Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Remember the seven letters Jesus had John write to the seven churches in Asia Minor? They still have a lot to say to us if we listen.
Scripture
Revelation 2:1-7
The One: Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Ephesus. “These are the words of the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks and moves among the golden lampstands:
“I know your deeds, your tireless labor, and your patient endurance. I know you do not tolerate those who do evil. Furthermore, you have diligently tested those who claim to be emissaries, and you have found that they are not true witnesses. You have correctly found them to be false. I know you are patiently enduring and holding firm on behalf of My name. You have not become faint.
“However, I have this against you: you have abandoned your first love. Do you remember what it was like before you fell? It’s time to rethink and change your ways; go back to how you first acted. However, if you do not return, I will come quickly and personally remove your lampstand from its place. But you do have this to your credit: you despise the deeds of the Nicolaitans and how they concede to evil. I also hate what they do.
“Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches. I will allow the one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death to eat from the tree of life found in God’s lush paradise.”
Devotional
The seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor raise lots of questions today about the stability of those churches
Only one was left unscathed by Jesus’ remarks
All the others were condemned for something they did or failed to do in the course of their daily activities
All but one also had at least one redeeming quality
The order of the letters might be in the order they might be visited if you took a trip to see all of them on a journey in those days
Every letter also points to characteristics Christians today exhibit and should avoid
The first letter written to Ephesus
Know your deeds
Tireless labor
Patient endurance
Do not tolerate evil, or those who do evil
You abandoned your first love
Became legalistic in examination of the deeds of others
Rethink your ways
Remember how you felt when you first received grace and mercy
Go back to those days
Go back to how you first acted
Love each other and share the message
Demonstrate the joy of the Lord
Don’t fail to mix grace with justice
Listen, follow what the spirit proclaims, there is a reward at the end
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Acts 20:13-38 13 Again Paul wanted us to split up. He wanted to go by land by himself while we went by ship to Assos. 14 There he came on board with us, and we sailed on to Mitylene. 15 From there we sailed near Chios, passing by it the next day, docking briefly at Samos the day after that, then arriving at Miletus the following day. 16 This route kept us safely out of Ephesus and didn’t require Paul to spend any time at all in Asia, since he wanted to arrive in Jerusalem quickly—before Pentecost, he hoped.
17 In Miletus he sent word to the church in Ephesus, asking the elders to come down to meet with him. 18 When they arrived, he talked with them.
Paul: We will have many memories of our time together in Ephesus; but of all the memories, most of all I want you to remember my way of life. From the first day I arrived in Asia, 19 I served the Lord with humility and tears, patiently enduring the many trials that came my way through the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 I did everything I could to help you; I held nothing back. I taught you publicly, and I taught you in your homes. 21 I told everyone the same message—Jews and Greeks alike—that we must turn toward God and have faith in our Lord Jesus the Anointed. 22 Now I feel that the Holy Spirit has taken me captive. I am being led to Jerusalem. My future is uncertain, 23 but I know—the Holy Spirit has told me—that everywhere I go from now on, I will find imprisonment and persecution waiting for me. 24 But that’s OK. That’s no tragedy for me because I don’t cling to my life for my own sake. The only value I place on my life is that I may finish my race, that I may fulfill the ministry that Jesus our King has given me, that I may gladly tell the good news of God’s grace. 25 I now realize that this is our last good-bye. You have been like family in all my travels to proclaim the kingdom of God, but after today none of you will see my face again. 26 So I want to make this clear: I am not responsible for your destiny from this point on 27 because I have not held back from telling you the purpose of God in all its dimensions.
28 Here are my instructions: diligently guard yourselves, and diligently guard the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has given you oversight. Shepherd the church of God, this precious church which He made His own through the blood of His own Son. 29 I know that after I’ve gone, dangerous wolves will sneak in among you, savaging the flock. 30 Some of you here today will begin twisting the truth, enticing disciples to go your way, to follow you. 31 You must be on guard, and you must remember my way of life among you. For three years, I have kept on, persistently warning everyone, day and night, with tears.
32 So now I put you in God’s hands. I entrust you to the message of God’s grace, a message that has the power to build you up and to give you rich heritage among all who are set apart for God’s holy purposes. 33 Remember my example: I never once coveted a single coin of silver or gold. I never looked twice at someone’s fine clothing. 34 No, you know this: I worked with my own two hands making tents, and I paid my own expenses and my companions’ expenses as well. 35 This is my last gift to you, this example of a way of life: a life of hard work, a life of helping the weak, a life that echoes every day those words of Jesus our King, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
36 Once again, imagine this scene:
As Paul finishes speaking, he kneels down; and we all join him, kneeling. He prays, and we all join him, praying. 37 There’s the sound of weeping, and then more weeping, and then more still. One by one, we embrace Paul and kiss him, 38 our sadness multiplied because of his words about this being our last good-bye. We walk with him to the ship, and he sets sail.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Paul’s final departure from his friends in Ephesus tore at his heart as it did all of those around him. Lots of tears flowed that day. Paul and all those around him knew it would be the last time they would see each other this side of eternity. Paul had some parting words for them that I hope cause you to think about what you want others to think about you when that day comes for you.
You see, life is so much more than eating and sleeping and working and just going through motions every day. Life is more than just slogging through each day one at a time from the day you are born until the day you die. You might think you have no influence like Paul or Peter or James. Paul impacted lives because of one reason. He let me use him the way I wanted to use him. I had a specific plan for his life and he let Me into his life in a dramatic way.
The question is will you let Me into your life in the same way. I probably won’t ask you to go to Africa or China or Asia to face shipwreck and prison and beatings. But you know where I first asked Paul to go? The synagogue. His church. I asked him to speak the plain truth to his brothers and sisters who didn’t understand the truth yet. I might ask you to do that.
Did you know the hardest people for Me to get through to today are the ones who think they are Christians? The people that are farthest from Me are the ones that think they know Me because they fill a seat in a church service every week, but don’t engage with Me in a personal way. They have their names on a church roll. They put money in an offering plate sometimes, some of them even regularly. They know the words to the songs being sung.
But when they walk out the door of the church, they leave Me there. The world has no idea they know Me. Their actions look no different than the co-worker who doesn’t own a Bible. Their thoughts are no different than delinquent sitting in the holding tank at the police station. They just haven’t acted on their thoughts…yet. Maybe you are even one of those who fail to talk to Me for days at a time. How can we have a relationship like that?
Wearing My name doesn’t mean you’re Mine anymore than wearing a Spurs basketball jersey makes you professional basketball player. It’s what’s inside that counts. I can make you a person of influence and power. But My way. With My influence and My power, not the world’s. It will look like the kind of influence and power I want you to have because I have a plan only you can fulfill. It might be to talk with the person standing next to you in line. Do you have the courage to let Me direct your life the way I did Paul’s?
He never turned back and the legacy he left still lives on. You want to give Me a try? Go ahead. I won’t let you down.
