TAKE THE MESSAGE PERSONAL

“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance.  I know you don’t tolerate evil people.  You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.  You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.” (Revelation 2:2-3 NLT)

This morning you will hear a message sent by the Lord.  Yes, it will be a message sent to a specific church, much like the message sent to the church at Ephesus.   An extract from that message is stated in the opening verse.  Note that you can dismiss this from having any personal application, but you will be definitely wrong and in defiance of the Lord’s purpose.  For today’s message is for all who hear it, not just the church in general, but all the saints.  And even if you are a visitor, just as the message to Ephesus was to be circulated to all the churches, and therefore all the saints of God, there is something the Lord wants to say specifically to you today.  He will either send, directly to you, something that will benefit you immediately or something He knows you will need at a later time.  So hear it, internalize it, store it in your heart, and depend on the Holy Spirit to bring it to your remembrance in times ahead.

Occasionally, it will have to focus and deeply concentrate to discern what the Lord is saying.  At other times, it is immediately obvious and the message almost jumps off the page and alerting you that the Divine message is to be regarded as personal.  I pointed out in Bible Study this week how easy it is to take the verses above and develop a partial, personal, self-evaluation or performance appraisal for either your church or you as an individual; perhaps even both.  Just as a side note I commented to the various classes that if you want to make a more complete evaluation of performance appraisal, just go to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and make a list based on His words to further evaluate your performance, better yet your Christian walk.  It could of course be expanded by looking at the letters to the other churches in Revelation, chapters  2-4, to evaluate how things are for you personally as an individual or as stated, as a church; the local body of baptized believers to which you belong,

For the sake of time, let’s learn by doing by just using the opening verses above to make a partial self-evaluation or a local church evaluation.  All you have to do it pull out the statements to rate yourself from the text.  Revelation is not only prophetic and predictive, it’s practical.  Pulling the statements is pretty easy isn’t it?  I hope this is making sense to you.  If not, here is a form, based on the text above to help you out.  Rate yourself or your church using the scale of 1-5; five being the highest.  Note: Since no church is perfect I doubt it there will be many 5’s, if any at all for any area.

Now that you have completed your evaluation, next, after you get out of church and following your Sunday dinner or brunch, write down some things you or your church can do to improve your rating.  Continuous improvement is still a good thing.  Share something from your list at your next leadership meeting or when the ministry of the church you are involved in meets.  Share it with love.  Let me caution you.  Listen!  Use this evaluation to critique, and not as a means to criticize.  Use it to start making adjustments as necessary and not to start arguments.  Have fun!  Use integrity!  Enjoy worship first today!  Oh, it is Valentine’s Day, isn’t it?  Well know that the Lord still loves you and, so do I!  Be blessed!

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7 NLT)

Still committed to the climb,

Mark L. King