain to people that the idols they served were not God. They went by the motto to “live and let live.” They did not preach that Jesus is the only way and there is no other (Acts 4:12). They never stood for Jesus (Matthew 10:33). They expressed their “religious beliefs” in the same way they expressed their politics. They didn’t. They kept these things out of business and government. They likely held to a same belief that many compromisers in our times do, to never talk “politics or religion.” They avoided controversy even if that meant not standing up for the truth. They did not want controversy around them. They wanted nothing to do with rough waters. They just wanted to get along. It was better for business and easier on their personal lives if they just get along with everyone. But they were poor in the faith.
Jesus told them how putrid and defiled their faith was. When someone has just gotten through telling someone that they think they are something but they really are nothing, when someone tells someone that the way they act makes them sick, then the natural conclusion is that the person who has expressed this judgement would never again want something to do with that person. Well, that is how the world would act, but that is not who Jesus is (Isaiah 53:4-6). Jesus was correcting them, not casting them away (John 6:37). He told them what they needed to do so they could be right with God (John 6:68-69). He told them that He has the answers, that He is the Answer, and that to get out of their poverty they needed to repent and get purified gold from Him.
During those days, smelters of the day would purify gold by putting it into extreme heat. Gradually all the impurities would rise to the top and the smelter of the day would scoop out the impurities in order to leave only the gold behind. How did the smelter know when the gold could be taken out of the fire? How did he know when all the impurities were gone? It was when he could look into the gold and see his reflection in it. To the Lord, we are what is valuable. The Lord is less concerned about us being comfortable in this world and more concerned about us being all that He has called us to be. Family, Jesus is telling us to not eschew the heat, but to desire it, that we might be a purified (1 Peter 4:12-13). As a purified people we will glorify our God who saved us. We will increasingly be who we were created to be and the peace of God will reside with us. Jesus wants us to be purified for our sakes, not His. When we are right with God that pleases Him, but does not add to who God is, or completes God in any way. God is complete and perfect within Himself. He does not need our love in any way. He just desires our love toward Him because He loves us and it is what is best for us. Jesus is telling the Laodiceans to run toward the fire. In it we are purified and become more like Him. Being like Jesus, that is true richness. Having the salvation that only comes from Jesus, that is true richness.
Jesus talks to the Laodiceans in ways that they could understand. As was earlier mentioned, the city was known for a healing eye salve. The city was famous for their medical school. Jesus let them know that while their physical eye sight may have been fine, they were spiritually blind. He let them know that only those who seek Him can understand the spiritual. Only they are not blind to the true meaning of the Word of God. Only from Jesus can we know the truth, only Jesus is the Truth. Those who don’t know Jesus as their Savior and Lord are spiritually blind and don’t even know that they are. Those who are His disciples have the Spirit of God within and He reveals to them the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:6-15). Such are we who love the Lord.
Family, our greatest treasure, our highest goal, is to please God. With that being so, comfort, societal acceptance and the riches of this world decrease in importance and loving and pleasing God becomes our highest and increasingly, our only great goal in life. Take the world, but give me Jesus! Before God we are naked. He knows all our thoughts and every single thing we have ever done. Scary? Yes if Jesus is not one’s Savior and Lord. But if He is we needn’t have any fear. Jesus has saved us to the fullest (Hebrews 7:25). If we have Jesus we have all that is eternally good. If we don’t have Jesus, we have nothing that is eternally good. Let us pursue God and let our focus be to please Him. Let us take a strong stance for Him and do the works He has called us to do. In that is peace, love and rest. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
John 13:34 – A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
1 John 4:12 – 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Some of the best and deepest ways God has touched me is through the young. I remember a time when my eldest son was about five or six. He was being home schooled and was such a sweet and innocent boy. Because of his gentle heart, as my father had taught me when I was about four years old, when he was very young I taught my son how to defend himself. He knew enough to be way beyond most others his age. One day, looking out a window, I was watching him play with a next-door neighbor friend. A couple neighbor boys, who had come from a rough neighborhood, joined them. At one point, by son accidently backed into the bike of a neighbor boy and it fell to the grass. The bike was not damaged in any way. As my son was apologizing and bending over to pick up the bike, the older brother was goading the younger brother to fight my son. My son then stood up in time to defend himself. The boy threw several punches at my son who blocked all of them. And then, instead of punching the boy, he just pushed him away. He was telling the boy that he was sorry for accidentally knocking the bike over. The boy came back at him several times trying to hit him. Each time my son blocked the punches and pushed the boy away. My son never tried to strike his attacker. Finally it appeared that the boy had given up his assault. My son then turned to speak with another boy and then the boy came up from behind him and sucker punched my son on the nose. It obviously hurt. I was angry as I watched from the house. I thought surely my son would turn and teach this boy a lesson. Instead, my son grabbed his nose, and while the older brother and the boy were taunting my son he just looked at them and wondered at this attack. My son then grabbed his bike, and without responding to the taunts, came home.
