Being A Witness For Christ

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus In Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, December 24, 2015
Chapters: Revelation 1-2
Message Title: Being A Witness For Christ

Hello My Friend,

The Book of Revelation is the twenty-seventh book of the New Testament, the sixty-sixth and final book of the Bible and contains twenty-two chapters. The author of the book is the Apostle John and it was written to the seven churches in Asia and to all believers. The purpose of the book was to give assurance of Christ's return and warn of His judgment. What we are to learn from the book is that God always does what He says, judgment is coming, and only those who's names are are written in the Book of life will endure it. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” - Revelation 21:7,8.

As we come to the end of the year we all have things we would like to have or not have done, which is great that we have a new year and new outlook to look forward to, but if we do not work on the issues we have it's going to be another year of the same thing. And as Christians, even serving God can become mundane and dull. Life in general can literally suck the life out of doing things for God, we may be going through the motions, but we are not really into it. This can cause us to leave our first love, which is Christ. The word revelation means the act of revealing or disclosing, the Book of Revelation is God revealing His final purpose for all mankind. One Sunday morning as John was praying Jesus appeared, literally, in a vision, as clear as the day, Jesus asks him to write down what He had to say and send it to the seven churches in Asia.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” - Revelation 1:1-5.

“and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;” These are not actually seven spirits, but the infinite perfect Spirit of God, in whom there is a diversity of gifts and operations. He is before the throne as God made, so He governs, all things by His Spirit. The number seven is sacred, it indicates fullness, perfection, and is also the symbol of rest. I can understand that reading the Book of Revelation can be a bit overwhelming, even before I dedicated my life to Christ I use to be afraid to read the book because I feared the end of the world. However, as I grew in the Lord I learned that many of my fears I had were false, I was only listening to what people said rather than what Jesus says will happen when He returns. We are truly blessed to have the truth before us, and while we may not understand everything, we need not fear because we have Jesus on our side. “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” - John 10:28.

Churches are not what hold the Spirit of God, it is the people who are saved that bring Him into those walls. They may have thousands of people in them, but if they do not have Christ, they are dead churches. As John continues to see the vision he hears a voice, he got so scared that he dropped to the floor. “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” - Revelation 1:12,13,17-20.

“I saw seven golden candlesticks;” These represent the seven churches that form the universal Church of Christ, all Christian churches have been formed by one of these seven. The stars represent the angels of the church, or the pastors. The pastor, bishop, or overseer, has the care over that flock, on him the entire congregation lies upon, and he will answer for all the souls he watched over at the judgment seat of Christ. “and have the keys of hell and of death.” As much as God loves every person He creates, He will not save all, and Christ has the keys to death and hell. When a person believes His Gospel and accepts Him as their Saviour, He locks the door of eternal death hell to that soul. Although they physically die (unless He returns before then), they will resurrect upon His returning and be live with Him forever. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17.

At one time, the seven churches were healthy and prosperous, that had received letters from Peter and Paul. He first starts with the church of Ephesus, Ephesus was the influential capital city of Asia Minor (now Turkey) on the Aegean Sea, the Apostle Paul spent a lot of time there, as well as Peter and Timothy. The Ephesians were doing well at serving God, they studied the Bible and taught the right doctrine so well that they could call out a false prophet anywhere, but somehow they lost the zeal they had for Christ.

“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” - Revelation 2:1-5.

“because thou hast left thy first love.” Thousands of people gather in churches baring the name of Christ, but not a mention of the Gospel is spoken. The most important thing we can do to serve God is telling the lost about Christ, and unless we are witnessing to others, we are going to lose sight of the meaning of why God has called us in the first place. Trust me, there is no better joy or satisfaction to our soul than seeing someone bow their head and asking Christ to save them. That's why it is important that we not only serve God, but keep the love of Christ shining in us by walking in His Spirit, and being that light that leads others to Him. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” - Galatians 5:16,17,22,23.

Today's Prayer: God, You have given us the key to open the door to a life that is satisfying to the body, soul, and spirit. The key is Jesus Christ, and while we know we are saved just by believing in and accepting Him as our Saviour, no joy on earth comes more than being a witness for Him. As the circumstances in our lives drain us of that joy and keep us from our first love, they also drain us from the joy of life itself, even when serving You. Lord, touch every heart, comfort every grieving and battered soul, ease every worried mind, and give them the peace that only You can give. Give us the power to get back to being the light You need to bring others to Your Son as the day is quickly approaching for His return. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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