8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 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. 10 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.
11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
I hear God telling me that my life situations will always be a “mixed bag” – some good things to celebrate and some hard things to struggle through. And that my spiritual health will also be mixed – doing good in some ways and not so good in others.
So I will, in my daily devotions, focus on how rich I am in Christ and seek the Spirit’s guidance on how to apply those resources so I can endure the difficulties and to repent of where I am failing to obey Jesus.
Lord, grant me the ability to apply Your riches to today’s challenges. Amen
Dean Honnette, Pastor
Hope Center Covenant Church – Pleasant Hill
Hallelujah the victory is mine! I’ve been sifted by the enemy the since a I received a challenging mid-year review back in October 2011.
For the last three months God has been showing me that how I am perceived or experienced has has do with how I allow His light to shine through me regardless of what I’m going through. This period of testing has made me ask the question of whether I still like the work that do for a living. The culmination of this period has eventually shown that my boss has his methods of motivation, which I now understand more that I did before.
God tell’s me from this passage that those who are His will always be sifted and tested, but Hallelujah I have already been made a victor!
My challenge is to be faithful, to keeping smiling no matter what is going on and to realize that I already have a rich inheritance in Christ Jesus.
I hear: “‘Do not be afraid…be faithful’ for I AM Faithful–you can trust Me.”
Father, today I surrender all to You. I trust You with my life, my will, my ambitions. I give them all to You, and I stand through the ‘ten days’ with my eyes fixed on “the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.” May You grant fullness of life and health to those whom we minister to in service today. Amen.
I too am focusing on trust today. We do not always get what we want in this life. But we must still be faithful. There is so much we do not, and cannot understand. We need to trust God. He is in control and is definately in a better position to be in control than me. I am going to have an awkward / difficult discussion with my boys tonight. This passage says to me that I should not only trust God in what I say, but have my conversation focus on how we can trust God.
Today I hear God has made me rich in spirit. I have all the joy and peace through Jesus and need nothing else. And despite everything I have gone through or will go through God tells me not to be afraid and just to focus on him. So today I will walk knowing that I have everything I need through Christ.
Great word Ara. I have everything I need through Christ! I am rich–I have a full inheritance in Him.
I hear two things: You are rich! And, more importantly, this is the one time when it is ok to throw good money after bad. God wants me to take the riches He’s given me and apply them in those difficult, faith-deficient areas of my life, those places I don’t trust God to work in.
Like Ray, I have a difficult boss and what bothers me most is my reaction to the daily difficulties that result. I get frustrated, angry, and I don’t trust God enough to let go of that. So here is where I need to bring those riches and trust God more. This coming week will be difficult, for various reasons, but I know this is my opportunity to trust more and bring the riches of Christ to bear.
I hear the word saying to me today that when I face difficult situations I need to trust God to see me through instead of getting angry and frustrated, which I find myself sometimes doing at work. I will pray for strength to focus on Jesus more and know that we are more than conquerors through Him.
I am hearing that the devil may test me but if I remain faithful all will be ok.
Today i will be aware of the things around me and in my mind that might not be the guidence of God and hold my feet steadfast towards my Father. I will not be discouraged but be encouraged by the Authority faith in my father gives.
“Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown” My wife and I just watched the movie “Of Gods and Men” a wonderfully intense movie that is based around the true story of a monestary in Algeria and WOW! what a study in this verse. I will join Pastor Dean in focusing “… on how rich I am in Christ” – We are so very fortunate.