After he had come inside I sat my son down and told him I had seen what had happened. I told him that I love his good heart, but in some situations, like the one he was just in, sometimes he will have to defend himself. My son responded that he did not want to hurt anyone. I told him that was a good thing from his kind heart, but if he did not defend himself in such cases, sometimes he was going to get hurt. He said to me “Daddy, I would rather be hurt than hurt anyone.” I knew then that God had gifted my son with a heart better than mine own. I was so thankful, and so proud. I prayed that I would one day have such a heart as grand as my son had.
Kindness, grace, love and mercy come not from obeying rules, but from the heart. From a heart that is given to Jesus. Living under law is bondage. Living from the heart is freedom. Praise God who makes hearts to be like His! More of Jesus from born again, made again, servants of Christ. And the world, will be a better place.
This last Friday, on the 27th, I was working at the Harvest Festival at our church. A son of a sister from our Friday night bible group came to me and gave me a Starbucks gift card. I was puzzled by the gesture. I was told that he won the gift card at an event that I had help sponsor him. He said He wanted me to have the card. Wow! I was so honored, but mostly so amazed at his heart. It really was a wonderful blessing to cap a long day. I thanked God for using this boy to bless me in such an unexpected way. I saw in him the wonderful heart of his mother. How blessed I was to see how he had been blessed and then had let the blessing flow from God, to him, to me.
The next morning I met with a brother to share the Word together. We met, as we usually do, at Starbucks. I used the card that was given to me to bless the brother I was meeting with. I thanked God for the opportunity to pass on a blessing that I had received. Jesus said that all law, and all prophecy, is fulfilled in love (Matthew 22:40). As we receive God’s love, thank Him for it, and then pass it on to others, we have done what God has called us to do. It is intended that we mature to love not from obeying laws, but from a heart that He is continually being made to be like God’s own heart. The love of God that starts with God, is given to us, that we are thankful for and pass on to others, is then received by the others and they are thankful to God, and they also give it to others. The cycle continues, the number of those who are blessed grows. God is glorified. His love is perfected. Great is the wisdom and mystery of God! Simple is how He has called us to live! Praise God! Oh Family, praise God!
Kindness, grace, love and mercy come not from obeying rules, but from the heart. From a heart that is given to Jesus. Living under law is bondage. Living from the heart is freedom. Praise God who makes hearts to be like His! More of Jesus from born again, made again, servants of Christ. And the world, will be a better place.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withRevelation 3:14-22 – “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
“15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” In V14 Jesus reminded them who was talking to them. He reminded that He is their creator (John 1:3), the one who holds all things together (Colossians 1:16-17), that He is THE Faithful and True Witness (V4). What He says is truth and what He says will happen (Ezekiel 12:35, Isaiah 14:24). Then He says to them “I know your deeds.” To most of us who honestly assess all the things that we do, and all the things we don’t do, these four words could be very chilling. As we honestly assess all of our priorities, let’s reiterate the two words “honestly assess” and add “fully assess”, how do our actions stand up? How does our obedience stand up? What are our priorities and what we profess as our priorities, are they lived out? Laodicea, of all the seven churches that Jesus addressed in this book, most represents the modern church. We must remember that the letters are not written only to the churches as a whole, but they, all of them, are also written to all us as individuals. Jesus wrote to these seven churches and gave them a report card. If He individually sent us report cards how would we individually do? What is it that we know we should not do but that we continually do? What is it that we should be doing, but do not do? When we do good works, when we minister, do we do them out of obligation, duty or because it is our job? Are the things that we do the best plans that we can come up with? Are we self-reliant on our education, experience, intelligence or resourcefulness and so we have plans, systems, processes but we leave Jesus out of it. Oh, maybe we say a habitual or obligatory prayer. Do we do good works that genuinely are well intentioned good works, but are planned out, and carried out without the love of God genuinely empowering the work through the Holy Spirit? Family, that very way is the way of the church of the Laodiceans. They were educated, wealthy and self-reliant. It is not that they did not do good works, meaning things that were good things to do. The problem is that the good works generated from self and not from God. They judged and pronounced judgement, action, without consulting God or allowing His great love to flow. They felt themselves self-sufficient. They probably affirmed to each other all of their great abilities and told each other “You got this!” They moved in self-reliance. Self-reliance is arrogance and foolishness (Luke 12:20). In all our ways we are to know that in self we are weak, but in God we are strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). All means all. We never “have this” except through the abilities and blessings God provides (Proverbs 3:4-5). Are there good deeds that benefit people, that are done by man, without seeking God? Absolutely! The questions are: Has God ordained the work? Are they done with the love of God? Is God glorified? Does the Word of God confirm it? The Laodiceans were self-reliant. They were their own idols. Disciples of Christ are called to serve only God and have no room in their hearts or minds for any other (Exodus 20:3). The Laodiceans had lost their fire, relied on their own selves, and trusted only their own selves. They served their gods that were themselves, and they left very little room to serve God. In fact, His voice had become very strange to them.
The Lord spoke with “tough love” to the Laodiceans. He told them that they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Family, if God wrote each of us a letter would He have to correct us for self-reliance? Would He have to say to us that we started out a good ministry with Him, but then we excluded Him from the meeting invites? Do we push forward without Him and His Word? I pray it not be so. I fear it is more prevalent in our lives than we prefer to admit. Let us go on with Jesus, who desires to equip, provide for and bless all that we do in His name. If we minister, may every single act of ministry we do be as the Word of God and as God Himself leads us. Then the ministries we do will be blessed. Then they will glorify God. Then He will bless us. God is the great I AM, the great Provider in all things (Philippians 4:19). Let us do all things within His will and by His blessing. “Where God guides, God provides.” Family, we want it no other way. Praise our God who loves us so. Praise our God who loves us so much that He will correct us (Hebrews 12:6, Proverbs 3:12). Thank you Lord for the great love and blessings you shower us with (2 Corinthians 9:8). We are immersed in Your love and desire to be nowhere else (Psalm 23:6). Please keep us obedient. There is no better place to be then in Your gaze (Numbers 6:25-26). We need you! We love you!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withRevelation 3:14-22 – “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea…” Sitting at the junction of three important roads, Laodicea contained a very prosperous business community. This city was noted for the black wool clothing it produced and for having a famous medical school. The Jews seemed to have been granted the right to practice their own customs. An oddity of the city was that it was built in a way that the defense of it was not considered. Since it could be easily attacked, they defended it through the use of a diplomatic means. What that means is that compromise was a device they were adept in the use of. Confirmed by Aristotle, Laodicea was known for a healing eye salve that was highly valued in the ancient world. This city had an aqueduct running from the city of Hieropolis. Hieropolis was known for its hot springs. The aqueduct running from Hieropolis to Laodicea was to bring hot water. Nice idea, but it didn’t work. By the time the hot water got to Laodicea it was no longer hot, but lukewarm. The Laodiceans were well aware that both hot and cold water served good purposes, but the lukewarm water, especially if drank, could be repulsive.
“These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.” Jesus refers to Himself as the Amen. Amen meaning something that is true and faithful, believed, and grasped, supported and hoped for. An example being, should a preacher exclaim to the congregation “God is good and He loves us,” then the members of the congregation may (should!) respond “Amen.” The “amen” would signify that they receive the statement as truth, that it is a trustworthy statement, that it is something they will hold onto and it is something that they will cling to with enduring and imminent hopefulness for the future. So when Jesus calls Himself the Amen, He, as the victorious Savior, is stating that His Word is true, trustworthy and something to believe in and that will keep your life filled with a hope for something better. Amen!
