No Excuse II

MY DAILY COVENANT WITH GOD DEVOTIONAL

Monday March 13, 2017

Topic: No Excuse II

Text: Revelation 2:8 – 11

Pain is part of life, be you a Christian or unbeliever. It is never easy to suffer, no matter the cause. Persecution is of Satan, not of God. He causes believers to be denied of their rights, thrown out of their homes, offices, and schools, thrown into prison and even are killed. Believers under persecution need not fear death, because they will be rewarded with the crown of life. Again, Satan may terminate our earthly lives, but not our spiritual lives.

In our scriptural reading for the day, God commended the church at Smyrna for the tribulation they endured, the poverty they have suffered and the blasphemy from some of the Jews there. God called them “Synagogue of Satan” because they were serving Satan’s purposes, not God’s, when they gathered to worship. He concluded by charging them not to fear what they will suffer even unto death but they should remain faithful to the end in order to be rewarded with crown of life. This is the only church out of the seven that was not rebuked by God. What they suffered during the writing of this letter and thereafter were enough for them to have given up their faith. They had enough reasons to do so but they didn’t do that. They were steadfast.

What is your reason to compromise and backslide from faith? If it is persecution, can you compare it with what the members of the church in Smyrna suffered? If you have been blasphemed, what of these people in Smyrna? Beware because you do not have any excuse (Romans 2:1) for compromising your faith.

Food for Thought: Revelation 3:9

Memory verse: Revelation 2 verse 9 - I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Prayer: God, as I come across blasphemers and persecutors grant me the grace never to compromise my faith in Jesus name.