The Three Angels’ Messages (Part 1) – #225

 

Revelation chapter 13 tells us about the mark of the beast. Here we are warned against receiving the mark, and worshipping the beast or his image. This mark will be enforced by prohibiting buying and selling, and by a death penalty (verses 13-17). It is a terrible crisis that is very soon to come upon this earth. The stage for this crisis is now being set with lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, business closures, mask mandates, and mandatory medical injections (Revelation 18:23 check “sorceries” in Greek). Those who are faithful to God will not bow down to the image of the beast, nor receive his mark in their foreheads or in their hands.

Right after we are given the warning of Revelation 13, chapter 14 portrays three angels who give three messages that, if heeded, will be our safeguard during the mark of the beast crisis.

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The Bible says, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:6-12).

This passage is known as the three angels’ messages. Notice that only the first angel gives instructions. The second and third angels give warnings about what will happen if we do this or that, but the first angel tells us something that we should do. We are to fear God, give glory to Him and worship Him. Those are positive instructions; things that we can do to help us avoid receiving the mark of the beast.

The three messages are proclaimed by angels. Are these actual angelic beings? Literal angels are involved, yet they may not be literally preaching to humans, but rather, through humans. In fact, the Greek word translated “angel” means “messenger, envoy, one who is sent” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). This word sometimes refers to humans (Luke 7:24; 9:52; James 2:25). You and I can be messengers for the Lord. We are mouthpieces for these angels to preach the gospel to the world. Angels are going to unite with humans to give us the strength and the power we need to share these messages.

The Everlasting Gospel

The first angel has the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, tongue and people—all the world. This is the culmination of Jesus’ command, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Gospel means good news, so this angel comes with everlasting good news that has always been good news, and will be so forever.

Notice the following verses that parallel what we have just read in Mark. “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Do you start a completely new idea with the word “therefore”? No! Therefore is a conclusion based upon something that has just been said. Jesus explained, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore.” He goes on to say that He is with you always, even unto the end of the world. Now you can understand what the therefore is there for. Because He has received all power, we can go and teach. If He had received all this power just to keep it to Himself the therefore wouldn’t make sense. Notice what He said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” He is saying that He has received all power, therefore go and teach all nations, because “I am with you”. He is the power that attends the message. Without Him there is no power in the message. He has to be in you when you preach the gospel to the world. He preaches it through you!

I have heard it said, “Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words.” That demonstrates the importance of our character in our daily lives. It is more than just preaching! Someone can go and preach, preach, preach, but if they don’t have a life that attends the message, then the power is missing. Jesus says He is the one who has all power and if He is with you then you have that power working through you. He says with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26), and “…without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16, 17). I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God. It is the power of God because the righteousness of God is revealed there. That is what the gospel is: the revelation of the righteousness of God.

This is what the first angel comes to preach; the revelation of the righteousness, the character, of God. This is the everlasting gospel and this has been the everlasting gospel from everlasting. This has always been good news. It has always been about revealing God’s character. Satan has thrown slander and reproach upon God’s character, saying that He is no good. That has been Satan’s attack from day one of his rebellion. Christ came to preach the gospel, to counteract the lies of Satan. The gospel is about revealing God and His character of love. That is what the everlasting gospel is. The gospel also reveals how the kingdom of God is established in our hearts. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14). So the gospel goes all the way to the end. The very last message to be given to the world is the gospel, the revelation of God’s character of love.

The first angel cries “with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:7). He speaks with a loud voice. Remember the saying that we should preach the gospel to the entire world and if necessary use words? This loud voice includes our characters. It includes the manner in which we live. “Actions speak louder than words!” You can preach the gospel without saying a word. This angel, or messenger, comes with a loud voice and I think we can see in that a “loud life.” The life is going to be visible to the world. In fact, the Bible tells us that the Gentiles are going to come before the saints when God’s character is revealed in them (Isaiah 60:1-3; Exodus 33:18, 19). They are going to see something in God’s people that is amazing, that will cause them to take notice and say, “These people truly have selfless love for others” (John 13:35). That is a loud voice. The life speaks loudly. Of course the preaching will be loud and urgent as well.