Witness comes from the word (transliteration) martys. It is the same word from which we get “martyr.” There is no more famous, no greater martyr than Jesus. He came to earth for a purpose. He came to fulfill the will of the Father to be found as a man and to be the acceptable sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Jesus was faithful to His mission, He is the only martyr that created an avenue to perfect peace between God and man. He is the avenue (John 14:6). Yes, He is worthy to be the recipient of unmitigated belief and faith as He is the martyr, the witness, of God’s great love for us (John 3:16).
Before He appeared in human form, He was with God the Father and the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:6) at creation. In fact, it was through Him that all that was created was created (John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:16-17). Yes, Jesus came to save His creation that He loves, in obedience to the will of His Father (John 3:16, Matthew 26:39).
Aren’t we so blessed! Praise our good and loving God! Our Triune God who in perfect unity of thought, intent and will loved us so much that He created us. Who loves us so much that even after He created man, provided an idyllic place to live where man faced no physical danger, had abundant and delicious food all around him, perfect weather, and, best of all, He would daily chat, laugh, teach, and just enjoy communal time with man, and then, and then(!) man rebelled and caused the destruction of such beauty, still, God so loved the world that He came to die for our sins (Luke 19:10). He did not give up on us. He does not give up on us. For those who come to be called by His name, He will never give up on us (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is with us, at all times, through all things, forever. Jesus, creator, conqueror, redeemer of our souls, always with us (Hebrews 13:5). Oh, the wonder, beauty and majesty of God! Praise the Lord who loves us so! Praise the Lord solely because of who He is! Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withIsaiah 42:1-7 – 1“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. 2He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” 5This is what God the Lord says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. “The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.”
Isaiah wrote of the coming Messiah hundreds of years before He was born on earth. When He was born His name was Jesus. Here Isaiah describes Him and the life He would live.
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.” Delight. God Almighty delights in Jesus. He sent Jesus He because delights in all whom He has drawn to Jesus. Have you ever delighted in someone. Not be delighted, as if they did something nice for you one time, but just delighted in them. Delighted beyond circumstances. Just loved the person beyond expression. Perhaps, even beyond their affection back? God the Father found great delight in Jesus. He finds it in those whom Jesus will present before His throne. What a wonderful thing is that relationship. Delight!
“I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” Be one with. What is it for you to desire that your spirit would dwell within another? Oh Family, it is great love. Love that dances from your heart to theirs and delights in being within them. It is a desire to be united and never separated. Think marriage, perfectly done, with the perfect love of God. It is love that says I love you and will never stop. What beauty to give. What beauty to receive. Be one with!
“2He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice. 4He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” Gentleness, humility, strength and justice. One who brings love, gentleness, humility, strength to, and for the world, must also bring justice. Without pure justice in the world there can be no pure love. Wrongs must be repented from or punished, for true love to be also present. God is both love and righteousness. Contemplate how shallow love for the world would be without justice. How wonderful it shall be to love in perfect love and perfect justice. How wonderful it will be to have both perfect love and perfect justice not be an external goal, but intrinsic and flowing from within. Gentleness, humility, strength and justice.
“In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” Giver of hope. Man does not live without hope. Without hope we are empty and life seems futile. How hurt and broken are those who feel like they have no hope. Those are the ones who give up. Whose imagination for a reality of love and beauty have faded. Long before the body dies, they die within. How horrid. How terribly sad that even one would feel this way. Jesus is God expressed to the world. He who loves the souls of mankind brings teaching that inspire, give reasons for life, radiate eternal love that immediately lives in the soul and spirit of all who would receive it. He gives structure that is born of a blended material called righteousness and love. This material is stronger than any metal, stronger than physical, and it is alive. It is spiritual and can only be received from God. It is so valuable that no one can afford it. It can only be received when one receives it from Jesus. He is on every street corner handing it out. Oh yes He is! He commands His Words of life, that give hope for us to live and have meaning. That give hope for us to smile so deeply that it has overflowed from an eternal fount within. That is a hope that cannot be stolen, cannot rot or decay, and will never end. Jesus is where beauty for life is found. Giver of hope.
