Tag Archive for Revelation 2:1-7

Morning Star

2018-03-22 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn One comment

A prayer response to Revelation 2:18-29,
Christ’s letter to the church in Thyatira.

Father, You are holy –
completely right,
always just,
pure from all sin.

We are weak and
engulfed by an evil world pressing in all around us,
with a wickedness both
brazen and
seductive.

Yet You call us to be holy as You are holy,
right now,
in this sinful place,
in all our weakness.
How, Father?

Your holy Son Jesus offers us His holiness –
Your holiness –
moment by moment,
need by need,
as we simply trust Him.

Does that make us perfect?
Certainly not.
But Holy Father, You always deliver everyone who
calls to You and
trusts You.
Always.
Everyone.

What is more, Father,
in this darkness,
with sin and death filling the night around us,
You have given us the Morning Star.
He has already risen in our hearts,
promising that a new, eternal day is about to dawn.
Soon sin and death will never again darken
our world or
our hearts.
He is shining in us and among us right now.

Praise to You, Father God!
Praise to You, Lord Jesus, the Light of the World!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Jesus, the Light of the World
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Have You Lost Your First Love?

2018-03-01 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 2:4-7,
Christ’s letter to the church in Ephesus.

Nothing is as vital as having
a warm, active, loving, self-giving relationship
with God and
with His children.
Nothing!

Has your relationship cooled?
Have you lost your first love?
Is your love for God and for others as
warm,
natural, and
joyful
as it was at the beginning?

If not, follow Christ’s own words for restoring your love:

Remember the way your love was at the beginning.
Realize how you’ve changed,
and not for the better.
Realize what you’ve lost.

Repent.
Admit that you have been wrong.
Focus on what you have done wrong,
not on what they have done wrong.
Ask forgiveness,
from God and from the other people involved.
Commit to change, with God’s help.

Do the loving deeds you did at first.
Love is not an emotion,
to be chased like the wind.
Love is a decision.
Love is a commitment.
Love is action.
Do the loving deeds you did at the beginning, and
the emotion will return in its own time.

Love is the most excellent way to live.
Never let it slip away.
Treasure love.
Pursue love.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Daily Confession
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics