“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” – Revelation 3:5

What does Jesus mean by conquering? What does that look like for us? It has nothing to do with gaining power, authority, wealth, or status here on earth. A follower of Jesus conquers by living a holy life of obedience to Jesus until he or she passes away or Jesus returns. We conquer by taking up our cross each and every day, making sacrifices to serve, honor, and represent the Lord. We conquer by denying ourselves and obeying the commands of Jesus. We conquer by battling the sin that tempts us in the power of the Holy Spirit. We conquer by loving God and loving our neighbors when the world, the flesh, and the devil encourage us to do otherwise.

We’re called to conquer our own hearts, minds, and temptations. If you conquer, Jesus promises you will be blessed beyond measure. The great point of Revelation isn’t to give us a detailed timeline of these last days in which we live. The great point of Revelation is to encourage Christians to understand why the world is they way it is and to encourage us to hold firmly to our faith. We are encouraged to love Jesus no matter what it may cost us here on earth.

The message of Jesus in Revelation is that for those who conquer – who cling firmly to Jesus – there is unending blessing and reward waiting in Jesus Christ. If we hold to Jesus, then we will endure every trial and tribulation in, and with, Him. We will live forever and enjoy His presence forever. We will have an all-access pass to the new creation where there is no sin, no sorrow, no suffering, no pain, and no death. It’s worth it to conquer! #FollowJesus

“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” – Revelation 2:4

In many ways, the Christians in Ephesus were in good shape. They were DOING all the right things. Working hard… Enduring some opposition… Rejecting false teachers… Their theology and practice were both sound. But their hearts weren’t really in it. They checked the boxes of Christianity regularly but they’d lost the essence of the faith – love for Jesus and for one another. They were going through the activities of religion but had lost the transformational core of the Christians faith. LOVE!

This can happen to any follower of Jesus, which means it’s worth checking your own heart from time to time. Are you doing good things for the Lord? Excellent! Are you growing and practicing discernment to reject the many false teachers, preachers, and “prophets” at work in our world today? Wonderful! Are you madly, passionately in love with Jesus??? Do you love His people and spending time with them???

If so, then you’re in a great place spiritually! If not, find ways to regain that love for Jesus and for His people. Sit down and read one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) from beginning to end. Stream a high quality depiction of the life, love, and work of Jesus. Choose a book about Jesus that’s intended to build your love for Him. Meditate on what Jesus has saved you from. Consider all the ways He’s changed you. Spend an hour or two singing along to your favorite worship songs online. Let His goodness, gentleness, kindness, mercy, grace, patience, and love soak into your soul. Then turn those qualities toward your brothers and sisters in Christ (especially the difficult ones). Always be careful not to lose your love! #FollowJesus

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?’” – Zechariah 3:1-2

Satan lives to accuse the faithful. He accuses us of sin, of failure, of guilt, of shame. He says we’re unacceptable, unlovable, unworthy, and irredeemable. He’s a liar!

Everyone who entrusts their life to Jesus as Lord is washed completely clean. His blood that was shed on the cross cleanses us from all sin. His presence in us is proof that we’ve been made acceptable by God’s grace. Better than that, we’ve been adopted as God’s beloved children. Our guilt and shame are completely gone. The worthiness of Jesus Christ has become our worthiness and His coming into the world, His life, His death, and His resurrection are all the proof required to know that we are loved.

God doesn’t hear the accusations of Satan against His people. Those lies never even reach God’s ears thanks to Jesus! Which leaves Satan only one alternative… He whispers his accusations into our ears instead. Whenever you have the thought, as a child of God, that you’re unworthy, unlovable, shameful, and irredeemable, realize that’s Satan doing his thing. Lying to you. Reject his lies just as firmly as God rejected his lies in these verses!

God loves you so much He sent His Son for you. Jesus loves you so much He died for you. The Holy Spirit loves you so much that He lives within you. If Jesus is your Lord, you ARE clean. You ARE loved. You ARE worthy. Reject the devil and #FollowJesus!

“Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.” – Haggai 1:5-6

Have you ever been through a season like God describes in these verses? One in which nothing ever quite works out? One where you’re working hard but never really getting ahead? Where you have things but they don’t satisfy your desire for even more? Whenever you find yourself in such a season, it’s definitely worthwhile to do what the Lord commands here: consider your ways.

The reason the ancient Israelites were in a prolonged season of “meh” was that they had their priorities backwards. They were living for themselves while promising to eventually work on God’s priorities with their leftover time, energy, and treasure. As is usually true, their leftovers were crumbs at best. God doesn’t deserve our crumbs, He deserves our best!

When we don’t make our Lord our top priority, He will sometimes frustrate our other priorities to get us back on track spiritually. God promises throughout the Bible that when we make His priorities our priorities, He’ll take care of the rest. When He’s our top priority, our passion and hunger for Him and His work grows and finds satisfaction in Him. Meanwhile, our passion and hunger for earthly things diminishes and is also satisfied through Him. That’s the promise Jesus made in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

To be clear, not every season in the desert of “meh” is caused by having wrong priorities. What Haggai told the people of Israel was specific to their situation. However, quite often in our modern American life we make the same mistake they did and reap the same results. We work hard for ourselves and make little progress. We do little for the Lord and find ourselves distant from Him and cold toward Him. It can happen to anyone. So, whenever you find yourself with that “meh” feeling, remember to consider your ways… and #FollowJesus

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.”
– Psalm 139:1-2

Consider two things about these verses… First, they’re true! God knows you more completely than you know yourself. He knows every action you take AND every thought you think. ALL OF THEM! God hears the thoughts and conversations of your inner mind. He understands your motives for doing things better than you do. He knows your personal mix of selflessness, love, kindness, generosity, comfort, pride, selfishness, need for attention, guilt, fear, insecurity, and shame at any given moment. He knows why you do the very best things you do and the very worst things you do. He sees all that is good, bad, selfless, selfish, holy, and profane about you.

Second, He loves you anyway! Romans 5:8 proclaims, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Despite that swirl of good, bad, and indifferent in your heart and mind, God took the initiative to restore you to His love. He sent His Son into this world to die as an atoning sacrifice for your sin. Jesus took all the punishment that a just and righteous God should rightly give you in light of everything He knows about you. There is no wrath, punishment, or condemnation left for you if Jesus is your Lord. Thank you Jesus!

Nobody has ever loved you as fully, completely, and sacrificially as God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit! You are perfectly known and perfectly loved in Christ. There is nothing you need to do to earn, rebuild, or increase God’s love for you. All that was already done for you by Jesus on the cross. You simply need to repent of your sins and believe in Him to receive God’s gracious gift of unending love you don’t deserve. Believe, receive God’s love, rejoice in it, and then take up your cross today and #FollowJesus!