by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
To the Laodicean church, the Spirit said:<\/p>\n
“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<\/em>” (Revelation 3:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
To think we “have need of nothing<\/em>” and that our measurement of wealth and riches is correct might reveal that we have in mind the wrong kind of wealth and “need.” Is it material wealth? Does “need” only pertain to the body? Is that all we think is important? If so, there is a serious problem at work here.<\/p>\n
When God is concerned about the heart and spirit and our major concerns are material and earthly, we have a problem that will surely stunt our growth and blind us to what is truly important. If our minds are on “things on the earth<\/em>” instead of our minds being “set on things above<\/em>” (Colossians 3:1f) we have a condition that makes God sick enough to “spew us out of His mouth<\/em>.”<\/p>\n
The true condition is “wretched”. If we are satisfied, we are like a man who puts his hands on the plow and looks back, we are not fit for the kingdom of God. Our true condition is miserable, and we don’t even realize how miserable our condition really is. We are “poor” on the inside, lacking the eternal riches we should value in Christ above anything else. We are “blind” to what is wrong with our value system. The spiritual treasures in Christ should envelop and enclose our minds with the most prized garments of the soul and character. Spiritual blindness of the true condition of our souls is what makes God want to vomit. This is a wake-up call to the brethren of Laodicea and churches today. Do you see as the world sees? Or do you see what God sees? Is your evaluation the same as God’s evaluation? Are our eyes truly open?<\/p>\n
Where is your level of spiritual growth? To the Hebrews, the Spirit said “by this time you ought to be teachers<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:12f). Have you been in the church so long and even now cannot tell the scriptures a person needs to know to be saved? Have you settled on being a visitor to the assembly but not an involved teacher? Have you decided you don’t “need” to be involved and committed as teachers?<\/p>\n
Do you really think you “have need of nothing” spiritually? The Spirit says to wake up! “Awake from sleep!<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton To the Laodicean church, the Spirit said: “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). To think we “have need of nothing” and that our measurement of wealth and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[410],"class_list":["post-65640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-judgment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11663,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/money-matters\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":0},"title":"Money Matters","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Chronicles 29:10-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We live in a society consumed with the desire for wealth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Since money is a part of a Christian\u2019s life, we need to know how to properly regard money and wealth. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We need to know how to properly handle money. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wealth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-need-of-nothing\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":1},"title":"I … Have Need of Nothing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by L. A. Stauffer via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14, No. 9, September 2014 Life was great for the Laodiceans. Business was wonderful, prosperity was abounding, and they flourished with riches. They had the best chariots, top-of-the-line clothing, the finest food from the markets, and palatial homes with plenty of acreage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54142,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/count-your-many-blessings-but-use-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":2},"title":"Count Your Many Blessings — But Use Them","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton As a nation, we are blessed in measures far exceeding the majority of people in the world. The material wealth possessed by Americans may seem rather routine but in most countries owning a pair of shoes is like owning a rare jewel. Stores often are filled to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/counting-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42319,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-be-truly-happy\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":3},"title":"How to be Truly Happy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew Allen \"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.\" Abraham Lincoln Are you happy? Truly happy? Have you found the joy that is found in Christian living? Christianity contains the keys to true happiness during our earthly existence. It is only in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/happiness-184x300.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1984,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-spirit-of-man-immortal\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":4},"title":"Is the spirit of man immortal?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where do I go when I die? Does my body go to the grave and my spirit or soul go immediately to heaven? What is\u00a0Ecclesiastes 3:18-21\u00a0talking about? Are souls immortal? Answer: A portion of your questions was previously answered in \"What happens to you when you die?\" Rather than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20751,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-disagree-with-is-gambling-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":5},"title":"I disagree with ‘Is Gambling Sinful?’","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a 16-year-old boy. I've grown up in the church and I hope to get a degree in Biblical and Religious Studies when I graduate college. I feel that I am more intelligent and mature than most boys my age. Having said this, I disagree with \"Is Gambling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}