Do You Know What I Am Saying? Revelation 1-3

““Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”” (Revelation 3:22, NLT)  

Christ is radiantly glorious and victorious.  He is sovereign and supreme over all.   His Spirit has a message to the churches.  We live amongst false doctrine and persecution.   We also live with dedicated and faithful Christians.  We live with cold and casual Christianity.  We are called to repent, remain faithful.

The picture is radically normal! It is earth-shakenly average.  It's a picture of the 21st Century.  Nothing the Spirit says is a surprise. This is Christianity in the midst of a world where Christ rules in the midst of His enemies.  The message is "deal with it."   Deal with the false; deal with the nominal Christians; deal with the opposition; deal with the encouragement.  How?  Persevere and remain faithful.

Accept the world as it is and not as you wish it was.  Christ is on the throne.  Deal with it. 

Sometimes we picture the situation in extremes.  We make the Church appear to be too apostate or too triumphant.  We make the world to be the enemy instead of the false nominalism within the Church -- and vice versa.  Sometimes the enemy is neither -- its in me; in you.  This is the world -- a mixed bag of good and bad.  We are called to respond in faithfulness to the Voice of the Holy Spirit.

Lord help me face this very normal, average day, expecting that I will face all realms of possibility: some great, some horrid.  Lord help me face this day knowing that You are sovereign and supreme.  I can trust you to enable me to be faithful and persevere.   I can.  That's what you are saying to the Churches!