“And unto the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I councel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches”
We live in a busy world. A world ruled by the quest to attain success and superiority; almost at all costs. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is sometimes easy to get carried away with the hustle and bustle of the affairs of life and forget the true purpose of our presence on this earth; to do and accomplish the will of the Lord for our lives.
It is also quite easy to “wax cold” in our love for the Lord and for his work. Almost unconsciously, we begin to place work, family and in general things that actually are important before He that is most important. I believe that the Lord is calling us back to him; to his feet. I believe he is calling us to spend time before him in worship and loving adoration, forgetting the cares and troubles of the world. It is time for us to heed that call.
If we get carried away with the affairs of this life; which are important but not to be placed before our God, there is the tendency for us to believe we have all we need. We begin to say in our hearts: “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”, without realizing that there is nothing we have received that was not given to us by the Lord in the first place (1 Corinthians 4:7). In Revelations chapter 3, the Lord called this mindset and spiritual attitude an attitude of being lukewarm (vs. 16). He also went on to point out to the Church of the Laodiceans that not only were they not rich and in lack of nothing but that they were infact wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked! What a most pitiable state to ignorantly live in.
Today, as the Lord did about two thousand years ago through John the Apostle, I perceive that the Lord would counsel us to buy from him Gold that has been tried in the fire, i.e. the Word of God revealed by his Spirit, white raiment for clothing and to cover our nakedness i.e. the righteousness that comes through faith in him and not by our works or self righteousness and for us to anoint our eyes with eye ointment so we can see i.e. surrender to him and to his corrections so we can see our wrongs, be washed by his blood and receive his direction (vs. 18).
We must repent from the pride of our hearts. We must repent of this pride and self righteousness and cry unto the Lord for forgiveness; then the Lord will have mercy on us (Joel 2:17-18). Regardless of who we are, our social or economic positions or even the level of our education, we must come before his presence in humility and reverence of his person. Only then will he accept us into his presence (Isaiah 57:15).
We must never become so proud as to think that we have all we need, wanting nothing. If we have everything else in the world and do not have him, we have nothing. Please say this prayer of repentance with me:
Dear Lord, I see my fault. I see how I have sought to live my life without you and the leading of your Spirit. I am sorry for thinking in my heart that I am in need of nothing when in fact I was wretched. I ask for your forgiveness and the cleansing of your blood. Help me buy the pure Gold of your Word, tried in the fire. Help me buy white clothing to cover my nakedness and anoint my eyes with eye ointment that my eyes may be open indeed to your Word and direction. I ask this humbly, in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen
I Know thy Works
Posted by davidluiz in Featured, Messages
Revelations 3:14-21 - Click to Read
We live in a busy world. A world ruled by the quest to attain success and superiority; almost at all costs. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is sometimes easy to get carried away with the hustle and bustle of the affairs of life and forget the true purpose of our presence on this earth; to do and accomplish the will of the Lord for our lives.
It is also quite easy to “wax cold” in our love for the Lord and for his work. Almost unconsciously, we begin to place work, family and in general things that actually are important before He that is most important. I believe that the Lord is calling us back to him; to his feet. I believe he is calling us to spend time before him in worship and loving adoration, forgetting the cares and troubles of the world. It is time for us to heed that call.
If we get carried away with the affairs of this life; which are important but not to be placed before our God, there is the tendency for us to believe we have all we need. We begin to say in our hearts: “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”, without realizing that there is nothing we have received that was not given to us by the Lord in the first place (1 Corinthians 4:7). In Revelations chapter 3, the Lord called this mindset and spiritual attitude an attitude of being lukewarm (vs. 16). He also went on to point out to the Church of the Laodiceans that not only were they not rich and in lack of nothing but that they were infact wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked! What a most pitiable state to ignorantly live in.
Today, as the Lord did about two thousand years ago through John the Apostle, I perceive that the Lord would counsel us to buy from him Gold that has been tried in the fire, i.e. the Word of God revealed by his Spirit, white raiment for clothing and to cover our nakedness i.e. the righteousness that comes through faith in him and not by our works or self righteousness and for us to anoint our eyes with eye ointment so we can see i.e. surrender to him and to his corrections so we can see our wrongs, be washed by his blood and receive his direction (vs. 18).
We must repent from the pride of our hearts. We must repent of this pride and self righteousness and cry unto the Lord for forgiveness; then the Lord will have mercy on us (Joel 2:17-18). Regardless of who we are, our social or economic positions or even the level of our education, we must come before his presence in humility and reverence of his person. Only then will he accept us into his presence (Isaiah 57:15).
We must never become so proud as to think that we have all we need, wanting nothing. If we have everything else in the world and do not have him, we have nothing. Please say this prayer of repentance with me:
Dear Lord, I see my fault. I see how I have sought to live my life without you and the leading of your Spirit. I am sorry for thinking in my heart that I am in need of nothing when in fact I was wretched. I ask for your forgiveness and the cleansing of your blood. Help me buy the pure Gold of your Word, tried in the fire. Help me buy white clothing to cover my nakedness and anoint my eyes with eye ointment that my eyes may be open indeed to your Word and direction. I ask this humbly, in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen