Daily Devotional with Pastor John
Thursday, February 24

Jesus Knows His Churches

These are the words of him who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your good deeds, your hard work and your perseverance … that you are neither cold nor hot.

Revelation 2:1-2; 3:15

While it is true that “the seven churches summarize all churches” there is in Revelation 2 and 3 individualized messages to each of the seven churches. Each of the messages begins with the Lord Jesus saying, “I know.” “I know your deeds … I know your hard work and perseverance… I know where you live - where Satan has his throne… I know you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead … I know that you are neither cold nor hot.” The messages that follow demonstrate our Lord’s accurate knowledge of everything that was going on in that particular local church. The Lord Jesus also reveals to each of the churches that he knows what is going on in their cities economically, culturally and politically. The social and political situation outside and the spiritual situation inside are all known and are part of the messages to each church.

As a pastor who knows and serves a particular local church in Canada where the Emergencies Act has just been passed by Parliament, I am greatly consoled by this truth that Jesus knows everything about my church and about the dear country of my citizenship. He knows the spiritual condition of our church; that no church has ever existed in a pure state. The church is made up of sinners. The fleas come with the dog.

The Lord also knows the precarious political climate in Canada; the extreme polarization and division among Canadians - the people we are called to reach with the Gospel. O how good to know he “walks among the lampstands” and “knows where we live.”

Prayer Points

• Pray for our government and country. Pray for a cessation of inflammatory rhetoric and the display of true humility among our leaders.
• Pray God will use the instability of this present crisis to turn the hearts of Canadians to the One “who humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.”
• Pray we will stay focused on the things that unite us - Christ and the Gospel and display to our city what a reconciled community looks like.