"Because you say, 'I am rich, have need of nothing' - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked - I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see." Revelation 3:17-18

It is time to. Wake. Up.

Spending your days working hard, sleeping less, and striving to achieve more than the next person is not your portion in life.

If that's what you're doing, you are wasting your time! And, God has more for you!

When you are in the whirlwind it can be hard to see whether you're effectively using your time or not. Taking a step back to evaluate the situation is a great idea as it allows you to gain perspective. Or, alternatively, some gracious and honest person could interrupt your whirlwind and tell you the truth. When that happens it's up to you to decide how to respond to the information.

Interrupting our lives and telling us the truth is exactly what God is doing for all of us in this Scripture. He's saying we think we're ok, but in truth we are not. We are missing a vital component to life and that is our relationship with Him.

Once we hear the truth the ball is in our court to decide how we will respond. Will we believe His assessment, or not? Before you dismiss His assessment and say, "That's not me Jesus!" take a look at the following points:

1. God says He came that you may have life and have it more abundantly. Look at your life, are you living abundantly now?

The quality of your life is not measured by the material possessions you have. To God, it's measured by the quality of your relationship with Him. Is your life, the bond between you and God, abundant right now? No? Then my friend, you have a problem.

2. God is calling us to a place of purity in our relationship with Him. He says, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire...and white garments that you may be clothed..."

God wants to give us what we cannot get for ourselves. Pure and valuable gifts that are far superior to what we could make with our own hands or with our own minds.

When you consider your time with God lately have you received any gifts from the Him? Any pure revelation that was clearly from God about His word, or your life? Any breakthroughs that solidify your identity in Christ?

If not, you have a problem.

3. God wants to heal us! He says that we should, "...anoint our eyes with salve that we may see." There are many forms of healing and in this case God is talking about healing our vision. Our vision which, because of its state, we were not able to see our situation, or the Lord's purposes clearly.

Think about your recent decisions, who is the driving force behind them?

Are you the one assessing all the data points and making decisions about your life? Or, are you having a dialogue with God, the One who stands outside of time, about your life and where He's leading you next?

My friend, if you are the one making the primary decisions about the direction of your life then you are blindly going through life and your vision needs healing! Involve the One who stands outside of time then you'll have vision that won't fail because it's resting on His word.

In His observations, please note that God is not accusing us. In fact, He's inviting us! He's saying, "Hey! I know you think you're ok but you're really not. Want to come over here with Me, so I can help you?"

What happens next is completely up to us. We can choose to humble ourselves and receive from God, or, we can tell God He's wrong and we're doing ok.

It is our prayer that this week’s magazine is an encouragement for you to pursue the "more" in God. To reprioritize your time, and experience God in a whole new way. We hope that through the topics we cover you will be blessed and your relationship with God will be richer!

Let's Pray!

Father, thank You for graciously coming to me and telling me the truth in love. I invite You into my situation and I pray that You would continue to walk the rooms of my heart and clear out those things that will hinder my relationship with You.

Have Your way and I'm excited to see the new levels of freedom You have for me.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen