“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1).

The Lord knows where He is taking His church.  He created us and died so that we might become like Christ.  Do you think you are finished?  Do you think you have no more work?  Many seem to think so, but it is not true.  Jesus said, “Be perfect even as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”  Are you complete?  When you are looking Jesus in the eye, you can ask Him.  Until then, there is work to be done.

Lord, I do get lazy and settle for what is not yet complete.  Help me dear Lord to not settle, but to continue to fight the good fight and run the race.  Help me to discover true life so that I may grow in Your likeness and journey the path before me in Your light.  Night is coming when no man can work.  Let me not waste time on things that do not matter, but stay alert, watching and growing.

Lord Jesus, help me to not resist what You are saying to the churches.  Guide me in Your goodness to know that only in You, by Your grace, and with Your help can I do these things.  Until You say I am complete, guide me to run the race of faith with perseverance and do what You give me to do.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way You know I need to go and help me hold fast to You and Your promise.  Amen.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:29).

I have known deaf people who hear more clearly that those we call hearing.  Our Lord desires that we grow in wisdom and understanding.  Open your heart and let the word of our Lord dwell in you.  The world’s spirit is screaming.  The gracious voice of the Spirit is always speaking.  Listen, hear, and walk by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Be led by the Lord and not by this world.

The world raises up causes.  Which cause will be your cause?  The author of life gives life and calls us to come to Him and live with and in Him.  Which path will you walk?  Each day this dichotomy is set before us.  Each day we can walk one way or another.  The Lord desires to create in us a new and clean heart that hears the Spirit and walks anew in the truth of the ages.

Lord Jesus, I cannot do this on my own.  I need Your Spirit to guide me in and through all things.  Help me to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and callous to the voice of this age.  Lead me where You will and help me to always be attune to Your guidance and direction.  You have spoken and You are speaking.  Guide me in the upward heavenly call to be with You where, with the Father and the Holy Spirit You reign now and forever.  Amen.

He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star” (Revelation 3:26-28).

What is it that God is creating?  We shall see.  What are all of these promises given to those who endure?  We shall see.  Who is it that is making these promises?  The One through whom all things have their being.  What is the bottom line?  Trust the Lord and be guided by your Maker.  You are the clay and He is the potter.  He will do what He will do.  Will you praise the Lord of all creation?

Lord, my heart needs eyes to see and ears to hear.  This world is in such a fog and so full of noise that each day seems no different that any other.  Through this, You have come giving the Good News of the Gospel.  Help me to cling to You and flee from all of the foolish doubts of this age.  Let me abide in Your goodness and mercy so that You may richly abide in me.  Lead me where You will and for Your sake.

Lord Jesus, all authority has been granted You.  This world operates as if it had authority and power.  Only in You is there hope, for all authority and power belong to You.  Guide me Lord knowing these things so that I do not strive for what is not mine, nor never will be.  Teach me how to be obedient in all things.  Lead me in Your goodness to see through the fog of this age and learn how to hold fast to the hope You give me.  Amen.

“Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come” (Revelation 2:25).

Many times in Scripture it tells us to hold fast, stand firm, or be unmoved by the things of this world.  We are not to be reactive, but know that the Lord of all creation knows exactly how things are going to turn out in every situation.  Replace every moment of doubt when you say, “Where are You Lord,” with,” “Lord, you are the ever-present support in time of need.”  The Lord is faithful.

Lord, I need to learn how to be faithful as You are faithful.  So much of what I call my faith is so conditional.  Guide me to learn from You how to endure all things for the sake of the unshakable hope You have given me by grace through faith.  Lead me so that I may walk this life in faith and live according to all the You have promised.  In You is all hope.  Teach me to hold fast always.

Lord Jesus, You marched intentionally to the cross in order to free us from sin and death.  Guide me in the way of grace that You have established so that I may truly stand firm and hold fast to Your never-changing word of truth.  Lead me this day and grow me to be more like You.  Implant in me faithfulness and a stalwart spirit that is unbending no matter what hot wind of this age is blowing.  Amen.

“But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them – I place no other burden on you” (Revelation 2:24).

Whenever you are told of the deep things, be wary.  The Lord has spoken plainly.  There have always been those who, in the guise of truth, but actually masking pride, think they have some special revelation.  Anyone who preaches anything other that Christ crucified, resurrected, and ascended may be suspect.  The Gospel is about Christ and nothing else.  The other fluff is of Satan.

Lord, grant that I would have discerning ears to hear as You speak.  Grant me a mind that understands.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of truth so that I may now and forever be guided by You alone.  Help me overcome the insanity of this world.  Lead me always into Your arms of mercy and grace.  Let me rest in You, having taken up my cross and following You with Your yoke and burden.

Lord of heaven and earth, You are speaking words of warning for all who will receive Your message.  Help me to hear Your word simply and reflect what I hear with my life.  Guide me this day in Your goodness and mercy to humbly and willingly do those things You give me to do.  Keep me from the false teachings of this world so that the pure Gospel would be proclaimed through me.  Lead me Lord and help me to always follow You alone.  Amen.

“And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds” (Revelation 2:23).

