Keeping Constant Watch Over Our Relationships

Revelation 3:2

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

The message to the church of Sardis in the book of Revelation was, "You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead."  The people of Sardis were urged to wakeup and strengthen what remained of their relationship with God or they would see their relationship with God disappear.

Today we are often guilty of sitting back and watching as the enemy tries to destroy not only our relationship with God, but our relationships in our marriages, our homes and our extended families.  We need to wake up and strengthen these relationships through Jesus Christ. These relationships were placed in our lives by Almighty God.  Just as Jesus Christ should be the foundation for our spiritual lives, these family relationships should be foundational elements in our natural lives. 

The enemy knows how important these relationships are to us.  He knows that if he can destroy these relationships that he can weaken our relationships with Our Father in heaven.  The enemy knows this well and does everything possible to "divide and conquer".

Divide and conquer can be very subtle...at least at first.  Divide and conquer appears as meals eaten alone because the family is so busy.  Divide and conquer is going to bed angry with a spouse over a relatively unimportant issue. Divide and conquer is skipping the family reunion because of some prior squabble with one family member.

We cannot be passive. We must wake up and be constantly on guard to protect our relationships.  Our marriages, our homes and our extended families are treasures. When conflicts occur, we need to move swiftly to repair the damages and rebuild what the enemy is trying to destroy. We must be proactive in nurturing activities that keep the relationships alive.  We must build walls of protection that withstand the assaults of the enemy.

Let us seek first to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.  With Him as our sure foundation, let us be resolute in our efforts to build and protect all the personal relationships that God has given us as treasures on this earth.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the treasures in life that You have provided through our marriages, our homes and our extended families.  We pray that You will provide us with the armor that we need to fight against the enemy that seeks to take away our treasures.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to make Jesus Christ the foundation of our lives so that we can build indestructible walls of protection around our treasures.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Sure Foundation, Jesus Christ.