October 5, 2022 – Daily Bread Devotional for Today | Wednesday Daily Devotions Reading
October 5, 2022 – Daily Bread Devotional for Today
TOPIC: Steadfast Endurance
SCRIPTURE READING: Revelation 3:7-13
7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.
10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.
13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
KEY VERSE: “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to . . . test the inhabitants of the earth.” — Revelation 3:10
October 5, 2022 – Daily Bread Devotional MESSAGE
Jesus suffered terribly because of how sinful our world is. After suffering, Jesus even died because of our sins. He endured suffering and died so that our sins would be paid for and our deaths could be overcome. Then, on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead in triumph—yet we must not lose sight of his suffering.
The believers who made up the church in ancient Philadelphia (in Greece) held tightly to the story of Jesus’ suffering. It inspired them enough to face their own suffering and persecution. And Jesus said they would be rewarded for their steadfast endurance.
In this passage, what is called “patience” is more like extreme patience. It’s the kind of patience that is required to endure doing the right thing and living the right way even when you can’t see any benefit in doing so. It is the virtue of holding on even when the reward might not come in this life.
Jesus’ reward was that his death opened up a door to allow us to spend eternity with him. And our reward is that being devoted to Jesus allows us to step through that door and spend eternity with him.
He believed that you and I are a reward worth dying for. Do we believe the same about him?
October 5, 2022 – Daily Bread Devotional PRAYER
Dearest Jesus, when this world refuses to reward us for being like you, help us to focus on the reward of living with you forever. Amen.
Today Devotional written by Scott DeVries has served as a church pastor and as a ministry coordinator in the Holland, Michigan, area. He currently works at facilitating connections between the more than twenty ministries and 1,100 churches of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. He has a passion for prayer, church organization, and studying the Scriptures in their original languages.
