Thoughts From the Bible

Read Revelation 2: 14-17 - People today have sometimes given God a personality that doesn’t necessarily fit with what is written in the Bible. People are wanting a god who is full of love with no consequences for any of our bad behavior. In this passage, we see something a little different. “Nevertheless, I have a few things against you; There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entire the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them, with the sword of my mouth. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who received it.” God has given us a book comp...

Read Revelation 2: 12-14 - How do you think you would feel if Jesus Christ told you how well you had done as a Christian? He did this to the church in Pergamum. Read this, “To the angel of the church Pergamum write: These are the words of Him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live, where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. you did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city, where Satan lives.” These Christians were living the Christian life in a place dominated by Satan. These Christians were committed to the cause of Christ and lived it in the face of so much horrible behavior around them. Is that a lot different from today? We have areas where we all live that are dominated by horrible behavior. Jesus would have us follow Him regardless. Many are working to live the good life pleasing to Jesus Christ and standing up against the horrible behavior swirling ...

  Read Revelation 2: 8-11 - Jesus had a message for the church, and it wasn’t necessarily something one might want to hear. In verses 9 and 10, “I know your afflictions and your poverty, yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you; the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” Jesus knew the new Christians of that time were going to continue to be persecuted but wanted the church to know they were still on the right path. We must know today that persecution is still part of being a Christian. Many see Christianity as a threat to their positions of power and control, so they work to eliminate or at least denigrate Christianity. Many Christians were killed last week in the Congo because they were Chr...

Read Revelation 2: 6-7- When you look at the practices of the Nicolaitans, you must wonder how they ventured away from the basic Jewish and now, Christian principles. They were condemned in these two verses because of their eating of food offered to idols and there is also some thought of illicit sex that may have been involved with the group. Jesus spoke directly against them for their deviating from basic principles, but he praised those who stood against those practices. “But you have this in your favor; you have the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” We also see Jesus reminding all of us of the great prize that awaits us by accepting Him. We need to make sure we are sincere in our decision to accept Christ in that we are accepting Him because of simply who He is, not for any ot...

Read Revelation 2: 3-5 - Jesus used John to provide a message to the churches and He started with this message. In verse 5 we read, “Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the work you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.” We can assume the Christians Jesus was addressing had gotten comfortable with their Christianity and were on cruise control. They may have had their routines and may have lost their initiative in spreading Jesus’ message to others. Jesus wanted to get their attention. If a person accepts Jesus as their Savior at an early age, the life of a Christian becomes a lifelong work. We are all being challenged to not pause in our service to God. The service may take on different shapes or methods, but our challenge is to continue to work and provide God’s message whenever and however we can. This is one key as to why being a Christian needs to be a way of life as well as a belief i...

Read Revelation 2:1-2 -  Ephesus was the first church Jesus wanted to give a message for their benefit. It is important for us to know how we are doing from time-to-time and Jesus is the one giving the assessment. He points out some of their good traits in verses 2 through 3, “ I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patients suffered for me without quitting.” These are all good things for us to remember today and to work to live out. Hard work , patient endurance, intolerance of evil people, discerning between those who would tell the truth and those who would like and persistence. There always seems to be something we can take from the Bible, no matter how small the passage.  

Revelation 1: 17-20- “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. but He laid His right hand on me and said, ‘ Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One. I died, but look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.’” John had been exiled to the island of Patmos, but he did not allow himself to be exiled from Jesus. Life could not have been easy exiled on an island during the 1 st century, but John used the situation he was in to advance God’s kingdom. John continued to stay focused on his mission in life. Jesus shared great things with John and John found a way in his predicament to convey them. We need to see this lesson and think about how we can apply it to our life today and in the situations we’re in now, not necessarily about where we will be in 5 to 10 years.