Day 259: Message to the Churches

Revelation 2; Nehemiah 3; Psalm 97

To each of these churches addressed in chapter 2, there is a warning that I believe is important for us today. We should make sure we live with love, we don't need to worry about how we will suffer, and we need to be careful of false teachings and immoral teachers. Some of these churches were doing things fairly well, they were remaining true to The Lord or were suffering with faith, perhaps they were serving with love, but The Lord wanted them to be even more devoted, more like his son. What is interesting, that I hadn't noticed before, is that to each of these churches, he says "whoever wins the victory" he will provide or present them with something. In order to have a victory, there must have been some type of struggle or battle. So living as a believer is a battle against our sinful nature and against the dark forces of this world. How do we do fight and what do we win? We fight by being faithful and hopeful, by loving and seeking the truth. God promises that we will have eternal life, we won't be hurt by the final judgment, and we will be given power. As a part of the Church of The Lord, we need to seek following these commands, to love, to endure, and to seek truth, so that on that day of judgment, God will be able to say that we won the victory.

In Nehemiah, each of the workers had a job, a section, to complete. Most of them did their job and so the wall gets built. This image works for us today. God has given us each a section of the wall to build, so to speak. He doesn't say, ok, you need to build it all, or you can just sit and watch. Each of us has a specific purpose and place we are to love and serve in. If we don't do that, God will still ensure that the work he has commissioned gets done--he's God. But we miss out on being a part of the process and blessings that come with being a part of the project of furthering God's kingdom.

I love the ending of this psalm: "Love The Lord and hate evil! God protects his loyal people and rescues them from violence. If you obey and do right, a light will show you the way and fill you with happiness." Such a wonderful promise!