Why do people so easily blame God for a difficult situation?
Just a few thoughts on the Church in Smyrna...
- The Church in Smyrna was stuck in the middle of two hostile forces - the Jews who strongly opposed Christianity and the non-Jewish population who was loyal to Rome and supported Emperor Worship.
- They weren't very rich and were taking a lot of oppression but they were commended for being rich in spirit.
- The Church in Smyrna was probably very similar to a 3rd world church today in a country where they are persecuted.
- How much can we withstand before we give up living the life for God?
- We do have an easier life in the western world and this can affect our level faith. Smyrna was encouraged to remain faithful no matter what.
- They were given a specific time limit in which heavier persecution would last which was 10 days, it doesn't seem like much but depending on what was done to them it could seem like an eternity.
- They were reminded Satan may hurt our earthly bodies but we have heavenly ones awaiting us.
- Fear is one of the biggest problems people have in life because Fear can lead to many other problems, John encouraged them not to fear.
- What would we do in this same situation?
- How often do we not do something for God because we are scared or fearful of what others will think?
- Smyrna was a strong group of people because they weren't even going to fear people’s actions never mind their thoughts.
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