Peek at the Week

Reflecting on my posts from last week, here is a poem I wrote to bring everything together and hopefully help to to apply the main points: Love Will Lead As We Proceed.

I’ll be posting this week about Revelation 3 – 4 and try to answer these questions:

  1. How can we take instructions from God and do what needs to be done?
  2. How can we give God all the glory, honor, and thanks? 

Today is Memorial Day in the United States; a day when we honor those who have fought in war and lost their life. It is also a day we can honor God for the ultimate sacrifice of His Son on the cross; dying for the sins of humanity.

Image Source

I hope you each have a wonderful Memorial Day!

 

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The Passion of Christ’s Love

The passion of Christ’s love for us has such a subversive power that it destroys sin. This day with God, be reinvigorated with this power that gives hope and a promise of victory.

Here’s a video to help inspire the message: Show Me How to Love – Sidewalk Prophets.


Keep your love for one another at full strength, because love covers a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8

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Love Leads to the Pedestal of Victory

The ancient city in the western part of Turkey called Philadelphia is about 28 miles southeast of Sardis. It was named after the founder of the city, Attalus Philadelphia who was king of Pergamos. The name Philadelphia means brotherly love.

Christ commended the church there as recorded in Revelation 3:7-13 for their deeds, for keeping His Word, and for not denying His name. He promised to keep them from going through the trial that the whole world would go through; referring to the “tribulation”.

Those that entice others toward worldly rewards might try to seize our crown. To prevent such a loss, keep the gospel at hand and accept the Divine grace that makes us faithful. Keep growing in faith; becoming stronger and giving glory to God.

Love cares for others but power wants to use others for advantage. With Christ, we are made aware that we are loved beyond measure and we return this love unconditionally to others. This softens hearts to accept the gospel message.

The church at Philadelphia kept the command of Christ and patiently endured. This day with God, pray that we do the same and take advantage of the open door placed before us. Pray that we are inspired by the passion of Christ; who produced a power so revolutionary that it destroys sin. Pray that we are reinvigorated with this power that allows us to stand on the pedestal of victory.

Image Source – strivingtogether.com

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Give a Little Extra

In yesterday’s post Barely Hanging On, I wrote about how the church at Sardis was in decline. They needed to give a little extra to make good things happen. In our own lives today, that’s still a lesson we need to hear. 

What steps can you take to go the extra mile to solve a problem? One idea is to come up with questions that need answered. Another is to ask for directions or seek advice that may help. Below are examples of what giving a little extra can do: 

  • A commander of an Army was thought to be a total failure but he didn’t give up. His name was George Washington.
  • A company had some problems with their systems at first but then they came up with a new system. The system was Windows and the company was Microsoft.
  • Moses and Caleb rose to prominence and fulfilled God’s purpose after the age of 80
  • Jesus can change dark days into ones of joy and hope. That’s what He did for two of His followers on the road to Emmaus
  • At 211 degrees, water is hot but at 212 degrees, it’s boiling. Ask God to help find that little extra passion to make things happen.

Ask God to help you find that little extra today. Here is a video to inspire: Help Me Find It – Sidewalk Prophets.


So you must be brave. Don’t give up! God will honor you for obeying him. – 2 Chronicles 15:7

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Barely Hanging On

This is a picture of the ruins of the church at Sardis which is about 30 miles south of Thyatira in what is today the western part of Turkey. As explained in Revelation 3:1-6, the people of the church at Sardis were proud and looked good on the outside but not so good on the inside. They needed to reflect on their past, ask for forgiveness, and humbly follow the Lord.

There are many churches today that are very much like the one at Sardis. They talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. They seem to be barely hanging on, almost dead with very little good deeds. What is needed is a good self evaluation by asking the question: are we doing all that we can to keep ourselves spiritually growing and productive?

Sometimes we might think there is no hope but each day we wake up, we can still dream and believe because God’s love keeps flowing like a never ending stream. If we just hang in there and give it just a little extra, God can take it from there.

Image Source is from ministrytravels.blogspot.com/

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