FRIDAY, APRIL 26
Scripture: Revelation 2:7,11,17,20,26,29, 3:5,6,12,13,21,22

There is a progression that we are seeing manifest in the church today that unfolds in the seven churches. In the first three churches, hearing precedes overcoming. To the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:7 we are told, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Hearing precedes overcoming. Verse 11 is the same, and so is verse 17. Grace in hearing gives the individual an opportunity to overcome by repentance, based on what they have heard. When leaders act on what they hear from God to modify and address personal issues, God is pleased and they continue hearing. That progression changes at Thyatira and continues through the last four churches. Because in Thyatira, overcoming precedes hearing. Verse 2:26,29 says, “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—…He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” And the next three churches are identical. Overcoming precedes hearing. The transition is this – there is a grace period that takes us right up to the middle of Revelation. That grace period marks what we do with what we hear. We need to repent to overcome personal character issues. If we are willing to use our faith on our flesh to obey God, then we are rewarded by finishing our race hearing what the Spirit says. But there is a group who forfeit the ability to hear, and the prophecy of Micah becomes a reality in their life. Revelation 2 and 3 actually gives us the outworking of Micah’s prophecy. What Micah prophesied in Micah 3:5-7, we see lived out in the churches of Revelation 2 and 3. That, among many other things, should tell us that the prophets are a key to walking with God in the last days. Surely we understand that when Jesus said He is the same yesterday, today and forever, He really meant it. He was not kidding about that issue! He really is the same yesterday, today and forever! But do we act like it? Do we believe it and do we walk as if He is the same? Is Jesus the same Jesus in the New Testament that He was in the Old Testament? Leaders who say no, drink deceptive Kool-Aid. They consume spiritual milquetoast rather than eating the meat of the Word and consequently lose their ability to hear. That progression that has been on national prophets for over two years, is now moving to the rest of the five-fold ministry and will ultimately come upon the saints. Are we willing to overcome mixed-seed of self and let God rule in our lives? If we are, we will finish our race hearing the Spirit! Let us trust we will! Personal repentance is the key to overcoming!