FROM THE KEYBOARD

Slander usually disguises itself as “concern” or “just sharing information,” but its goal is always the same: to destroy. When believers trade discernment for suspicion, we stop guarding the truth and start wounding the body. Before speaking, ask: Is it verified? Is it necessary? Is it Christlike? “He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends” (Proverbs 17:9).

Discernment doesn’t mean believing everything, it means testing everything. Some voices stir confession, others stir confusion. Ask the Spirit to help you recognize the difference between truth seeking and rumor spreading. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

God does not push us away when we repent, He pulls us back. The Father who ran toward the prodigal also walked outside for the older brother. Whether we’re far from the house or standing at the door with folded arms, grace always moves toward us first. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent" (Revelation 3:19).

Lukewarmness isn’t a temperature problem, it’s a treasure problem. It happens when our hearts get warmed by the world and cooled toward Christ. Ask the Spirit today to reorder what you prize so Jesus becomes the treasure that reignites your fire. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

The churches Jesus commends aren’t the biggest or the strongest, they’re the ones that stay faithful when the pressure rises. Smyrna endured suffering without fear, and Philadelphia walked through every door God opened with steady obedience. Strength is not what we bring to Christ, but what we receive when we cling to His Word and refuse to deny His Name. “For you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name" (Revelation 3:8).

Because YOU SAY, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that YOU ARE wretched,miserable, poor, blind, and naked—(Revelation 3:17). Laodicea teaches us that the most dangerous gap in the Christian life is the space between “you say” and “you are.” The Spirit’s mercy is that He shatters our illusions so Christ can heal our condition. Ask Him today to expose every self-made assessment and bring you into alignment with what He sees, so He can cure the blindness we could never cure on our own.