Fri.’s Devo - The Church of Laodicea

Read: Amos 7:1-9:15; Rev. 3:7-22; Ps. 131:1-3; Pr. 29:23 God showed Amos a plumbline that He would use to judge Israel for their idolatry. The priest, Amaziah, turned Amos over to the king of Israel accusing Amos of conspiring with God against them. If that wasn’t crazy enough, he told Amos to take his prophesies and leave their town and go to the land of Judah. Amaziah told Amos to leave Beth-el because it was the king’s chapel and the king’s court. Did he not know that “Beth-el” means “house of God”. It was the place that God spoke to Abraham and Jacob. It remained a place where priests dwelt but obviously the priests had become defiled. Instead of running, Amos stood up to the priest and prophesied even greater judgment on the city and the people of Israel for their sins. He told Amaziah that his wife would be a harlot in the city and that his sons and daughters would die by the sword. Israel would go into captivity. Today we read of our church age - the church of the Laodiceans. Laodecea means “peoples rights”. The city was one of the most politically important and financially prosperous cities in Asia Minor. It had a medical school and was known for its arts and sciences. It was striving for a one-world government and one-world religion. Sound familiar? So what is our admonition? We are to buy gold tried in the fire which will make us rich. These are our trials that we go through to try and test us and refine us. We are also to buy white raiment to cover our nakedness. In other words, we are to walk in righteousness and covered with the blood of Jesus. Lastly we are to anoint our eyes with eyesalve that we might see. That means to let the oil of the Holy Spirit enlighten our spirits that we might understand the Scriptures. Lord, may we be overcomes in the age we live and may we hear what the Spirit is saying.