Do you think of this literally?  Sometimes this has been the case, but other times it is what happens to the fellowship spiritually.  How many congregations have been filled with pestilence?  How many have become irrelevant because they are distracted from the main thing; which is Jesus.  Our deeds compound and whether or not we are following Jesus is the real point of it all.  Follow Jesus!

Lord, I do tolerate things in my midst because I think it is about me.  It is not.  It is about You.  Guide me Lord, no matter the cost. To be led by You in all things.  Help me to stand firm so that I am not bent in the wind by all of the Jezebels in this world.  Guard my mind and heart and help me to be a guard for the minds and hearts of others who are being led astray by those who are not looking to You.

Lord Jesus, You are the Savior.  You are the One who has accomplished all that is needed.  Lord, You are the Alpha and Omega.  These words are true and will come to pass as You have spoken them.  You love Your church enough to do all that is needed.  Help me dear Lord to live with Your leadership and be guided where You would have me go.  Lead me Lord and help me to always follow You.

“Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds” (Revelation 2:22).

When it is bad, the only thing you can do is remove the one who is causing the trouble from your midst.  We don’t do that in our age and so congregations die off.  If they won’t repent, then you repent of them in your midst.  Being nice may make it seem like things are going smoothly, but if you ignore the Lord, He loves His church too much to not deal with the situation  appropriately and for their sake as well.

A junkie gets high to forget his pain.  He looks in the refrigerator and there is no food, so he gets high.  When he sobers up, he realizes that while he was high, someone stole the fridge.  Looking the other way at unholiness will only make matters worse.  If you are a part of an unrepentant fellowship, then find another.  If you are a leader, do not tolerate a Jezebel in your midst.

Lord Jesus, help me to take these things seriously.  One who is unrepentant is temporary.  You are forever.  Guide me, Lord, in the right way of living and thinking so that I live according to Your Word and walk in the way You would have me walk.  Guide me in Your goodness to see things from Your perspective and to act on them as You would have me act.  Guide me, Lord, always and open my ears to hear and obey.  Amen.

 “I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality” (Revelation 2:21).

The Lord is gracious, kind, and slow to anger, but there is a limit.  The Jezebel effect exists.  What is it?  One (or more than one) who move away from the truth, pull the strings, and serve themselves.  The Lord is not first, they are.  This happens all the time right under the nose of folk who look the other way.  Either it is you or it is the Lord.  There can be no compromise between the two.

Too often, we think of immorality as some gross misconduct and not what, in our society, has become common place behavior.  Bearing false witness, whether it is a gross lie, or a untruthfulness, to misdirect is an equal offense in the Lord’s eyes.  Manipulating others is a sin.  The Lord will settle for nothing less that our complete righteousness.  One drop of poison pollutes the whole well.

Lord Jesus, I would not tolerate one drop of scat in my food, yet I allow all kinds of evil to dwell in me and in those around me without a thought.  Help me to see that You have come to make me pure, completely pure.  Guide me, Lord, in the way of purity so that I may grow into the life for which You died.  Let me not compromise but set my course to be wholly Yours now and forever.  Amen.

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols” (Revelation 2:20).

She considers herself empowered and the sheep believe it.  This has played out over and over as the false teachers ply their lies.  “But we love them and they’ve been here forever!”  That’s the mantra.  When will the church learn to hold fast to Jesus and only Jesus?  In Him alone do You have truth and life.  All others are fallen and in rebellion, needing what only Jesus can give.  This is not offensive, this is truth.

Lord, what a mixed-up world this is.  We are nice to wicked ones, but do not care that You have said: “then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart”.  We do not want to offend and so we offend everyone.  We tolerate garbage and smile.  Time tells that eventually we go the way of the spewed lies.  Lord, free me from this insanity to have eyes that see and ears that hear so that I may learn how to faithfully walk the way of righteousness.

Lord Jesus, You know what I am talking about.  It is what You are saying here.  Help me to speak the truth even if someone is offended.  Help me, when it is mine to do so, to not tolerate those in this world who induce others to go astray.  Please, Lord, never let me be one of them.  Guide me so that I live a life that is moral and pure.  Guide me in the way I should live, think, reason, and act.  Amen.

“I know your deeds, and your love, faith, service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first” (Revelation 2:19).

It is not a bad thing to work hard, but we cannot work our salvation.  When one begins a journey of doing it on their own, they increasingly focus upon the self.  Is it not pride which brought down the devil?  Are we not under the cloud of pride which has wreaked havoc upon this world?  Do not be proud of your good works but do continue to work out your salvation by resisting the devil, being contrite, repenting and looking to the Lord.

Lord, there are traps every direction I turn.  Help me, I pray, to see reality and truth.  I am saved by Your grace.  I need to be saved.  Guide me, Lord, along the narrow path of salvation so that I may continue to do what You give me to do.  Lead me through all obstacles so that I may grow in the likeness of Christ and daily be strengthened by the grace I need to persevere in this world of sin.

Thank You, Jesus, for standing before me and confronting my sin.  Help me to be quick to repent and willing to amend those actions of mine which are not in accord with the Father’s will.  Lead me through all difficulty so that I may overcome this age of rebellion.  Help me to heed Your warnings and yes, work hard, but better still, listen carefully to all that You say and then, obey.  Amen.