“This is what God the Lord says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it.” The owner. No one can give what one does not have. No one can give love if love is not within. No one can give food, or water, if one does not have it to give. No one can be a basis for sure hope but God Almighty. Only He who created all, the Mighty and Limitless One, He, and only He can give sure hope. Firstly because only He has the absolute power to assure. Secondly, because only He has already completely provided the reason for it. The one who assures the future must own the future. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the owner. The owner.
“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Covenant Keeper. One who comes to set free from that which binds the world must be greater than that which binds. He must be softer, kinder, more tender and tougher, stronger and able to conquer. He must be strong enough to vanquish an enemy while tenderly holding a child’s hand. He can swing a sword and never will the child feel a change in the tender grip. A covenant keeper must have the character, ability and desire to keep the covenant. He must be sure and never falter. The covenant must start within Himself and not from without. He must be able to not only uphold all His responsibility within the covenant, but also to be able to enable the one whom He has made a covenant with. He keeps the covenant from both sides because of the love and care that brought Him to enter the covenant. He cannot break the covenant because He is true to Himself and He is one who has never broken a covenant and never will. He says what He means and He means what He says. Covenant keeper.
“The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.” Complete. God is complete. He lacks nothing, knows everything, is stronger and mightier than everything, and loves with an encompassing and eternal love. He has had a plan from the start that He never had. He is He who prepared a future before there was time. He created time and will see the end of it. He has love because it is who He is. He rescues because it is who He is. He has a prepared home He is leading all of His people to because His love for us is being true to Himself. He is who He is. He is all that is good and nothing that is bad. He is God and there is no other. He is the Savior, His name is Jesus, and there is no other. He is the beginning and the end. He has painted all the broad strokes and the finest detail. He is the only one who needs no one while loving everyone. He draws those that are His near, and holds them close. They feel the hug of His mighty and tender loving arm. They are aware of His presence and see His footsteps behind them, beside them, and before them. He is God. There is no other. He is the Savior Jesus and there is no other. Complete.
Family we are one with He who has delights in us, who defines gentleness, humility, strength and justice, who is the Giver of Hope, the Owner of all, who is the eternal Covenant Keeper and who is complete. We are one with Him because He is the great “I AM.” Our hope is sure because it is in God. Certain hope comes only through Him. We have Him because He has always had us. Some things never change. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withRevelation 3:7-13 – “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.” First of all, this was not a physical temple that is being referred to. Revelation 21:22 states that in our final home with God there is no temple because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. This was imagery showing residency in a holy place with God
Remembering that the city of Philadelphia had been shaken and fallen (AD 17), the image of the victorious in Jesus being a pillar in the temple of God was powerful. Being a pillar in the eternal New Jerusalem that will never be shaken, is a great comfort. David wanted to build a temple to house the Ark of the Covenant with God. There the Shekinah glory of God could be encountered. God created us (the Believer) to be His glory (Isaiah 43:7). In the New Jerusalem we shall be permanent members (pillars) and we whom God Himself saved shall forever reflect the glory of our God. In the redeemed the beauty and magnificence of God will forever brilliantly shine.
Are we looking forward to always and eternally being in the presence of God? The Lord says that we will never leave the temple (symbolic) and shall forever be with Him. Praise the Lord!
Notice how, in V12 four times He uses the term “my God.” Family, this is personal. When Jesus was on earth He lived to do the will of the Father (Luke 2:49, John 4:34). In the end, after the Jesus has destroyed all power that opposes God, He will lay everything at the feet of God Almighty whom Jesus calls “my Father” (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). The writing of the name of God, the New Jerusalem, and the “new name” of Jesus on us is showing that we, for all of eternity belong to God. Always we will be with Him, and in Him. We shall proudly be known as the children of God. How wonderful that for all of eternity, whoever sees us, will know us first as children of God. Family, I am proud of my family, of my father and mother, and the last name I bear, but no association will I be prouder of than to be unmistakably known as a child of Almighty God! Praise God!
