{"id":657,"date":"2017-11-01T06:03:54","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T14:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=657"},"modified":"2017-11-01T06:03:54","modified_gmt":"2017-11-01T14:03:54","slug":"devotion-revelation-41-11-letters-to-the-seven-churches-laodicea-part-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=657","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Revelation 4:1-11 Letters To The Seven Churches, Laodicea Part 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Revelation 3:14-22\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/sup><\/b>\u201cTo the angel of the church in Laodicea\u00a0write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness,\u00a0the ruler of God\u2019s creation.<\/span>\u00a015\u00a0I know your deeds,\u00a0that you are neither cold nor hot.\u00a0I wish you were either one or the other!<\/span>\u00a016\u00a0So, because you are lukewarm\u2014neither hot nor cold\u2014I am about to spit you out of my mouth.<\/span>\u00a017\u00a0You say, \u2018I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.\u2019\u00a0But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.<\/span>\u00a018\u00a0I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire,\u00a0so you can become rich; and white clothes\u00a0to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness;\u00a0and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19\u00a0Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.\u00a0So be earnest and repent.<\/span>\u00a020\u00a0Here I am! I stand at the door\u00a0and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,\u00a0I will come in\u00a0and eat with that person, and they with me. 21\u00a0To the one who is victorious,\u00a0I will give the right to sit with me on my throne,\u00a0just as I was victorious\u00a0and sat down with my Father on his throne.<\/span>\u00a022\u00a0Whoever has ears, let them hear\u00a0what the Spirit says to the churches.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cHere I am! I stand at the door\u00a0and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,\u00a0I will come in\u00a0and eat with that person, and they with me<\/span>.\u201d As much as this verse is used during evangelism, the context of the verse is not really calling people to respond to the Gospel message as first time converts, but believers to repentance.\u00a0 However, if considered, using it for evangelism does offer a valid picture of God calling out to the unredeemed to join Him in intimate eternal fellowship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t this verse grand!\u00a0 This church is the only one of the seven that did not get praised for anything.\u00a0 Obviously these have been believers as they are called a church.\u00a0 They have a lampstand that is only given to one of Jesus\u2019 churches.\u00a0 But we have seen that their paltry passion and dead deeds have made them an emetic to the Lord.\u00a0 Yet, the Lord offers to give them \u201cgold refined in the fire\u201d so that they can become rich in the Spirit once more. Jesus is offering hope.\u00a0 This is nothing new.\u00a0 Was not Cain offered hope when sin was overwhelming Him (Genesis 4:5-7<\/b>)?\u00a0 Hasn\u2019t God always loved Israel, and though the sins of it are egregious and many, His love for them remains and He continues to reach out for them to return to Him (Romans 11:1-2, 11, 23, 25-27, Jeremiah 31<\/b>).\u00a0 One day, soon, they will mourn over their previous rejection of their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10<\/b>) serve Him with great passion and zeal (Revelation 7:1-8<\/b>).\u00a0 Praise God whose love persists and overcomes all challenges (Jeremiah 31:3<\/b>)!\u00a0 Praise God (<\/span>Psalm 150:6<\/b>)!\u00a0 As He has persisted with Israel, so He persisted with the Laodicean church, and so He persists with us. \u00a0Even today the Lord calls those whose love has grown lukewarm and whose ministry and works have become mechanical, to repent and be fully received (Joel 2:12-13<\/b>).\u00a0 He is saying to all such people, repent, persist, and return to love and you will be right where you were (Hebrews 8:12, Isaiah 43:25, Deuteronomy 4:29, 30:2-3, Psalm 51:10<\/b>).\u00a0 Your seat at the family dining table is still reserved for you. Praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

Notice that Jesus is knocking on their door.\u00a0 As the case always is, we are prone to wander and when we do, it is not us that return and knock on His door, but He that pursues us and knocks on our door.\u00a0 Salvation begins with God, is with God, and remains with God.\u00a0 He is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2<\/b>).\u00a0 Oh how He loves us!\u00a0 Glory, honor and praise to God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit!\u00a0 Praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c21\u00a0To the one who is victorious,\u00a0I will give the right to sit with me on my throne,\u00a0just as I was victorious\u00a0and sat down with my Father on his throne.<\/span>\u201d\u00a0 Not only does the Lord pursue us and knock on the door in hopes that we will open it so He can restore the relationship, but He restores the relationship wholly and completely.\u00a0 After repentance we find ourselves right where we were when first serving Him with great passion, zeal and love.\u00a0 Our sins are nowhere to be found or remembered (Psalm 103:8-12<\/b>).\u00a0 Instead, we are invited to share with Him in ruling His Kingdom.\u00a0 His victory, that we did nothing to help with, He has shared with us and gives us the opportunity to be with Him and see the Father.\u00a0 Oh my, we are loved infinitely more that we deserve!\u00a0 Praise our God who is so good and so loving.\u00a0 Praise our God who is so good and so loving to us!\u00a0 Praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever has ears, let them hear\u00a0what the Spirit says to the churches<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0 Again, He is speaking to all of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

We may find it disconcerting, even frightening that the Laodicean church is representative of End Time churches, which we are, but as Jesus showed His great love for the Laodiceans, so He shows it for us.\u00a0 He offers His hand to the one who has pulled away, and He offers evidence of His great love for all of us.\u00a0 All this means that we should cling to God, or if we have been running away, we should return to Him (Luke 15:11-32<\/b>).\u00a0 He is knocking on the door wanting to come back into the heart of the backslidden to return Him to full restoration and peace with God.\u00a0 Our God is incredible beyond human explanation.\u00a0 May we be always grateful, and ever stoking the fires of our love for God, who saves us and loves us with an everlasting love ever loves and saves us (Psalm 103:7<\/b>).\u00a0 Praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0– But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Revelation 3:14-22\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTo the angel of the church in Laodicea\u00a0write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness,\u00a0the ruler of God\u2019s creation.\u00a015\u00a0I know your deeds,\u00a0that you are neither cold nor hot.\u00a0I wish you were either one or the other!\u00a016\u00a0So, because you are lukewarm\u2014neither hot nor cold\u2014I am about to spit you out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[1872,1865,104,99,106,94,17,711,10,874],"class_list":["post-657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-deuteronomy","tag-genesis","tag-hebrews","tag-jeremiah","tag-luke","tag-micah","tag-psalm","tag-revelation","tag-romans","tag-zechariah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":658,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions\/658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}