Day 9
Scripture
focus: And to the angel of the church in Thyatira
write: “The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and
whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your works, your love and faith
and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls
herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual
immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but
she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a
sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great
tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children
dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart,
and I will give to each of you according to your works. But to the rest of you
in Thyatira, who do not hold to this teaching, who have not learned what some
call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other
burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who
keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,
and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in
pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will
give him the morning star. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says
to the churches.”
Revelation
2:18-28
Application: I don’t know about you, but
this passage seems to blur the lines between metaphor and literal prophesy.
There is debate on what much in the letter from John to the churches means, and
this section isn’t immune to that debate. Whether Jezebel is an actual woman in
the church, or symbolic. What it means when it says the one who conquers will
rule nations. What the morning star is the conquerors will receive. Instead of
glossing over passages such as this one or diving too deep into trying to
figure out the exact meaning behind each word, I think we are best served by
examining it from the perspective of the two questions we broached from the
beginning of this devotional:
Who is God?
How is God calling us to live?
These are two
of the most important questions we can ask in reference to scripture.
First of all,
I’d like to note once again Jesus starts off His message to this church with
the phrase, “I know….” He knows! When you are loving someone without that love
being returned, the Lord knows. When you are standing on your faith and your
stance isn’t appreciated, He knows. When you are serving and no one seems to
notice, He knows. When you endure hardships, trials, challenges, difficulties
with patience, He knows. When you grow in your relationship with God and
dedicate more time to God-glorifying works, He knows. You are never alone and
you are never unrecognized for your devotion to the Lord.
This knowing
of course also means that God sees our failures and faults. He sees if we tolerate
sin in our lives, families, or church. He knows if we stand idly by as Satan
corrupts members of the church or church teaching. He knows if we excuse,
ignore, or try to explain away sin. In a culture where people seem to ignore,
embrace, or harshly condemn sin, there seems to be a lack of bold speaking
truth in love. This is the case often within the church as much as without.
Sometimes, there is so much yelling at the lost world for being lost, saved
sinners slipping back into sin are missed. Let it not be of us!
We don’t want
to miss the glaring truth about God knowing our sin: He gives us time to
repent! God’s desire is that we surrender our hearts to be gutted by Him. To
turn from our sin and acceptance of it. To not withhold Him full access to search
our minds and hearts and transform them by His mercy, grace, and power.
Let each of us
be emboldened to love the Truth and love in truth as we speak the truth in
love.
Prayer: Father God, search my heart
and mind. Reveal to me any hidden sin. Any hidden fear. Any part of me I
haven’t surrendered to You. Clean me from the inside and help me to see myself
clearly through Your eyes. Reveal to me any sin in my home, my family, or my
church that I have accepted or turned a blind eye to. Guide me in cleansing
that sin from my life and how to confront others’ sin in truth and love. I
praise You for Your goodness, love, grace, mercy, and limitless power. How
great it is to think about absolute power controlled by absolute love! Holy,
holy, holy, are You, Lord God Almighty. All praise and honor and glory go to
You alone. May Your praise always be on my lips.
Reflection questions/prayer prompts:
What
is God revealing that I need to repent of?
How can I most effectively praise God today?
Is there sin in my church I’ve been ignoring?
Lord, help me hold fast to You today.
How can I cultivate an ear to hear God more
clearly?
God, thank You for sustaining me when I get
weary and or feel unrecognized/ unappreciated.
Lord God Almighty, embolden and empower me to
speak the truth in love.
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