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” All those who belong to God Almighty the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, hear and consider, with life and death importance, what the Spirit says to all of us. Let us be wise and follow and obey.
What a great future we have! How undeniable and indelible is the saving power of Jesus! Praise God who loves us so much! We are loved beyond our comprehension! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withRevelation 3:7-13 – “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” What great news for the church in Philadelphia and also for us. The Lord is coming soon! Praise the Lord! Yes, Lord Jesus, Come soon! We look to the skies and cry to you “Come soon Lord!” We are blessed by the world you have given us, but this is not our home. Our home is with you. We long to live where you live. To see you with our eyes and to hug and hold you. That is what we long for. That is the hope of our lives. To live forever with you. To be led to the Father’s throne room and to be welcomed! Wow, to see the Father! Oh how overwhelmingly wonderful! The wonder and completeness of it is too much to grasp. It is too much to know in this frail body of flesh. With minds of limited capacity we can only wonder. With a heart that only knows earthly emotional range and ability, we are overwhelmed at just the thought, not to mention the actual event of seeing you. And then to see you for eternity. Oh praise You Father God! Praise you Jesus! Come soon Lord, our hearts long to see You, and for our homecoming. Oh for the joyous day. How marvelous! How wonderful! Oh to see Your return. Oh to be caught up to be with You. Oh to be brought Home and to know that our earthly struggles are over and to be where we have longed to be. To see what we have longed to see. Oh Lord God, most magnificent loving God! Come soon. Bring us Home. Come soon! We love you and long for you! As a child awaits the return of the father from a long business trip, we look out the windows, we open the door to scan the horizon, our hearts cannot rest till You come back to us. Oh Lord, we love You and long for You! Come soon Jesus, come soon!
Jesus has said that He is coming soon. The Word come means that He is coming, and also has a meaning of Him returning. Jesus has come to pay the full price for our sins. Now He is returning from where He left. When Jesus first came He was born in humble circumstances, few were aware of His arrival. His return will be very different. The first time He came to suffer and die for our sins. His return will be as the one who has conquered and has returned to judge. He comes back in power and revealing that He indeed is God. Mark 13:26 records the second coming of Jesus in this way “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Revelation 1:7 tells of the event “”Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.” Family, when He first came, the world did not notice and went about its business. When He returns, it will be known around the world. When He returns, the world will realize what matters most. What matters most is one’s relationship with Jesus. What is so wonderful, is we will be with Him when He arrives. The world judges and mocks us, they don’t understand what we believe or who we are in Christ. Then they will know then “1See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as He is (1 John 3:1-2).” Oh what a great day when those who have ridiculed the name of Jesus will see the folly of their thoughts and their heart. He appears in power and with His might in full display. Zechariah 14:4 “On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.” Family, now that is an entrance! And all of us will be there! Yes, come soon Lord Jesus! Praise God!
Jesus tells us to “Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” We all suffer heartache and disappointment. Some of us have a lifetime of it. We all sometimes suffer illness and injury. Again, some of us suffer a lifetime of it. Some, perhaps many, believe that no-one truly understands their suffering. Perhaps, but there is One who does. Jesus does and He is the one who offers us comfort (Matthew 11:28-20, Psalm 147:3). He comforts us now, and He offers the comfort of the future. Here He calls for us to hold on to what we have. Hold onto our faith. Hold onto to the peace we have in Him. Hold onto to the joy we have through Him. Hold onto the hope of His return. The hope of His return to bring us home, to wipe away all our tears, to make all well. In His words, “soon.” Galatians 6:9 says to us “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Jesus is giving a command. He is telling us to be strong, courageous and to tenaciously hold onto, with a grip like holding onto to a lifeline that keeps us from plunging to the rocks below, hold onto and do not let go of what we have.
