Strengthen That Which Remains

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” Revelation 3:2 (KJV) In Revelation 3, Jesus gave the church in Sardis a warning to repent and turn back to God. It sounds as if most of the believers in the church had become spiritually weak. But there is hope! . . . although death is mentioned, the possibility for renewal remains. Some people have a life motto. My own motto is the title of this devotional. In our little village, language is what kept our people intact. That was a big part of our cultural identity, and the Oji-Cree dialect is what I speak. Many of our people were forbidden to speak our language in residential schools. I personally experienced this and could have lost my language, as many have. I was led to believe that there is something wrong with my language and, sadly, it impacted my life. What kept reminding me of my language, though, was my father’s teaching when he would sit me down at our kitchen table. He had me memorize the syllabic chart from his hymn book. I thank God for how He has helped me restore that part of my identity—today I speak and write my language. It’s a blessing to worship God using the Cree hymn book. I encourage others to use our language any way we can, as it’s quickly becoming lost, especially among our youth. We all have beliefs and values that have defined us—especially how we walk with God. Are there other losses that we need to speak about? Perhaps godly lifestyles the church no longer practices? The Scripture states, “Be watchful and strengthen that which remains.” Let’s take time to reflect and pray for what grieves us. Do our actions meet the requirements of our God? Let’s go back to what we heard and believed at first and hold to it firmly. “Repent and turn to me,” says the Lord. – Liz Beardy   Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website. Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org