Change, Discipline, Encouragement, Faith, God's Plan, Guidance, Obedience, Perseverence, Relationship to Christ, Righteousness, Temptation, Witnessing

Wake Up!

The church of Sardis is one of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. God has some hard things to say about that church. “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” (Revelation 3:2 KJV) The English Standard Version (ESV) says, “ Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.” God gives us wake-up calls occasionally, just like He did for the church of Sardis.

My KJV study Bible states in the notes that the city of Sardis was an ancient capital that was rich and powerful. “The glory of the city of Sardis was mostly in the past, so the church there was now virtually dead in spirit and works, which is representative of dead orthodoxy.” God tells them that they had incomplete works. He tells them “Wake up!” There was still a remnant that was found worthy, and God calls them to” strengthen what remains” and to remember sound teaching given by the apostles, to hold fast and repent of the dead state into which they had allowed themselves to fall. In essence, they fell asleep and were not on guard, and they began to become careless in their faith.

This was something the Sardinian church understood very well because the city, located on top of a mountain with only one entrance that needed to be guarded, was overtaken twice because the guards fell asleep and were careless. God warns that we are to Spiritually stay awake, and be like the watchman of the city, guarding it from attack. “For thus the Lord said to me: ‘Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees.’” (Isaiah 21:6 ESV)  

My husband is in the process of writing a commentary on Revelation, and he has allowed me to quote some of his thoughts on this verse. “This church is Spiritually dead. As such it was failing to fulfil God’s willed destiny. (I have not found what you are doing satisfactory in symbolism.) The Lord began teaching them to Spiritually wake up (arise from the dead) and help others Spiritually (reestablish the rest of all that is ready to die in symbolism). The Lord warned them to be watchful.”

We are to be alert and protect our faith from attack by the enemy. The Bible tells us that Satan is always looking to find a way to distract us and draw us away from our faith, and we are to be ever watching. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” ( 1 Peter 5:8 NIV) He’s fine with us going to church, singing in the choir, and such, but when we begin to take our faith seriously, and we begin to make an impact on others, that’s when he gets worried.

Our actions also show how alert we are. It is somewhat like what God told the church in Ephesus, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works;” (Revelation 2:5 KJV)  When we allow apathy to take us away from what God calls us to do, we become ineffective witnesses for Him.  

When we turn away from our first love (Revelation 2:4), and we begin living in a state of Spiritual death, that is when we need to wake up, take stock of where we are in our faith, and repent.

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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