Hold onto the victory crown. Family, we cannot hold onto what we do not have. Since He is telling us to hold onto it, we already have it. We have it when we came to know Jesus as our Savior and Lord. It is the crown of eternal life. Jesus put it on our head. Let not this world trouble us so that we weary of holding on what is eternally invaluable. Family, sometimes life is tough. Sometimes life seems overwhelming. At these times we must focus on the prize, eternal life with God, and hold onto what we have. We have the victory today. We are assured it for eternity. Family, let us do as Hebrews 12:1-3 calls us to do “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withRevelation 3:7-13 – “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.” Since, or because, they have kept the kept the Lord’s command to endure patiently (V8) the Lord gives them a great promise to embrace. They have been faithful to His Word and to His name. They have not backed down and succumbed to the pressures of the world to compromise with the Word of God. They have not failed to proclaim that Jesus is the only Messiah and there is no other (John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 John 2:5), He gave them another Word to cling to and be faithful to. Hasn’t Jesus said that those who are faithful in little things will be faithful in bigger things (Luke 16:10)? Now He tells them I have seen your faithfulness in all things, small and big, and so I give to you another Truth. Oh the Lord is gracious, considerate and grand! The Philadelphians had been enduring, had been faithful, through the persecutions, and now He rewards them when He plainly says that He will keep them from the coming great tribulation. This is a clear reference that the church will be raptured (For a brief explanation of the Rapture of the church, please see (https://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-of-the-church.html) before the great tribulation and will not have to endure it.
Concerning the letters to the seven churches listed here in Revelation 2 and 3, many believe that they are: 1) Written to a real church with real issues, real troubles and in need of real encouraging. The Lord is speaking to real churches. 2) They are letters that also apply to every church since the resurrection of Jesus. 3) Remembering that the letters were written to churches with believers who were going through these trials. The letters not only applied to the church in general, but to the individuals of the church. Furthermore, these words from Jesus are given to all His churches and to all His followers, since His resurrection until His return. 4) These letters are prophetic. It is asserted that, while applying to all churches during the history of the church, they also are representative of the church during certain periods of time: A) Ephesus – AD 33 – AD 100 B) Smyrna – AD 100 – AD 312 C) Pergamum – AD 313 – AD 600 D) Thyatira – AD 600 – AD 1517, and still existing today E) Sardis – AD 1517 – AD 1648 F) Philadelphia – AD 1648 – AD 1900 G) Laodicea – AD 1900 – present day. These dates represented: Ephesus – The Apostolic Church; Smyrna – The Church of the Roman Persecution; Pergamum – The Church of the Age of Constantine; Thyatira – The Church of the Dark Ages; Sardis – The Church of Reformation; Philadelphia – The Church of the Great Missionary Movement and Laodicea – The Church of Apostasy.
Why would the Lord tell this first century church that He would keep them from the great tribulation if they were not going to live to the time of it? It would seem clear that the Lord was speaking to the church that will be alive at the time of the start of the great tribulation. V10 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-9 point to a rapture of the church that occurs before the Antichrist is revealed, before the seven years of tribulation.
Family, throughout the Bible, when great devastation was coming, the Lord removed His own from among those for whom judgement was intended. He cleared out the Jews before the Red Sea closed, He took put Jonah in the ark before the flood, and He took Lot’s family out of Sodom before it was destroyed. Revelation 6:15-17 refers to the Great Tribulation as a time of God’s wrath. We, having been redeemed by Jesus and are not people upon whom God’s wrath will fall. When speaking of the end times, and our salvation, the Apostle Paul wrote that we are not to suffer the wrath of God “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9) This verse in amidst Him writing of end times (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). The Lord is clearly telling His church not to fear the seven years of tribulation. His wrath will be poured out on those who rebel against Him, not on His children. He is telling them that all of His own are safe from it. Family, we have nothing to fear. We belong to God. He is good all the time and in all He does. And He loves us. Always and forever, He love us. Let our comfort be in God. Our God is God and there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39, 1 Kings 8:60, Isaiah 45:18). Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob withRevelation 3:7-13 – “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—” Culture can be powerful in the lives of people. Family history, friends, tradition and religion can combine to be powerful influences. We may tend to think of culture as things that others have. That is our culture. We think that the things that we do are right and natural. We think we do what human beings naturally do, people from places other than where we are from, they do what they do because they learned it from their culture. Family, we all come from a culture. That culture is strong within us. We tend to believe our culture is right and is best. We tend to “hang around” people who have the same culture as us. “Birds of a feather flock together.” Here there were those who claimed to be Jews (those leaders who followed what man said was the Law rather than what God said was the Law) who utilized the culture Jewish Converts came from to draw them back. It is a powerful tool of God to keep people close to Him, and the devil counterfeits the tool to try to keep people from getting close to God, or to try to pry them loose from God. When involved in youth ministry, I remember a wonderful young man who came to the Lord. His family, who claimed Christianity, but knew little of it, did not understand the young man’s new relationship with Christ. What mattered to them was that their son, their brother, was now attending church in a different building than where they attended and, they know nothing of a personal relationship with God. They understood ritual and loyalty to an institution that has a history of preaching that their constituents must attend their services or are in danger of losing salvation (some would say it stronger, that those who stop attending their buildings will lose their salvation). The mother of the new Christian cried because this she did not understand him breaking from their culture. The elder brothers verbally and physically assaulted him. They chastised him. How could he leave the religion of his family, the religion of his ethnicity? They perceived him becoming a Christian as an insult to the family culture. Though this young man then, knowing the love of Jesus, actually loved his family all the more, they accused him of not loving the family by departing from the “religious” aspect of their culture.
The Jews were offended and threatened by those who no longer held to their beliefs. What they understood was that these who had been of their Jewish beliefs, were now those who believed that what they practiced was no longer blessed by God. These refused to move on from what was meant to lead them to Jesus, to Jesus Himself. They did not realize that Jesus did not come to replace their way of living, but to fulfill the promises that God had made for the Messiah to come to save them. They claimed to be searching and longing for the Messiah, but then they rejected Him. In rejecting Him they took a stand. They would continue in the law that was handed down to them, their tradition, and not receive what their ancestors (who were true Jews) had longed for and had hoped they would receive. By allowing tradition to rule they denied their ancestors. Even their deceased ancestors who now did not truly know God, would cry out to them to follow Jesus and be saved, and not wanting them to suffer as they then did (Luke 16:19-31). Of course, it was never true that all who called themselves Jews were in fact Jews. Just as it is true that not all who attend Christian services are true believers (Matthew 7:15-19). There have been many who claim Christianity with their words but opposed Christianity with their actions. Attendance does not mean ownership (Matthew 7:21-23). Those Jews who held to tradition and rejected Jesus, whom Jesus said of “who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars,” were telling the true Jews, who proved it by loving the Messiah Jesus, that they could no longer have the good part of their culture, family and friends. They were excommunicated from their temples (Ironically, the God they thought dwelled in their temple now actually lived in those very people they now rejected. Thus, as Jesus said, if they hated Him, they will hate those who are His [John 15:18-25].) The false Jews even threatened to ex-communicate any family or friend who continued to socialize with them. Culture has a strong pull. The Lord knows this. He rewards those who remain faithful (James 1:12). Praise God!
“I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.” Jesus said that those Jews who fought against those from among them who had become followers of Jesus, will one day fall down at the feet of those whom love the Lord and admit that indeed, they were serving a God that loved them. Then they will have no choice but to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and that Jesus loves those who left Jewish tradition to love the Him. Then the truth will be known (Philippians 2:9-11). The true Jews will see those who assaulted them humbled and professing the truth. That happens because followers of Christ are, in reality, the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). The Word of God says that all will one day kneel before Jesus and acknowledge that He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Since we are ever with Him, since we are His body, we shall see them drop down and make (at the time of judgement) a confession that tragically, they never made during their earthly life.
Family, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Every soul will one day do that. Either now and live forever in the love and peace of God. Or later, just before they are dragged off to Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15). That is reality. God said so. Pray and try to reach those who don’t know the Lord. Let us not only be a friend to each other, but to those outside of our “culture.” Let us love and be a friend to those outside the faith, but whom Jesus loved enough to die for. They have time to change while they live. Pray they do. We thank God for Him calling and enabling us to be able to come to Him and to walk with Him. We love our God and we profess that over our lives, He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is God. There is no other. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! We are His! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
by Bob with