Fear God

The first thing this angel says is, “Fear God.” Does this mean you should be afraid of God? There is a lot more to the word fear than you might think. If we fear somebody, would we enjoy being around them? No! We would want to run and hide. If we see them coming we will go somewhere else. Remember that is what Adam did when he sinned. God came looking for him, and where was Adam? He was hiding. He said, “I was afraid” (Genesis 3:10). Is that the kind of fear we are to have of God? Certainly not! We are to hold him in the utmost reverence.

Solomon wrote, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Did you know fearing God and keeping His commandments go hand in hand? Notice that the end of the third angel’s message says, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” Do they have the fear of God? Of course they do. They keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. Was Jesus afraid of God? Did He run and hide? No! He did the opposite. He ran toward God! He wanted to spend every moment He could with His Father. This is somebody who feared God more than anyone; better than anyone had ever done. Yet, He was desirous to be in God’s presence as often as possible. If we have the Spirit of Christ, we will have that type of fear.

Paul wrote, “…let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). Godly fear and reverence go together. Notice it says godly fear. If there is a godly fear, there must be an ungodly fear. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). God never gives us ungodly fear.

The Bible says, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil” (Proverbs 16:6). Departure from evil is a fruit of the fear of God. The Bible also says, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (Proverbs 8:13). So here we see that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Do you and I naturally hate evil? No, naturally we have a love for evil and a hatred for righteousness. What did Jesus have? He definitely had the fear of the Lord. The Bible tells us that He “loved righteousness, and hated iniquity” (Hebrews 1:9). That is a description of His character. That is a picture of what He is like. Is this to be your experience today? How can you get that? Only by having Him dwell within. Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). If you do not allow Christ to live in you, “ye have no life in you” (John 6:53). Having Christ living within is the only way we can get that fear that hates evil.

Being afraid of God is a result of our sinful condition. The Bible says that sin separates between us and God (Isaiah 59:2). This is not because God refuses to accept us after we have sinned. No, No! God has promised to accept all who come to Him through Christ (John 6:37; Ephesians 2:18). God is always “ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5). God loves sinners so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for everyone (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). When we sin, God doesn’t stop loving us, yet sin makes a guilty, shameful chasm between us and God so that we do not want to face Him. When we come to Christ, who has promised never to cast us away (John 6:37), He removes that barrier and we can enjoy peaceful communion with God.

The Bible says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). The fear that is cast out by perfect love is ungodly fear. When God fills your heart with His love you no longer need to be afraid of anything. God wants to flood your heart with His love. The Bible says, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). Jesus said God is more willing to do this for you than any earthly father is willing to give good gifts to his child (Luke 11:13). If you ask God to give you His Spirit, and believe in your heart that He does it, you will receive it and it will shed abroad God’s perfect love in your heart, casting out all ungodly fear. The result is complete trust in God.

God asked Abraham to offer the ultimate sacrifice, his own son. When Abraham was about to slay his son, God sent His angel to intervene, saying, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me” (Genesis 22:12). I have read that before and wondered why the angel did not say, “Now I know that you love me.” Instead the text says, “Now I know that you fear me.” The word fear is a broader term that includes love along with trust, reverence and awe. The fear that Abraham had, caused him to trust God so completely that he believed He would raise his son from the dead. Godly fear includes absolute trust.

Give Glory to God

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why am I here?” or “What is the purpose of my life?” God has given us the answer! He said, “Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him” (Isaiah 43:7). Our purpose for existing is to give glory to God. It may sound like a selfish thing for God to make beings for the purpose of giving Him glory, but when we understand what this means we can be sure that it is the best and most fulfilling life we could possibly have. God is not selfish but completely full of love for everyone, wanting to share His goodness with others.

God said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11). God loves us so much He has given His costliest gift to ensure our benefit and success. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16, 17). “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). God’s love is amazing, and completely empty of selfishness. Everything He does is for our “good” (Deuteronomy 10:13). God knows that it is for our good that we give glory to Him.

David wrote, “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). Another Psalm says, “Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness” (Psalm 150:2). Can we possibly give glory and praise to God enough to match His greatness? I like the song, “The Love of God,” that says:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above,

Would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.

 

God’s love and greatness is limitless. If we could praise and give glory to God every minute of every day, it would never be equal to His worth. David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).

