“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.’” – Revelation 2:1

It’s Jesus Who holds the stars (representing angels or messengers associated with particular churches) and walks among the golden lampstands representing the churches themselves. This isn’t just cool imagery – there are precious truths conveyed through this vivid image of Lord Jesus interacting with local churches. What can we learn from this angelic description of Almighty Jesus?

First, the local church matters a great deal to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t just love the church in general, He’s intimately involved with, concerned for, and connected to individual local churches. There are many who consider themselves Christians yet have contempt for local churches. That disobeys the clear example of Jesus Who holds the churches in His hand and walks among them. Jesus loves the local church and Christians need to find a local church to love.

Second, local churches belong to Jesus. He is the head of the church and the head of each church. We may consider a church to be “my church” in the sense that we identify with a particular body of believers to which we are connected. We must never consider a church to be “my church” in terms of owning or controlling it. The church belongs to Jesus. Any church that doesn’t is a runaway bride!

Third, because Jesus loves and owns the local church, He’s intimately aware of what’s going on in each of His churches. That’s amply demonstrated throughout Revelation 2 and 3. Jesus knows the good, the bad, and the ugly in each of His churches. He commends the good, desires the bad to change, and laments and will punish the ugly. We need to know and care about these things as well. We must not be blind to the faults of the local church, but must relentlessly seek to make her worthy of her Master.

Fourth, because Jesus is so intimately involved with churches that belong to Him, we must not panic about the challenges we face in any time or place. There are certainly serious issues that require serious responses in church life. Nonetheless, it’s Jesus who snuffs out churches, not the foolishness or malice of people. It’s unfaithfulness that will ultimately kill a church, not lack of resources. As the church of Jesus Christ, we should face every challenge with prayer and confidence in our Lord, working diligently to apply the Gospel to heal and transform the bad into the good and the ugly into something beautiful in Christ.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” – Revelation 1:5b-6

What a beautiful list of some of the wonderful things Jesus has done for all who believe in Him! Truly He is worthy of all praise! In His great kindness…

Jesus loves us. He loves us! Even though we’re pretty unlovable at times. Even though our sins nailed Him to a cross. Even though we often reject His call to deny ourselves and follow Him. Even though we often despise the command to become like Him. He loves us. He loved us unto death. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so…

Jesus has freed us from our sins by His blood. Though He never sinned even once, Jesus freely shed His blood for us on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Through His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, Jesus not only paid for our sins, He set us free from sin’s power over our lives. In Christ, we’re set free to not sin. In Christ, we’re set free from sin’s awful and inevitable power of death.

Jesus has made us a kingdom. Jesus came to earth to usher in God’s Kingdom. This is a kingdom based not on earthly birthplace, but upon being born again through faith in Jesus. Through Christ, God is drawing to Himself a kingdom of people from every nation, ethnicity, tribe, and tongue. When we believe in Jesus, we’re transferred from the domain of darkness to Christ’s holy kingdom of light. We are citizens of God’s Kingdom!

Jesus has made us priests to God. Every believer in Jesus is a priest. Every believer can come before the God of Creation with a sacrifice of prayer. Every believer can intercede for themselves and others before God. Every believer is made holy and set apart for service to God. Every believer. Thank you Jesus! To you be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen!

“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” – Jude 1:3

As great as it would be to simply sit back, relax, and enjoy our faith for the rest of our lives, that hasn’t been an option for 2000 years! It certainly isn’t an option today! The New Testament consistently warns and commands Christians to do what Jude says here: contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then this applies to you because you’re one of the saints!

This isn’t a call to be contentious or obnoxious. Rather, it’s a call to understand, believe, explain, and defend our unchanging faith in Jesus Christ and what it teaches us about how to live. Throughout history, orthodox faith in Christ has been chipped away at, added to, diluted, and distorted, particularly by people inside the church. This is precisely the threat Jude addresses.

Sometimes the distortion of the faith looks like easy assurances that sin doesn’t really matter because of God’s love and grace. Wrong! Our faith calls us to pursue holiness as modeled and commanded by Jesus!

Sometimes it looks like extra burdens, rules, procedures, and legalities beyond God’s grace. Wrong! Our faith utterly rejects legalism.

Sometimes it looks like denying or reducing the nature of Jesus, perhaps diminishing Him to being merely a great teacher or moral example. Wrong! Our faith knows that Jesus is God the Son, eternal and fully God, yet come in the flesh and fully human.

The list of distortions goes on and on. The threats won’t cease until Christ returns. Each generation of believers must contend for the historic faith delivered by Christ and recorded in Scripture. It’s our turn to do our part! If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, study and understand the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Then contend for it – in your own heart and mind, in that hearts and minds of your brothers and sisters in Christ, in the churches across this world. Do so with love, humility, and firmness. It is necessary!

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.” – Zechariah 2:10

What a wonderful promise to a demoralized nation in exile! As Israel despaired of ever experiencing God’s love again, He promised He would once more come and dwell in their midst! They weren’t alone! They weren’t abandoned! They had a future and a hope in the living God of the universe.

Centuries later, this promise would be fulfilled when, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). As Christmas draws near, this is what we celebrate! God the Son, eternally and forever God, took on a human nature and body and became a newborn lying in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem! Born to live a sinless life, die a sacrificial death, and rise from death, God once more dwelt with mankind so that all who believe in Him will dwell with Him forever. Sing and rejoice!

We certainly do sing and rejoice during this sweet season of Advent. However, let us remember that the anticipation we feel during this special time isn’t just for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. At this time, we anticipate, sing, and rejoice that Jesus will one day return in victory over all the evil and darkness we see surrounding us!

When Christ returns, He’ll ultimately bring about the renewal of this fallen world. Heaven will come down to earth and God’s promise in Zechariah 2:10 will be our everyday experience forever and ever. God will dwell in our midst and we will rejoice in the glory of God the Father and Christ the Son day and night! Come, Lord Jesus!

“Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.” – 2 John 1:12

It would seem the Apostle John recognized the limits of written communications. As convenient and useful as letters, emails, and texts can be they can’t replace face to face conversations on matters of deep importance. Written communications can be great for clarifying matters, coordinating activities, and providing a quick word of encouragement. However, they’re terrible for communicating the deeper things of life – whether good or bad.

With written communication, we can’t feel emotions, we can’t see facial expressions and body language, we can’t hear tone of voice. We lose many of the most important elements of communication and it’s easy to start assuming the worst of one another. Face to face conversations remind us that the other person is also a human being. That he or she was lovingly crafted in the image of God. That even when there’s some disagreement, if both are believers, you’re still siblings in Christ loved by God. This makes it easier to discuss hard issues, more likely to resolve simmering conflicts, and more joyful to share good news.

Don’t let the perceived short-term convenience of written communication result in long-term relational damage. Don’t neglect meeting together. That’s particularly true once there’s the slightest hint of conflict. Don’t ever use written means to work through hard issues if that can be avoided. Talk face to face that your joy may be complete!