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.
