When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.
Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset
HEAD
In Revelation, Jesus appears to John, the disciple, and tells him to “write on a scroll what you see. Send it to the seven churches” (Revelation 1: 11, NIRV). If you open your Bible to Revelation, you may see lots of words written in red. This means that Jesus actually spoke these words. I’m going to leave them in red here, so you will remember the words that came straight from the mouth of Jesus.
In Revelation 3, Jesus is speaking to the churches in the cities called Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. (Whew! Those are some big names. Let’s just call them S-Town, P-Town, and L-Town.)
To S-Town, He says: “I know what you are doing. People think you are alive, but you are dead…so remember what you have been taught and have heard. Hold firmly to it. Turn away from your sins” (Rev. 3:1b, 3, NIRV). Have you ever heard the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? This is the situation with Sardis. On the outside, Sardis appears to be doing well and has it all together. Jesus knows the truth: the people of Sardis have been doing things that do not please God. He warns them to turn back to God and start making good choices.
To P-Town, He says, “Hold on to what you have. Then no one will take away your crown” (Rev. 3: 11, NIRV). What do they have? Jesus tells them, “I know you don’t have much strength. But you have obeyed my word. You have not said no to me…I have loved you” (Rev. 3:8b, Rev. 3:9b, NIRV) Even when they are weak, they turn to Jesus.
To L-Town, He says, “But you are lukewarm. You aren’t hot or cold. So I am going to spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3: 16, NIRV). Ouch! In Matthew 12:30, Jesus tells us that anyone who is not with Him is against Him. I sure want to be WITH Him! In Revelation, Jesus continues, “I warn and correct those I love. So be sincere, and turn away from your sins. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in. I will eat with that person, and they will eat with me ” (Rev. 3:19-20, NIRV). How amazing would it be to sit and eat at the table with the One and Only Living GOD!
HEART
At the end of each message to each church, Jesus says, “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 3:6, Rev. 3:13, Rev. 3:22, NIRV). The Bible is still “alive and active.” We have ears. We should listen. We should obey.
HANDS
I challenge you to keep the phrase, “What would Jesus do?” in mind throughout the day today. When you have a tough moment with a friend, brother, or sister, think, “How would Jesus handle this situation?” When we think about Jesus sitting in the room during our conversations, it tends to change how we act towards other people.
Prayer: Lord, Help me to remember Your Word, turn away from my sins, obey You (even when it’s hard), and choose You. I know You love me. Help me to grow to be more and more like You. Amen.