Advent Devotion for December 16, 2019 from Apostles By-the-Sea - Episode 16

Monday, December 16, 2019

 

Revelation 3:7-13

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of the holy one, the true one,

   who has the key of David,

   who opens and no one will shut,

       who shuts and no one opens:

⁸ “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. ¹¹ I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. ¹² If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. ¹³ Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

 

Reflection:

On October 10, 2018 Category-5 Hurricane Michael swept through the Florida panhandle. Even at the writing of this devotional, many residents and businesses are still very much involved in restoration and rebuilding. It has been a long and often painful journey. Building materials have been in short supply, as have skilled laborers to perform the repairs. We’ve learned that the process can’t be rushed. We hope, even as we wait, and it gives us a measure of understanding into the patient endurance John writes about in Revelation. It is a hopeful waiting, and a hope that is built on certainty rather than possibility. There is certainty in the promises of God, and all of them find their ‘Yes’ in Jesus. As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For in him every one of God’s promises is “Yes.”. We can be certain that Jesus will return just as he promised. As we wait, let us not forget that he is with us, even now, by the Holy Spirit. Through the difficulties of this life he comforts and helps us to have patient endurance as we wait for the joy of that day when he comes in glory.