The seventh letter from Jesus, shared by Aije Barnes. June 4, Issue 1, Vol 6

Here is the final letter from Jesus found in the book of Revelations, written to the seventh church in Asia in a place called Laodicea. 

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:14-22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Okay, I put my hands up! The last few ministrations I shared on the letters from Jesus, were pretty lengthy and I hope you were faithful to preserve and read them to the end. This one is not going to be as long!

Well done too, if you have faithfully read all the other six letters! If you haven't, you will do well to do so. They are from Jesus to you!

The message of this last letter is: there is no room for mediocracy. It is Jesus' way or no way. Remember, He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father but by him.

The sad situation of this church was, they had assumed a position in their lives where they thought they were okay just the way they were, when in actual fact, they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Jesus' introduction of himself at the beginning of this letter, gives us an insight into how this church got into this unacceptable state.

Jesus said he is the Amen (so shall it be), the faithful and true witness and the ruler of God's creation. Therefore, as Jesus is the Word of God and the mirror which reflects the standard required of the children of God, we can clearly see that this church no longer accepted Jesus as the Amen standard of their lives. They chose their own way. They ignored the faithful and true witness and had their own ideas for how they felt they should follow him. They became the rulers of their own lives, refusing to submit to his Lordship. They practically shut the door on him! The scary thing is, they don't even know that they are doing all this!

Let us examine our lives in the truth of God's word. Are we hot, cold or lukewarm?

What do you want most of all? Your way or his?  Do you think you are okay as you are? Or do you hunger and thirst after righteousness?

This is a message of two doors - the first one that Jesus has opened and is beckoning us to walk through; and the second one we have shut, on which he is knocking, so that if we let him in, he can show and help us how to live in the right way that will honour God. We hold the handle of the second door - through our choices or decision to either hear his voice and open the door or ignore him.

The decision is yours. The outcome of your decision, whatever this is, is clearly set out in the opening scripture.

I choose to open my door and let Jesus in, to dine with me and I with him.

You will do very well to follow suit.

Shalom