THYATIRA

3 days ago
3 min read

THE VOICES

We are in the times where many voices are speaking. If you are not careful and you do not know the Word of God for yourself, you might become a victim of the words that are not of God. Influence. That’s our focus today. Did you know there’s an effect where a person gradually becomes like the place they live in. For example, if someone grows up in Ghana and then moves to the UK, over time, by constantly hearing the people around them, their way of speaking begins to change. Their accent may shift slightly. That’s influence. A place can become an influence. A person can influence you. In this church of Thyatira, their influence unfortunately came from people who claimed to be spiritual leaders, yet was leading people astray. The Bible says: “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.” (Revelation‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

The most dangerous thing is to lead people away from God. It is better not to have a voice than to have a voice and use it against the Lord. Everyone wants to lead but they forget that James 3:1 says “Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.” So be mindful what you desire. A leader however has influence over the people who follow them. I love the books of Kings and Chronicles. Let me narrate how the book of Kings goes: “And this person became king and they did what was good in the sight of the Lord” then in the next paragraph, the king dies then another person comes into authority then the Bible will say “He committed the sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been". Then they’ll die and another king will come then the Bible will say “And they did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, as his ancestor David had done.” That’s the theme that mostly runs in Kings. The book shows us that the way a leader leads influences the way people behave.

Jeroboam, who became king of Israel after the split of Israel and Judah, had an influence that changed the people of Israel. Out of fear of losing his people, he created gods for them to worship so the people would not go to Jerusalem to worship God. “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”(1 Kings‬ ‭12‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬) and the Bible says “for the people worshipped the idols” (1 Kings‬ ‭12‬:‭30 ‭NLT‬‬). The influence of a leader! The church of Pergamum has bad influence present, but the church of Thyatira has bad influence leading the church. Balaam says stay with God but once in a while just do what everyone is doing. Jezebel says sin is fine, let’s go along with it.

Christians have become so complacent that we choose to only follow people and not know God for ourselves. If the man of God or the woman of God is powerful, is saying something deep, they become our Bible! They become our standard of measurement and that is scary! How would you know if they are teaching and leading us according to the Bible if you don’t know the Bible or God. Mark 4:24 says “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” The Bible and Jesus are our standard of measurement. This blog is not saying all our leaders are evil! It is saying that you need to know the Word of God for yourself so that when a Jezebel is put into place to lead you, you will be able to differentiate whether they are of God or not! What voices are influencing you? The voice that builds you up or the voice that tears you down? “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”(Revelation‬ ‭2‬:‭29‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Prayer: O Lord, we glorify Your name. Father, we pray today that we may continue to grow stronger with You and may the voices You have placed in these times help build us up and lead us to You. We bless Your name, Amen.