Ways to Give Glory to God

The Bible describes several ways we can give glory to God. One example is found when Jesus healed ten lepers of their terrible disease. Only one returned to give thanks, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger” (Luke 17:15-18). Here we find that showing thankfulness to God is one way we can give Him glory.

Another way to give God glory is to confess our sins (Joshua 7:19). By doing this we are acknowledging that we are wrong and God is right and good. John was given a vision of when the seven last plagues will be poured out. He wrote, “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory” (Revelation 16:8, 9). Repentance and confession is a way to give glory to God.

There will be a day when everyone will acknowledge that God is right in all He does. God said, “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11). Even the wicked will eventually confess that God is just in all His dealings.

God asked Moses to build a tabernacle, then He said, “And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory” (Exodus 29:43). The tabernacle was sanctified by God’s glory. When we allow God to live in us, we will also be sanctified by His glory and reflect that glory back to God. Paul wrote of a mystery, “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Having Christ within is the only hope of truly having glory and giving God glory. When Christ is within His glory will shine out to everyone around.

What is God’s Glory?

To give God glory, it is important to know the meaning of the word glory. One of the best biblical explanations of glory is found in Exodus where we read of Moses saying to God, “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” (Exodus 33:18, 19). God defined His glory as His goodness.

The next chapter describes God fulfilling Moses’ request. “And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:5-7). When God revealed His glory to Moses, it was a proclamation of God’s goodness and some specific character attributes. God’s glory is His character.

Paul wrote, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). This is an amazing text, and an important principle to remember in our daily lives. As we behold we become changed. This is true regardless of what we are beholding. Keep this in mind the next time you are tempted to behold evil because it will have an effect upon your life.

The greatest thing about this text is that it shows us how we can be changed into God’s image. As we behold His goodness, love, righteousness, longsuffering, gentleness, kindness, etc., we will be changed into the same image “by the Spirit of the Lord.” It is important to remember that this change from glory to increased glory can only happen by God’s indwelling Spirit. It is a fruitless exercise to attempt to be changed into God’s image without His Spirit living in you. It is through God’s Spirit that this change takes place from the first step to the last.

Paul said, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). God said, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7), and, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). What you put in your mind will come out in your life one way or another. Let Christ live in your heart, and direct your mind into the love of God, and His glory will be seen upon you.

Isaiah prophesied, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isaiah 60:1-3). I pray that this will be fulfilled in you and in me.

Beholding the True God

We have learned that we are changed by what we behold. If we invite Jesus to live in our hearts, His Spirit will direct our minds to behold the glory of God in the life of Jesus Christ, and we will be changed into the same image. Yet, if we behold a distorted view of God’s character, we will be changed into a distorted version of what God is like. That is why it is so important to know the true God as revealed in His word, the Bible.

One defining characteristic of God’s people in the end is that they have the “Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Revelation 14:1). That does not mean they have a tattoo ON their foreheads, but that they have the Father’s name (goodness – Exodus 33:19) IN their foreheads. In other words, the Father’s character is inside their hearts, and shines out in their daily lives (Hebrews 8:10).

For us to have the Father’s goodness manifested in our lives, we must first behold His goodness. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). The primary attribute of God’s character is His unselfish love. The more we behold that love, the more it changes us into the same image. It is extremely important that we behold His love as it really is, for that will determine what we are changed into.

Worshiping the true God is the call of the first angel’s message. He says, “…worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:7). Who is this? Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23). The Father is the one who made all things. He is the one “who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:9).

The Bible says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1, 2). Notice in each case the Father is the one who created all things, yet He did this creating “by [or through] Jesus Christ.” So, God, the Father, is the source, and Jesus is the channel through whom all things were made (1 Corinthians 8:6).

It was the Father who said to His Son, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The Son was involved in creation, but He was not the source of it. He was the mouthpiece for His Father (John 3:34; 12:49, 50; 14:10). All of Jesus’ miracles were performed by the power of the Father through His angels (John 14:10; Matthew 26:53). When Jesus said to the leper, “Be thou clean,” it was the Son’s mouth moving, but the Father’s words and power (John 14:10; Acts 10:38).

The Bible says of Jesus, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Jesus was there at creation, actively involved in the process of creation, yet it was His Father who was doing the creating through Him (Ephesians 3:9). The Bible says, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Corinthians 8:6). The Father is the “OF whom are all things,” and Jesus is the “BY whom are all things.”

