January 30 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

The theme of the month is spiritual war. Jesus won the battle not by might but by obedience. He is the source of salvation for all who obey him. When we have stood the test, we will share Christ's glory.

Bible Reading:

Revelation 2:8–11

Bible Text:

"Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev. 2:10).

Devotional:

The persecution of the church is an important theme in the book of Revelation. Early Christians suffered this persecution because they confessed Jesus as Lord. This confession angered the Judaists because it made Jesus equal with God. It also angered the Romans, who wanted the Christians to worship the Roman empire and honor the emperor as their lord.

Even today, confessing Jesus as Lord will get people into trouble. As long as your religion is merely a privately held opinion, nobody will bother you much. But as soon as your faith affects your way of living, you fall out of step with the majority. You suffer private or public persecution, sometimes both. While this persecution isn't always violent, violent persecution of Christians is always taking place somewhere in this world. All who serve Jesus as Lord of their lives will experience hatred, ridicule, and opposition.

God expects us to be faithful. We must remain loyal to Jesus as our Savior and Lord no matter what the price. We won't all be successful in life. But we must all be faithful.

If we remain faithful until death, we will receive the "crown of life." A crown is an honor given to someone who has won a race or contest. The crown of life we receive from God is the everlasting life of glory.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.