So, when the first angel calls the world to “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:7), it is a call to worship one particular Person, God, the Father. The angel does not say “worship THEM”, but “worship HIM”.  A singular pronoun is used in both English and in the original Greek. This does not mean we should avoid worshiping God’s Son, Jesus, for He is worthy of worship (Matthew 14:33; Hebrews 1:6). However, we should never worship the Son as if He were the Father, nor give Him credit for what His Father has done. We should worship Jesus as “the Son of the Father, in truth and love”*(2 John 1:3). This is precisely what the disciples did when they “worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33).

The call to worship by the first angel is specific worship of the Father as the Creator of all things. Earlier in the book of Revelation, John wrote, “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:10, 11). Right after this scene, the Son of God, represented as a Lamb, approaches the Father to take a book out of His hand (Revelation 5:6, 7). It is clear that God, the Father, is the one who “created all things.”

According to the Bible, only one Person is ever given credit for creating the universe, and He is God, the Father (Hebrews 1:1, 2). He did this creating by, or through, His Son, but it was still, God, the Father, doing the creating. So when, the angel is calling people to “worship HIM that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” he is only referring to one individual, God, the Father.

Worship Reform

At the time of this angel’s message, there is a call for “true worshippers” to “worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). Why would this be needed at this time? Because there is confusion today about who God really is. This confusion is evident in the way people pray, showing they don’t really know to whom they are praying. Jesus said, “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” (John 16:23). Jesus instructed us to pray to the Father in Jesus’s name.

Worship needs reforming because many people “worship” they “know not what” (John 4:22). This confusion in worship stems from a confusion about who God is. If you do not know who God is, nor who He gave to die for your sins, then your perception of His character will be distorted. The most amazing demonstration of God’s love was displayed when He “sent His only begotten Son into the world”*(1 John 4:9). This gift proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He is willing to give everything for us (Romans 8:32). Knowing this fact assures us that God loves us with all His heart, soul, strength, and mind. This knowledge is the key for us to be able to love God with all our hearts (1 John 4:19; Mark 12:30).

Deep, genuine, love for God and for people, flowing out of a pure heart, is what will guarantee your success during the crisis of the last days (1 Timothy 1:5). God’s promises of safety in Psalms 91 are based upon His love in our hearts. The Bible says, “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.… For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.… Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name [or character of love]” (Psalms 91:7, 8, 11, 14).

Friends, do not settle for some man-made theory regarding God, but insist on the plain Bible truth. It will help to transform your character into God’s likeness more than any fable could ever possibly do. (For a thorough Bible study on the God of the Bible, request the books, The Source of Love, Understanding the Personality of God, and God’s Love on Trial.)

Conclusion

The first angel of Revelation 14 calls us to fear God, give glory to Him and worship Him. The only way we can give glory to God is to receive the glory that God gave to His Son (John 17:5), and that His Son gives to us (John 17:22). To obey this text we have to receive Him first. That is the only way we will ever reflect that glory back to God. Let us make sure we are beholding the right glory. We don’t want to be beholding a God whose character is skewed, because then our own characters will be skewed. God has made His own self available to us.

Shortly after Jesus had explained that if you have seen Him, you have seen His Father, Jesus informed His disciples that His Father would send them another Comforter. One of His disciples became confused by what He said, so he asked Jesus to explain Himself. “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:22, 23). Who is going to come? Both the Father and the Son are going to make Their abode in us. If you abide in this “doctrine” you have “both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9).

Isn’t it amazing that God wants to make His home right here, right now, in you and in me! Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). When Jesus comes into your heart, He does not come alone, because His Father is in Him (John 14:10; 17:23). This is the only way we can give Him glory; we must let Them in to live in our hearts. When we open the door, then the glory comes shining in because He is the glory. His own self is that glory. If you want to obey the first angel’s message you must open the door of your heart, and open it wide. Say with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalms 139:23, 24). David was opening the door, not just a crack, but all the way, asking God to search him and find out if there is any wicked way in him so that he could be led in the way everlasting.

Friends, I pray that you would do the same. Invite Jesus to come in, not just for a visit, but to live and make your heart His home. Open every part of your life to Him and keep it open for Him to abide forever.